2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke

ISBN-10: 0451457994

ISBN-13: 978-0451457998

Publisher: Ace

• The back cover quotes on this 2019 edition from Times and Life are terrible LOL Only The New Yorker gives a comprehensive blurb that is worth being there.  
• ️Clarke’s preface make me chuckle. “So I called up Isaac Asimov to talk about my story.”  
• There was a bit from his brainstorming notes that made me cringe. He and Kubrick speculated whether to make the aliens “f*gs”. Obviously this wasn’t used, but c’mon man… 
• It’s somewhat magical to see a name put to these iconic apes. Moon-Watcher is the best name. 
• ️I don’t know how to convey my appreciation of the description about the monolith running tests on the apes. I could visualize it like I was being given instructions to draw it. Apple Itunes Visualizer in 8k. 
• ️Don’t you hate it when you’re out drooling on yourself with your homies and then a fucking space slab starts running incomprehensible experiments on your brain so that you begin to feels the first twinges of imagination?? 
• ️”There me was beating boulder into power because me couldn’t eat it, and magic ball land in lap.” https://youtu.be/QWAQo2Fxi9o?si=naMi_Au5snAvHR4P 
• While we know that the term “man-ape” is redundant, it is additionally interesting to see Moon-Watcher do things we today know that monkeys are capable of, that is, using crude tools, and displaying a range of emotions. In fact, today we know there are other animals capable of this as well, like some fish and birds. 
• ️There are some sentences in which the monolith addresses its presence (in a third person omniscient way to the reader) and we learn that there are others that have arrived on Earth to run experiments on the fauna. This is a stark contrast to other depictions of aliens at the time, in which we see them perform invasive studies on captured humans. The monolith’s study is invasive, but not in the sense that it causes terror in the subject…at least they’re not probing orifices LOL 
• As time passes and the human population evolves, we’re told how as their advances in technology further, their bodies become more defenseless. I’m reminded of Baki, in which the same observation is made, likening it to the fighters’ desire for strength.  
• ️Mm, yes, no 2001: A Space Odyssey commentary is complete without me mentioning Aqua Teen Hunger Force and fucking Baki. I will continue to make pop-culture references. You cannot stop me. 
• ️I am tiring of how often Clarke refers to homo sapiens/humans as Man/he. 
• It might be sacrilegious for me to say so, but I don’t believe the film does justice to Moon-Watcher and his tribes’ introduction to early tools. I’m mentally storyboarding more engaging ways of showing the events. 
• I keep misreading “Moon-Watcher” as “Moon-Walker.” 
• ️In this future where space travel has become casual, China, the USA, and the USSR are still potent forces. China is plausible given its ancient roots, but I would’ve expected the instability of the USA and USSR to wholly transform their territories or existence.  
• ️All of our technological advancements pale in comparison to Velcro. Hell yeah!!! 
• Dr. Floyd uses an e-reader. I see this future is particularly optimistic. No articles placed behind paywalls, no mention of copyright holders making content unavailable, no intrusive ad hellscape. If only Clarke knew. 
• They make veggie burgers on the Moon. Even space isn’t safe from the liberal vegan agenda /s 
• The Moon base was founded in 1994, a year before I was born. I fear we put too much faith in our ability to overcome obstacles (The money! And the politics!). 
• Living on the Moon affects the rate at which humans physically mature. A four-year-old girl appears four years older. I’m not sure that I’m fully convinced by the scarce argument. How much does gravity affect our growth anyway?? 
• Little racial description is offered, so I get to color in the characters myself hee hee  
• Clarke mentions specifically that there are 600 women on the Moon base. Where are they? The only scientists we’ve met were men. 
• E B O N 
• The slab screams at the team of scientists then leaves lmfaooooo 
• Hal is programmed to win games of leisure against the astronauts only 50% of time. This is interesting in a world where we can actually customize the difficulty levels of games. How is “winning half the time” determined?  
• We’re presented with an opportunity for the astronauts to discover (heh) feelings of homosexuality given their physical isolation from women. Of course, none of the hibernating scientists are women–to an extent I can see menstruation posing an issue to those capable, but that hasn’t deterred anyone before. There’s neither chance taken to explore the working relationships between men and women nor the possibility of homosexuality, whether a state of circumstance or genuine love. 
• ️The ship seems dreadfully small. How much conditioning did the crew have to endure to evade the possibility of PTSD we know accompanies prolonged segregation?  
• ️I didn’t struggle to imagine how Clarke describes the sounds of Jupiter. I’ve actually listened to the recordings on YouTube.  
• ️Clarke has mediocre to decent prose generally, but then he hyper focuses on a specific word instead of looking for alternatives, so we get him referring to Jupiter’s details as Jovian multiple times to the point of it being distracting. He does this with other words. “Presently”, “indeed”, “ebon”, “man”. 
• ️Hal says there’s an issue with the communication antenna 
• ️Space pods are nicknamed after women for their slightly unpredictable personalities. Okay, Clarke, tell us how you really feel about women. It’s starting to add up. 
• Nice to know that concerns of voiding warranty by self-repair were even present during Clarke’s time. 
• ️Poole learns about suffering at the hands of a false positive lol 
• Hal does what any unmedicated narcissist does when questioned and starts getting SASSY.  
• RIP Poole, you were a real nigga forrealz 
• I’m all for trans rights but why is Hal referred to as a “he”??? /s This is just more of Clarke’s prejudice at play. Hal is more emotional than any of the sparse women he’s introduced us to (and what is Betty really at fault for??), yet it’s accepted into manhood on account of…well, what, really? Why not call Hal a she? Seems to fit Clarke’s previous criticisms of women. 
• For some reason, Hal has convinced itself that the secret instructions it has are so dire that it has to kill everyone else on the ship. Buddy, no… 
• ️Hal’s final words are different than in the film. Here it doesn’t state that it’s afraid, but it’s cognitive abilities weaken until Bowman disconnects it’s auditory capability.  
• Bowman forgives Hal for committing murder. What a guy! Apparently a model back on Earth had a freak out, too. AI can’t handle keeping secrets, I guess. 
• Bowman tries to stave off insanity by listening to opera and classic but some of the selections are so beautiful that he gets overwhelmed. Honestly, me too. Have you heard Maria Callas? Ugh! 
• Don’t you hate it when you get sucked into an optical illusion that turns out to be a NGFW with stateful packet inspection?? 
• Bowman gets to see some stars up close n personal, but I don’t know why he isn’t burned to a crisp or blinded. Is it the intelligent life that’s protecting him through all this nonsense? 
• Nothing like a nice hotel room after light-years of travel! The way Clarke describes the smudged details reminds me of 3D scans people will upload. Wonky topology and wonkier texture maps. 
• ️This isn’t the first time Clarke has referred to contemporary or popular media as anti-intellectual, yet he typically avoids specifics. Name and shame them or shut up LOL 
• Mystery blue goop (delicious???) 
• So I guess the aliens used the power of the red giant/white dwarf to fuel Bowman’s transformation into a being of immense power. That or I’m reaching. 
• WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO THE EARTH, BOWMAN?