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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
adventurous
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Oh my god, it's full of stars.
...now I get it.
This was a great book. I did wane a bit towards the end with the Star-Child, mainly because I felt like there was more to tell there (about wtf it was and its purpose and its identity), but knowing very little about the story (despite its fame) really served me well for purposes of letting the tension build.
And I'm glad I read this first rather than seeing the film first, because it goes so much more into the motivations and feelings and internal experiences of Hal and the crew (and even the ape-men) that I just don't think could be properly done in the film. (and I think I read somewhere that in the film you really don't know why Hal does what he does)
I remember reading Rendezvous With Rama and having the same sense of wonder and enjoyment at the world he was building (though I was let down by the ending of that book more than this one), and reading this makes me want to give the Rama series another go, just to experience more. I've always been so big on the payoff of a great ending, but maybe sometimes I need to sit back and focus on the journey.
...now I get it.
This was a great book. I did wane a bit towards the end with the Star-Child, mainly because I felt like there was more to tell there (about wtf it was and its purpose and its identity), but knowing very little about the story (despite its fame) really served me well for purposes of letting the tension build.
And I'm glad I read this first rather than seeing the film first, because it goes so much more into the motivations and feelings and internal experiences of Hal and the crew (and even the ape-men) that I just don't think could be properly done in the film. (and I think I read somewhere that in the film you really don't know why Hal does what he does)
I remember reading Rendezvous With Rama and having the same sense of wonder and enjoyment at the world he was building (though I was let down by the ending of that book more than this one), and reading this makes me want to give the Rama series another go, just to experience more. I've always been so big on the payoff of a great ending, but maybe sometimes I need to sit back and focus on the journey.
adventurous
slow-paced
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
"It was not fear of the galactic gulfs that chilled his soul, but a more profound disquiet, stemming from the unborn future. For he had left behind the time scales of his human origin; now, as he contemplated that band of starless night, he knew his first intimations of the Eternity that yawned before him."
Written alongside the film as a collaborative effort, it's interesting seeing each using the strengths and limitations of their medium to tell an almost identical story, I have to admit being a long time fan of the film it was difficult to separate it from this experience, I think the changes make sense and providing the reader with greater information or at least making the information clearer makes sense for the book, it's a really interesting contact story that delivers a wide-sweeping story on humanities, it's past and future, I think it was a good SF book and worth the time to pick up.
The fantastic novelization of the 1968 Stanley Kubrick film. The script for the film was written by both Kubrick and Clarke, and in the novelization Clarke fleshes out and finishes their story. There are a few differences between the two for various reasons, chief among them being that the two works are of different media with different goals. Kubrick's film is visually captivating, it is left mysterious and parts of it intentionally unclear. Clarke's novel is captivating in its detail and its exploration of life beyond our solar system. Kubrick is looking to give a powerful auditory and visual experience, to induce wonder and not squelch it in anyway. Clarke is trying to give a possible answer to the question that if life is not only possible and probable, why hasn't mankind seen other life-forms yet? or has it?
This is really one of the greats of the harder school of science fiction (as opposed to say Ray Bradbury and his Martian guns that shoot golden bees). Clarke describes the mechanics of the space stations, the toilets, the foods, the gravity-generating machines in a thoughtful unhurried manner. They are wonderfully vivid and in 1968, on the cusp of the moon-landing, they must have seemed even more breathtaking.
The whole book really just reawakens that old sense that there is so much we don't know. So much that needs to be done still. It is fascinating, but not fast paced. It is inspiring, but not action-packed. Really beautiful stuff.
What's really amazing is that the film and the novelization are both fantastic and each successful in their own right--something I have not come across in any other instance of a movie/book pairing.
This is really one of the greats of the harder school of science fiction (as opposed to say Ray Bradbury and his Martian guns that shoot golden bees). Clarke describes the mechanics of the space stations, the toilets, the foods, the gravity-generating machines in a thoughtful unhurried manner. They are wonderfully vivid and in 1968, on the cusp of the moon-landing, they must have seemed even more breathtaking.
The whole book really just reawakens that old sense that there is so much we don't know. So much that needs to be done still. It is fascinating, but not fast paced. It is inspiring, but not action-packed. Really beautiful stuff.
What's really amazing is that the film and the novelization are both fantastic and each successful in their own right--something I have not come across in any other instance of a movie/book pairing.
Many, many years ago I watched this movie. I was uncomfortable with the story then, and that resulted in my disinterest in reading this book and probably, any Arthur C. Clarke works. That was my loss.
This is a unique way long perspective version of speculative (science) fiction. It is a slow process, a slow read (despite its brevity), but worthwhile.
This is a unique way long perspective version of speculative (science) fiction. It is a slow process, a slow read (despite its brevity), but worthwhile.
The beginning was slow, but after the *ahem* INCIDENT with HAL, the book quickly picked up and I had to finish it in one sitting.
Next step: watch the movie.
Next step: watch the movie.
