Review: “2001: A Space Odyssey” – Arthur C. Clarke

PODCAST:

S4E11B – 2001: A Space Odyssey (book)*

SHOW NOTES:

Wherein I am joined by NDIOS theme composer John Doyle a/k/a Dole (I Decline, Theurgy) as well as previous guest Richard Bacon (speculative fiction fan). This month the three of us dissect the concurrently developed piece of literature from speculative fiction’s, perhaps, most  famous and influential film.  

Ryan felt that the economic prose had an almost poetic quality to it in the way it was organized and written. Rich found the writing clear and technically proficient, but read this novel chiefly as a way to better understand the movie. While Dole highly recommended this book for any science fiction fans he didn’t think he would ever read it again himself. In counterpoint and assent Rich expressed that he would not necessarily recommend the book to others, but it did inspire him to check out more of this author’s stuff. Our discussion went pretty long, but that seemed appropriately timed for a uniquely written collaborative work that will be forever associated with (and overshadowed by) such a significant visual expression. 

Additionally, Dole generously allowed us to include a teaser track called “Walk Away,” from one of the songs off his “Theurgy” band project (Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Theurgy-233634134183768/). Preview this song of dark wave music at the end of the episode!

-Ryan

 

WRITTEN BOOK REVIEWS:

“2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)” by Arthur C. Clarke (book)

Ryan: 4 1/2 Stars “…A future-perfect scientific adventure through the solar system which bears all the hazards of an early and epic exploration toward evolutionary destiny…”

Dole: 4 Stars “…a space drama that explores humanity and how we evolve and how we are pushed…in interstellar overdrive into the outer reaches of imagination…”

Rich: 3 Stars “…this book was written by a man that was concerned with telling us how we were going to achieve wonders through the different ways that we would use technologies…but it was good technical writing, it combined good practicality with some aspirational evolution…”

(Click the links to read full written reviews on Goodreads.com)

 

FUN FACTOIDS:

Another podcast about this subject book mentioned by Ryan was “Nachos and Books” and their June 02, 2014 episode can be found here: http://www.booksandnachos.com/episode.htm?id=133.

During our talk we stated that the idea for this novel was based on two previously published short stories by the author. If you want to check out these stories go here:

• “The Sentinel“:
  • Images from original pulp magazine publication: http://lakdiva.org/clarke/pulp/1951_spring_10SF.html
  • HTML Format: https://scrapsfromtheloft.com/2017/01/28/sentinel-of-eternity-1951-by-arthur-c-clarke/
  • PDF Format: http://econtent.typepad.com/TheSentinel.pdf
  • Audiobook: https://youtu.be/EPmyOYyXkk8
• “Encounter in the Dawn“:
  • Images from original pulp magazine publication: http://lakdiva.org/clarke/pulp/1953_june_AS.html
  • PDF Format: https://nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/sffaudio-usa/usa-pdfs/EncounterInTheDawnByArthurC.Clarke.pdf
  • Audiobook: https://youtu.be/kHy42LdxPfY

Ryan mentioned how the author was a popularizer of the concept of geostationary satellites due to his circulation of a private paper and an article he wrote on the subject titled “EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL RELAYS: Can Rocket Stations Give World-wide Radio Coverage?” published in Wireless World in October of 1945. Find it in HTML here: https://lakdiva.org/clarke/1945ww/1945ww_oct_305-308.html or PDF here: http://clarkeinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/ClarkeWirelessWorldArticle.pdf.

Underwater ocean diving was a passion of Arthur C. Clarke. He wrote a few books on the subject including one regarding the discovery of an ancient temple “The Reefs of Taprobane (Blue Planet Trilogy)” which he was involved with: https://www.amazon.com/Reefs-Taprobane-Blue-Planet-Trilogy/dp/0743445023/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=The+Reefs+of+Taprobane&qid=1573478788&s=books&sr=1-1. The author also had his own diving school and though we could not verify its continued existence we did find articles about it here: https://www.lightmillennium.org/3rd_april_03/bu_hekanayake.html and here: https://www.timeout.com/sri-lanka/things-to-do/underwater-safaris.

Arthur C. Clarke was no stranger to television. Among other appearances we mentioned that he hosted at least three of his own programs and even commented on the moon landings. His TV programs included: “Mysterious World,” “World of Strange Powers,” and “Mysterious Universe.” Previous NDIOS subject Robert Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke were both interviewed by Walter Cronkite for CBS News to comment on the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PLTkYJ7C40.

There is an award given under the author’s name: Arthur C. Clarke Award. “The annual Arthur C. Clarke Award is given for the best science fiction novel first published in the United Kingdom during the previous year.” (from https://clarkeaward.com/).

In a humorous moment during the show Ryan and Dole a cited movie character “Large Marge” (he actually mistakenly said “Big Bertha”) from 1985’s “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pee-wee%27s_Big_Adventure. In the scene, Pee Wee hitches a ride from a truck driver named Large Marge who recounts the worst accident she ever seen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPMSGTfK4Aw. Ryan also brought up the short-lived grammar correcting robot “Linguo” who appeared first on the episode “Trilogy of Errors.” Neither of the other guests knew what Ryan was talking about, however, the character was real and his main story arc can be watched here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmMaEUl-6DU.

While Dole bemoaned the length of the recording process of our episodes, Rich delightfully mentioned that he got to catch up on some shows. One was Berwyn, Illinois’ very own Svengoolie who hosts a local horror television program and can be found here: https://svengoolie.com/. Rich’s also wanted to plug his efforts making a customized Christmas train. However, his efforts to keep his children from attacking it failed. Even still he did provide us the brief video below of what he was referring to:

 

Music played a big role in this movie and has in other works of literature. On the episode we mentioned Pink Floyd‘s album “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn” which was taken from a chapter of Kenneth Grahame‘s “The Wind in the Willows” and the song “Childhood’s End” which was taken from Arthur C. Clarke’s eponymous book title “Childhood’s End“.  We also mentioned David Bowie‘s song “Space Oddity” which was inspired by the film adaptation.

Lastly, Dole mentioned his new band project “Theurgy,” which is a post-punk dark wave band. You can check out rough cuts of their music on Soundcloud here: https://soundcloud.com/theurgyband/sets/exit-strategies-rough-mixes?fbclid=IwAR13ja8J6euwpSHXAS05aIFnFuKcbd4z18TGWrMu0JK3c_-4vVW8VDBJlxw. At the end of the podcast episode their is a fully mastered teaser from their forthcoming song “Walk Away.” They hope to have their music available on bandcamp soon: https://theurgytransmissions.bandcamp.com/. Until then follow them on facebook and instagram.

 

* DISCLAIMER: Please be advised that the views and opinions of the hosts and guests of NDIOS are completely their own and do not necessarily reflect the views and beliefs of the other hosts and guests or that of NDIOS.