Clarke's short story 'The Sentinel' was the starting point for the screenplay. The novel was (I'm 99% sure) written/published after the film.
Incidently, I read a quote somewhere from Ray Bradbury regarding the film. He apparently disliked the film at first (esp. the obscure ending), but then reading the novel clarified it for him (as it did for the rest of us!), and he had a greater appreciation for the story and its provocative ideas.
Clarke's novel is quite memorable in its own way; it has one of my favourite last lines (right up there with other wonderful last lines such as those from To Kill a Mockingbird and F.451).

crumley, positronic: Thanks for the extra background on 2001. I'll note it for future class use.
Anything by AC Clarke recently? He and Mr. Bradbury go back quite a way together. His works have also been very enjoyable.

quote:

Originally posted by fjpalumbo:

Anything by AC Clarke recently? He and Mr. Bradbury go back quite a way together. His works have also been very enjoyable.

Two essential hardcover collections:

The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke (Tor, Feb. 2001) - contains ALL of Clarke's short fiction.

Greetings, Carbon-Based Bipeds! Collected Essays 1934-1998 (St. Martin's Press, 1999) - just what it says.

Also, now out-of-print, but highly illuminating is Astounding Days - A Science Fictional Autobiography (Bantam Spectra, Mar. 1990) - worth tracking down.

Alas, most of Clarke's more recent novels have been co-written by other authors (Gentry Lee, Mike McQuay, Michael P. Kube-McDowell, Stephen Baxter), and it's difficult to say with any certainity exactly how much (or more to the point, how little?) Clarke contributed to them.

Those collaborative novels are a bit odd, aren't they? It's hard to understand the motive behind them - particularly for a writer of such skill and vision as Clarke.
Clarke's stories are certainly enjoyable, though I think they lack the linguistic beauty and thrilling sense of wonder you find in Bradbury's stories.

quote:

Originally posted by crumley:
Those collaborative novels are a bit odd, aren't they? It's hard to understand the motive behind them .

$$$.

Clarke's health has been shaky for years now. I think we're seeing a repeat of the pattern that Asimov went through in the years before (and after) he died -- i.e. a lot of stuff appeared with his name on it in big letters as a selling point that he really didn't write: Robot City, Isaac's Universe, I-Bots, the Norby series "co-written" by Janet Asimov, and a trilogy of novels expanded from Asimov's shorter fiction by Robert Silverberg. New novels continue to be written by other authors based on concepts he created. On the other hand, you can hardly blame them for wanting to provide for their heirs (and the lure of easy money from the publishers eager to wave contracts under their noses).



[This message has been edited by positronic (edited 03-28-2002).]

Be there to join Ray Bradbury as he receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 11:30 am on Monday, April 1. (This is no April Fool's joke.)
Ray's star will be in front of Larry Edmunds Bookshop, 6644 Hollywood Boulevard, in Hollywood, Califonia.

Ray is being honored in Los Angeles in April as the city is reading "Fahrenhiet 451" in its first citywide reading program.

Ray will be there, as will Charlton Heston.

Check out www.lapl.org/F451