I read a quote by Ray B. somewhere talking about the 2001 film - Ray said he loved it up unitl the last section, which (he said) made no sense at all (until after he had read the novel, that is).
I have to say that that was my experience of the 2001 film / novel as well.
'The Sentinel', the short story that inspired the film (the novel came after the film) is fantastic. Also, a terrific collection of Clarke stories is The Wind from the Sun.

Reviving this old thread just to point to a new online review of the 1971 book MARS AND THE MIND OF MAN, which is the record of a symposium about the planet Mars inspired by the Mariner probe. Bradbury, Clarke and Sagan were all key contributors. Sad to think that none of them are here to see the latest Mars rover Curiosity.

http://www.brainpickings.org/i...clarke-caltech-1971/