On my shelf since:
This likely showed up when the son was comparing space novels (an excuse to re-read the Martian for the 3rd time) for a school writing assignment, and I tried to get him to read the classics even though I hadn’t.
My copy’s origin story:
(Paperback 1999; new introduction by author) Almost certainly bought off Amazon (checking my past orders… yep, December 2016)
Why not until now:
I just considered this one of the many kids’ school books to shelve forever and ignore, but also make me look cool for owning a classic of the genre.
Review:
So I’m gonna mix up talking about the book and the movie here together even though I’ve only seen half of the movie so far. So you know the “I’m sorry, Dave” part of the movie? Well, I always thought that was the end of the movie, until someone recently mentioned a floating baby head and I had no idea what that was about. Guess I probably fell asleep halfway through the movie. Now that I know what the baby head thing is about, I’m so excited to see the rest of the movie. The book is amazing as a read and even more remarkable since it was written (even co-written by Clarke and Kubrick) specifically to make into the movie. It reads like the best novelization ever, which in a way it is, just beforehand instead of after. It’s fast paced and plot forward, but still plenty detailed and with complex, if somewhat stilted, characters. Even more incredible are Clarke’s vision and his descriptions of planets not yet explored and space travel that hadn’t happened yet. (How did he know what he knew so he could imagine what he imagined?)
Obviously the book is more than the movie. The part in the very beginning of the movie with the apes that lasts about 5 minutes (I was awake for that part), is the whole Part One of the book and is riveting. I loved the dynamic of knowing some things about the first part of this book and contrasting as I went along, and then being so surprised by the ending. Kind of like watching Making Of segments to get the behind the scenes perspective. I’m guessing that going in knowing what’s what will help me follow the craziness people describe of the ending of the movie. The husband says I can narrate over the movie for him a la Mystery Science Theater 3000! (Finished book Oct 27, 2025)
Payoff (pages per stars):
236/4 = only 59 pages of reading for each star. Sounds pretty good, but then again Short Cuts had a smaller number and I definitely didn’t enjoy reading those 51 pages per star more than this book.
(Trying out other metrics for the mathy among us, and will take suggestions):
- Time: Days spent reading per star: 6/4 = 1.5
- Aging: Years since publications per star: (2025 – 1968)/4 = 57/4 = 14.25
Misc Ratings (Out of 5):
- Surpassing expectations: 5
- Cultural longevity: 4
- Excitement about the movie: 4
- Regrets about not finishing the movie before now: 0
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