February 29, 2020
I am a huge fan of Stanley Kubrick. I have seen the film version of 2001: A Space Odyssey many times and, like many others, I consider it one of the best films ever made. Kubrick reached out to Arthur C. Clarke around 1964 and asked for his help in writing the screenplay for the quintessential science fiction film. I think they succeeded. Normally, I don't like reviews that do too much superfluous chatter before the actual content of the review. However, in this case I think it is important to note that I likely have a bias in my review of this book.
I found 2001: A Space Odyssey to be a quick and exciting read. It is remarkable how vividly Clarke is able to craft the story despite its conciseness. The story is about, well, a space odyssey in which man battles the elements. Sometimes the elements are those of the natural word. For example, in the first part of the book we are witness to early man fighting to survive in the harsh prehistoric landscapes. Other times man must fight against elements of his own creation, like the HAL 9000 computer that oversees the many systems aboard the Discovery spacecraft.
The book is split up into three sections. The first follows early man and his encounter with a strange extraterrestrial monolith that appears from the heavens. Next we follow Dr. Heywood Floyd as he inspects a monolith found buried on the moon. Finally, the spacecraft Discovery mission is sent to investigate an anomally on one of Saturn's moons. Each section of the book follows different characters and is linked by the human encounters with these alien monoliths. The shift in focus caused by these disparate narratives focuses the reader's attention on the vastness of space and time. No single perspective is special in this story of man's encounter with the universe.
It is told from the third person omniscient point of view. This narrative perspective enables the author to dictate to the reader information that the characters in the story don't know. Sometimes this works to build tension. Other times the narrator is able to fill in interesting and indulgent details in regards to mathematics, spaceflight, astronomy, and computer science, to name a few. But most importantly, this narrative omniscience fills in some fascinating details about the alien civilization reponsible for the mysterious monolith. For fans of the film, this book is a must read.
Overall, this book is 5/5 for me. I absolutely loved it.
