Kyle+W

//2001: A Space Odyssey// SparkNotes PLOT OVERVIEW The book starts by leading the reader to believe that the events are taking place many years prior to human civilization. Humans would eventually evolve from the “man-apes” in the story. The man-apes come across a monolith that looks like a gigantic rock, which has fallen from the sky and is controlled by extraterrestrial beings. They have the power to use the monoliths to control the actions of the apes and teach them new things. Then, nearly 3 million years in the future, human beings find a monolith on the moon that looks exactly like the one from way back when, only much larger. Upon further investigation, and once it has been activated by the sun, it is determined that this monolith has ties with Saturn, specifically Saturn’s moons. At this point, they decide to travel to Saturn to further investigate. The shuttle, named Discovery, is piloted by Dr. Poole and Dr. Bowman. On the way to Saturn, an onboard computer named Hal begins to malfunction. It begins telling both pilots that parts of the ship are failing, even though they are not. When threatened by the pilots that they will unplug it, Hal kills Dr. Poole, and the rest of the passengers on board with the exception of Bowman. Alone, Dr. Bowman finally reaches the moon of Saturn and inspects the third monolith up close. Upon touching it, he discovers that it is a portal to another universe. He is taken to a room where he falls asleep and slowly his thoughts and memories are drained from his head. He is then declared an immortal star child who will live in the Solar System forever. CHARACTER LIST  1. Moon-Watch – Moon-Watch was a man-ape who existed on the continent of Africa some 3 million years BC. He is one of the smartest man-apes of the time and is very advanced for his age. He can walk properly, and has been taught to use weapons to hunt for food and make life easier in general. Moon-Watch comes from the species of apes that existed before the evolution of human beings.  2. Hal – Hal is not a human character, but rather a robot. He was designed by humans to help assist on the flight to Saturn in search of whatever extraterrestrial life created the monolith found on the moon. He is the smartest of all characters and acts much like a human would. He actually managed to kill Dr. Poole, in self defense, on the flight to Saturn when he threatened to disconnect him, thus rendering him useless.  3. Dr. Frank Poole – Dr. Poole is an extremely smart scientist and astronaut who is one of the two pilots of the Discovery chosen to remain awake the entire trip. On the trip to Saturn when the space ship’s computer Hal begins to malfunction, he attempts to fix the problem. He is soon after killed by Hal after threatening to shut the system down. Dr. Poole never made it to Saturn. IMPORTANT QUOTATIONS EXPLAINED  1. “But as long as [nuclear weapons] existed, [they] were living on borrowed time.”

This quotation expresses one of the characteristic themes of this book, the fact that technology can, and most likely will come back to bite us at some point in time. It further enforces that these weapons came about as a result of the evolution of mankind, just like the basic weapons that Moon-Watch created some 3 million years before.

 2. “There was no mistaking the flaccid outlines of a suit that had lost its pressure and was open to vacuum.”

This quote describes the suit of Dr. Poole after he had been killed outside of the space ship by Hal while performing repair work that never really needed to be done. Dr. Poole was one of the first people to die on the space mission. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING  1. //I, Robot// by Isaac Asimov. I believe that readers who enjoyed //2001: A Space Odyssey// will also enjoy I, Robot by Isaac Asimov. These two books are linked because of the prevailing themes in both of them. Both books deal with the evolution of technology and ultimately how technology may someday put the human race at risk.

 2. Another book that readers may find interesting if they liked this book may be any book from the //Star Wars// series. Both //Star// Wars and //2001: A Space Odyssey// are heavily centered around events that occur in space. In addition, both books also deal with technology, and the evolution of technology.