2001: A Space Odyssey - Arthur C. Clarke

...people believe that the film 2001: A Space Odyssey is an adaptation of Arthur C Clarke’s book but in fact almost uniquely for such a highly regarded novel the truth is the other way around. Stanley Kubrick the director of the film had read a short story by Clarke ‘The Sentinel’ and from the idea within that he decides to make an epic Sci-fi movie that was to explore some of the most basic and yet most complex themes, the origins ...
.../>
*****************************************************************
2001: A Space Odyssey is published by Orbit (ISBN: 1857236645) in paperback (266 pages) and is available from Amazon.co.uk for £4.79 (p & p).

Thank you for reading and rating this opinion.

© Mauri 2003







  ... more

Many people believe that the film 2001: A Space Odyssey is an adaptation of Arthur C Clarke’s book but in fact almost uniquely for such a highly regarded novel the truth is the other way around. Stanley Kubrick the director of the film had read a short story by Clarke ‘The Sentinel’ and from the idea within that he decides to make an epic Sci-fi movie that was to explore some of the most basic and yet most complex themes, the origins of man, the nature of humanity and its future. He decided to co-opt the services of Clarke as a joint scriptwriter and only later after the movie had been released did Clarke publish his adaptation of the script as a novel.

The novel very closely follows the events as detailed in the script and anyone familiar with the film will know what to expect, however you like many others were mystified or confused by the conclusion of the film the Book will make some aspects of the ending and story generally clearer.

THE STORY

The novel is neatly divided in to three distinct parts.

THE ASCENT OF MAN- the first is set at time early in the evolution of man. The principle characters are ape-men struggling to survive in a hostile environment. These creatures are not recognisably human they are also by no means special, just another fairly successful species amongst all the varieties of life on Earth. The leader of these ape-men is ‘Moon Watcher’ the name itself indicating a natural curiosity and wonder, which is innate in humans and which when awakened, gave our ancestors the impetus for evolution. Suddenly the life of the apes is changed for ever by the appearance of a large smooth black monolith. At first wary of this alien object they stay away but then the curiosity of ‘Moon Watcher’ overcomes this fear and he move closer to touch the object giving rise to a sequence of events that will lead to the men apes ruling the world around them.

FIRST CONTACT- We now move forward a few million years, humanity is beginning to venture beyond the confines of Earth taking the first few tentative steps in to space. Dr. Heywood Floyd, a top scientist has been summoned by the US president and briefed for an important secret mission that he has to undertake. He will travel to the moon to investigate the discovery of a mysterious artefact that has been found deep under the moon’s surface. Associated with the artefact the scientist have discover a magnetic field that would suggest that the artefact is certainly of Alien derivation and represents the first indication of intelligent extraterrestrial life. Floyd arrives on the moon and just like the man-ape ‘Moon Watcher’ before him he is faced with a large black perfectly smooth monolith…

REBIRTH- The concluding part of the novel is set aboard the deep space exploration ship DISCOVERY bound to Jupiter and then on to Saturn. On board are a crew of astronauts three of the crew are in hibernation until they reach Saturn but two David Bowman and Frank Poole are in charge of the day–to-day running of the ship. In charge of the overall maintenance of the ship and the well being of the crew is HAL a new breed of super intelligent computer, which has been especially created for this mission.

At first things run smoothly but then HAL reports that there is a problem with one of the ships communications units essential to maintain contact with Earth. Bowman checks the unit out but find nothing wrong. HAL then reports the other unit is faulty. By now Bowman and Poole are worried that the real fault lies with HAL however improbable that might be, rather than with the units. Reporting their concern to Earth control they are told that HAL may indeed be malfunctioning and thus needs to be shut down. This is just the beginning of a series of tragic events that lead Bowman to doubt whether he has been told the real purpose of the mission. Following a further encounter with a black monolith, the very salvation of the Earth will be at stake.

OPINION AND THEMES

You would think that a science fiction novel set as it is in the future would be more than other types of stories be able to withstand the effects of time. Ok in the case of 2001 the title is an obvious point of reference but in reality although the date has passed the story is still rooted in a future age when space travel is commonplace and technology is more advance that we know today. However like any other genre Science fiction regardless of its content is very much rooted in the time in which it was created and this is reflected in the themes and preoccupations of the plot.

Clarke and worked on the original script for the movie in the mid sixties when space exploration was just beginning to become a possibility. The space race to a great extent was brought about and made possible by the cold war between the USSR and the US and because of this great leaps forward were made in science and technology. These events are clearly reflected in the story and Clarke takes every opportunity to illustrate the future technology that he believed was possible. However this enthusiasm for the technological wonders of the future were also tempered by parallel worries of the age. Was technology getting out of control? The space race had brought great advances but its impetus grounded in the cold war had also brought the real possibility of nuclear conflict. The wonder of the future was tempered with a fear of the future and especially amongst youth counter culture this was reflected in a desire to move away from modern technological society to a more basic way of life. HAL the supercomputer in the last part of the novel is really an updated Frankenstein’s monster; science gone wrong and turning against its a master.

The general feeling in the 60’s that the future despite or because of the technology was under threat also gave rise to the idea that humanities salvation might reside in making first contact with more advanced, wiser alien that might teach us a better path to follow, this marked a shift in cultural attitudes from the 50’s science fiction where most aliens were hostile and usually thinly disguised symbols for a perceived communist threat.

In 2001 Clarke goes further, maybe alien culture not only represents humanity's means of salvation but in fact it might have been responsible for the rise of humanity in the first place. To most people even scientists evolutionary theory is a mind- boggling concept. The idea that a complex civilisation could arise randomly through natural selection without a guiding hand of some higher being is to many difficult to believe and whereas in the past many looked to god for an explanation intervention form across the galaxy was quickly becoming a alternative belief among some at least as well as an acceptance that the human race is still evolving and that a bright future an alternative to nuclear holocaust is possible.

The novel is also notable for the way that Clarke attempt to enter the mind set of the ape-man ‘Moon-Watcher’ in the opening sequence of the novel. Although the ape-man cannot communicate his feelings Clarke taps into and allows us to experience the innate wonder that ‘Moon-Watcher’ feels at the mysterious phenomena that he witnesses around him, the moon, the stars and even though the reality of these objects are beyond him the sense on wonder and curiosity is something we recognise and share with our earliest ancestors, it is the single most important thing that separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom.

All these cultural factors are brilliantly incorporated and explored in the 2001 novel and film.

Structurally the middle segment of the book is the one that works least well. Much emphasis is placed on the friendship between Dr. Floyd and an ex Russian colleague hinting at a developed but still tense US-Soviet division, even in the future. This of course in light of the fall of Russian communism in the late eighties does date the story and sits awkwardly as part of the plot. The middle sections a whole is really no more than an elaborate but necessary preamble to the conclusion of the story.

The style of writing employed by Clarke is typical of many of Clarke’s novels. It is written in a clear almost clinical fashion mirroring the futurist society it is describing. He is particularly good at describing the details that make up his futuristic word and he takes great trouble in not using clever literary devices to solve plot problems. Thus for a long mission into space an new kind of propulsion system is not suddenly discovered but instead a system of hibernation is introduced which solves the problem of making these long journeys into space with human crews. We are also made aware of minute details of the future in space whether it is Velcro grips on the bottom of shoes to avoid the effects of weightlessness to the continually circling design of the spaceship to mimic the effects of gravity. To a large extent this could be described as predictive science fiction rather than fantastical an established strength in Clarke’s writing. It makes the story more acceptable and much more plausible for a wider readership than just your usual sci-fi fan and to an extent explains the wider success and appeal of both novel and film.

2001 deals with some huge questions about the nature of humanity and our place in the wider cosmos. Clarke largely succeeds in conveying these lofty matter to his readership in a relatively short novel but in the end it doesn’t quite do it as effectively as Kubrik’s film. Both are worthy pieces of work and certainly the novel like the film can be highly recommended.

*****************************************************************
2001: A Space Odyssey is published by Orbit (ISBN: 1857236645) in paperback (266 pages) and is available from Amazon.co.uk for £4.79 (p & p).

Thank you for reading and rating this opinion.

© Mauri 2003

 

...less