ecl@ahuta.UUCP (ecl) (01/02/85)
THE ODYSSEY FILE by Arthur C. Clarke & Peter Hyams
Del Rey, 1984, $395.
A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper
Just as it is impossible to think of 2010 without being reminded of
2001, so it is impossible to review THE ODYSSEY FILE without referring to
Jerome Agel's THE MAKING OF KUBRICK'S 2001. Agel's book (published in 1970
by Signet and, for all I know, out of print now, though renewed interest may
bring it back) had 367 pages (including a 96-page photo insert), lots of
diagrams, reviews from the media (both good and bad), and even an excerpt
from the MAD magazine parody of 2001. It cost $1.50. Clarke and Hyam's
book is 148 pages (including a 16 page color photo insert) of large type, no
diagrams, and no reviews--but you do get an appendix of how to use MITE on
the Kaypro computer. In fact, a lot of what you get is little more than an
ad for (or to be charitable, let's say a paean to) the Kaypro. Interspersed
with Hyams's and Clarke's comments on the film are such gems as "I'm way
ahead of you on Son of Hal: that's one reason I'm instantly WordStarring and
printing out our immortal prose."
Now it's true that THE ODYSSEY FILE does not pretend to be what THE
MAKING OF 2001 was. THE ODYSSEY FILE is described on its cover as "the
unique computer correspondence between the men who made it happen" and
that's what it is. The problem is that reading someone else's unedited mail
files is b-o-r-i-n-g. There is a lot of space wasted on trivialities (like
Clarke telling Hyams that a TV show that he was in will be on Channel 4 in
the UK). There are a lot of cryptic comments (referring to page and line
numbers of the script). There *are* some interesting items, but the
reader/viewer who plunks down $3.95 expecting an in-depth look at the making
of 2010 is going to be very disappointed.
Evelyn C. Leeper
...{ihnp4, houxm, hocsj}!ahuta!ecl