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Summary: ... And the Infinite Beyond
Review: This view of the future, and our past, is not only frightening but exhilerating. As we travel through time and space, stopping at different locations and realizing our fatal mistakes that changed our worlds, we discover how we are only good at one thing: Destroying ourselves.In "2001," humans believe that with every step we take in technological advancements we evade death, but the reader finds that with each breakthrough, we become closer and closer to the impending apocalypse. Different characters with different problems. The man-apes with leapords and the Others. Dr. Floyd and the monolith on the moon. Dave and Frank with the evils of HAL 9000. Clarke's ways of expressing his true vision of things to come and things that have been are very interesting. This book makes you think more than any other I know of.
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Summary: Towers Like A Monolith Above Current Sci-fi.
Review: After 30 plus years this book says more in its 200 pages than much of the 600 page TOR opuses that pass as current sci-fi and which are grossly in vogue today. Unlike much of current sci-fi it speculates on mans past as well as his future. It also has something intelligent to say within the action as opposed to the hack and slash of some of the contemporary sci-fi dreck being shilled out these days. Many people are more familiar with the classic movie than the equally classic book. "2001" the book is just as great as the movie and certainly less ambiguous. It is not just a movie adaptation. I think Hal is remembered too much. Maybe it's the movie's fault. He isn't the first threatening machine in sci-fi there was Robby the Robot from "Forbidden Planet" and that giant robot from "The Day The Earth Stood Still". And like those movies we remember the machine more. This is unfortunate for HAL has become this ingrained pop icon for malfunctioning computers that he overshadows the hero, Bowman. Bowman is one of the classic sci-fi heroes. He is on par with Rand's Roark, Heinlein's Valentine Michael Smith and Tolkien's Aragorn. He is Clarke's Ideal Man and an inspiration for our real lives. He has a lust for life that is unafraid, committed and with a thirst for knowledge. He takes control of his own destiny despite the deepening circumstances that surround him. He literally descends into the unknown without blinking. Like Bowman don't sit idly by depending on computers to do you're thinking take control of your own destiny. Hmm...sounds like something out of the "Matrix". Some people think Clarke wrote uninteresting and underdeveloped characters, I disagree, at least with Bowman. If you think sci-fi is for teenage boys this book will change your mind.
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Summary: Amazing journey
Review: This is an amazing journey phisically and spiritually for human being. Many surprising ideas that made me hold my breathe for a moment. I really enjoy the plot and also the richness of philosophy of human life position in the universe.
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Summary: good
Review: this book kicks... the beginning is awesome and richly detailed.It is the greatest sci-fi ever. read it and find its goodness for yourself
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Summary: Great book, but seems a companion to the film
Review: 2001 is a wonderful achievement. It's pace is much faster than 2001 the movie, yet still manages a slow feel, as a book should in the space environment. Yet, after watching the film, with its
Strauss and Kucrick aplenty, the literature seems dwarfed to a microscopical size. But read the book first so it wont be spoiled for you. When it comes to the style of Clarke's writing in this book, you'll find it so explicit that you expect the left in the air ending of the film to be answered just as Clarke explains the monolith directing the apes to perform simple tasks to test their intelligence and potential. But, alas, the ending is in ways more mysterious than the film. But Clarke adds a few more situations to the book, such as a comet fly-by and some looks into the minds of the characters (the infamous personality-drained characters that Clarke has created for your enjoyment). So, those who have already seen the film should see this as the best movie companion ever created in the history of time. So I would at least reccomend it.
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Summary: The Greatest Icon of Science Fiction
Review: This book made me become a sci-fi fan! Even if you found the film incomprehensible or boring, you must read the book, because it's hugely readable and not boring at all! The ideas involved by Clarke, such as the monolith, HAL and a civilization independent from matter are not only ingenious and creative, but it also goes deeper than sci-fi and makes us wonder about existence, God and the meaning of life.
If this book has a defect, it is the fact that it's hard to find a novel as good. Since it was the first Clarke book I read, it made me read 7 other Clarke's books since then(including the 3 Odyssey sequels) but none as brilliant and uncanny as this, even though Rendezvous with Rama and 2010 are almost as good!
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Summary: Great book, STRONGLY RECOMMENDED
Review: This novel is so enthralling and addicting, I read it in one day. I recommend this to anyone interested in expanding their own horizens. FIVE STARS.
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Summary: Top drawer!
Review: The book that started many people reading science fiction in earnest and still probably Clarke's best known work. I have always thought it a good book, but certainly not one of Clarke's best. The beginning is still one of the best I have ever read as Clarke looks at primitive proto-humans and suggests that the monolith, representing an extra-terrestrial super-intelligence stimulates them into acquiring skills that appear basic but could mean the difference between survival and extinction at the hands of the less intelligent yet vastly more powerful beasts around them. The subsequent stages i.e. the discovery of the monolith on the moon, the voyage of the Discovery, the quirks of space travel, the showdown with the HAL computer and then the final denouement out by the moons of Saturn must have been awesome when the book was first written; today, many decades later, they are inevitably dulled. Yet having said that, the story itself is gripping: the struggle of humanity in the face of odds, with a kindly helping hand at the right time - almost in some ways an experiment in a vast laboratory. The story is humbling, suggesting as it does the sheer insignificance of earth in the universe (a Clarke specialty unlike Asimov who goes the opposite direction). As always, Clarke's writing style is top drawer - sparse to the point of terseness at times (this is a very short book for all its huge time horizon), yet filled with subtle humor and sly digs at ourselves.
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Summary: UNPARALLED LITERARY BRILLIANCE!
Review: This is probably the best story ever penned by the greatest of all sci-fi grandmasters. This book will take you on a mind-expanding rollercoaster ride until the very end. Just read it, soak it all in and enjoy one of the true literary classics! Make sure to read the short stories at the end too. I loved Encounter in the Dawn! It is the best short story of Clarke's I have read (and I have read many).
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Summary: Better than the film
Review: This book had me entertained from start to finish. I have to admit I skimmed over the long descriptions of planets, and how the space flights worked, simply because it seemed so very outdated now. Most of the descriptions though, especially later in the book, were ideal. They portrayed the scene perfectly. You really feel like you can picture exactly what the book is describing. The book isn't nearly as dull and drawn out as the movie. While it does have a few slow moments, it manages to switch around enough so it doesn't start to bore you on one detail. There are just so many plot twists, and the book covers such a grand scale, I found I never became bored. I found the book to be many times better than the movie. Much more detail is given, and the story although mysterious, actually makes sense. A deeply interesting story and great Sci-fi elements make this an all round great book. - Rirath.com
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