About this title: Written in tandem with the screenplay for the Stanley Kubrick-directed film, both introduce HAL, a computer that takes off on a mission of its own, propelling the spaceship it controls past the original destination to an exploration of humankind's past, present, and future potential. Once ground-breaking, now a classic, "2001" is a truly unique work.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: New American Library, [New York]
Date Published: 1968
Description: Good. 221 p. 22 cm. "Based on a screenplay by Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke. " Sequel: 2010, odyssey 2. Previous Owner's Inscription. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: New American Library, [New York]
Date Published: 1968
Description: Good in good dust jacket. Good, In good dust jacket. 221 p. 22 cm. "Based on a screenplay by Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke. " Sequel: 2010, odyssey 2. Ex-Library expected imperfections. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: New American Library, [New York]
Date Published: 1968
Description: Good in good dust jacket. Good, In good dust jacket. 221 p. 22 cm. "Based on a screenplay by Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke. " Sequel: 2010, odyssey 2. Ex-Library expected imperfections. read more
Description: Good. Spine has some creases. Covers show wear at the edges and corners. Good Grade B reading copy. Binding is Mass Market Paperback. Pages tanning. Used books may have price stickers. Most orders ship on the next business day. read more
Binding: MASS MARKET PAPERBACK
Publisher: The New American Library
Description: Good. B000GRHFJ6 Good condition paperback book, motion picture edition with photo insert, some creases to spine, some edge/corner rubs, may have corner crease, small edge tear or spine slant, a good book! Shop & Save With US. read more
"Such a classic, referenced so often in society of today, you are missing out if you haven't read this. I attempted to watch the movie as a kid, but I fell asleep. I enjoyed the book a lot more, but it was still a little tedious whenever he started waxing poetic about space travel, or stars, or what have you. I was listening to it while driving, so maybe I would have enjoyed the poetic descriptions more if I wasn't fighting to stay awake through eastern Idaho. Overall it's an epic story that really makes you think, and I like that about the universe around us, and how little we really know about how things work, and what the immense possibilities are. Of course, with older science fiction like this, it's also always fun to see what the authors were able to imagine about science and technology of the future, and see how much they got right or wrong."
"My older brother introduced me to the movie 2010 when I was a kid, and 2001: A Space Odyssey was a boring joke between my friends. I read 2010: Odyssey Two in High School, learned to appreciate and enjoy 20001 in my early twenties, and shortly afterward read the book. I enjoyed it, and after reading Rendezvous with Rama I thought it was time for some more Clarke (also, I needed a break from reading A Game of Thrones).
Summary 2001: A Space Odyssey can best be described as pure sci-fi. It begins with a tribe of primitive man-apes who know nothing more than survival in a harsh, pre-ice age Earth. The presence of a mysterious monolith increases their intelligences and teaches them the use of tools, and then the story skips two million years into the future where Dr. Heywood Floyd, chairman of the National Council of Aeronautics, is taking a trip to the Moon for mysterious reasons. It turns out that an alien artifact, a black "monolith" has been found purposely buried. A signal it transmits shortly afterwards is traced back to Saturn, and a manned expedition to Jupiter is diverted to investigate (the reason unbeknownst to the crew, but knownst to their computer, Hal). On the way, Hal goes insane. He murders the crew except for Commander David Bowman who survives thanks to his training and quick thinking, who deactivates the computer. Although he has survived, there is no hope of ever returning to Earth with a broken computer, and he resigns himself to completing the research mission on his own. Bowman's adventure is both coming to a close and just barely beginning. On Saturn's moon of Japetus (Iapetus) he discovers a second, giant monolith, and is sucked inside. Anyone familiar with the movie knows the story, but the book actually explains everything and doesn't leave as much open to interpretation.
3.6 Overall Good with positive exceptions 2001: A Space Odyssey is one of my favorite books, and one of my favorite movies. It's about those borders we can't reach now, but may be able to someday. This is science fiction at its finest, though I would have appreciated more character development. An amazing thing Clarke pulled off is that the writing never feels too dated. There are references to some older technologies, but generally it feels like everything in the story could still happen (well, not the timetable). I understand Clarke and Kubrick both wrote this for the most part, and I have to give them both credit. Stanley Kubrick set out to make "the proverbial good science fiction movie", and he succeeded. They also made the proverbial good science fiction novel. My rating isn't high enough, because I can't score the Story element any higher. If I were assigning a score by whim, I would give it a 4.0 or something.
3 Characters Satisfactory with positive exceptions The characters in this story perform their roles, but they aren't the focus. Bowman has some additional moments and memories that create a stronger figure, though he still seems remote and inaccessible (this is good, considering he's an astronaut sent millions and millions of miles from home). Many people have examined the movie and believe Kubrick purposely filmed the human crew of the spacecraft as though they were robots, and Hal was the living one. He expresses emotion, they don't as much. I subscribe to that belief, but I don't think Clarke makes an effort to duplicate this effect in the book.
4.5 Pace Very good with positive exceptions Even though I've read it before, this book has a wonderful pace that kept me interested. I think his ability to keep a story going may have been Clarke's strongest ability as a writer. 2001: A Space Odyssey is never boring, and yet he does seem to capture the silence and monotony of long-distance space travel. The reader is left wondering and guessing what will happen to interrupt the tranquility.
5 Story Excellent 2001: A Space Odyssey is basically pure, perfect science fiction. It's not about World War II dogfights in space, and it's not about pushing at our comfort levels of social norms. This is a story about mankind, the unknown, and the journeying of the former into the latter. It questions the borders of our world, our minds, and our reality. I am sure there are some people bothered by the opening sequence and the acknowledgement of evolution, but I think of this as a non-issue. Whether we were created by a divine power or evolved from animals, we still came from somewhere, and that is all that really matters because we are here, and we are going somewhere.
2.5 Dialogue Satisfactory with positive exceptions Clarke was good at pacing, but dialogue is his weak spot. His characters occasionally talk too much, and explain science or technology to each other only for the reader's benefit. It's not all bad though. Many passages, particularly those between Bowman, Poole, and Hal are well-written and feel right. Hal in particular is interesting, and not a carbon-copy of what people have heard in the movie.
3 Style/Technical Good Similar to his weakness at dialogue, Clarke will occasionally dwell on technology or science after the reader has stopped caring, but not too much. Generally he keeps things straightforward and doesn't resort to cheap tricks. Changing viewpoints make a couple of parts fuzzy, but these are short."
This is the kind of book that, if I had read it when I was younger, would have inspired my wholehearted awe; would have made me love science fiction. Reading it now is still impressive, for though I will always be more of a fantasy fan, I can appreciate the real gems -- like the novels of Orson Scott Card and George Orwell -- that the science fiction genre has to offer. Simply written and fast-paced, 2001 is as unpretentious in its prose as it is vast and thought-provoking in its ideas and implications. Like the best science fiction, this book will be read and enjoyed long after its projected "future" has been disprooved.
Like the movie, there were some parts of the book I could have done without. While the detailed descriptions of the futuristic world and were evidently deemed essential by the author (and undoubtably most fans), this reader found her eyes glazing over. The book is more detailed and less baffling than the movie -- Bowman's bizarre hallucinatory journey is less impressive than when rendered in special effects, but at least the reader has some idea of why it is happening.
Another difference between the movie and the book was the book's heavier focus on the technology and ideas of what is going on. I feel the movie put a heavier emphasis on morality -- the consequences of evolution and technology. When the man-apes made their first murder in the movie, one feels a pang of foreboding -- is this the inevitable consequence of tool-making? While Hal's betrayal is just as terrifying in the book as the movie, something vital in his "death" scene is lost. It's the emotional impact which has been sacrificed. Clark seems more fascinated with what happens to Hal, the logistics of his artificial brain. Because of minor script changes, and because we are able to actually hear Hal sing and speak in the movie, the scene becomes much more poignant. "Stop, Dave. Stop. I can feel my mind going. I can feel it." It's as if Clark has provided us with the raw materials, the how and what of the plot, and the movie is Kubrick's interpretation and reaction to it. The latter asks not What is happening, but Should this be happening -- is it necessary, is it murder?
Perhaps it is my preoccupation with the moral issues of this book that made me feel more forboding than a sense of awe and opportunity at the end. The last words, deliberately reminiscent of the ape-man's last narrative, seemed omnious. Clark describes moon pioneering as "something even more exciting than war", insinuating that high technological advancement would make violence obselete. Yet if Clark's characters are any indication, there is more conflict to come for humanity.
The book and the movie of 2001 were apparently made simultaneously, and indeed they seem like worthy compainions of each other. If you want to experience the mystery of Kubrick's classic movie unfettered, you should watch the movie first. But if you have less patience for obscure cinematics and want to know what the heck is going on, you should find this book illuminating."
We guarantee every item's condition, as described on Alibris. If you are not satisfied that an item is as described, return your purchase for a refund.
rating
