Mostly Harmless
by Douglas Adams
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Book Summary Information
Author: Douglas AdamsEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2000-02-01
ISBN: 0345418778
Number of pages: 240
Publisher: Del Rey
Book Reviews of Mostly Harmless
Book Review: A strong conclusion to a brilliant series
Summary: 5 Stars
Despite owning the least auspicious title in Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy, Mostly Harmless follows in the footsteps of its four predecessors, providing outrageous sci-fi comedy as well as a perfect conclusion to the series.With Adams, and specifically with the Hitchhiker trilogy, one almost begins to expect the unexpected. So, after four always amusing books following the travels of two Earthlings and a few of their alien friends, what would be a more unexpected, and therefore fitting, conclusion to the series than a novel with dark overtones and a tragic ending?
The premise of the trilogy is this: Arthur Dent is the reluctant main character of the entire series, and one of only two remaining Earthlings. The Earth is actually a giant supercomputer created to find the ultimate question to the ultimate answer of the meaning of life (this answer was previously found to be 42), but was destroyed by Vogons to make way for a hyperspace bypass. Dent escaped moments before Earth's destruction with Ford Prefect, a human-like alien and employee of The Guide. Trillian (short for Tricia McMillian, an English news reporter) managed to escape with Zaphod Beeblebrox, a two-headed alien who was once president of the galaxy, whom she conveniently met at a party on Earth's final night. They then proceed to have a host of wild and crazy times in space, constantly getting into and out of trouble.
This group has since split, however, and Mostly Harmless finds Arthur alone and happy on an isolated planet. He was marooned there when his spaceship crashed, and, upon finding a primitive civilization, settled in and set out to bring high technology to the natives. After some time, Arthur found that the only part of modern civilization he actually understood well enough to impart to these people was the art of sandwich making. And he did so, all the while carving out a pleasant niche for himself.
The plot begins to thicken when Trillian arrives with their daughter, Random, whom Arthur knew nothing about. It turns out that the teenage girl is actually the product of Arthur's donation to a sperm bank, but he is forced to take her in and attempt to raise her when the career-minded Trillian demands that he take responsibility.
After some time, Arthur receives a package addressed to Ford Prefect, which Random opens to reveal a brand new, strangely interactive version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. This new Guide, though generally unbeknownst to its user, caters to the beck and call of whomever possesses it. Random uses it to travel to another dimension, one in which the Earth still exists, so she can go home. Ford comes for his package, and he and Arthur are forced to flee the planet in pursuit of Random. The chaotic conclusion that occurs when they find her brings the entire series to a complete, if not altogether cheery, conclusion.
The ultimate strength of Mostly Harmless is in the writing. Every bit of the story is worded perfectly in flowing, complex sentences, and Adams' ability to twist a phrase is the book's finest feature.
"As the Guide folded itself back into a smooth dark dish, Ford realized some pretty hectic stuff. Or at least he tried to realize it, but it was too hectic to take in all in one go. His head was hammering, his ankle was hurting, and though he didn't like to be a wimp about his ankle, he always found that intense multidimensional logic was something he understood best in the bath. He needed some time to think about this. Time, a tall drink, and some sort of rich, foamy oil."
The strange occupants of alien planets and the strange events that the group encounters give the book its depth and its unmatched humor. Arthur's planet of Lamuella, for example, features a strange group of cow/buffalo-like creatures which come out of nowhere, stampede across a few miles, and then vanishing into thin air once again. These animals are known only as Perfectly Normal Beasts, so dubbed because Old Thrashbarg, the village's leader, wanted to convey that image to the people.
" `[Old Thrashbarg] says that they come from where they come from and they go to where they go to and that it's Bob's will and that's all there is to it,'" Arthur explains to Trillian at one point before going on to touch on the Lamuellans' belief in the Almighty Bob.
It is also revealed at one point, in a brilliantly subtle sequence of events, the Elvis really was kidnapped by aliens.
Though every bit as zany as its predecessors, and with a confusing but captivating story involving layers of different dimensions of time and space, Mostly Harmless brings the five-part series to a definite end, and clearly has a much more sobering tone. Almost everything goes wrong for the main characters in this novel, and the final culmination highlights this dark theme.
If you have never read any of Douglas Adams' previous work, Mostly Harmless is not the place to start. Its plot is hard enough to follow even with a thorough knowledge of the characters, and attempting to dive in without such information would make Mostly Harmless confusing at least to the point of no longer being humorous. However, Mostly Harmless is a perfect conclusion to a masterful five-part series, and while it might not provide the ultimate question to the ultimate answer of life, the universe and everything, it is definitely more exciting, more hilarious, and more intense than its ironically cautious title might advertise.
Summary of Mostly Harmless
Douglas Adams is back with the amazing, logic-defying, but-why-stop-now fifth novel in the Hitchhiker Trilogy. Here is the epic story of Random, who sets out on a transgalactic quest to find the planet of her ancestors. Line drawings.From the Hardcover edition.
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