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jazli 's review for:
2001: A Space Odyssey
by Arthur C. Clarke
"Evergreen" is a word used to describe something that retains its popularity despite its old age. "Classic" describes something that is seen as one of the best of its kind. Both words describe this 53 year old book - an evergreen classic.
When I first picked it up the only thing I knew about it was that it was deemed one of the best sci-fi books of all time and that it was made into a movie (which I haven't watched). So I went in blind and I came out blinded still, not by ignorance, but by the sheer brilliance of this novel. Despite being written in the 60s, this book is still an incredible sci-fi story five decades on. I'm the kind of reader who appreciates when an author can handle world-building and scene-setting in the most vivid and descriptive way possible without making the book too boring to read, and this is an exemplary book which perfectly fits that description. The plot moves along slowly (despite spanning a time period of 3 million years) while the author focuses immensely on painting a picture for the reader - which is necessary when the setting of your book is an environment that 99% of your readership has never seen with their own eyes before - yet not once did I feel bored while reading the book. The vividness of the words and phrases used by the author to describe an environment in space was so good I was shaking my head in amazement every other chapter. The book ends on a rather confusing note I must say, and I had to re-read it a couple of times to try and grasp what was happening, after which I found out that not only does this book have a sequel, but that there are four books in the series altogether. Needless to say, I'll be continuing this series to the very end. Brilliant book, and worthy of the legendary status it has achieved.
When I first picked it up the only thing I knew about it was that it was deemed one of the best sci-fi books of all time and that it was made into a movie (which I haven't watched). So I went in blind and I came out blinded still, not by ignorance, but by the sheer brilliance of this novel. Despite being written in the 60s, this book is still an incredible sci-fi story five decades on. I'm the kind of reader who appreciates when an author can handle world-building and scene-setting in the most vivid and descriptive way possible without making the book too boring to read, and this is an exemplary book which perfectly fits that description. The plot moves along slowly (despite spanning a time period of 3 million years) while the author focuses immensely on painting a picture for the reader - which is necessary when the setting of your book is an environment that 99% of your readership has never seen with their own eyes before - yet not once did I feel bored while reading the book. The vividness of the words and phrases used by the author to describe an environment in space was so good I was shaking my head in amazement every other chapter. The book ends on a rather confusing note I must say, and I had to re-read it a couple of times to try and grasp what was happening, after which I found out that not only does this book have a sequel, but that there are four books in the series altogether. Needless to say, I'll be continuing this series to the very end. Brilliant book, and worthy of the legendary status it has achieved.