#PopsugarReadingChallenge Book 45: 2001, A Space Odyssey

Popsugar Reading Challenge category: A book based on a popular movie
2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke

From the way the prompt is worded, I assumed that a book that was later made into a movie wouldn't qualify; the movie was supposed to come first. 2001 is a special case: the book and movie were created simultaneously.

It makes sense, then, that the writing is so visual. There's a long stretch where Dave, the ship's captain, has no one to interact with, but the vivid images of stars and planets keep it from feeling slow. The description of the iconic obelisk was so clear that I could hear the famous music in my head.

The AI computer having a nervous breakdown feels even more relevant today. We don't have true artificial intelligence, but Siri and Alexa make HAL easy to imagine.

The ending is kind of esoteric, and probably works better on the screen. But like the rest of the story, it leaps off the page, easy to picture if not entirely easy to understand.

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