Space Odyssey: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke, and the Making of a Masterpiece

2001: A Space Odyssey is considered one of the best films ever made, a classic and staple of science fiction. Space Odyssey from Michael Benson tells the story of how Stanley Kubrick contacted Arthur C. Clarke to make the great science-fiction movie, one that would supplant and surpass those that had been made before. Many books have been written about this version of 2001, with more than half a dozen being listed in the acknowledgments. Benson, who has written about astronomy, submerges himself, telling the tale of the collaboration and the behind-the-screen work that was necessary to create this high-brow science-fiction epic.

2001 had believable special effects, classical music, and the profound power of mythic storytelling. Stanley Kubrick was unconventional and determined. Arthur C. Clarke was a scientist’s science-fiction writer who helped produce a story that put mankind in a historical and cosmological setting. The story, also available in a slightly different movie novelization, is a dark treatise on human evolution. Those who have studied science will have a better understanding of the project. Those who were not selected to have children have “The Space Child” to dream about. Cinephiles will have a greater appreciation for Benson’s book, which details all the work and artistic inspiration that went into the production. The book could have done a better job of putting the movie and subsequent Odyssey efforts (2010, 2061, 3001) into science-fiction history with the story that was continued for fans. The sequel, 2010, is also unforgettable.