Taken from a short story by Arthur C. Clarke, published in 1951 under the title The Sentinel, he collaborated with Stanley Kubrick to write this novel.

He masterfully adapted it, presenting us with the 2001 Space Odyssey in 1968. Like many others, I watched the film several times, charmed by Zarathustra and Strauss's waltzes, which blend so well with Kubrick's dialogue-free images.

Yet, the film's ending was perplexing, although I admired the director for leaving the viewer the freedom to interpret this epilogue. Wishing to explore this story from a different perspective, I read the novel and discovered the film's oppressive atmosphere.

The same sterilized sets, only interrupted by the monotone voice of Carl, the supercomputer whose real name is HAL (giving IBM a close degree in the alphabet), are present. From the origins of humans to the moon, we quickly reach Explorer I on its way to Saturn with Dave Bowman and Frank Poole on board.

I was captivated by the novel's rhythm, enhanced by short chapters and the depth of the reflection. Unveiling the hidden text, even with the author providing some keys, the reader still has the freedom to draw their own conclusions from the reflections. This novel makes one desire to extend the journey to the far reaches of the Universe and understand its origins.

Wow. This is truly remarkable. If you have seen the film, forget what you think you know.

This is undoubtedly a landmark work of Science Fiction. Although Clarke reveals far more detail here than Kubrick included in his film, the mysterious aspect of space still persists. I also relished learning more about the monoliths and their true nature and/or purpose.

For some reason, I thought the opening sequence (the Dawn of Man) would be dull. It wasn't. In fact, despite being much more comprehensive than the part shown in the film, I found it extremely lyrical and poignant. This, I suppose, holds true for the entire novel. The grand finale was everything I had hoped for, and it does clarify matters a bit, although there are still some things that remain intriguingly open to interpretation. There are several parallels here, but I don't wish to go into too much detail.

A fun activity is comparing Clarke's predictions with the current state of technology. Okay, so he got the date of space-worthiness wrong (we're more than a decade behind schedule), but there are numerous things in here that are interesting (such as Tablet PCs with internet capability, for example). These little details are even more impressive when you consider the novel's publication date. Of course, this is one Sci-Fi story that is actually not about the technology, but rather the sense of wonder that accompanies exploration. Oh, and let's not forget the philosophical issue.

Highly recommended.

This classic truly transcends any specific genre. It is not just a first-rate novel; it can equally be considered a remarkable work of science fiction or something else entirely.

It takes us on a journey that spans from the very dawn of humanity all the way to the next step in our evolution. A step that leads us to something that is beyond the corporeal, beyond what we currently understand and perceive.

The last few pages of this work are nothing short of mind-bending. They force us to reevaluate our conceptions of the world, of ourselves, and of what lies ahead. It challenges our imagination and leaves us with a sense of wonder and awe.

This classic is a must-read for anyone who is interested in exploring the boundaries of human knowledge and the possibilities of our future.

I don't mean to be overly critical or mean, but let's face it. This particular work, which can be described as Contact meets Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, unfortunately lacks the charm that made those two originals so captivating.

It's not bad per se. It has a certain cinematic quality to it, which means it could potentially translate well onto the big screen. And from a production standpoint, it seems relatively easy to bring to life.

However, that's about where the positives end. It doesn't break any new ground. It doesn't offer anything truly innovative or revolutionary in the world of science fiction or whatever genre it belongs to. It just kind of exists, occupying a middle ground between being passably okay and being truly outstanding.

In the end, it's a forgettable piece that, while not terrible, fails to leave a lasting impression.

WOAH WOAH WOAH.

I'm extremely excited as I'm soooo watching the film tonight.

The anticipation is killing me. I can't wait to sit in front of the screen and immerse myself in the story and the visuals.

I've been looking forward to this moment for a long time. It's going to be a great night of entertainment.

rtc.

‘’Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves’’


Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space

It is impossible to discuss this book without mentioning the eponymous film that preceded its publication. On March 31, 1964, Stanley Kubrick wrote to Arthur C. Clarke expressing his desire to create a film about intelligent extraterrestrials and space exploration and inviting him to collaborate. The two met the following month at New York's Plaza Hotel, and the ideas for ‘’2001: A Space Odyssey’’ were born. The screenplay and novelization developed concurrently from 1964-68 after successive meetings in Kubrick's flat. Directed and produced by Kubrick and co-written by him and Clarke, the film premiered in Washington, DC, on April 2, 1968. It was a revolutionary work, unlike anything seen before on the big screen.



The film was highly controversial, with many people walking out of premieres across the US, including executives from MGM. It was criticized as incomprehensible and dry. However, today it is widely regarded as a masterful and genre-defining work. Its pioneering special effects, use of classical music, and minimal dialogue were the hallmarks of an obsessive perfectionist at the height of his powers. The choice of Richard Strauss's ‘Also Sprach Zarathustra’ as the 'space theme song' was deliberate, alluding to Nietzsche's Zarathustra and the idea of human beings as a transitional phase. Kubrick was insistent on not providing direct explanations for the film's possible interpretations, believing that it should be a subjective experience like music.



Michael Benson, who wrote a book on the making of the film, compared it to Homer's Epic Odyssey, saying that it transformed the Mediterranean islands into the planets and moons of the solar system. Clarke was already a highly accomplished professional when the book was published, with a first-class degree in Mathematics and Physics, and a career that included serving as chairman of the British Interplanetary Society and in the Royal Air Force. ‘2001’ was his crowning achievement, due in part to the film's popularity and the book's own qualities.



‘2001’ is one of the few Sci-fi books that escapes the criticism of lacking artistic or aesthetic qualities. It explores profound themes such as evolution, intelligence, and the role of technology in our lives, striking a balance between imagination and realism. The exploration of the ethical implications of artificial intelligence, as seen through the character of HAL 9000, is particularly ahead of its time. The film and book complement each other, with the film offering a cryptic visual experience and the book detailing the story and deciphering its enigmatic elements. Both are admired by scientists for their accuracy, attention to detail, ambition, and vision. In many ways, ‘2001’ is the icon of the space age, challenging us to meditate on our place in the universe and our relationship with other forms of intelligence. The vastness of space and time reflected in the book and film is humbling, shocking us out of our pre-Copernican notions of childishness and narcissism. Our pretensions of grandeur are dwarfed by the immensity of the observable universe, and our pettiness and tribalism are insignificant at the cosmic level. This is a call to be humane and kind to one another, rather than congratulating ourselves as privileged beings in a universe that may not care either way.

I’m not entirely certain as to why it took me such a long time to get around to reading this book.

2001: A Space Odyssey is truly one of my all-time favorite science fiction books. Even though it was penned several decades ago, the writing style employed is extremely easy to follow. It’s simply great.

If you have an interest in SciFi or the concept of first contact, then it is most definitely worth reading this book. You will be transported into a world of wonder and imagination, filled with thought-provoking ideas and stunning visuals.

The story takes you on a journey through space and time, exploring the mysteries of the universe and the nature of humanity. It’s a classic that has stood the test of time and continues to captivate readers today.

So, if you haven’t already read 2001: A Space Odyssey, I highly recommend that you do so. You won’t be disappointed.

(Book 389 from 1001 books) - 2001: A Space Odyssey (Space Odyssey #1), Arthur C. Clarke

2001: A Space Odyssey is a renowned 1968 science fiction novel penned by the British author Arthur C. Clarke. It was developed simultaneously with Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation and was published subsequent to the film's release. Clarke and Kubrick collaborated on the book, but ultimately, only Clarke emerged as the official author. The story draws inspiration from various short stories by Clarke, notably The Sentinel (originally written in 1948 for a BBC competition and first published in 1951 as "Sentinel of Eternity"). By 1992, the novel had achieved significant commercial success, selling three million copies worldwide. An in-depth exploration of Clarke and Kubrick's collaborative efforts on this project was presented in The Lost Worlds of 2001. The novel has been published in Iran under different titles, with translations by Proiz Dawi and Hoshang Ghiyathi Nejad. The story follows a traditional and contractual narrative, featuring ordinary human characters who embark on an exploratory mission to the moon and encounter astonishing phenomena. Despite its straightforward and natural description, the story has a powerful imaginative pull that engages the reader and prompts thought. Stanley Kubrick, the great American director, based on this short story, created the famous and acclaimed film "2001: A Space Odyssey" in 1968. Some critics regard it as the most important and outstanding science fiction film in the history of cinema. The film delves into humanity's interaction with the universe and the stars. Kubrick, of course, made some changes to the story, including presenting the human characters at the end as evolved machine-like beings. In the past, when this film came to Iran, I was living in Mir Damad and was renting a house. The building belonged to my friend Mehrdad. One Friday, I suggested to my friend that we go to watch "2001: A Space Odyssey" together. He suggested that his mother come with us. His mother, a beautiful woman named Narges, immediately asked me: Does the girl reach her lover at the end of the story? If she doesn't, I won't come. And they didn't come. Mothers are like guardians who still remain unyielding.

Evo, I have been composing for some time now to write something, but everything seems insufficient to me.

First, let me have a small introduction. I have never watched a Kubrick film. I know, it's horrible. However, ever since childhood, that genre didn't really attract me, so I skipped the entire Star Wars obsession and everything else that comes with it. And only about a year ago, I decided to touch that territory a little and see if there is a place for me and my taste in it. And I can tell you that I was surprised.

Here, in my mind, I still can't understand how this man wrote "2001: A Space Odyssey" in 1968 when Armstrong landed on the moon only a year after that. How did he describe Jupiter's surface and Saturn's rings and moons when the first Voyager was launched ten years later? Can someone please explain to me why the astronauts were sending Clarke pictures of the dark side of the moon and the white fields on Jupiter with the words "We're thinking of you"?

I believe that this book doesn't need a special description or preview unless you are as ignorant as I was, who had never read or watched anything related to "2001: A Space Odyssey". And if you are, BELIEVE ME, take it right now and correct that mistake. I was thrilled from head to toe for the last ten or so pages.

Now I'm looking at my Sci-Fi book collection, among which this one now stands. I can tell you, it's not as small as it used to be. In fact, it hasn't been able to fit on just one shelf for a long time. And in retrospect, I'm comparing this book with the others that I've read from that shelf. Of course, there are a few giants like this one waiting for their turn. But overall, three, actually four titles stand out for me. "The Children of Time" by Adrian Tchaikovsky, as the first pure Sci-Fi novel that blew me away and that I still consider one of the best stories I've ever read. Then Douglas' inevitable "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" because it was with this one that I first realized that this genre doesn't have to be dry, but can be absurd and entertaining. And, of course (if we exclude "Dune" which I consider a genre of its own), Isaac Asimov's "I, Robot" series which has done more for the development of artificial intelligence and the way we look at it than he himself could have possibly predicted would happen.

And along with them, equally important now and which I can freely say for the history, this novel which is the only one of all the above-mentioned to get a perfect five as a tear from the first reading. And that must say something for itself.

Chyba jestem za głupia na to zakończenie

Before the book, or the movie, as they both look into the future, let me recall Clarke's wishes when he turned 90 (yes, having completed "90 orbits" around the sun):

First, he hoped for evidence of extraterrestrial life to be found. Second, he wanted humanity to overcome its addiction to oil and embrace clean energies. Third, he dreamed of a lasting peace in "his" divided Sri Lanka, where he had lived for 50 years.

How would he like to be remembered? [Although he had many pursuits, I would say]

---as a writer, like Kipling.

I've watched Stanley Kubrick's movie many times. Oh, The Monolith! Such a mysterious and portentous piece... "watching" the hominids playing with tools and fighting each other.

The music by R. Strauss is simply unforgettable.

To my recollection, it has been several years. The dialogues between Dave and the supercomputer Hal are exquisite, the best ever. So is the shutdown of Hal.

In 1995, in Sri Lanka, Clarke gave an interview to Tod Mesirow. Referring to the movie 2001, he spoke of another book, The Lost Worlds of 2001, in which he included "other alternative story lines" that "might have developed". Clarke had to attend three premieres of the film (in Washington, New York, and LA) in three consecutive nights, just because Stanley was a shy man...

Clarke also had many fun moments showing the interviewer how his own computer would voice “My mind is going, I can feel it” while shutting it down; and when turning it on again, it would sound: “I’m a HAL 9000 computer, fully operational and ready to serve.” Ah! Ah!

He affirmed in that interview that he was disappointed that "we've not gone back to the moon or even onto Mars" (maybe "by about 2020").

Maybe one day I'll read the whole book. For now, the wise words of Clarke in the Foreword and Epilogue may suffice.

Foreword

"Behind every man now alive stand thirty ghosts, for that is the ratio by which the dead outnumber the living. Since the dawn of time, roughly a hundred billion human beings have walked the planet Earth. Now this is an interesting number, for by a curious coincidence there are approximately a hundred billion stars in our local universe, the Milky Way. So for every man who has ever lived, in this Universe there shines a star."

Epilogue: After 2001

"Except for communication with alien intelligences: that is something that can never be planned only anticipated. No one knows whether it will happen tomorrow or a thousand years hence. But it will happen someday."

ARTHUR C. CLARKE

Colombo, Sri Lanka

November, 1982

Update

Some still don't understand the meaning of the movie:

https://www.ft.com/content/9f2ba33c-3...

Update

True, some people don't like it

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/a...

“The thing’s hollow—it goes on forever—and—oh my God!—it’s full of stars!”

This was not so much a story about us observing the universe as it was about the universe observing us.
Moonwatcher the caveman, David Bowman the astronaut, the black, rectangular monolith from the unknown, and of course, Hal 9000. 2001: A Space Odyssey is truly one of the greats in the Science Fiction genre.
Although there are some slow moments in the book, overall it has the remarkable quality of transporting my mind to uncharted regions, delving deep into the astonishing mysteries of the universe. It is one of those novels that manages to make me, a mere human being, feel infinitesimally small, smaller than a speck of dust on the tip of a needle.
In fact, a 4.5 rating would be more accurate to describe my evaluation of this book.
The story weaves a captivating narrative that combines elements of mystery, adventure, and profound philosophical思考. It makes us question our place in the vastness of the universe and the possibilities that lie beyond our current understanding.
Arthur C. Clarke's masterful writing brings the story to life, painting vivid pictures in our minds and creating a sense of wonder and awe.
Whether you are a die-hard Science Fiction fan or simply someone with a curiosity about the unknown, 2001: A Space Odyssey is a must-read.
It will leave you with a new perspective on the universe and a sense of the infinite possibilities that await us.
So, pick up a copy and prepare to embark on a journey that will take you to the very edges of the universe and back.
You won't be disappointed.