At the dawn of man, an alien monolith appears amidst the man-apes - and forever changes humanity’s destiny. 3 million years later, as the space age begins for mankind, another monolith is found - this time on the moon! - and appears to be transmitting to Japetus, one of Saturn’s moons. So the crew of the starship Discovery set out on their secret mission to locate the source. Will they discover the mystery of the monoliths, as well as make first contact with their creators, the aliens we might be calling… God? One thing’s for sure: nothing could go wrong with an artificial intelligence like HAL 9000 on board!
I’ve been rewatching a lot of Kubrick lately and, before trying 2001: A Space Odyssey again, I thought it’d be interesting to read the Arthur C. Clarke novel first. I remember being mostly baffled after watching the movie the first time so hopefully Clarke would provide some insight and context before I watched it again - and hopefully it would be a decent read too!
And it was, and it did. Not that I got all the answers I wanted (that ending is still… weird) but I think I understood more of what Kubrick was shooting for. They’re pretty much the same story too - the only major difference is that in the movie Discovery goes to one of Jupiter’s moons and in the book they go to one of Saturn’s (the reason for the change, Clarke says in his introduction, is that the props department couldn’t build a model of Saturn that Kubrick approved of).
Similarly too, the parts of the novel I liked best were the same best parts of the movie. The opening section, Primeval Night, about the man-apes, was really interesting, and the part onboard Discovery when David discovers all is not well with the ship’s computer is riveting. I also enjoyed the approach to Japetus, which felt as menacing and exciting as comparable scenes in later famous sci-fi works, such as Prometheus, when they enter the planet of the Engineers.
Speaking of which, this novel/movie contains a helluva lot that’s set the standard and influenced numerous writers/filmmakers/artists who’ve made their own space epics since - you see the blueprints of the Alien films, Arrival, and any number of sci-fi games/shows/books/comics, right here.
Other sections though are simply dull without Kubrick’s compelling visuals to enliven them. TMA-1, when they initially discover the monolith on the moon, goes on and on - and all that basically happens is that they discover the monolith! TMA? More like TMI amirite?? Ahh… The initial episode on the Discovery is also quite dreary as Clarke runs us through the crew’s daily routine - snore.
Also, the most captivating sequence in the movie - when David goes through the star gate - is really dull to read here. In the movie, the visuals are amazing and trippy - take that away and replace it with Clarke’s flat, overly descriptive and plodding prose, and you’re practically falling asleep during the penultimate scene of the story!
I used to think this book was written after the movie, like a novelisation of the film, but I was wrong: the novel was conceived at the same time and written alongside the screenplay, and as the movie was in production, and happened to be published a few months after the movie’s release.
And while they tell almost an identical story, they have different strengths and weaknesses. Because movies rely on visuals, in addition to dialogue and text, to tell a story, Kubrick was able to step back, let the visuals play out and be silent at key points of the story, to allow for an impressionistic interpretation - which could be unsatisfying and frustrating for some viewers. Novels don’t have that and so Clarke has to be more explicit, by necessity, which means you get more answers but describing at length, as he does here, is also a poor substitute for a visionary filmmaker and his art team’s skills.
Still, parts of the novel are genuinely exciting and the story remains as entertaining and enjoyable in prose as it was on film. Clarke isn’t the most thrilling storyteller, and there were large swathes of the novel which were tedious, but he can step up when the occasion calls for it and I’m glad I finally got around to reading this sci-fi classic.
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