So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
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: 1999-03-29
ISBN: 0345391837
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: Del Rey
Book Reviews of So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
Book Review: The REAL Conclusion To The Hitchhiker's Saga
Summary: 5 Stars
Still hitchhiking his way through the galaxy on an alien spaceship, Arthur Dent passes by the area in the Solar System where his home planet of Earth used to be (before it was blown up by the evil Vogons), and is absolutely astonished to discover that the Earth is still there. He's dropped off by the spaceship nearby his home, where he slowly but surely comes to grips with being back on his home world. Arthur soon discovers that the demolition of Earth by the Vogons has now been written off by the planet's population as a great big, possibly government-induced "hallucination." Arthur also discovers that all of the planet's dolphins have mysteriously vanished. However, there's also love in the air for Arthur, as he soon meets a beautiful young woman named Fenchurch, who may hold the key to the mysterious re-appearance of Earth, and the equally mysterious disappearance of the dolphins. Meanwhile, Arthur's old alien friend Ford Prefect, hitchhiking in a different part of the galaxy, also discovers that the Earth has suddenly re-appeared, and plots a course for Earth to rejoin Arthur. And, for the coup de grace, God's Final Message To His Creation will also be revealed by the book's end...."So Long And Thanks For All The Fish" is Book 4 in Douglas Adams' popular five-part sci fi/comedy series, "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy." Call me a "Hitchhiker's" purist, but as far as I'm concerned, "So Long" is the final "Hitchhiker's" book, as Douglas Adams *originally* intended. I've completely disowned Book 5, "Mostly Harmless," which Adams, by his own admission, only wrote on a whim, and, in my opinion, is the worst book of the bunch, an incredibly disappointing and totally unnecessary extension of the saga. Now, if Adams had stuck to his original plan and left the "Hitchhiker's" series alone after "So Long," it would've been perfect, for "So Long" is a brilliantly funny book that's just as hilarious as Books 1 & 2, "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy" and "The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe," and picks up the slack that Adams left with the unspectacular Book 3, "Life, The Universe And Everything." Adams revisits his clever, witty writing style from the first two books, with all of the jokes squarely hitting their targets, and his amusing love story for Arthur and Fenchurch is very nicely done as well (hey, it's about time Arthur got himself a woman!). Many great scenes throughout, such as Arthur's initial road-accident courtship of Fenchurch, the plight of Rob McKenna (who has rainclouds follow him everywhere he goes), Ford Prefect's attempt to pay for a gargantuan drinking bill on another planet with a credit card, Arthur & Fenchurch's flying escapade, their meeting with Wonko The Sane, Ford's drunken reunion with Arthur, the re-appearance of Marvin the android, and, of course, God's Final Message, which really does seem to put all of Arthur's misadventures throughout the galaxy in context in a single sentence.I have an old, leather-bound edition of the "Hitchhiker's" saga, printed in 1987, that only goes up through "So Long," with a forward by Adams in which he refers to "So Long" as the "last" book. I, personally, have chosen to honor Adams' original intentions, and simply refuse to read Book 5, "Mostly Harmless," ever again. In my opinion, "Mostly Harmless" is a hallucination, a hologram, a figment of everybody's imagination. It does not exist. For me, "So Long And Thanks For All The Fish" is the TRUE final "Hitchhiker's" book, a wonderfully funny & touching conclusion to the adventures of Arthur Dent & friends, as Douglas Adams originally intended it to be.
Summary of So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
Back on Earth with nothing more to show for his long, strange trip through time and space than a ratty towel and a plastic shopping bag, Arthur Dent is ready to believe that the past eight years were all just a figment of his stressed-out imagination. But a gift-wrapped fishbowl with a cryptic inscription, the mysterious disappearance of Earth's dolphins, and the discovery of his battered copy of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy all conspire to give Arthur the sneaking suspicion that something otherworldly is indeed going on. . . .God only knows what it all means. And fortunately, He left behind a Final Message of explanation. But since it's light-years away from Earth, on a star surrounded by souvenir booths, finding out what it is will mean hitching a ride to the far reaches of space aboard a UFO with a giant robot. But what else is new?
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