Question about the ending to 2001: A Space Odyssey

In 2001, does bowman get transported to distant galaxies far outside of the observable universe by the monolith?

donglepuss said:

In 2001, does bowman get transported to distant galaxies far outside of the observable universe by the monolith?

That depends on whether you watch the movie or read the book. The movie is quite clear that he's going far far beyond anywhere we can imagine. The book is more vague. I don't have the book any more (dang it!) but I think there was a mention of a galactic cluster, but that could easily have been within our own Galaxy. 3001 implies that the entities that created the monolith were local to this Galaxy, but that could be outside of what Clarke's original intentions were.

-Dan

I figured he was on Jupiter and then went back to Earth.

donglepuss said:

does bowman get transported to distant galaxies

As I recall it's not really specified. There is maybe a mention that the physical side of the alien entity is already obsolete/discarded, and that might imply a not exactly physical 'distance' for the trip, but there is no actual answer ( ... which I know about).

In the 3001 book it is hinted that the monolit might be still part of the physical side of the entities and is constrained by light speed

Algr said:

I figured he was on Jupiter and then went back to Earth.

Actually, in the book he was out at Saturn. It made more sense, really: Clarke said that the creation of the monolith at Saturn is what destroyed the moon that created the rings. But that didn't work well with the plot of the second book, which took place at Jupiter.

There's a Trivial Pursuit question about this that I flummox the questioner with: The card asks which planet Discovery went to but doesn't mention if it's asking about the book or the movie.

-Dan

Clarke’s views are not definitive - he co-wrote the screenplay with Stanley Kubrick, with the novel releases after the movie.

donglepuss said:

In 2001, does bowman get transported to distant galaxies far outside of the observable universe by the monolith?

If I remember correctly, he was transported to a Holiday Inn.

donglepuss said:

In 2001, does bowman get transported to distant galaxies far outside of the observable universe by the monolith?

Reading the book and watching the film both gave my the impression that he sorta transcended our "mundane" reality". Much like those civilizations in Ian M. Banks' books who just sorta "drop out of reality".

I mean he's sorta here there and everywhere at the same time. Like in the 4th dimension or some such.

In the book I remember he "travels" back to Earth to visit his mom one last time and, on the way, triggers a thermonuclear device commenting on the crude construction of the weapon.

Having read 3001 last week, I can tell you that the consciousness of Bowman was absorbed by a large alien device. We are told that the aliens are limited by the speed of light. So no go on extragalactic or even extrasolar.