- Hardcover: 224 pages
- Publisher: Hutchinson; n.i. edition (15 Jan 1973)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0090898303
- ISBN-13: 978-0090898305
- Product Dimensions: 21.3 x 14.5 x 2.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,869,986 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
2001: A Space Odyssey
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
When an enigmatic monolith is found buried on the moon, scientists are amazed to discover that it's at least 3 million years old. Even more amazing, after it's unearthed the artefact releases a powerful signal aimed at Saturn. What sort of alarm has been triggered? To find out, a manned spacecraft, the Discovery, is sent to investigate. Its crew is highly trained--the best--and they are assisted by a self- aware computer, the ultra-capable HAL 9000. But HAL's programming has been patterned after the human mind a little too well. He is capable of guilt, neurosis, even murder, and he controls every single one of Discovery's components. The crew must overthrow this digital psychotic if they hope to make their rendezvous with the entities that are responsible not just for the monolith, but maybe even for human civilization.
Clarke wrote this novel while Stanley Kubrick created the film, the two collaborating on both projects. The novel is much more detailed and intimate, and definitely easier to comprehend. Even though history has disproved its "predictions", it's still loaded with exciting and awe-inspiring science fiction. -- Brooks Peck --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Review
'Arthur C. Clarke is awesomely informed about physics and astronomy, and blessed with one of the most astounding imaginations ever encountered in print' NEW YORK TIMES 'For many readers Arthur C. Clarke is the very personification of science fiction'THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SCIENCE FICTION 'Arthur C. Clarke is one of the truly prophetic figures of the space age ... The colossus of science fiction' NEW YORKER
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I first read 2001: A Space Odyssey when I was 13 after watching the movie. This book is Arthur C. Clarke's ultimate masterpiece inwhich he challenges our very evolution, existence and place in the Universe. It is an uncanny read and daunting piece of literature. From the harsh plains of Africa and our beginnings to the far reaches of 'Jupiter and beyond the Infinite' and our deaths, 2001: A Space Odyssey is one of the most monumental books ever written. The triumphant Zarathustra theme now associated with the movie and book offers some of the power that is to come. Clarke shows us that is space, man is just a child, learning how to walk, eat and even relief himself! He shows that the very object we have relied so much upon throughout our evolution, tools are beyond our commands in space - and this is echoed from the paranoid and evil mind of Hal who sets out to destroy man, this shows that in the end man's tools begin to turn on him - and in the end try to destroy him. The most 'spiritual' part of the book is when Commander David Bowman enters the Star Gate and the revelations he finds beyond it are chilling. The very end reveals the 'Starchild' a reflection of Nietzsche's 'Superman'. 2001: A Space Odyssey is the greatest science fiction novel to be created so far and is an absolute must-read for all fans of powerful literature.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
An incredible, beautiful, awe-inspiring book that has had a considerable impact on my life. The prose is excellent, but the thing that makes this book so brilliant is it's scope.
It is also based on _real_ science without being overly technical. For example, in both the book and the movie the "Dawn of Man" (or Primeval Night) part demonstrates memetics eight years before Dawkins published The Selfish Gene. We see how one meme allowed man to develop.
That's all that I can say without spoiling the book, but it is amazing.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Where do I start? Yes this is without doubt a masterpiece. Every page a thought provoking wonder. Yes the movie is a superb moment in film history but this book is in my view even better. If only the movie had stuck more closely to the novel then I feel many people would have not felt so baffled. A wonderous work
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
2001: A Space Odyssey
I've found Arthur C. Clarke to be occasionally long-winded and overly techy at times, not so in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Read more
Published 4 days ago by Faustus
Epic
Maybe one of the greatest sci fi books ever written, simple to read and relate too, obviously not set in a fantasy galaxy far far away, but much more closer to home and where we... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Pebbles
Atmospheric and Unforgettable
Just as the film was so thought provoking and tense so is the book although even more so with added depth and complexity. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Lesley Tingle
Not as we could imagin...
I was eighteen when I saw the film in London, I found myself in the third row; the huge screen was just larger than the width of my field of sight. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Paul Mason
Your theory is crazy, but not crazy enough to be true (N. Bohr)
This book is, by any standards, a monumental highlight in science fiction literature, as the movie was in science fiction film. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Luc REYNAERT
Highly imaginative
To think that this book was written over forty years ago, and yet the author has achieved a high success rate with his detailed predictions for the immediate future. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Donald Hughes
Stone-cold classic SF
In many ways this is an extremely important book. It was written at the same time as the screenplay for the film was being produced, but both Arthur C Clarke and Stanley Kubrick... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Kenneth F. Mcara
Classic Sci-Fi
This book is a classic piece of sci-fi fiction, well written, great characterisation, plenty of suspense, and much easier to follow than the film!
Published 24 months ago by A. C. Bolton
Interesting but takes imagination away
On one of Jupiter's moons, Apes and Mankind become transfixed with a mysterious black slab known as the Monolith. Read more
Published on 20 Mar 2009 by Stampy
RIP Arthur C Clarke
This novel introduced me to the wonders of sci-fi and opened my mind in so many ways.
Rest in Peace - Arthur C Clarke
Rest in Peace - Arthur C Clarke
Published on 19 Mar 2008 by C. Tornari
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