Interpretations of 2001: A Space Odyssey onto it all manner of ideas relating to the film. The Monolith in the movie seems to represent and even trigger epic transitions in the history of human evolution, evolution of man from ape-like beings to civilised people, hence the odyssey of mankind. Vincent LoBrutto's biography of Kubrick notes that for many, Clarke's novel is the key to understanding the monolith. Similarly, Geduld observes that "the monolith ...has a very simple explanation in Clarke's novel", though she later asserts that even the novel does not fully explain the ending. "Rolling Stone" reviewer Bob McClay sees the film as a four-movement
Space Odyssey Space Odyssey The "Space Odyssey" series is a series of science fiction novels by the writer Arthur C. Clarke. Two of the novels have been made into feature films, released in 1968 and 1984 respectively. Two of Clarke's early short stories may also be considered part of the series. Short stories: Novels: Comic books: It was reported on Yahoo Entertainment in 2000 that M.G.M. and Tom Hanks were in discussions regarding turning both "2061: Odyssey Three" and "3001: The Final Odyssey" into movies (Hanks would reportedly play Frank Poole in the "3001" film). An update in 2001 stated that there