Rendezvous With Rama: Why Is This a Classic?

Arthur C. Clarke is one of science fiction's most influential authors, and Rendezvous with Rama is often considered one of his best novels.  Having just finished it, I'm left wondering why?

The United Planets' Spaceguard organization discovers this object of clearly not natural origins coming through the solar system and sends a team to study it.  Most of the novel follows the research of the team on the object, which has been dubbed Rama.  Rama eventually comes close to the sun and saps some energy and matter from the sun before moving on to its final location.  Nothing else happens.

The team's research, while interesting, is completely inconsequential. Even scientists in early parts of the novel consider Rama a complete waste of time.  The characters are bland and see no development over the course of the novel.

The concept is an interesting one.  A world constructed by alien life forms moving through space, its creators seemingly long gone.  There is a lot of potential here.  For a while it appeared as if the novel was building up to a big reveal of the Ramans. No such reveal comes.  Rendezvous with Rama is a prime example of a brilliant concept that suffered from excruciatingly poor execution.  Clarke's Childhood's End was a considerably more engaging read, and much more deserving of the praise this novel gets.