Henrik Carlsson's Blog

All things me.

posted this note on and tagged it with 2001 A Space Odyssey Arthur C Clarke Books Reading

Yesterday evening, after blogging about reading it, I finished 2001: A Space Odyssey and I really, really liked it. From what I’ve understood it has gotten some (maybe even a lot of) critique over the years for spelling things out in the ending part, rather than being artfully vague like Kubrick’s film. Personally, I prefer the spelled out version.

Keep in mind, it’s been at least ten years since the one and only time that I watched the movie so I’m working from old memories here. However, I do remember not ”getting it” in the end. Now, it’s perfectly fine to make a movie that not everybody ”gets”. It’s even okay to make a movie that you are not supposed to get.1 But 2001 seems like a movie that has a clear narrative, but then decides to make the ending abstract even though nothing up until that point has been like that.

By contrast, by spelling things out the book can focus on the ideas and present them in a clear way.

  1. David Lynch’s approach to movie-making comes to mind. Like Mullholland Drive. ↩
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posted this note on and tagged it with 2001 A Space Odyssey Books Reading The End of the World as We Know It

After bailing on Frank Herbert’s Dune I’ve dipped in and out of a few books. First, I gave ”Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” a go. Maybe it’s the audiobook’s fault, maybe it’s mine but I just couldn’t stand it for more than fifteen minutes. So instead I jumped into The End of the World as We Know It: New Tales of Stephen King’s The Stand, an anthology telling stories about the world of Stephen King’s The Stand. This was much more my cup of tea, but about half (maybe) into the third short-story I lost steam and I took a break. That break has lasted for a month or so now.

A week or so ago I started Arthus C. Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Now this is absolutely my cup of tea! I watched Kubrick’s movie many years ago and it is a classic for a reason. That being said, I think I’m one of the weird people who like the novel better.1 The story is fascinating even though I know where it will all end up. It’s got just the right amount of details to keep the nerd inside me interesting, while not getting bogged down in endless regressions on orbital mechanics2. It also feels quite relevant again as our interest in space travel are increasing again, at the same time as the current fixation on AI.

The format of the audiobook also fits my life perfect right now. A single chapter is never longer than fifteen minutes, which happens to be the length of my commute to work. When they’re significantly shorter than that, two usually adds upp to no more than fifteen as well making it perfect for listening to while driving to work.

  1. Thereby making Kubrick movies and their novels a two for two in favor of the novels for me ↩
  2. I love your writing, Neal Stephenson, but if I’m not in the right mood your books can be a bit tedious. ↩
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