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Valerie I would recommend also reading Clarke's journal of the making of the movie, which begins when Kubrick came to Clarke and asked to film one of his works. "Which one?" Clarke asked.

"The Sentinel" Kubrick responded, to which Clarke objected that that was a story only 9 pages long. Then Kubrick explained that he and Clarke would write the movie, while Clarke wrote the novel.

The journal explains a lot of things that would be confusing without the backstory (like why Kubrick insisted that the Discovery go to Jupiter, while Clarke argued it should be Saturn).

Of course, there's still a lot left obscure, even with the explanations in the journal.
  • 4 years ago
Valerie One of the things I remember is a simple suggestion for walking upright in microgravity: Velcro. Ingenious, and though people don't use velcro for navigation through cabins, I've noticed that they do use it for a lot of other things. The jumpsuits people wear on the Space Station not only have many pockets; they also have velcro strips on them, so that things can be parked without floating away.

I can also recommend The Fountains of Paradise, which is about the building of a beanstalk (an elevator to space, basically), starting in Sri Lanka. The fountains in the title were commissioned by a somewhat megalomaniacal king of classical Indian times, and are paralleled with the divine madness it takes to build the beanstalk.
  • 4 years ago
Brendon Schrodinger On my soon to read list. Great review.
  • 3 years ago
Dirk Grobbelaar Brendon wrote: "On my soon to read list. Great review."

Thanks Brendon
  • 3 years ago
James Thane Nice review. I'm re-reading this now and enjoying it a lot (again).
  • 3 years ago
Dirk Grobbelaar James wrote: "Nice review. I'm re-reading this now and enjoying it a lot (again)."

Thanks James. Glad you're enjoying it!
  • 3 years ago
Janebbooks Arthur Clarke really did have an amazing mind...didn't he? It's hard to believe that he wrote this novel in 1968...45 years ago. Great review!
Jane
  • 3 years ago
Bill I rarely read SF anymore because there aren't many that do it for me like 2001 (and the rest) and Rendezvous with Rama (and Rama II) did.
  • 3 years ago
Dirk Grobbelaar Thank you all for the feedback. Much appreciated!
  • 3 years ago
Mark I am indeed a fan of the book, the movie bores my pants off.
I enjoyed the sequels as well.
  • 3 years ago
Jim Hoping that Valerie is getting updates:

What Journal? What is the title?

Bill,

For my money Childhood's End was the best thing Clarke wrote. Rama (I) was flat. 2001 somewhere in between.
  • 3 years ago
Will M. Should I see the movie first?
  • 2 years ago
Jim Will asked:

Should I see the movie first?

See the film first.

Consider getting the "making of" next - some good stuff in there:

(except, doggonit, it's out of print - and expensive:

http://www.amazon.com/Making-Kubricks...
  • 2 years ago
Jay Mishra "Forget what you think you know if you've seen the film". Concise and accurate. Couldn't agree more with both the statement and the review, Kubrick's Odyssey doesn't hold a candle to Clarke's.
  • one year ago
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