So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (1984)

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish is set apart from the other Hitchhiker books in that it deals heavily with Arthur Dent’s love life. But, despite the differences in pacing and tone, it’s still an amusing, enjoyable listen with an ending that made me remember why I fell in love with these books in the first place. ( )

Eight years after his first hitchhiking experience, Arthur Dent is surprised to find himself back on Earth. Much to his amazement, it was not destroyed by Vogons after all. Arthur manages to pick up his old life pretty much right where he left off, although he does have to dispose of eight years accumulated junk mail and a lot of spoiled food in his fridge. Along the way, he meets a girl named Fenchurch (Fenny for short) who is convinced not is all right on Earth and whose feet don't touch the ground. And there is the issue of all the dolphins disappearing the same day the planet wasn't destroyed. God only knows what it all means. Fortunately He left behind a Final Message to Creation as an explanation.

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish is the fourth book in The Hitchhiker's trilogy. It has a much different tone than the ones prior as it is mostly a love story with very little space travel involved until the end. The humorous sub-plots still exist and we again run into Ford Prefect and see a small cameo by Marvin. While not my favorite in the series, I still found it an enjoyable read. ( )

I loved Martin Freeman's reading of The Hitchhikers guide, but I love Douglas Adams' reading even better. He did not do different voices or act out the book, but just read it. This book focus on Arthur, so if you don't like Arthur's character you will probably not enjoy this book. ( )

34) So long & thanks for all the fish – Douglas Adams (4/10) What a crap book. I’ve started so I’ll finish them all, but I never really understood the appeal of Douglas Adams. Its obvious he didn’t originally intend to write 5 books, the quality plummets & he really is scraping the barrel. Ironically the foreword is enthusiastic praise from Neil Gaiman, who is a much better writer. ( )

My blog post about this book is at this link. ( )