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Blue Dolphin Group: Members Posts: 1232 Joined: Nov. 1999 Posted: Jan. 02 2001, 14:04 Kinda funny thing: both Oldfield and JM Jarre are big friends of Arthur C. Clarke, and another is that they both really like the movie "2001: A space oddesey". Maybe they have a lot in common... But back to Clarke: I haven't read "The songs of distant earth" yest, as 2001: ASO, but are these book really recommended? Yesterday I saw this movie called "2001" which was also made from a book written by Clarke. And now I really got to know his style... vague -------------- -The mark of a good musician is to play one note and mean it- Mike Oldfield - 1980 Back to top

Pacha Daddy Group: Members Posts: 85 Joined: Sep. 2000 Posted: Jan. 02 2001, 16:55 I'm a sci-fi fan, but I tried to get through SODE and couldn't. It's sociological SF and, personally, a bit slow. Others may disagree. Back to top

TimHighfield Group: Members Posts: 543 Joined: Oct. 2000 Posted: Jan. 02 2001, 19:19 IMHO, Clarke's Songs of Distant Earth is not really science fiction. For a sci/fi novel(la) it has less emphasis on the ideas of space and so on, and more on "human" issues, which do not completely fit with the science. When I read it, I left it for about a week halfway through it, and then came back to it later on and finished it. It is slow-paced, but quite short. To my mind, anyway. You can read it, but the human issues dominate over the science for the majority of the book, especially after the first few chapters. -Tim- Back to top

Archangel Foster Group: Members Posts: 215 Joined: Oct. 2000 Posted: Jan. 02 2001, 20:48 Reading the book of '2001' (and having seen the movie before) I got the impression that the book is very different from the film (strange though, because Clarke was involved in the film script as well). Back to top

Korgscrew Group: Super Admins Posts: 3511 Joined: Dec. 1999 Posted: Jan. 02 2001, 21:22 There is an explanation for those differences... Clarke and Kubrick worked together on the ideas for both the screenplay and the book...Clarke then went off to finish the book while Kubrick made the film. It was discovered, however, that certain elements of the book would not translate to film. For example, the activities centred around Jupiter's moon of Iapetus. They decided that to create a convincing image of Saturn on film would be too difficult - anything they would be able to create would have dated very quickly. Creating a realistic looking Jupiter was not so difficult, so they switched the location to there... Any changes at the end, I think we can put down to 'art' Back to top

bennyboy Group: Members Posts: 177 Joined: July 2000 Posted: Jan. 03 2001, 04:38 Another thing all you "2001" buffs should check out are the sequels: "2010", "2061" and "3001". I personally found these more rewarding than the book or film of "2001" because there is more attention paid to characterization than cold hard science. Peter Hyams's film version of "2010" is also worth checking out. Despite some very eighties-looking technology, and very eighties-sounding politics, it is a truly worthy successor to "2001" and one of the greatest sci-fi movies ever made. The standard of acting and special effects easily surpasses the original. So, although it lacks the sense of wonder that "2001" had it's still a rollicking good sci-fi yarn. Also "The Songs Of Distant Earth" is probably one of Clarke's better novels actually, because of its absorbing human drama rather than the cold hard science. It is still science fiction thouhgh. Back to top

Pacha Daddy Group: Members Posts: 85 Joined: Sep. 2000 Posted: Jan. 03 2001, 08:35 Tim: there's a whole field of SF, typically known as "soft SF" that focuses more on the sociological aspects of the future rather than the science. SF that hones in on science is known as "hard SF." Soft SF can be up to 100% spaceship-free! As far as 2010 goes...not a GREAT movie, but not entirely bad. I tried to read the books (2010, 3001, etc.) but got bored with them quickly. (Good Lord, doesn't PD ready ANYTHING all the way through except MO liner notes?) Back to top

TimHighfield Group: Members Posts: 543 Joined: Oct. 2000 Posted: Jan. 03 2001, 08:48 Pacha Daddy: I just gave my own opinion, that's all (hmm, deja vu ) Generally I don't bother with science fiction at all, I prefer the science fantasy of Terry Pratchett, but I'm a self-confessed fanatic and decided to read the book to know what the album was about. Maybe if I was a fan of SF my opinion would be different. Depending on the type of SF of course. -Tim- Back to top

Archangel Foster Group: Members Posts: 215 Joined: Oct. 2000 Posted: Jan. 03 2001, 09:40 SF can even be 100% future-free - see J.G. Ballard. Back to top

Blue Dolphin Group: Members Posts: 1232 Joined: Nov. 1999 Posted: Jan. 04 2001, 20:04 Thank u all for the information, guys!! But I made a mistake... I didn't see the movie "2001", but "2010"... I guess the pieces in the beginning we see in "2010" are pieces from the "2001" movie.. right? Great performances of Roy Scheider and John Lithgow in "2010", by the way. By the way, I'm now listening Oxygene with my own new bought pick-up now (woohoo!! ) and I think Jarre was inspired by 2001: A Space Oddesy while making Oxygene, right? -------------- -The mark of a good musician is to play one note and mean it- Mike Oldfield - 1980 Back to top

Thomas Andersson Group: Members Posts: 53 Joined: Feb. 2001 Posted: Mar. 03 2001, 10:32 I think Clarke's TSODE could definately be considered science-fiction, and what appealed to me when i read it was the way the science and the sociological aspects were balanced. The way he describes the future of mankind sounds very realistic in my opinion. I think it's a great book, as well as most of Clarke's work. I'm surprised you haven't mentioned the Rama series, which is the best bunch of book's I've read (except for Douglas Adams stuff), especially "Rama 2" and "Gardens of Rama", which Clarke wrote together with Gentry Lee. Back to top

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