2001: A Space Odyssey Part 5, Chapter 39

Into the Eye

• Bowman prepares to leave the ship in the space pod.
• He's not sure he'll get back, and even if he does, he's going to die alone; he can't stay alive till a ship gets to him, since the hibernation won't work without a computer.
• Sucks for him.
• He seems cool with it though.
• Is he brave? Does the novel simply have an utter inability to describe actual human emotion, such as fear of death?
• These are the big questions you think about as you go to land on a giant slab—excuse Shmoop, a giant Star Gate.
• He starts falling towards the sla…Star Gate, and something weird happens.
• The top seems to open, or fold out. He see stars inside it.
• Then he disappears—forever! Or until the next chapter anyway.