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

As with Princess Bride I'm phenomenally late to the Douglas Adams party, but in spite of my dislike for science fiction (and, to be fair, space-related science fact, for that matter), my resistance was been worn down and I thought I had half a chance of enjoying it on audio. When I saw an edition narrated by Stephen Fry, I figured my chances increased to at least 3:2.

Summed up thoughts:

I still don't like science fiction - If I'd been reading this book, I'd have DNF'd it at Zaphod Beeblebrox, and never even gotten to Slartibartfast. The combination of space and names I can't pronounce would have spelled its doom. Also, as much as I ultimately enjoyed Adams' humor, the space stuff still bored me.

The opening description of Zaphod show more Beeblebrox was almost the second death knell for this book; the author's description of him, in the scene right before he absconds with the Heart of Gold, was so unerringly and disturbingly similar to another alien life form currently squatting in an oval office somewhere in the US, that I almost couldn't go on. Fortunately Zaphod Beeblebrox soon shows signs of intelligence and self-reflection that made it obvious he was a vastly higher being.

Stephen Fry is amazing. Anyone who doesn't think a narrator can make a book better has never listened to Stephen Fry. The book stands on its own merits, but I'd not have finished it without his voice bringing it to life. I know this because I'd originally started a different edition and I couldn't get past Ford and Arthur's first inadvertent hitchhiking experience.

Funniest moment for me: the "spoiler alert" Adams gives out before the Heart of Gold lands on the mythical planet (of course I can't remember its name, it's some complex science fiction word). That made me laugh out loud.

Overall, the story started slowly for me and I honestly couldn't figure out what all the fuss was about. Once they they landed on the mythical planet, things got more interesting, and I was just really getting into the story when, of course, it ended. Now I have to hope and pray Stephen Fry narrated an audio version of The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

I'm keeping this in my pocket for possible use in the Snakes and Ladder game. show less

I absolutely adore this book. It's one of the few books that can have me giggling in public places every time. Personally, it only gets better with re-reading. That being said, it's not for everyone. There's a certain sense of humor that is going to love it and if you don't have it this book will just leave you scratching your head. On the plus side, it's a very quick read. So if you don't enjoy it and are the kind of person who can't quite halfway through, you won't have to suffer for long. There are a million inside jokes that people who have read and loved it will get, and you can often use them during small talk to see if a new friend might become part of your inner circle.

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.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams is a classic science fiction novel that is both clever and humorous. Originally produced as a radio show in 1978, it was published as a novel in the early 1980’s and what is surprising to me is that this satire is still relevant today. Written in a tongue-in-cheek manner, the author pokes fun at everything we do, say, eat or think.

Learning that the author wrote for both Monty Python and Dr. Who actually helped me to understand how he was able to blend his wry, dry humor with some very strange science fiction to create a story that is both whimsical and surreal. There have been literally thousands of reviews written on this book so I am not going to discuss any plot points but I show more totally enjoyed my reading and I am in awe at the author’s ability to put together some of the most quotable phrases ever.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was a quick, smart and funny read. I now consider myself a fan of Douglas Adams and I even forgive him for the abrupt ending that pretty well left everything hanging. Since I want to know what’s going to happen next, I guess I need to scurry off and get the next book in the series. show less

Mark Kermode, my favourite film critic (happy birthday, Dr Kermode!), has a simple criterion that comedies should fulfil to be considered successful. Any film that purports to be a comedy, whether it be a rom-com (a comedy featuring a love story), a zom-com (a comedy featuring the undead), a nom-com (a comedy featuring food), or a com-com (a comedy featuring left-wing socialist political policies), any of these should make the filmgoer laugh at least six times before it deserves the title of “comedy”. And laugh means laugh, as in out loud, it's not enough to smile wanly and think I appreciate the humour of the current on-screen shenanigans.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, for me at least, failed this test, although it did show more satisfy a somewhat less stringent metric known as the “one laugh test”. That's not to say the book isn't funny; I was amused through much of it. I also enjoyed Douglas Adams' writing style a great deal, although I was slightly uncomfortable doing so when I noticed something familiar about it and realised that he has a similar style to me (on those grim days for mankind when I do write something). My style was picked up from reading all the Discworld books as a teenager, and since Terry Pratchett has mentioned The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as an influence, I suppose ultimately, in some timey-wimey way, Douglas Adams writes like himself.

I did like this book, from its snappy plot, through its colourful characters, to its witty writing. I'll probably read the other four in the trilogy at some point. Was it an unputdownable romp and rollick from start to finish? Not really, no. I found it far too easy to put the book down, one of my own little metrics for measuring how much I'm enjoying a book. Sadly, I've been putting off this book for a long time, and now I've read it I think my teenage self would have adored this book far more than his grumpier more cynical older self. I guess I'll put it with [b:The Catcher in the Rye|7933650|The Catcher in the Rye|J.D. Salinger|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1280739226s/7933650.jpg|3036731] in the box marked “Books to give to younger-Lee when I invent a time machine”. show less

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