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The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
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The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

by Douglas Adams

Series: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1)

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14,69720643 (4.24)444
20th century(71) 42(48) Adams(48) aliens(74) British(171) classic(75) comedy(266) Douglas Adams(114) English(60) fantasy(292) fiction(1,566) funny(74) h2g2(88) hitchhiker(55) Hitchhiker's Guide(74) humor(1,086) humour(563) made into movie(61) novel(219) own(113) paperback(71) read(324) satire(111) sci-fi(933) science fiction(2,047) series(134) sf(330) sff(118) space(79) space travel(69)

Member recommendations

  1. JessamyJane recommends Aberystwyth Mon Amour by Malcolm Pryce
  2. andejons recommends Astrotruckers by Mikael Niemi, "Similarly absurd stories set in space, even if Niemi has more grime."
  3. gandalf_grey recommends The Dirk Gently Omnibus by Douglas Adams
  4. unlucky recommends Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett, "Both are comedic with insight and satirical in nature, making fun of conventions in their respective genres."
  5. ut.tecum.loquerer recommends The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
  6. girlunderglass recommends The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut, "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 (see more) to Life, the Universe, and Everything". Adams certainly borrowed a lot from Vonnegut."
  7. ShelfMonkey recommends The Toyminator by Robert Rankin
  8. grizzly.anderson recommends The Automatic Detective by A. Lee Martinez, "A campy-SF 50's detective story that I think will appeal to the same sense of humor."
  9. revolutionary_marcia recommends Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett
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English (194)  Italian (4)  German (2)  Spanish (1)  Polish (1)  French (1)  Danish (1)  Portuguese (1)  Dutch (1)  All languages (206)
Showing 1-5 of 194 (next | show all)
This book (and radio/television series) is almost legendary now, and it's only after becoming personally acquainted with Douglas Adams' vivid imagination and absurd sense of humour that certain everyday names and cult catchphrases start to make sense. So that's where 'Babel fish' comes from! 'So long, and thanks for all the fish'. Not to mention that the 80s pop group Level 42 are said to have named their band after the meaning of life, the universe and everything.

Utterly random, but very entertaining, and Mr Adams' imagination is staggering. I love Marvin the Paranoid Android (I think we share a life philosophy), and can't wait to read the rest of the series. Better late than never! ( )
  AdonisGuilfoyle | Nov 21, 2009 |
With the release of a new book written in Adams’ world I wanted to reacquaint myself with Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect and the wonderful Marvin the Paranoid Android. As smart and as clever as I remembered with some sparkingly dialogue. An undoubted classic. ( )
1 vote theforestofbooks | Nov 14, 2009 |
Great book, better than the tapes ( )
1 vote trustcub | Nov 14, 2009 |
Good novel, personally enjoyed the BBC radio adaptation much better. However the novel was very funny and I intend to read the following four novels as well.
1 vote Aaroncast86 | Nov 13, 2009 |
Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end 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.

On this planet there is a book, one of the most remarkable books ever to come out of the great publishing houses of London: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Not a serious book, by any means; not a book to be enjoyed by anyone who takes things too seriously. Still, though, a wholly remarkable book.

It begins with the end of the world, and things go steadily downhill from there. Arthur Dent, the lone human survivor of the terrible, stupid tragedy which destroyed the Earth, finds himself pulled along on a madcap adventure with the President of the Galaxy, his best friend from Earth (who turns out to actually be from Betelgeuse Five), a terminally-depressed robot, and a girl he once met at a party and completely failed to get anywhere with. The results are hilarious.

Douglas Adams was a writer who excelled at the kind of non-sequitur humor best captured in Monty Python's sketches and films. However, if that were all there were to HGTG and its sequels, it would grow boring rather quickly. Fortunately, Adams' talents lay far beyond the merely absurd. Despite the silliness and the frequent asides (which quote the titular in-universe Guide), he makes you care about the characters. It's hard not to identify with Arthur Dent's inability to cope with the bizarre circumstances he finds himself in; one imagines this would be the reaction of anyone suddenly taken away from everything they know, never to return. It's hard not to empathize with Ford Prefect, the man from Betelgeuse who finds himself trapped on a planet out in the galactic boondocks for fifteen years. And hell, even Marvin elicits some sympathy for the interminable bleakness of his lot in life.

Also, specifically in reference to the 2005 audiobook recording: While the original audiobooks (featuring Adams himself as the narrator) are not bad by any means, Stephen Fry is amazing. He was practically the only good thing about the film adaptation, and this new audiobook recording (which was a tie-in to that movie) is probably the only good thing that came out of it, in the end. Unfortunately, the fact that the movie flopped apparently also means that we won't get recordings of the rest of the books read by Fry. Still, the Adams editions are perfectly adequate. ( )
2 vote stochasticooze | Nov 11, 2009 |
Showing 1-5 of 194 (next | show all)
Humorous science fiction novels have notoriously limited audiences; they tend to be full of ''in'' jokes understandable only to those who read everything from Jules Verne to Harlan Ellison. The ''Hitchhiker's Guide'' is a delightful exception, being written for anyone who can understand the thrill that might come to a crew of interstellar explorers who discover a mysterious planet, dead for five million years, and then hear on their ''sub etha'' radio a ghostly voice, hollow, reedy, insubstantial: ''Greetings to you. ... This is a recorded announcement, as I'm afraid we're all out at the moment. ...''
 
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Series (with order)
Canonical Title
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Awards and honors
Epigraph
Dedication
for

Johnny Brock and Clare Gorst

and all other Arlingtonians

for tea, sympathy, and a sofa
First words
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.
Quotations
Don't Panic
If there's anything more important than my ego around here, I want it caught and shot now.
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
[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."
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Book description

Amazon.com (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 Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:23 -0400)

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