The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
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Book Reviews of The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Book Review: The Great Green Arkleseizure Theory Explained!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have been a fan of Douglas Adams since I first read "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" when it was released. I have previously read all of these books (though I had not read the short "Young Zaphod Plays it Safe") before, some several times. When I saw this compendium I was compelled to buy it so I could have a volume with all this brilliant insanity in one place. I found Adams' introduction and explanation of the different Hitchhiker's permutations and iterations fascinating and revealing, and found all the books as whimsical and delightful as I had recalled.
Without question the original book is the crown jewel of the collection, and stands the test of time as one of the most original and brilliant novels written in the twentieth century. More than the plot following our heroes Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect (and a cast of thousands), it is Adams' amazing ability to turn a phrase into something not totally unlike any other book isn't that utterly distinguishes the first volume of the series. While that last sentence is an obvious homage to Adams, his wit and ability to redirect a line to a place that is totally unpredictable is uncanny. The book is not only brilliantly conceived, but glitters with a patina of dark humor which is utterly unique in literature, the only analog being the television and film productions of Monty Python.
I enjoyed the other volumes in the series as well, with the first three being my favorites. By "So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish" I started to see a bit of monotony creep into Adams' writing style, occasionally to the point that it almost seemed that he was forcibly imitating himself. Although I did enjoy the final two volumes in the series, I would probably have given them independent ratings of four stars, while the others are clearly five star masterworks. I did find the character of Fenchurch (introduced in "So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish") intriguing, and couldn't agree more with Adams' analogy of Mark Knopfler's guitar style to the effect of Fuolornis Fire Dragons. It is no surprise to me that Douglas Adams was a Dire Straits fan, and I found his brief tribute to the band to be an amusing buried delight.
This book is not only great contemporary literature, a level of accomplishment which most sci-fi novels aspire to, but rarely achieve, but is a great value too. The book is over 800 pages long and weighs a ton, and in a pinch can be used for self defense: buy this book and prepare for a wonderful otherworldly journey, but don't forget to bring your towel.
Book Review: A Book Review
Summary: 5 Stars
"Zany!" is the word to describe The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Douglas Adams' five books that amount to this series are put together into this book. In it, you follow hapless Arthur Dent in his struggle for survival in the galaxy. Earth has been destroyed, and Arthur survives only by leaving at the last minute with his friend, Ford Prefect, who turned out to be an alien. So, Arthur is turned into a hitchhiker, and seeks out the reason for the destruction of Earth. In a universe of multiple dimensions, he tries to find his place. But what happens instead is totally random things that almost end up making him lose his sanity altogether. The style of humor and eccentric characters are what brings me to the "Zany!" conclusion.
It was a whole new world (or galaxy, if you will) that Douglas Adams created. The book is completely random, with no real story line, but that's what made it such good fun. For example, the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" book: (The title of this guidebook is also the title of the first book itself.) in it are some of the oddest descriptions, such as its description of Earth, which is, humbly put, "Mostly harmless."
I loved the characters and the humor in this book. Everything was new to me; especially the people. One such race was the Vogons (the baddies), amphibious creatures who were infamous for their vileness---and their poems. A very humorous passage in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy goes like this:
"During a recitation by their Poet Master Grunthos the Flatulent of his poem `Ode to a Small Lump of Green Putty I Found in My Armpit One Midsummer Morning' four of his audience died of internal hemorrhaging, and the President of the Mid-Galactic Arts Nobbling Council survived by gnawing one of his own legs off."
A clear picture of one of the `eccentric characters' mentioned above is Zaphod Beeblebrox, who is an "adventurer, ex-hippie, good-timer, manic self-publicist, terribly bad at personal relationships [and], often thought to be completely out to lunch." Yet, this man was the president of the galaxy. As explained by the Guide, he was the perfect president, because the president does not hold any power at all!
Douglas Adams plainly had the goal of achieving fun with this series, with no other point in mind whether the humor be ironic, poking fun at fellow humans, or just plain odd (but still, funny). I admire this about him. Some would say that the Hitchhiker's series are pointless. I say, "That's the point!"
Book Review: A Masterpiece That Started It All
Summary: 5 Stars
Book Description
Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last fifteen years, has been posing as an out of work actor on Earth. Together this dynamic pair begin their journey through space aided by quotes from The Hitch Hiker's Guide "A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have" and a galaxy full of fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out to lunch President of the Galaxy; Trillian, Zaphod's girlfriend (formally Tricia McMillan); and Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant and constantly depressed robot. Join these five eccentric individuals on the most hilarious and philosophical ride of their lives ... and yours.
Fine Printings' Review ([...])
We were reluctant when this book was suggested due to the sci-fi comical nature that coincides with Douglas Adam's work. However, overriding our doubts, the following he has received from this work gained our interest and we could not help ourselves to trying out a few chapters. No more than two pages into the story, we were hooked. The author's uproarious contempt towards the human race (though harmless and playful), the main character Arthur's naivety toward the ways of the Galaxy immediately peek curiosity and his poetic writing induces an intellectual comic fodder. Rolling on the floor, holding our stomachs, and laughter induced convulsing was consistent throughout the entire storyline. There is no wonder why this tale has a dedicated cult following, and will always continue so. Ahead of his time, and not nearly respected enough for his philosophical writing while alive, Douglas Adams is perhaps one of the greatest writers to have ever lived. We certainly look forward to finishing this series, as well as introducing ourselves to the rest of his novels. A book for ALL ages, please add it to your "must read before I die" list. Furthermore, if you have already indulged in the series, be sure to look out for Eoin Colfer's And Another Thing, the newest addition to the Hitchhiker family.
Also, for all you Galaxy Hitchhikers ... just remember everything is going to be OK, as long as you know where your towel is. And for goodness sake:
DON'T PANIC!
Book Review: Get ready for the rollercoaster ride of your life!
Summary: 5 Stars
There is not one version of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, there are at least five, soon six, official versions: the original radio series (I think there are even two versions of the radio series), the transcript of the radio series, the vinyl record (a treat if you can get hold of it!), the books, the television series, and soon the film. All are different, and developed for their respective mediums. All are fantastic. Douglas Adams himself said that there is no definite version. If the film is any good people will want to pick up the books also, so this is a word of caution that they should not expect the film to follow the books.
The books are very funny, extremely cleverly written, and also very thought provoking. If you read them just expecting some clear cut fun you might be in for a shock. The books have a complex intrigue and several subplots, can be read on many levels, and they seem to want to reveal something to the reader, but it is always just out of grasp. Since the seeming message of the books is never revealed, the reader instead is left wondering: What is the message? Which turns out to be the message! The closest we come is "42" and God's final message to his creation, neither of which is very ehaustive...
The universe described is not the cosy universe of science: cause and effect have no meaning since you can travel through time and space and change everything anyway. Small actions have enormous reprecussions, but apparently monumetous events leave no mark on the space-time continuoum whatsoever. Nothing is what it first seems: the Earth is run by mice, Arthur Dent has created and destroyed civilizations, but humanity as a whole is totally unimportant (not to mentioned descended from hairdressers!), the role of the galactic president is not to wield power - it is to draw attention away from the real power (a premonition of Dubya's presidency?)!
The Hitchhiker's Guide itself becomes a symbol of our struggle to create order where no order exists, it is a source of false comfort (just like organised religion, which seems to be the theme of the film).
The books, like few others, really create a sense of wonder, a feeling of the infinite. Douglas Adams was a very clever man and with a lot of life experience, therefore he could write such a complex, and funny, book.
Book Review: 42 Stars, Yeah, Yeah...
Summary: 5 Stars
A funny book that is simultaneously smart satire and a giggly good tale. Since first reading this 1970's classic back in the mid-1990's, I've never looked at the number 42 the same way again. The story, which makes you feel like you're being let in on some secret 99.999999999% of the rest of humanity is not, begins when a mild-mannered Englishman named Arthur Dent wakes up to discover his house is about to be demolished to make way for a highway project. Well, he's understandably peeved about this but his friend and neighbor, Ford Prefect, cheers him up by letting him know his house doesn't really matter since the whole earth is about to be destroyed to make room for a construction project in space. Arthur's friend Ford is in fact an alien who was sent to earth to gain information on an updating of the planet's entry in that amazing tome of information The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy. (The entry that used to cover earth in the Guide simply read: "Harmless." In the updated edition, the earth's total entry had been changed to: "Mostly Harmless.") Arthur's life is saved after he exits the earth with his friend via a transportation device that makes the trip off-world "unpleasantly like being drunk" ("What's so unpleasant about being drunk?" "Ask a glass of water.") Arthur is cast back and forth across space and time, through a series of misadventures that make for grin-inducing fun for readers, and introduces them to a medley of species and planets, a cast of characters like a two-headed, three-armed President of the Galaxy, his girlfriend (whom Arthur once met at a party and with whom he "utterly failed to get off") and a robot mired in a perpetual state of paranoid depression. It is only through Hitchhikers that we come to learn that humans were only the third most intelligent beings on the late planet earth, behind white mice (who had been conducting psychological experiments on humans for centuries) and dolphins (a species that spent its time swimming in tropical oceans while humans went to work all day). This book is amusing and even at times hilarious and Douglas Adams was an imaginative joy of a man.