From the Bookshelf of Reading List Completists…

2001: A Space Odyssey (Space Odyssey, #1)

Arthur C. Clarke

Start date: April 1, 2021

Finish date: April 30, 2021

Discussion: Group Reads

Why we're reading this: April 2021 Completist Book Selection
[close] April 2021 Completist Book Selection

Find A Copy At

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 98 topics — 1,581 comments total

Group Reads

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
By Matthew , Assistant List Master · 4 posts · 18 views

last updated Sep 18, 2022 11:34AM

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
By Matthew , Assistant List Master · 7 posts · 22 views

last updated Aug 31, 2022 01:49PM

What Members Thought

Jan 08, 2013 Matthew rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2021, series, read-more-than-once, completist-book-club, sci-fi

4 stars first time I read
5 stars on the re-read

And, speaking of stars . . . an applicable quote:

"Oh my God, it's full of stars!"

2001: A Space Odyssey is a classic. It could easily be argued that it is one of the top 5 sci-fi books of all time based on its impact since the time it was released. Also, interesting to note as discussed in the intro to the book, the movie is not based on the book and the book is not based on the movie; Clarke and Kubrick collaborated on both and, in fact, the movie w ...more

140 likes · Like · see review

Aug 31, 2011 Michelle Bacon rated it liked it

Shelves: 1001-books-you-must-read-before-you, clarke-arthur-c

I really don't know what to say about this one. I really need a different perspective on this so I'm considering watching the movie just to have a comparison and fully understand what the hell I just read. First I start reading about the supposed dawning of man and how we evolved from being "man-apes" to space travel and discovering the possibility of there being other intelligent life beyond our own planet. The proof is in the monoliths.
It's really hard for me to grasp the whole evolution thin ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Aug 08, 2020 Eileen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2020genrechallenge, science-fiction, audiobook, 2020, 2020-ng-group-challenge, classics

I really enjoy Fantasy and Sci-Fi books, but classic Sci-Fi tends to be hit or miss for me. For example, I really enjoyed Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy but then books 4-7 completely confused me and after a while, I gave up on them. This was probably 20+ years ago, so it's possible it would be a different story today. I believe I watched Stanley Kubrick's movie about 5 years ago, except the only thing I remembered about it was being very confused about the ending and not knowing what I was su ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Aug 09, 2020 Chuck rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001

Like many others, the movie version of this story continues to have an indescribable effect on me. With its weaves of pure science, politics, technology, AI, philosophy, and well, I suppose spirituality, the story was "meta" long before we appreciated the power of meta literature. I was initially surprised by how short this novel is - most of the great SF novels are extremely long. After a little Googling I discovered that Clarke and Kubrick constructed the story for the movie first, then Clarke ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Sep 03, 2013 Phil J rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy-sci-fi

I love the movie. I love the book in a different way. Clarke is much more science-oriented than Kubrick, so the narrative has a very different feel than the movie.

Like · see review

May 05, 2021 Liane rated it really liked it

Shelves: x-2021

Many, many years ago I watched this movie. I was uncomfortable with the story then, and that resulted in my disinterest in reading this book and probably, any Arthur C. Clarke works. That was my loss.

This is a unique way long perspective version of speculative (science) fiction. It is a slow process, a slow read (despite its brevity), but worthwhile.

Like · see review