I know that these are considered classics of the genre, and have been massively influential on two decades of genre writing and TV. Yet try as I might when I read them, I just couldn't see why. Creative, yes, imaginative, yes, and occasionally very sharp. But the characters just seemed flat to me, and I couldn't understand why anyone who wasn't a fourteen year old boy would find this more than sporadically amusing. ( )

I thought this was cute! I'm admittedly a little late to the party on this book--I saw the film first, and then only after it had been making the rounds on TV for a couple of years. I'm sure I would have fallen in love with this if I had been introduced to the book when I was younger, but unfortunately I kept comparing the book to the film in my mind as I read descriptions of surroundings. Well, that's one lesson learned: book first, film later!

Of course the undeniably British snarkiness in the book is a delight, and the world that Adams created is certainly engrossing enough to get lost in. What was actually really remarkable to me is how well the book holds up in 2009. Aside from some comments about digital watches, I couldn't believe the book was originally published in 1979! The characters are well-formed, and in general it was a good show...but I guess I still felt a little underwhelmed at the end. I can certainly understand how it gained a huge following, but I guess I didn't go as nuts over it as people did thirty years ago. I understand it's part of a series, but I felt like the ending was a little too abrupt and neat.

I have the film-tie-in version; this makes for a snazzy cover but I couldn't bring myself to wade through the "93 pages!" of material about the making of the film. Having almost another entire book to read at the end of the actual book is probably what prompted my surprise in suddenly reaching the end.

In all: a cute, irreverent book which got me reading sci-fi (which I don't usually go for), but I guess I missed the boat on falling in love with it, which makes me a little sad. In all, I don't think I'm going to invest myself in the rest of the series. ( )

What a fun read this is. It's not what I would normally pick up but I heard a lot of good things about it and have been meaning to read this series for a long time now so recently I got the first book. I wasn't sure what to expect from it but found myself really enjoying it. It is an odd story and a very silly one too, but what I really liked about it is that it's so funny at times.

The characters have great personalities that are so amusing especially that of Arthur. One of my favorite quotes in the book is made by Zaphod Beeblebrox though, "If there's anything more important than my ego around, I want it caught and shot now." And then there's Marvin, he has got to be the most depressed robot that ever existed, the poor fellow just can't see any light at the end of the tunnel but it's funny how his depressing mood saved them in the end. The concept that we are all part of an experiment is quite interesting too, who knows maybe we really are after all!

Put together, the great characters, their journey through space on the Heart of Gold and their adventures make for a witty and fun book. I am definitely going to read the rest of the books in the series. ( )

read too many times falling apart ( )

movie tie in and good as usual ( )