The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Arthur Dent’s house is unexpectedly demolished to make room for a highway, and then his planet is, too. Thankfully his friend Ford Prefect is actually an alien, and hitchhikes them both off of Earth just in time. Very improbably they end up on Heart of Gold, a state-of-the-art spaceship recently stolen by the two-headed, three-armed President of the Galaxy, Zaphod Beeblebrox. Heart of Gold is powered by improbability, and they use it to locate the most improbable planet of all… the mythical Magrathea, a planet that creates designer planets for rich people.

What can I say? It’s still a perfect book. So funny and much of it has aged so well. The short chapters and excerpts from the fictional Guide make it very readable. On this read show more I especially loved how funny Zaphod is, and the scene toward the end making fun of cops who think they are not like other cops. ("I don't go around gratuitously shooting people and then bragging about it afterward in seedy space-rangers bars, like some cops I could mention! I go around shooting people gratuitously and then I agonize about it afterward for hours to my girlfriend!") I own the 6-book omnibus so although I’ve read the whole series a few times this is the first time I’m appreciating the first book on its own instead of as a chapter in the larger story. It’s more cliffhanger-y than I remember - the characters escape from the current sticky situation and are safe on Heart of Gold, but we still don’t know why Zaphod stole the ship or why he messed with his own brains.

Unfortunately I am docking it half a star for how criminally underwritten Trillian is, but did you know that she’s canonically not white? Funny how the adaptations always leave that part out. show less

What can I possibly say about The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy that hasn't already been said? That reading it in the original language takes the fun to a higher and more complete level, adding nuances of bitter irony that have completely disappeared in the Italian translation.

La Guida galattica per autostopisti è solo apparentemente un libro umoristico. O meglio, è un libro umoristico, ma non solo. In realtà ha una serie incredibile di chiavi di lettura, che lo rendono attuale e perfettamente godibile ancora oggi, cosa che spesso non accade con la hard SF degli anni '70. Sicuramente alla base della scrittura ci sono esperienze hippy e una certa dose di LSD, e si sentono tutte, nei colpi di scena e nelle scenografie, così come show more nella filosofia dei personaggi (memorabile ed assolutamente esilarante è il robot depresso Marvin, che con la sua depressione provoca il suicidio della macchina di supporto dei poliziotti galattici venuti ad arrestare i protagonisti).
In realtà la Guida ha molto a che fare con il mondo odierno, con il consumismo, la pubblicità e la globalizzazione, e da questo punto di vista è profetica. Ma soprattutto ci lascia un messaggio fondamentale: "Non lasciatevi predere dal panico"! show less

I first encountered this in the form of a cassette of the BBC broadcasts owned by a British housemate in the late 70s. Practically in tears with laughter, I immediately copied the tape (yes, I know, copyright infringement...but I couldn't get a copy in the States at that time) and proceeded to listen it to repeatedly.

I resisted the book for years. I figured that it would be a huge disappointment after the tape. However, eventually the tape was worn out; it still wasn't available in the States; I had long moved onto another house, so I caved. It was a different experience than the audio version but still extremely funny. I don't think there's a paragraph in the book that doesn't have some bit of humor in it...usually quite strange show more humor. Adams has mastered that coming-out-of-left-field look on life that only Pratchett, the Monty Python folks and a few others have matched.

Interestingly, I've never reread the book and don't feel any compulsion to do so though I've since purchased the BBC audio and listened to it many, many times. It's not that I don't find the jokes funny; I still do. I just prefer to listen to it. Listening to Marvin, alone, makes it all worthwhile.

Everyone, whether they are science fiction aficionados or not, should give this book a try. show less

This is a book that I can't evaluate fairly. When I was a kid, I read my copies till they fell apart. It's loopy, cynical, absurd, solipsistic humor is at the base in my worldview. But you know what, it still rocks. The sentences are poetry and perfect British humor. The galaxy is wonderfully dysfunctional; Earth's destruction (and construction) hilariously pointless.

This is one of those books for which I need to be in the right mood. This British, Terry Gilliamesque humor evokes more of a light chortle than a full on guffaw from me, and is always on the razor's edge of falling flat. (It took me seventeen attempts to finally take to the movie Brazil, for example.) I've picked up this book repeatedly over the years, knowing it is my duty as an intelligent reader to spend time with it, knowing its cultural contributions--only to lose steam within a few chapters. And it's only about 150pp of 35 trim chapters! But this time it worked. I had a great time. Adams toys with all the elements that make a great sci-fi thriller and adds in laceratingly humorous commentary on mankind (I really did guffaw when a show more certain extraterrestrial was taken aback at the fact that Earthlings couldn't figure out how to get to Alpha Centari yet--I mean, it's only a mere 4 light years away!). Adams also sheds light on the fact that, really, most of us don't really know what the Big Question is (so seeking the Big Answer is built on a false premise). Brilliant. I also now know what Richard Feynman meant by "So long, and thanks for all the fish" and why the Earth and mice are actually critical parts of the meaning of everything. I look forward to stopping off for a bite to eat at a certain restaurant now. show less

I first read these as a student in the late 80s. when cell phones were the size of bricks and extortionately expensive. At a time when a hand held electronic gadget that held the knowledge of the universe was something quite unimaginable. I do wonder how anyone coming to this now sees these flights of fancy from the 70s. At the time of writing, they were extraordinary, now every 7 year old with phone has access to the knowledge of the universe (also known as the internet).

Anyway, I love these. They so fresh and fun and completely out of left field. And it makes me feel like a teenager again, all wide eyed in awe of the world at large. I have to say that reading them now I can see how I related to Arthur Dent - his world had just been show more turned upside down and it was a voyage of discovery. Much like me as a fairly sheltered 18 year old heading out to university - let out alone into the world and frankly lost at sea.

Some wonderful characters, who can fail to love Marvin and loathe the self satisfied doors. Oh to be 18 and reading these for the first time again... show less

“He felt that his whole life was some kind of dream and he sometimes wondered whose it was and whether they were enjoying it.”

Firstly I should admit that this was not the first time that I've read this book. Unfortunately I'm old enough to have joined the clamour for it when it was first released in 1979.( It was the Harry Potter of it's day amongst male teenagers, a must read).

I won't say too much about the plot other than saying that the lead character Arthur Dent is rescued seconds before the earth is destroyed to make way for a cosmic super-highway by his friend Ford Perfect, a cosmic alien hitchhiker who had been living on Earth for the past 15 years disguised as a human. Earth had not as yet visited any other planets so did show more not even know that there was Alien life out there. This then is the story of Arthur Dent's initial adventures in space and time although in truth all Arthur wants to find is a decent cup of tea.

Personally I think the credulous Arthur is a great character but Douglas Adams also goes to great lengths to describe how the technology of his world works in a totally bonkers fashion. Adams was truly a master of the absurd. I mean anyone who can dream up a character called 'Slartibartfast' has to be a bit special IMHO.

Coupled with this touch of the bizarre the book contains some quite insightful reflections into the human condition and sticks two fingers up to our Political system as he lampoons mankind’s endless foibles and failings. Adams has created a surreal universe and to top it all off he has solved the ' Meaning of Life and all that' and apparently it is 42. Perhaps the book is showing it's age now in a digital world but it is still a very good read. show less