Mostly Harmless

Out of all the Hitchhiker's Gude to the Galaxy books, I think I must digress and say that 'Mostly Harmless' does not, in fact, refer to the Earth, but to itself.

The book is mostly harmless except when it isn't.

In fact, it isn't mostly harmless at all.

There are many humorous passages and lots of quirky zingers and a sensation of the penultimate plotless surreality of life, the universe, and everything, but like LIFE, itself, it just feels like an accumulation of STUFF THAT HAPPENS.

Trying to find out the great question to the answer to the universe has mostly derailed in service to living a bit of life and trying to get a little enjoyment out of it before we die... which sounds, suspiciously, like what we all do.

COME ON! WHO WANTS TO show more READ ABOUT THAT???

But then, seeing where an alternate universe Trillian winds up and watching Ford confront the corporate mega-annoyance of the publishing industry around The Guide does have it's bright points... but let's face it... Arthur's daughter is a REAL PAIN IN THE RANDOM.

Seriously, the whole book goes just south of a Vogon Poetry Reading after that point. It's almost like we're reading a tragedy but we don't really want to admit to it. We'll order room service and buy New Zealand but that's just a funny bit to cover up for the fact that LIFE HAS IT IN FOR US.

If this book wasn't so accurate in its hilarity, I might want to take a boot to its posterior.

Mostly Harmless my ***. show less

Because of its position as the fifth book in the hopelessly inaccurately named H2G2 trilogy, this is the book I have read the fewest times.

It has all of the wonderful prose, mind boggling ideas and absurd situations that make the H2G2 my favourite SF.

However, Mostly Harmless is my least favourite of the books. This could be because Random Dent is perhaps the only character in the whole saga that I just don't like. More likely it is down to the fact that, unless you happen to be Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz, it doesn't end well.

Finally, I have read the fifth part of this trilogy! I consumed the first four, almost as they were released but, somehow conspired to miss the last part.
So, what do I think of it? It is certainly the best book in the series. I get the feeling that Douglas Adams was probably becoming increasingly keen upon the idea of wrapping up the series and this, the first original storyline to make it to the publishers, does this in a wholly fitting manner. The book has passages that made me laugh out aloud but, perhaps more significantly, areas that left an aching sadness. One wonders how much of his own feelings about his childhood were contained in Random's cry for a state of belonging.
The book ends up in an almost nihilistic destruction of show more everything: the characters, the Hitch Hiker's Guide and, once more, the Earth.
Adams finally proved himself capable of producing a worthy novel with this work and I am pleased to have, at last, read it. show less

Somewhere in a parallel universe, Douglas Adams's immensely clever, imaginative, and hilarious books also include a satisfying plot and characters that you can care about and enjoy caring about. Until trans-dimensional publishing becomes a thing, we are stuck with five really fun books that will delight and then disappoint. It seems sacrilegious to criticize something so amazing, but there it is--mostly harmless. I love what Adams accomplished, but a second later it fills me with longing. Advice: Read the first three, skip the last two.

After being a bit disappointed by ‘So Long and Thanks for All The Fish’ I really did like this book much, much more. I was very glad to see that Fenchurch’s appearance didn’t last very long. It seems like she wasn’t quite liked as much as the author expected, and Adams realized this and removed her quickly in the next one. I’d have to agree, and was very happy about her quick exit. She was a pointless character and took away from the relationship between Arthur and Trillian, which to me seemed more fitting. I loved the Lamuella world that Arthur ended up on for awhile. It was fascinating to see a world so similar to Earth, but also quite different at the same time. The concept of Time Travel and it’s effect on the original show more Time Line was really interesting to see and I thought it was very interesting. It was also wonderful to have it connected to one of the previous books through Arthur. Though not my favorite of the series, I thought it was great improvement over the previous book. show less

How can you not love a humourous sci-fi that quotes Voltaire?

And also this:

"Just look at cash point machines for instance. Queues of people standing around waiting to have their fingerprints read, their retinas scanned, bits of skin scraped from the nape of the neck and undergoing instant (or nearly instant - a good six or seven seconds in tedious reality) genetic analysis, then having to answer trick questions about members of their family they didn't even remember they had, and about their recorded preferences for tablecloth colors. And that's just to get a bit of spare cash for the weekend."

makes me think that Adams was indeed a time-traveler. Because with all the new measures my bank has recently been implementing (new EU show more directives, apparently), we're just about at the same stage... show less

I don't know how to rate this installment. On the one hand, the writing is excellent, as always. The narration is outstanding. However, there's a vein of bitterness pushing through the narrative. It's subtle, and for the most part I didn't notice it as I listened. I don't think I even realized what it was I noticed until the book was done. After my brain calmed down from shouting, "What?!!?!! That's IT!!! What?!!?!!" I couldn't help but wonder if Mr. Adam's real purpose was to keep people from badgering him to write more in the series. I haven't done any research on that question - I'm not sure if I want to know or not.

All else being equal, I wouldn't even consider reading the posthumous 6th book in this series. Frankly, on first show more hearing about it, I felt downright offended. Then I saw the author - Eoin Colfer. So, I'm going to read the next volume and see how it goes. I don't want to expect brilliance. Only a whacko nutcase could expect brilliance from a 6th book in a series after the author murdered the main characters and destroyed the planet central to the narrative in every possible universe. Apparently, I am that nutcase. show less