Most people will be familiar with the film - which in itself was one of the most ground-breaking sci-fi's ever made. It was also one of the most confusing. Despite the powerful imagery of developing apes and ancient black monoliths - and not forgetting HAL - the ending of the film always appeared mysterious. When you read the book, you have a perfect idea of what is going.
This, simply put, is one of the foundations of modern science-fiction. It's also a superb book.
That's if you don't mind the lack of character, that is. Arthur C Clarke simply gets on with the plot and tells it with great pace, the whole novel only being a couple of hundred pages short. What that means is that any character you meet is ultimately an incidental concern to the story-telling. In fact, the famously "psychotic" computer - HAL - is actually the best developed character of the entire work!
However, if you can forgive the lack of character, you're in for rich reward. This is where Arthur C Clarke tells a future of earth decades before it happens - we see satellites here, long before they were even considered...but, unfortuntely, Clarkes vision of a space station remains superior to the ISS. We also follow an ancient mystery to an astonishing conclusion, and discover the secret of those now almost archetypal black monoliths.
At the end of the day, this work is not primarily about space or space travel - but about the development of humanity - past, persent, and future. It speculates not only on our origins of thought, but on our conscious future, and does so by rushing us from early hominids to Clarke's vision of what 2001 would be like, decades before it happened. And it's his vision here - his ideas - and his ultimate conclusions, that make this such a compelling - and dominating read.
If ever science-fiction had to compile a list of its best few works, there would surely be room for the writings of Arthur C clarke. And somewhere in that list, you should find "2001: A Space Odyssey" has particular prominence.
This, simply put, is one of the foundations of modern science-fiction. It's also a superb book.
That's if you don't mind the lack of character, that is. Arthur C Clarke simply gets on with the plot and tells it with great pace, the whole novel only being a couple of hundred pages short. What that means is that any character you meet is ultimately an incidental concern to the story-telling. In fact, the famously "psychotic" computer - HAL - is actually the best developed character of the entire work!
However, if you can forgive the lack of character, you're in for rich reward. This is where Arthur C Clarke tells a future of earth decades before it happens - we see satellites here, long before they were even considered...but, unfortuntely, Clarkes vision of a space station remains superior to the ISS. We also follow an ancient mystery to an astonishing conclusion, and discover the secret of those now almost archetypal black monoliths.
At the end of the day, this work is not primarily about space or space travel - but about the development of humanity - past, persent, and future. It speculates not only on our origins of thought, but on our conscious future, and does so by rushing us from early hominids to Clarke's vision of what 2001 would be like, decades before it happened. And it's his vision here - his ideas - and his ultimate conclusions, that make this such a compelling - and dominating read.
If ever science-fiction had to compile a list of its best few works, there would surely be room for the writings of Arthur C clarke. And somewhere in that list, you should find "2001: A Space Odyssey" has particular prominence.
