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Loading... The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1979)▾LibraryThing recommendations  21 0198 The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (ut.tecum.loquerer, coliemta)coliemta: One's more literary and the other more science-fiction-y, but they're both bizarre, hilarious and similar in feel. Most people who like one will enjoy the other. 91 Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers by Grant Naylor (Konran)60 The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett (mcenroeucsb)mcenroeucsb: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy : Science Fiction :: The Color of Magic : Fantasy 93 The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut (girlunderglass, catfantastic)girlunderglass: before The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - more than 20 years before it - there was THIS book about space travel, time travel, and the "ultimate answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything". Adams certainly borrowed a lot from Vonnegut. 50 Redshirts by John Scalzi (mcenroeucsb)31 Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (wvlibrarydude)wvlibrarydude: Satire and humor that will split your gut. Read if you want to laugh at humanity. 75 The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett (Nikkles)10 The Sheriff of Yrnameer by Michael Rubens (MyriadBooks)21 Good Omens by Neil Gaiman (mcenroeucsb)mcenroeucsb: Good Omens is uneven in writing quality, but the flippant interactions between some of the angels and demons very much reminds me of Douglas Adams. 00 John Dies at the End by David Wong (fundevogel)99 Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (souloftherose)souloftherose: Although Neverwhere and The Hitchhiker's Guide (THHG) are different genres (the first is urban fantasy, the second comic science-fiction) I felt there was a lot of similarity between the characters of Richard Mayhew (in Neverwhere) and Arthur Dent (in THHG). Both are a kind of everyman with whom the reader can identify and both embody a certain 'Britishness'. And they're both stonkingly good books by British authors.… (more) 01 Astrotruckers by Mikael Niemi (andejons)andejons: Similarly absurd stories set in space, even if Niemi has more grime. 12 The Automatic Detective by A. Lee Martinez (grizzly.anderson)grizzly.anderson: A campy-SF 50's detective story that I think will appeal to the same sense of humor. 12 The Toyminator by Robert Rankin (ShelfMonkey)13 The Wishlist by Eoin Colfer (missmaddie)missmaddie: Follow the unlikely hero through a tongue-in-cheek, sci-fi adventure 24 Only You Can Save Mankind by Terry Pratchett (mybookshelf)35 Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett (unlucky)unlucky: Both are comedic with insight and satirical in nature, making fun of conventions in their respective genres. 02 Aberystwyth Mon Amour by Malcolm Pryce (JessamyJane)25 Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett (revolutionary_marcia)
(see all 24 recommendations) ▾Will you like it?
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 Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. » Add other authors (60 possible) | Author name | Role | Type of author | Work? | Status | | Adams, Douglas | Author | primary author | all editions | confirmed | | Adams, Douglas Noël | Narrator | secondary author | some editions | confirmed | | Fry, Stephen | Narrator | secondary author | some editions | confirmed | | Irineu da Costa, Carlos | Translator | secondary author | some editions | confirmed | | Jones, Terry | Introduction | secondary author | some editions | confirmed | | Markkula, Pekka | Translator | secondary author | some editions | confirmed | | Molnár, István | Translator | secondary author | some editions | confirmed | | Schwarz, Benjamin | Translator | secondary author | some editions | confirmed | | Serra, Laura | Translator | secondary author | some editions | confirmed | | Tidholm, Thomas | Translator | secondary author | some editions | confirmed | | Wright, Ian | Cover artist | secondary author | some editions | confirmed |
▾Work-to-work relationships Is contained inIs a retelling ofHas the adaptationInspiredHas as a study
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| Epigraph |
Information from the Dutch Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to the English one. Geen Paniek  | |
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for
Johnny Brock and Clare Gorst
and all other Arlingtonians
for tea, sympathy, and a sofa | |
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Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-eight million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea. | |
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Don't Panic If there's anything more important than my ego around here, I want it caught and shot now. The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't. For thousands of years, the mighty ships tore across the empty wastes of space and finally dived screaming on to the first planet they came across---which happened to be the Earth---where due to a terrible miscalculation of scale the entire battle fleet was accidentally swallowed by a small dog. Life! Don't talk to me about life. | |
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[Book 1 Only] "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" is the title of the first in a series of novels (as well as the first in a series of radio dramas). The five works in the series are generally referred to as "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" or "The Hitchhiker Trilogy", as is the series of radio dramas. Though there are unabridged audio recordings of these works, the radio dramas are considerably different from the printed works. Eoin Colfer, of "Artemis Fowl" fame, contracted in 2008 to write the next volume of the "Trilogy." Do not combine with 'Douglas Adams' Hitchhikers Guide.....' - this is the graphic novel adaptation. | |
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Information from the Hungarian Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to the English one. | |
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▾References References to this work on external resources.  Wikipedia in English (23)
▾LibraryThing members' description
| Haiku summary |
Arthur's drab lifestyle/The answer is forty two/ What is the question?
(hreilly) | |
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▾Book descriptions Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0345391802, Mass Market Paperback)
Join Douglas Adams's hapless hero Arthur Dent as he travels the galaxy with his intrepid pal Ford Prefect, getting into horrible messes and generally wreaking hilarious havoc. Dent is grabbed from Earth moments before a cosmic construction team obliterates the planet to build a freeway. You'll never read funnier science fiction; Adams is a master of intelligent satire, barbed wit, and comedic dialogue. The Hitchhiker's Guide is rich in comedic detail and thought-provoking situations and stands up to multiple reads. Required reading for science fiction fans, this book (and its follow-ups) is also sure to please fans of Monty Python, Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, and British sitcoms. (retrieved from Amazon Thu, 14 Feb 2013 13:47:14 -0500) (see all 7 descriptions) ▾Library descriptions After Earth is demolished to make way for a new hyperspatial expressway, Arthur Dent begins to hitch-hike through space. » see all 20 descriptions |
 Google Books — Loading... Three editions of this book were published by Audible.com. See editions
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The first time I tried to read this book years ago I didn't really understand what I was getting myself into. You see I took the book far too seriously, and didn't really understand dry British humor at that point in my life. Suffice it to say that I didn't make it very far in the book all those years ago.
This time I had a feeling that I would enjoy the book much more, having developed more of a taste for British humor, as well as for things that are kind of off-the-wall. But, because of my prior experience with the book I decided to listen to the audiobook this time around. I had heard from several people that the audiobook was excellent, and I have to say that they were right.
There's something to be said for listening to a book being read by someone of the same nationality as the author. It made even more sense to listen to the book after learning that it originally began as a BBC comedy in 1978, and was later developed into this book as well as the sequels.
Many times while listening to this audiobook I found myself laughing out loud at the precarious situations, and the background stories as to how those situations arose. Arthur Dent's character is just priceless, and there is so much to love about the interactions between him and Ford Prefect.
Little tidbits of information are given to the reader (or in this case, the listener) and you really have to pay attention to them, because they all come into play later in the book. For instance, I love the parallel stories between what the construction workers do to Arthur's house and what the Vogons do to Earth.
I can't believe that I held off for so long in reading this book, yet I am glad that I waited until I was fully able to appreciate the humor. It is off-the-wall, unusual and irreverent, but it is a bundle of fun along the way.
The narrator of this audiobook was very pleasant to listen to, and I would recommend this to anyone who has an interest in humorous science fiction stories. (