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Loading... 2001: A Space Odyssey (original 1968; edition 2000)▾LibraryThing recommendations ▾Will you like it?
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 Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. ▾Work-to-work relationships Is contained inHas the adaptation
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To Stanley  | |
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The drought had lasted now for ten million years, and the reign of the terrible lizards had long since ended. Here on the Equator, in the continent which would one day be known as Africa, the battle for existence had reached a new climax of ferocity, and the victor was not yet in sight.  Behind every man now alive stand thirty ghosts, for that is the ratio by which the dead outnumber the living. (Foreword)  | |
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"I'm not going to do that, Dave."  Look Dave, I can see you're really upset about this. I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill, and think things over.  Now they were lords of the galaxy, and beyond the reach of time. They could rove at will among the stars, and sink like a subtle mist through the very interstices of space. But despite their godlike powers, they had not wholly forgotten their origin, in a worm slime of a vanished sea.  | |
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▾References References to this work on external resources. Wikipedia in English (4)
▾LibraryThing members' description ▾Book descriptions Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0451457994, Mass Market Paperback)
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 artifact 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
(retrieved from Amazon Thu, 03 Jan 2013 08:29:46 -0500) (see all 4 descriptions) ▾Library descriptions A special new Introduction by the author highlights this reissue of a classic science fiction novel that changed the way people looked at the stars--and themselves. 2001: A Space Odyssey is the classic science fiction novel that changed the way we looked at the stars and ourselves. 2001: A Space Odyssey inspired what is perhaps the greatest science fiction film ever made--brilliantly imagined by the late Stanley Kubrick ... 2001 is finally here.… (more) (summary from another edition) » see all 7 descriptions
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It was okay. Mostly, it was was slow and rather boring. The part where HAL tries to take over the spaceship was interesting, but that only lasted for about 25 minutes (of the 6 hours). The ending was bizarre beyond belief and I never really got attached to the main character. I think it would have been MUCH more interesting as a movie... which it obviously is. I checked it out from the library, so I'll have to watch it.
The book was written in 1968, so there are some funny things as far as technology is concerned. Their idea of the future still included cameras in film, as well as cassette-tape-like magnetic rolls to store data on. It was hilarious. :)
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