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verosnotebook 's review for:
2001: A Space Odyssey
by Arthur C. Clarke
4.5* some spoilers
“Unlike the animals, who knew only the present, Man had acquired a past; and he was beginning to grope toward a future.”
The first time I read this novel was about 25 years ago, and I went on a huge Arthur C. Clarke reading binge, consuming all this series as well as the excellent Rama one, and a few more. Always a bit nerve-wracking to revisit a classic. As it happens, still loved it :O)
I don’t think I was as aware that this story was a collaboration between Clarke and Kubrick the first time around. The prologue with the author’s diary entries charting the writing progress was an interesting addition. Usually films don’t ‘match' the book, to readers’ eternal exasperation, but here they complement each other. It isn’t exactly the same but close enough.
What do I keep from this Classic? Well, the first section during the Prehistory always fascinates me (reminds me of a French film titled La Guerre de Feu / Quest for Fire - 1981), then you have the discovery of the Monolith by Dr Floyd (branded in my mind), followed by the freaky HAL and the whole theme of artificial intelligence (parallel between the ‘beings’ that pushed humans to evolve and humans doing a similar thing with A.I. - well, try to, as the results show), and finally the open-ended end (I like to think it is a portal, like a stargate, or a means to Ascension :O)
Makes you wonder what is around the corner. As Clarke says: "The truth, as always, will be far stranger”
“Unlike the animals, who knew only the present, Man had acquired a past; and he was beginning to grope toward a future.”
The first time I read this novel was about 25 years ago, and I went on a huge Arthur C. Clarke reading binge, consuming all this series as well as the excellent Rama one, and a few more. Always a bit nerve-wracking to revisit a classic. As it happens, still loved it :O)
I don’t think I was as aware that this story was a collaboration between Clarke and Kubrick the first time around. The prologue with the author’s diary entries charting the writing progress was an interesting addition. Usually films don’t ‘match' the book, to readers’ eternal exasperation, but here they complement each other. It isn’t exactly the same but close enough.
What do I keep from this Classic? Well, the first section during the Prehistory always fascinates me (reminds me of a French film titled La Guerre de Feu / Quest for Fire - 1981), then you have the discovery of the Monolith by Dr Floyd (branded in my mind), followed by the freaky HAL and the whole theme of artificial intelligence (parallel between the ‘beings’ that pushed humans to evolve and humans doing a similar thing with A.I. - well, try to, as the results show), and finally the open-ended end (I like to think it is a portal, like a stargate, or a means to Ascension :O)
Makes you wonder what is around the corner. As Clarke says: "The truth, as always, will be far stranger”