Teaser

From the dawn of civilisation, man has dreamed of the stars. What if there is a reason for this dream? What if, somewhere out there, is the destiny of our species . . ?

Review

2001: A Space Odyssey is perhaps Arthur C. Clarke’s most famous book. That’s hard to judge with any certainty, because the man wrote a lot of well-known, highly regarded novels. Not for nothing is he (along with Isaac Asimov and Robert A. Heinlein) considered one of the ‘Big Three’ authors of science fiction’s Golden Age. What gives 2001 the edge is the film of the same name. Clarke and director Stanley Kubrick worked in collaboration to create 2001, leading to a multimedia story that has gone down in history as one of the greats. Such is its fame that even I, a man who has never seen the film and has only now read the book for the first time, can vividly picture scenes, and quote the sinister HAL-9000.

One of the most famous images from the film, much mimicked in the decades since, is an ape throwing a bone in the air, and the bone becoming a spacecraft. I knew this story started in the distant past. And it was as we lingered there for far too long that I began to feel I wouldn’t enjoy this book as much as its reputation would have me believe.

I don’t mind stories that jump ahead vast periods of time. My love of Foundation is testament to that. Time skips are a great storytelling tool, but as with any other tool, they have to be used well. Moon-Watcher’s struggle to lead his proto-human tribe to survival would be interesting as a short story, but as the start of a novel largely set millions of years later, the saga of the ape-men becomes a slog that one has to endure before the real story begins. yes, evolution is a key part of the novel, but it would remain as strong an element without frontloading a part of the narrative that won’t be returned to.

The middle act is what Clarke does best. Incredibly plausible Hard SF. Okay, so some of his ideas about space travel are very much a product of the 1960s, but you can’t fault him for imaging that lunar excursions would feel a lot like transatlantic flights. And while undeniably dated, it shows its age in a way that’s charming rather than cringe-inducing. The sections of the story set on the moon and on Discovery are much, much stronger than the opening of the book, and make it worth that early struggle.

In particular, Discovery‘s lonely voyage is where the best parts of the book occur. It’s all very plausible in the way Clarke did best, but also incredibly tense as technological faults and errors start to build up. Of course, cultural osmosis is so strong that I knew HAL-9000 is responsible for those errors, but the details came as a surprise. It’s impressive that even now, fifty-seven years later, Clarke’s depiction of rogue Artificial Intelligence still feels not only possible, but cutting edge.

Then there’s the ending. The Star-Child. I won’t spoil it, but in my humble opinion, it is an absolutely terrible ending. Especially when there is a better climax to the novel only a few scenes before. Yes, it’s a big and bold idea, that hearkens back to those evolving ape-men, but it’s a ridiculous way to end a scientific voyage into the unknown.

One added bonus of listening to the audio version of 2001 was the lengthy foreword narrated by Clarke himself. I’m a sucker for authors talking about their own works, so hearing Clarke read out some of his diary entries from the brainstorming period he spent with Kubrick was a great insight into the man’s mind. No disrespect intended to Dick Hill, but I wouldn’t have minded hearing Clarke read the entire novel.

As has frequently been my experience with Clarke, I find this book more interesting than enjoyable. There’s a great middle act, but the beginning and ending definitely left me unsatisfied.

Audio Stats

• Narrated by Dick Hill, with a foreword read by Arthur C. Clarke
• Space Odyssey #1
• First Published 1968
• Runtime 6hrs 42mins