Life, the Universe and Everything
by Douglas Adams
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Book Summary Information
Author: Douglas AdamsEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-04-26
ISBN: 0345418905
Number of pages: 240
Publisher: Del Rey
Book Reviews of Life, the Universe and Everything
Book Review: A Small Step Down from the First Two Masterpieces
Summary: 5 Stars
In reviewing Douglas Adams' first two Hitchhikers books I said they were perhaps the only books I'd read where I wouldn't change a thing; not a sentence, not a comma, nothing. In the case of Life, The Universe and Everything I can't make such a bold statement. Make no mistake, Douglas Adams could probably write a book on changing your oil and make it humorous but there's a difference between humorous and hilarious. The first two books are hilarious. This one is just a bit less so. I had the feeling that Adams began the series with a head full of brilliant ideas and now we've gotten to the ideas and plots that didn't make the cut in the first two books. Now mind you I'm rating this book on the Douglas Adams scale which reaches a much higher level than your average writer.
Life, The Universe and Everything starts up where The Restaurant at the End of the Universe left off, with Ford and Arthur stuck on prehistoric Earth. Here is where the first problem occurs. Arthur has always been the main character of the series but he's far less interesting then the supporting cast including Zaphod Beeblebrox and Marvin the Robot but those two really get pushed to the side. Even when Zaphod appears he seemed like a watered down, less interesting version. I would go even further and say that unlike the first two books Adams spends far less time on developing any of the characters. An argument could be made that the first two books established the characters but to me it felt like the author was just coasting.
After escaping from the past, Ford and Arthur naturally find themselves embroiled in a plot that threatens to destroy the entire universe. It seems that millions of years ago some happy, carefree life forms on planet Krikkit discovered that the universe contains intelligent beings besides themselves and in the all time greatest surge of xenophobia decide to wipe out every other living sentient being in existence. Before you can say Kumbaya the Krittets have traded in their folk songs and campfires for warships and very nearly succeed in their plan of universal genocide before being imprisoned in a slo-time envelope. Between their imprisonment and the present day the Krikkits have only experienced five years of actual time, more than enough to develop a final universe ending doomsday weapon. Now someone is trying to break them out.
The idea of the Krikkits being so incredibly, mind bendingly motivated that they were able to rapidly advance their technologically and challenge the rest of the universe was awesome. Unfortunately things turn out not to be as they seem and this is where I kind of wish Douglas Adams hadn't taken the story where he did. The conclusion of the book is far far far from poor but given the sheer perfection of the first two books I couldn't help but wish it had been slightly different. It also features a tacked on ending disconnected from the rest of the book as if it suddenly occurred to Douglas Adams that he forgot to put in the obligatory `almost finding the secret of the universe' so he quickly slapped something together.
There are no weak links in the Hitchhikers chain but some are stronger than other and I did have a feeling that Douglas Adams creativity tank wasn't at full capacity when he wrote this one. I still highly recommend it and wouldn't hesitate to give it five stars.
Summary of Life, the Universe and Everything
The unhappy inhabitants of planet Krikkit are sick of looking at the night sky above their heads?so they plan to destroy it. The universe, that is. Now only five individuals stand between the killer robots of Krikkit and their goal of total annihilation.They are Arthur Dent, a mild-mannered space and time traveler who tries to learn how to fly by throwing himself at the ground and missing; Ford Prefect, his best friend, who decides to go insane to see if he likes it; Slartibartfast, the indomitable vice president of the Campaign for Real Time, who travels in a ship powered by irrational behavior; Zaphod Beeblebrox, the two-headed, three-armed ex-president of the galazy; and Trillian, the sexy space cadet who is torn between a persistent Thunder God and a very depressed Beeblebrox.
How will it all end? Will it end? Only this stalwart crew knows as they try to avert ?universal? Armageddon and save life as we know it?and don?t know it!
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