2001 a space odyssey....

[Liveware]

I'm currently rereading it an really enjoying it all over again.

Anyone else who's read it, thoughts?

[Nappi]

I listened through the audiobook a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, I don't remember much of the book, except that I wasn't super into it.

I'd assume that most people had seen the movie before reading the book. I had it the other way around, but upon watching the film, I realized that seeing the movie wouldn't have spoiled* the reading experience at all. I wonder how many people have picked up the book just to find out what the hell was going on in the movie.

* Christopher Priest's The Prestige has been sitting on my bookshelf for who knows how long now.

[brkl]

I had a friend who called 2001 the movie one of the worst adaptations ever. That's not exactly how the movie and the book really relate to each other, though. When I read the book, I just felt it was kind of flat. Sure, it explained more, but exposition usually doesn't help.

[Chris]

I had a friend who called 2001 the movie one of the worst adaptations ever. That's not exactly how the movie and the book really relate to each other, though. When I read the book, I just felt it was kind of flat. Sure, it explained more, but exposition usually doesn't help.

It would be interesting to hear your friend's justification for that claim, because the way 2001 was "adapted" is fundamentally different to how most adaptations work. The book was written concurrently with filming, and Clark and Kubrick collaborated on both the screenplay and the novel. The book was based on early screenplay drafts and didn't even end up being released until after the film was out.

So I don't think it's even accurate to describe the film as an adaptation. It sounds like your friend just preferred the way the material was treated in the book.

As for myself, I love the film, but I was young enough when I read the book that I barely remember anything about it.

[MrHoatzin]

I have never read the book, though what I know about the discrepancy between it and the film makes me think that I cannot respect the opinion of anyone who prefers the book to the movie—esp if they frame their critique in terms of "worst adaptation ever."

[brkl]

I haven't seen him in like five years, so we'll never know, but I suspect he just presumed it was adapted in the usual way. I definitely feel the book is just another sci-fi book while the movie is a very special work of art. It's not the story really, it's how Kubrick approaches the themes. I suspect my friend liked "straight" adaptations that tried to preserve the plot as closely as possible.

Hmm, it only now hit me how Prometheus' set up is inspired by 2001.

[ThunderPeel2001]

It would be interesting to hear your friend's justification for that claim, because the way 2001 was "adapted" is fundamentally different to how most adaptations work. The book was written concurrently with filming, and Clark and Kubrick collaborated on both the screenplay and the novel. The book was based on early screenplay drafts and didn't even end up being released until after the film was out.

So I don't think it's even accurate to describe the film as an adaptation. It sounds like your friend just preferred the way the material was treated in the book.

As for myself, I love the film, but I was young enough when I read the book that I barely remember anything about it.

I was about to say the same thing. There was a whole chunk of the film that Kubrick cut out because the special effects weren't good enough. Clarke added that to the book.

[Liveware]

Well I started by re-watching the film after getting past Clarke's foreword in the book. Like many have said I found that book added a lot of detail and explained a lot. I think that Kubrick managed to convey 'Space' incredibly well. He did a lot with scale, sound and even movement (I'm talking about the rotating space station). I think that a lot of people who prefer the movie actually prefer this aspect:

I definitely feel the book is just another sci-fi book while the movie is a very special work of art.

[gregbrown]

* Christopher Priest's The Prestige has been sitting on my bookshelf for who knows how long now.

The Prestige is one of the more radical (and I think, successful) adaptations out there because the film completely reworks the epistolary structure and drops the modern-day frame story. While the stories are somewhat similar, the Nolans changed one of the central elements to enable their own frame story and show Angier's obsession even better. It's a great study for how adaptations can change stories to fit the needs of film (as compared to literature) and succeed marvelously.

I dug it enough that I tackled one of Priest's earlier novels Inverted World and enjoyed it immensely having gone in blind.

[Grufff]

The Prestige is one of the more radical (and I think, successful) adaptations out there because the film completely reworks the epistolary structure and drops the modern-day frame story. While the stories are somewhat similar, the Nolans changed one of the central elements to enable their own frame story and show Angier's obsession even better. It's a great study for how adaptations can change stories to fit the needs of film (as compared to literature) and succeed marvelously.

I dug it enough that I tackled one of Priest's earlier novels Inverted World and enjoyed it immensely having gone in blind.

If we're derailing this thread to talk about Christopher Priest, I'd definitely recommend The Affirmation and The Extremes as well.

Regarding The Prestige, I read the novel a few years before the film came out, and it still makes me a bit sad that they dropped the modern-day elements and some of the later sections from the book as those really made the story for me. I guess that's just the way it goes with film adaptations though. The film is still really enjoyable and succeeds in what the Nolans wanted to achieve, but it doesn't quite satisfy like that book does.

[ThunderPeel2001]

* Christopher Priest's The Prestige has been sitting on my bookshelf for who knows how long now.

Same here!