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The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy #1-5
The Complete Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Trilogy of Five
On 12 October 1979 the most remarkable book ever to come out of the great publishing corporations of Ursa Minor (and Earth) was made available to humanity. This was of course The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy. But this was just the beginning. We followed the adventures of hapless protagonist, Arthur Dent and his alien side-kick, Ford Prefect, across a trilogy of five books: The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series. And this merry spacewagon, featuring a flying sofa, a Paranoid Android, a gift-wrapped fishbowl, bath towels and much else besides, became an instant classic. Now, for the first time, we are publishing all five books in the Hitchhiker's series, as an ebook omnibus.
946 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1979
4232 people are currently reading
18223 people want to read
About the author
Douglas Adams
120 books23.5k followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Douglas Noel Adams was an English author, humourist, and screenwriter, best known for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (HHGTTG). Originally a 1978 BBC radio comedy, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy developed into a "trilogy" of five books that sold more than 15 million copies in his lifetime. It was further developed into a television series, several stage plays, comics, a video game, and a 2005 feature film. Adams's contribution to UK radio is commemorated in The Radio Academy's Hall of Fame.
Adams also wrote Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (1987) and The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul (1988), and co-wrote The Meaning of Liff (1983), The Deeper Meaning of Liff (1990) and Last Chance to See (1990). He wrote two stories for the television series Doctor Who, co-wrote City of Death (1979), and served as script editor for its seventeenth season. He co-wrote the sketch "Patient Abuse" for the final episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus. A posthumous collection of his selected works, including the first publication of his final (unfinished) novel, was published as The Salmon of Doubt in 2002.
Adams was a self-proclaimed "radical atheist", an advocate for environmentalism and conservation, and a lover of fast cars, technological innovation, and the Apple Macintosh.
Douglas Noel Adams was an English author, humourist, and screenwriter, best known for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (HHGTTG). Originally a 1978 BBC radio comedy, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy developed into a "trilogy" of five books that sold more than 15 million copies in his lifetime. It was further developed into a television series, several stage plays, comics, a video game, and a 2005 feature film. Adams's contribution to UK radio is commemorated in The Radio Academy's Hall of Fame.
Adams also wrote Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (1987) and The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul (1988), and co-wrote The Meaning of Liff (1983), The Deeper Meaning of Liff (1990) and Last Chance to See (1990). He wrote two stories for the television series Doctor Who, co-wrote City of Death (1979), and served as script editor for its seventeenth season. He co-wrote the sketch "Patient Abuse" for the final episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus. A posthumous collection of his selected works, including the first publication of his final (unfinished) novel, was published as The Salmon of Doubt in 2002.
Adams was a self-proclaimed "radical atheist", an advocate for environmentalism and conservation, and a lover of fast cars, technological innovation, and the Apple Macintosh.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,186 reviews
June 29, 2009
This mammoth of a book was a hell of an undertaking. After being harassed into reading it for 2.5 years, I have to say I am glad I did it, but gladder it's over and I can now read something I truly want to...and something not set somewhere along the space/time continuum.
I found there to be constant peaks and troughs, some chapters or parts were brilliant and others were laborious to get through (I did have some significant and glorious naps while I read this!), and every time I thought I would just give it up it got better again. Then when I noticed how much into it I was, it dipped and was simply ridiculous to the point of annoying me and toying with the idea of throwing it out the window or at the tv.
Everyone goes on about how genius it is, the humour, the imagination, the non-sequitors etc., but it seemed full of nonsense in some bits and almost as if Adams had no mental filter, thus resulting in verbal diarrhoea. Some parts are quite humorous but it rapidly descends into silliness and after about 300 pages of this roller coaster, it is soul-destroying. As soon as I've reached this conclusion it gets much better and I feel like I've been too harsh and my interest is maintained for 60 pages only to be thrown about again for another 40.
I can see how the Hitch Hiker's Guide can be so absolutely loved by many, but in all sincerity it is not my cup of tea.
I found there to be constant peaks and troughs, some chapters or parts were brilliant and others were laborious to get through (I did have some significant and glorious naps while I read this!), and every time I thought I would just give it up it got better again. Then when I noticed how much into it I was, it dipped and was simply ridiculous to the point of annoying me and toying with the idea of throwing it out the window or at the tv.
Everyone goes on about how genius it is, the humour, the imagination, the non-sequitors etc., but it seemed full of nonsense in some bits and almost as if Adams had no mental filter, thus resulting in verbal diarrhoea. Some parts are quite humorous but it rapidly descends into silliness and after about 300 pages of this roller coaster, it is soul-destroying. As soon as I've reached this conclusion it gets much better and I feel like I've been too harsh and my interest is maintained for 60 pages only to be thrown about again for another 40.
I can see how the Hitch Hiker's Guide can be so absolutely loved by many, but in all sincerity it is not my cup of tea.
February 8, 2017
The first two are fantastic in the literal and colloquial senses. The remainder are only weak in comparison to what went before. So many wonderful concepts and phrases:
Vogon ships "hung in the sky in exactly the way bricks don't"; the Hooloovoo; the old man who said nothing was true but was later found to be lying; spend a year dead for tax reasons; meat bred to want to be eaten; the "knack" of learning to fly is to "throw yourself at the ground and miss" (I think Buzz Lightyear borrowed that); "Aggressively uninterested"; Slartibartfast; "One of the least benightedly unintelligent organic lifeforms it has been my profound lack of pleasure not be able to avoid meeting" (I think Boris adapted that one); "it makes as much sense as the sea being parallel"; the future is "just the same old stuff in faster cars and smellier air"; "the sun was quite bright but the day was hazy and vague".
Hitchhiker's Place in My Life
(This section was added after an epiphany, which prompted me to make my reviews more personal.)
These have a strong hold on my heart, having enjoyed them in different forms at different stages in my life.
My first encounters were in my final years of boarding school: I heard much of the original BBC radio series and loved them. I read the books as soon as they came out, saw the TV series (mostly the same cast as the radio) and saw a stage version that was the funniest and most anarchic thing I'd ever seen in a theatre. They remained deeply ingrained in my mind, closely entwined with fond memories of school; I reread them occasionally. Then a film version came out; it wasn't as good, but opened the door of the books to my son, so I enjoyed them in a new way, followed, a few years later, by a new stage version, by which time my son was a young adult, and enjoying it at a new level.
The Answer is 42
Of course, 6 x 9 is NOT 42... except in base 13.
But Adams claims not to have known that.
Reviews of Books in the series
Brief summary and favourite quotes from each of the five books, as follows:
Hitchhiker's Guide (vol 1): http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Restaurant at the End of Universe (vol 2): http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Life, the Universe and Everything (vol 3):
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish (vol 4): http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Mostly Harmless (vol 5): http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
And Another Thing...(Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #6), by Eoin Colfer : https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Vogon ships "hung in the sky in exactly the way bricks don't"; the Hooloovoo; the old man who said nothing was true but was later found to be lying; spend a year dead for tax reasons; meat bred to want to be eaten; the "knack" of learning to fly is to "throw yourself at the ground and miss" (I think Buzz Lightyear borrowed that); "Aggressively uninterested"; Slartibartfast; "One of the least benightedly unintelligent organic lifeforms it has been my profound lack of pleasure not be able to avoid meeting" (I think Boris adapted that one); "it makes as much sense as the sea being parallel"; the future is "just the same old stuff in faster cars and smellier air"; "the sun was quite bright but the day was hazy and vague".
Hitchhiker's Place in My Life
(This section was added after an epiphany, which prompted me to make my reviews more personal.)
These have a strong hold on my heart, having enjoyed them in different forms at different stages in my life.
My first encounters were in my final years of boarding school: I heard much of the original BBC radio series and loved them. I read the books as soon as they came out, saw the TV series (mostly the same cast as the radio) and saw a stage version that was the funniest and most anarchic thing I'd ever seen in a theatre. They remained deeply ingrained in my mind, closely entwined with fond memories of school; I reread them occasionally. Then a film version came out; it wasn't as good, but opened the door of the books to my son, so I enjoyed them in a new way, followed, a few years later, by a new stage version, by which time my son was a young adult, and enjoying it at a new level.
The Answer is 42
Of course, 6 x 9 is NOT 42... except in base 13.
But Adams claims not to have known that.
Reviews of Books in the series
Brief summary and favourite quotes from each of the five books, as follows:
Hitchhiker's Guide (vol 1): http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Restaurant at the End of Universe (vol 2): http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Life, the Universe and Everything (vol 3):
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish (vol 4): http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Mostly Harmless (vol 5): http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
And Another Thing...(Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #6), by Eoin Colfer : https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
April 30, 2019
Parlare di Guida galattica per gli autostoppisti mi crea seri problemi. Già non mi sembra mai appropriato quando parlo di “recensioni” perché quello che scrivo non mi sembra mai una recensione, ma semplicemente l’insieme dei miei pensieri su quello che leggo, figuriamoci quando dovrei parlare di un libro come questo.
Bisognerebbe probabilmente procedere per gradi. Iniziamo quindi dalla trama. Semplice no? No, con Guida galattica per gli autostoppisti nemmeno la trama è semplice. Diciamo che tutto parte dalla Terra che sta per essere distrutta dai vogon. A questo punto iniziano le avventure di Arthur Dent e Ford Prefect (che non è affatto perfect…).
Guida galattica per gli autostoppisti è una trilogia composta in cinque parti. E se vi sembro pazza nel dire ciò, sappiate che non lo sono. Oddio, magari un po’ sì, ma in questo caso non c’entro, ha fatto tutto Douglas Adams.
Cos’è quindi Guida galattica per gli autostoppisti? Sicuramente un classico, un libro bizzarro, stravagante e delirante, un libro divertente, non sempre a mio avviso, ma spesso sì, soprattutto all’inizio.
Un libro nato in realtà come un programma radiofonico, e che di sicuro non doveva essere così lungo.
Un libro che dopo poche righe dall’inizio ti porta a dire ogni 42 secondi: “Ma che ca**o?”
Un libro che ti fa pensare: “Ma perché non ho mai scritto una cosa del genere? Bisogna essere geniali!”
O ancora: “Dov’è il mio asciugamano?”
Ah, stavamo dicendo, una trilogia in cinque parti. Ebbene sì, in realtà solo il primo volume si intitola Guida galattica per gli autostoppisti; poi abbiamo Ristorante al termine dell’universo; La vita, l’universo e tutto quanto; Addio, e grazie per tutto il pesce; Praticamente innocuo. A questo punto si potrebbe pensare che basta, non ci siano altri volumi. E invece no, possiamo dire che è una trilogia in cinque parti più uno visto che dopo Praticamente innocuo si trova Sicuro, sicurissimo, perfettamente sicuro.
Siete confusi?
Ecco, immaginate quanto potete essere confusi se leggete Guida galattica.
Di questi cinque volumi i primi due mi hanno fatta morire dal ridere, continuavo a scrollare la testa pensando che Douglas Adams fosse stato un genio fotonico e a leggere ad alta voce alcuni pezzi al mio compagno per farlo ridere assieme a me.
Diciamo che lui non ha il mio stesso umorismo demenziale.
Considerate che mi sono ritrovata a ridere come una pazza con le lacrime agli occhi nel momento in cui ho letto due semplici parole: dio fotone.
Se non ridete è perché in questo momento non è una frase contestualizzata.
Non sono pazza.
Credo.
Stavo dicendo. Primi due volumi top del top. Guida galattica per gli autostoppisti rischiava di diventare uno dei miei libri preferiti se andava avanti così. Ma non è andata avanti così.
Il terzo volume, La vita, l’universo e tutto quanto, mi ha annoiata terribilmente.
Col quarto la storia si è ripresa, e con l’ultimo il livello è stato quasi al pari dei primi due volumi (imbattibili però a mio avviso).
Potrei soffermarmi anche sui personaggi, ma non lo voglio fare perché non voglio tentare di spiegare nulla su questo libro. Credo che Guida galattica per gli autostoppisti vada scoperto un po’ alla volta per lasciare libero sfogo all’immaginazione, alle stranezze, alla bizzarria, alle stravaganze con cui verrete travolti grazie a un autore che è riuscito a dare nuova vita alla fantascienza.
Io ho letto questo libro nel nuovo formato della Mondadori nella collana Oscar Draghi che è in realtà un’edizione double face. Infatti, se il libro viene capovolto e girato, dall’altro lato troverete Niente Panico di Neil Gaiman, una guida terrestre per i lettori di Guida galattica per gli autostoppisti.
Gaiman è un grande fan di Douglas Adams ed è stato la persona che ha fatto con lui più interviste. All’interno di Niente Panico si scoprono la vita e le opere di Adams, con moltissimi stralci di interviste. È una sorta di saggio sulla Guida, molto interessante per i fan di Adams e per gli appassionati di quest’opera. Personalmente ho scoperto molte cose interessanti di cui ero all’oscuro, ma a volte l’ho trovato pesante da seguire, e infatti lo consiglio solo a chi vuole addentrarsi a fondo su questo autore e sulla sua opera più famosa.
L’edizione è molto curata; la copertina rigida ha colori spettacolari, le pagine esteriormente sono colorate di un blu avio/antracite. Ho notato diversi refusi, ma su un libro che conta più di mille pagine probabilmente è anche normale trovare alcuni errori. È un’edizione da avere se non avete mai letto Guida galattica per gli autostoppisti e volete farlo o anche se l’avete già letta e siete dei grandi fan perché insomma, è indubbiamente un’edizione da collezione!
«Ho fatto qualcosa di male oggi» domandò «o il mondo è sempre stato così e io ero troppo rinchiuso in me stesso per accorgermene?»
Bisognerebbe probabilmente procedere per gradi. Iniziamo quindi dalla trama. Semplice no? No, con Guida galattica per gli autostoppisti nemmeno la trama è semplice. Diciamo che tutto parte dalla Terra che sta per essere distrutta dai vogon. A questo punto iniziano le avventure di Arthur Dent e Ford Prefect (che non è affatto perfect…).
Guida galattica per gli autostoppisti è una trilogia composta in cinque parti. E se vi sembro pazza nel dire ciò, sappiate che non lo sono. Oddio, magari un po’ sì, ma in questo caso non c’entro, ha fatto tutto Douglas Adams.
Cos’è quindi Guida galattica per gli autostoppisti? Sicuramente un classico, un libro bizzarro, stravagante e delirante, un libro divertente, non sempre a mio avviso, ma spesso sì, soprattutto all’inizio.
Un libro nato in realtà come un programma radiofonico, e che di sicuro non doveva essere così lungo.
Un libro che dopo poche righe dall’inizio ti porta a dire ogni 42 secondi: “Ma che ca**o?”
Un libro che ti fa pensare: “Ma perché non ho mai scritto una cosa del genere? Bisogna essere geniali!”
O ancora: “Dov’è il mio asciugamano?”
Ah, stavamo dicendo, una trilogia in cinque parti. Ebbene sì, in realtà solo il primo volume si intitola Guida galattica per gli autostoppisti; poi abbiamo Ristorante al termine dell’universo; La vita, l’universo e tutto quanto; Addio, e grazie per tutto il pesce; Praticamente innocuo. A questo punto si potrebbe pensare che basta, non ci siano altri volumi. E invece no, possiamo dire che è una trilogia in cinque parti più uno visto che dopo Praticamente innocuo si trova Sicuro, sicurissimo, perfettamente sicuro.
Siete confusi?
Ecco, immaginate quanto potete essere confusi se leggete Guida galattica.
Di questi cinque volumi i primi due mi hanno fatta morire dal ridere, continuavo a scrollare la testa pensando che Douglas Adams fosse stato un genio fotonico e a leggere ad alta voce alcuni pezzi al mio compagno per farlo ridere assieme a me.
Diciamo che lui non ha il mio stesso umorismo demenziale.
Considerate che mi sono ritrovata a ridere come una pazza con le lacrime agli occhi nel momento in cui ho letto due semplici parole: dio fotone.
Se non ridete è perché in questo momento non è una frase contestualizzata.
Non sono pazza.
Credo.
Stavo dicendo. Primi due volumi top del top. Guida galattica per gli autostoppisti rischiava di diventare uno dei miei libri preferiti se andava avanti così. Ma non è andata avanti così.
Il terzo volume, La vita, l’universo e tutto quanto, mi ha annoiata terribilmente.
Col quarto la storia si è ripresa, e con l’ultimo il livello è stato quasi al pari dei primi due volumi (imbattibili però a mio avviso).
Potrei soffermarmi anche sui personaggi, ma non lo voglio fare perché non voglio tentare di spiegare nulla su questo libro. Credo che Guida galattica per gli autostoppisti vada scoperto un po’ alla volta per lasciare libero sfogo all’immaginazione, alle stranezze, alla bizzarria, alle stravaganze con cui verrete travolti grazie a un autore che è riuscito a dare nuova vita alla fantascienza.
Io ho letto questo libro nel nuovo formato della Mondadori nella collana Oscar Draghi che è in realtà un’edizione double face. Infatti, se il libro viene capovolto e girato, dall’altro lato troverete Niente Panico di Neil Gaiman, una guida terrestre per i lettori di Guida galattica per gli autostoppisti.
Gaiman è un grande fan di Douglas Adams ed è stato la persona che ha fatto con lui più interviste. All’interno di Niente Panico si scoprono la vita e le opere di Adams, con moltissimi stralci di interviste. È una sorta di saggio sulla Guida, molto interessante per i fan di Adams e per gli appassionati di quest’opera. Personalmente ho scoperto molte cose interessanti di cui ero all’oscuro, ma a volte l’ho trovato pesante da seguire, e infatti lo consiglio solo a chi vuole addentrarsi a fondo su questo autore e sulla sua opera più famosa.
L’edizione è molto curata; la copertina rigida ha colori spettacolari, le pagine esteriormente sono colorate di un blu avio/antracite. Ho notato diversi refusi, ma su un libro che conta più di mille pagine probabilmente è anche normale trovare alcuni errori. È un’edizione da avere se non avete mai letto Guida galattica per gli autostoppisti e volete farlo o anche se l’avete già letta e siete dei grandi fan perché insomma, è indubbiamente un’edizione da collezione!
«Ho fatto qualcosa di male oggi» domandò «o il mondo è sempre stato così e io ero troppo rinchiuso in me stesso per accorgermene?»
October 27, 2015
Just brilliant!
So clever and original and funny!
Sorry I did not read this when I was a teenager as
only now I realise why all my friends were talking about it!
So clever and original and funny!
Sorry I did not read this when I was a teenager as
only now I realise why all my friends were talking about it!
December 31, 2020
Nakon skoro 20 godina od prvog citanja, ova knjiga je i dalje - fenomenalna!!!
Sve preporuke, pogotovo je vredi citati u ovim tuznim, hladnim danima...
Srecna Vam nova godina!!!
Sve preporuke, pogotovo je vredi citati u ovim tuznim, hladnim danima...
Srecna Vam nova godina!!!
July 26, 2018
When I was little my Dad used to recite an unusual poem every so often. I don't remember why, but I do remember it gave my brother and I the giggles. It concerned a person who felt no one liked him, and he decided to go eat worms. I'll spare you the entire piece, the important part is the following:
"The first one was easy,
The second was squeezy.
The third got stuck in my throat."
So why is that important? Because I'm afraid that was my reaction to this omnibus edition of the five books in The Hitchhiker's Trilogy.
I liked The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy a lot. Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect were caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, but due to more than a few amazing coincidences they survived the destruction of planet Earth, and with the help of The Guide they set off to see what they would be able to do with themselves next.
I laughed, I congratulated myself on having just bought a brand new towel, and I wondered if perhaps during my long-ago first reading this was where I picked up my fondness for the number 42. I also sent out telepathic apologies for all the mice I have squished over the years.
The next book, The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe, was still entertaining, but I had the feeling that Adams was trying too hard to be clever here, and those strange yet wonderful coincidences began to appear too regularly. I did not like this one nearly as much as I expected too, but I still wanted to see what Ford and Arthur would do next, so I kept going.
I got stuck with Life, The Universe And Everything. Same reasons as I just mentioned and on top of that the characters were all separated at one point so we had to start jumping not only through time and space but from point of view to someone else's point of view and that Trying Too Hard thing showed up even more as well. I started to skim. Never a good sign.
I kept skimming, never really paying enough attention to find out what happened to our daring duo, and I must admit I don't really care any more. I have at least 42 other books I want to read so I'm throwing in the towel on this one.
"The first one was easy,
The second was squeezy.
The third got stuck in my throat."
So why is that important? Because I'm afraid that was my reaction to this omnibus edition of the five books in The Hitchhiker's Trilogy.
I liked The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy a lot. Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect were caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, but due to more than a few amazing coincidences they survived the destruction of planet Earth, and with the help of The Guide they set off to see what they would be able to do with themselves next.
I laughed, I congratulated myself on having just bought a brand new towel, and I wondered if perhaps during my long-ago first reading this was where I picked up my fondness for the number 42. I also sent out telepathic apologies for all the mice I have squished over the years.
The next book, The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe, was still entertaining, but I had the feeling that Adams was trying too hard to be clever here, and those strange yet wonderful coincidences began to appear too regularly. I did not like this one nearly as much as I expected too, but I still wanted to see what Ford and Arthur would do next, so I kept going.
I got stuck with Life, The Universe And Everything. Same reasons as I just mentioned and on top of that the characters were all separated at one point so we had to start jumping not only through time and space but from point of view to someone else's point of view and that Trying Too Hard thing showed up even more as well. I started to skim. Never a good sign.
I kept skimming, never really paying enough attention to find out what happened to our daring duo, and I must admit I don't really care any more. I have at least 42 other books I want to read so I'm throwing in the towel on this one.
November 3, 2007
I read this book to understand a guy I liked. It's funny cuz it's true. And now that I don't like the guy, the book is not as interesting as it once tried to be in my life.
March 31, 2016
I want to write shortly about the philosophical merit of The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy:
All western philosophy emerged and developed within the logocentric tradition. Two axioms define this tradition. 1. A thing cannot both be and not be at the same time (a v -a). 2. A thing is always identical with itself (a=a). It is impossible for humans to think about the world in a way that makes sense without these two axioms. But that does not make them necessarily true. These are the limits of human capacity, but a truly infinite universe does not adhere to such limitations. In an infinite universe there is infinite absurdity. The Hitch-Hiker's Guide thus proposes to us there may not be a universal logos which determines all things, and that would explain quite a lot.
All western philosophy emerged and developed within the logocentric tradition. Two axioms define this tradition. 1. A thing cannot both be and not be at the same time (a v -a). 2. A thing is always identical with itself (a=a). It is impossible for humans to think about the world in a way that makes sense without these two axioms. But that does not make them necessarily true. These are the limits of human capacity, but a truly infinite universe does not adhere to such limitations. In an infinite universe there is infinite absurdity. The Hitch-Hiker's Guide thus proposes to us there may not be a universal logos which determines all things, and that would explain quite a lot.
August 5, 2018
The first book was brilliant. Loved the sarcastic and silly tone to it. Arthur is a really good character to showcase how humans can find anything outside their own world totally incomprehensible! Ford Prefect also provided so much comedy with him trying to explain things to Arthur. Especially as Ford had no concept of sarcasm!
The second book The Restaurant at the End of the Universe to be honest lost me a bit. I was glad the characters I loved from the first book were still in it, like my favourite, Marvin the Paranoid Android, and the banter was still really spot on between them, but the plot completely lost me. It all became too confusing and took me a while to read. Douglas Adams has this tendency to explain or make fun of things that I personally found were not really related to the main story, they just made a good joke. I appreciate that it’s entertaining, but for me it pulled me out of the story and I just kept skimming parts to just get to the point.
I’ll probably read the rest of the books when I’m in the mood for it more and have time to concentrate on it.
The second book The Restaurant at the End of the Universe to be honest lost me a bit. I was glad the characters I loved from the first book were still in it, like my favourite, Marvin the Paranoid Android, and the banter was still really spot on between them, but the plot completely lost me. It all became too confusing and took me a while to read. Douglas Adams has this tendency to explain or make fun of things that I personally found were not really related to the main story, they just made a good joke. I appreciate that it’s entertaining, but for me it pulled me out of the story and I just kept skimming parts to just get to the point.
I’ll probably read the rest of the books when I’m in the mood for it more and have time to concentrate on it.
July 23, 2021
In passato mi ero sempre bloccato al primo, massimo al secondo libro della serie, non riuscendo ad apprezzare lo stile e l'umorismo di Adams.
Col tempo probabilmente sono un po' cambiato, infatti questa volta la Guida mi è piaciuta assai.
Piaciuti, anche se meno, i due volumi successivi della trilogia.
Invece il quarto e il quinto mi hanno lasciato più che altro perplessità.
Poi si ribalta il libro e, Niente Panico!, ecco la biografia di Adams a opera di Gaiman.
E così scopro cosa c'è dietro la Guida, come sia nata e come si sia evoluta.
Una lettura interessante, specie considerando che è incentrata su uno scrittore per cui non vado particolarmente pazzo, e per buona parte del tempo si riferisce a ambienti, artisti e spettacoli che non mi interessano. Il fatto che sia risultata ugualmente interessante penso dipenda sia dall'assurdità che circonda l'Adams scrittore, sia dal fatto che sia scritta da Gaiman (che invece è uno scrittore per cui vado pazzo).
Insomma, è andata meglio delle altre volte ma la scintilla non è scattata nemmeno questa volta.
Peccato.
Col tempo probabilmente sono un po' cambiato, infatti questa volta la Guida mi è piaciuta assai.
Piaciuti, anche se meno, i due volumi successivi della trilogia.
Invece il quarto e il quinto mi hanno lasciato più che altro perplessità.
Poi si ribalta il libro e, Niente Panico!, ecco la biografia di Adams a opera di Gaiman.
E così scopro cosa c'è dietro la Guida, come sia nata e come si sia evoluta.
Una lettura interessante, specie considerando che è incentrata su uno scrittore per cui non vado particolarmente pazzo, e per buona parte del tempo si riferisce a ambienti, artisti e spettacoli che non mi interessano. Il fatto che sia risultata ugualmente interessante penso dipenda sia dall'assurdità che circonda l'Adams scrittore, sia dal fatto che sia scritta da Gaiman (che invece è uno scrittore per cui vado pazzo).
Insomma, è andata meglio delle altre volte ma la scintilla non è scattata nemmeno questa volta.
Peccato.
March 16, 2016
Follow the adventures of Arthur Dent, the world's last surviving human, as he journeys through space after the earth is demolished to make way for a Vogan hyperspace bypass. Arthur is rescued from certain destruction by Ford Prefect (read the book to discover how he got his name), an alien journalist who writes for the 'Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.' They travel the galaxy together meeting rather an interesting assortment of creatures including Trillian, another human who escaped the earth's destruction by leaving some time prior with Zaphod Beeblebrox, 2-headed president of the galaxy, and Marvin, the morose android.
I read this book for the first time at University while studying for a BMUS many years ago. It brought back many vivid memories (all of those interesting conversations about 'the meaning of life, the universe and everything'). This is definitely the author who whet my appetite for the absurd. Brilliant, super-imaginative writing. What an awesome mind he had! (Note - if reading the complete trilogy (in five parts?!?!) be prepared to make quite a commitment. Well worth it in my opinion!)
This is one of my favourite quotes from the book:
“For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much—the wheel, New York, wars and so on—whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man—for precisely the same reasons.”
― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
I read this book for the first time at University while studying for a BMUS many years ago. It brought back many vivid memories (all of those interesting conversations about 'the meaning of life, the universe and everything'). This is definitely the author who whet my appetite for the absurd. Brilliant, super-imaginative writing. What an awesome mind he had! (Note - if reading the complete trilogy (in five parts?!?!) be prepared to make quite a commitment. Well worth it in my opinion!)
This is one of my favourite quotes from the book:
“For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much—the wheel, New York, wars and so on—whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man—for precisely the same reasons.”
― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
May 18, 2018
I didn't really like this book. It was so random that I couldn't really understand what was going on at some points. It had a plot that was hard to understand. It was readable I guess.
April 14, 2007
I first came across this book quite by accident. I happened to over hear a friend of mine talking about how a tiny robot with a brain the size of a planet had such a depressing view of life that he managed to talk a spaceship into commiting suicide!!!
What better introduction do you need into the world of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the largest selling book in the Universe? Needless to say I was hooked and couldnt wait to borrow a copy and begin reading. And once I read it, I read it again paying special attention to my favourite bits. And then I read it again to see if I missed anything else.
To be fair the book isnt uniformly funny. The last two episodes: "So Long and Thanks for all the Fish" and "Mostly Harmless" are rather weak and you ocassionally have to strain a muscle trying to find something humorous.
If the first 3 episodes were a lavish banquet with a 3 course meal and good vintage wine, the last two are like taking all the leftovers and baking a pie out of the lot.
But on the whole the book deserves 4 stars. Its a talent to make people laugh. And with this book the laughs just keep on coming.
What better introduction do you need into the world of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the largest selling book in the Universe? Needless to say I was hooked and couldnt wait to borrow a copy and begin reading. And once I read it, I read it again paying special attention to my favourite bits. And then I read it again to see if I missed anything else.
To be fair the book isnt uniformly funny. The last two episodes: "So Long and Thanks for all the Fish" and "Mostly Harmless" are rather weak and you ocassionally have to strain a muscle trying to find something humorous.
If the first 3 episodes were a lavish banquet with a 3 course meal and good vintage wine, the last two are like taking all the leftovers and baking a pie out of the lot.
But on the whole the book deserves 4 stars. Its a talent to make people laugh. And with this book the laughs just keep on coming.
February 19, 2022
Obviously didn't exactly "read," but listened to all the radio plays back when they was first broadcast in the last '70s, and then bought the CDs to listen to with my sons in the early 2000s.
The books are generally outstanding, but can't help but fade a little bit as the series goes on - impossible to maintain the level of freshness found in the first 2-3 books. And these radio dramas are equally wonderful, with spot-on character voices that my kids still mimic nearly 20 years on.
Find and listen to these if you can (despite being called "complete," this package only contains the Primary and Secondary Phases; the others are all available separately) - you will not be disappointed.
The books are generally outstanding, but can't help but fade a little bit as the series goes on - impossible to maintain the level of freshness found in the first 2-3 books. And these radio dramas are equally wonderful, with spot-on character voices that my kids still mimic nearly 20 years on.
Find and listen to these if you can (despite being called "complete," this package only contains the Primary and Secondary Phases; the others are all available separately) - you will not be disappointed.
February 13, 2025
In a way, I wish I could have read these novels separately rather than in one big omnibus-mush so I could rate them individually. Clearly the first novel is a 4-star book, despite the issues I had with it (to be revealed later in this review) but I'm not sure if any of the sequels reached that level. Oddly enough though, the stories haven't all merged into one big unidentifiable story in my head, despite reading them in quick succession, because they are all totally different in style. I mean, obviously still Adams, but very much each bringing a different type of story to the table.
So first of all we have The Hitch Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy, which is something like the spray cream equivalent of a novel. Lots of fun, light and fluffy to digest, with no substance at all and it dissolves before you're done with it. Well actually, Adams often puts in a lot of weird SF ideas and pseudo scientific or mathematic concepts that completely go over my head, so I feel like I am missing out on about a fifth of each book because I don't understand a word he is saying. But that aside, the first book is motivated not by plot or character, like every other novel I have ever read, but by comedy. The characters have almost no depth at all, Arthur is confused, Ford is a jerk, Zaphod is a cad with a weird brain thing, Trillian is deadpan and smart and Marvin is unbearable. There's barely a plot, and Adams purposely removes all instances of drama to insert more laughs. It's fun and well written, but it's all pudding and nothing to get your teeth into. There are two interesting concepts, that everything that happens is because Zaphod is being motivated subconsciously by a part of his brain he can't access and was sealed off from him by his earlier self, and that part of this plan involves him using a spaceship that is powered by improbability which means that the random coincidences happening are all meant to happen and a part of this plot. Also there are the two questions - the meaning of life and the ruler of the universe - which at least hint at more to come. Because this book just stops part way along.
I liked The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe a lot more, to start with. Zaphod was by far the most interesting character with the only plot going in the first book, so his (and Marvin's) adventures, actually featuring real drama and thrills, were an absolute relief for me. Shame that the other characters literally sit around doing nothing during this. However, this came to an abrupt halt. Suddenly they all go to the actual restaurant at the end of the universe for no reason and nothing of interest happens here. For some reason this whole sequence is the part I remember most from the TV show, so it was particularly uninteresting to read about. Then we get all that rather disheartening stuff with Arthur and Ford (neither of whom I particularly like) on prehistoric Earth. The intrigue of those two questions set up in the first book are both deliberately flushed down the toilet towards the end of this one, which means that everything that was interesting about this series is completely over now. Also Trillian does absolutely nothing in this book.
Life, The Universe And Everything is the real odd one out in the series because it has almost nothing to do with the characters. Slartibartfast (and there is no reason it is this random character from book 1) is trying to stop some aliens getting hold of five artefacts (yes this does feel like a computer game plot) that will allow them to destroy the universe. For no reason at all (I genuinely assumed this was plot-relevant, but none of the characters even notice it happening) 4 of the 5 artefacts are in the direct vicinity of our five heroes. The fifth one we only find out about in an epilogue. So that's frustrating and disappointing, but far worse than that is the fact that the characters do nothing for almost all the book. Arthur and Ford have joined up with Slartibartfast kind of against their will, and Ford, who has always been an apathetic selfish jerk, is worse than ever and has zero interest in saving the universe. So our three leads just stand around, arriving too late and doing nothing at each scene. Literally the plot could continue perfectly well whether they were there or not. Meanwhile, Trillian is reduced to being unsympathetic, Zaphod remains by far the best thing in it for the two scenes or so that he gets, and Marvin shows up again, being surprisingly nice. Trillian, who has barely been in it, randomly solves the problem right at the end in a very poorly set-up manner and we move on with our lives.
Book 4, So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish, is different. When I listened to this as the radio version back when I was at uni (and it was newly adapted) I actually liked it the best because it was the least SF so I was able to almost follow what the hell was going on for once. But 15 years later, clearly my tastes have changed. Because this one is boring. It's entirely about Arthur having one of those impulsive instant love affairs with a woman called Fenchurch and I really hate that kind of love story. Also Ford is in the book, doing some gibberish I wasn't able to follow at all. Marvin gets a cameo, but Zaphod and Trillian don't feature at all, getting a brief mention from Ford that they settled down and had kids. It's probably the nicest of the books. The Earth is restored and Arthur is happy. Ahhh.
Book 5, Mostly Harmless, seems only to exist to take a big poop on book 4. So some of you liked all that niceness, did you? You liked that the story had ended, did you? Let me ruin it for you! This book focuses on parallel universes, except not, and I was absolutely, completely never sure what was going on because of that. It also directly contradicts a few things already established, although occasionally sort of pooh-poohs the ideas, as if ol' book 5 knows better than all that stuff that came before. Arthur has never, NEVER, been an interesting lead. A character whose only trait is that he never knows what is going on is not a motivating lead. Book 4 and 5 have focused more on him as a person, but following on from three books of him being nothing, it's a bit late, and the fact that he has given up on Fenchurch in this one and is only obsessed with Earth is really jarring, although I liked that he cared about poor psychologically-damaged Random, although she never gets a chance to be anything more than a catalyst for the ending. Ford has the exact same role as he had in book 4, that is that we cut to him doing some exciting harebrained schemes that are totally out of character for this apathetic jerk and are clearly the realm of Zaphod in books 2 and 3. Trillian is absolutely ruined forever, and is a heartless awful person, plus there is a random other version of her now; one regrets leaving with Zaphod and the other regrets not leaving with Zaphod. Zaphod himself is nowhere to be seen. Neither is Marvin but that's because that's one piece of continuity from book 4 we are keeping. Anyway, everything that happens escalates to the climax, in which you discover that once again forces beyond the characters' control have been controlling them Hard to find a more disheartening way to end the book. And yet it is annoyingly 'neat' and 'ties in'. Clever and utterly horrible. I really wish I had not read book 5 because it offers nothing but a series of adventures that turn out to only exist to kick you in the gut.
Also, a kind of nasty or sad note to these books is that it doesn't seem to value friendship at all. It is never explained why Ford saves Arthur from the destruction of the Earth. Neither particularly like each other (or anyone) and by book 5, they actively despise each other. Arthur repeatedly chooses to live alone, with no contact with the other characters between books. When he loses the woman he loves, he doesn't even try to seek out the only people he knows in the universe. The five heroes of the original book simply don't like each other and only seem to spend any time together because of the outside forces driving them. The only times you get any hint of warmth from characters is that Zaphod likes Trillian and Arthur and Fenchurch love each other, but these are romantic relationships - friendship doesn't exist in this universe.
So, overall, the SF humour of these books pretty much completely bypasses my brain. Oddly the very particular humour of the first book is notably absent from the others. The plots (infuriatingly deliberately) don't go anywhere, end in anti-climaxes and are propelled by seemingly relevant coincidences that are hardly ever explained. And the characters are shallow and unlikeable. Except for Zaphod, who I love. And ultimately each book (not including 3 which really doesn't fit with the rest of it) is slightly more depressing than the last (okay book 4 was happier, but less eventful, so it still had a downer feel to it), finally ending in utter misery. The first book is fun but too insubstantial on its own, unfortunately nothing it sets up goes anywhere satisfactory in the later books. The only part of the omnibus that I really enjoyed was the first third of book 2. And when you read an entire series waiting for 'The Adventures Of Zaphod Show' to come back and then he's not even in the last two books... I guess I'm just not the intended audience here.
So first of all we have The Hitch Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy, which is something like the spray cream equivalent of a novel. Lots of fun, light and fluffy to digest, with no substance at all and it dissolves before you're done with it. Well actually, Adams often puts in a lot of weird SF ideas and pseudo scientific or mathematic concepts that completely go over my head, so I feel like I am missing out on about a fifth of each book because I don't understand a word he is saying. But that aside, the first book is motivated not by plot or character, like every other novel I have ever read, but by comedy. The characters have almost no depth at all, Arthur is confused, Ford is a jerk, Zaphod is a cad with a weird brain thing, Trillian is deadpan and smart and Marvin is unbearable. There's barely a plot, and Adams purposely removes all instances of drama to insert more laughs. It's fun and well written, but it's all pudding and nothing to get your teeth into. There are two interesting concepts, that everything that happens is because Zaphod is being motivated subconsciously by a part of his brain he can't access and was sealed off from him by his earlier self, and that part of this plan involves him using a spaceship that is powered by improbability which means that the random coincidences happening are all meant to happen and a part of this plot. Also there are the two questions - the meaning of life and the ruler of the universe - which at least hint at more to come. Because this book just stops part way along.
I liked The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe a lot more, to start with. Zaphod was by far the most interesting character with the only plot going in the first book, so his (and Marvin's) adventures, actually featuring real drama and thrills, were an absolute relief for me. Shame that the other characters literally sit around doing nothing during this. However, this came to an abrupt halt. Suddenly they all go to the actual restaurant at the end of the universe for no reason and nothing of interest happens here. For some reason this whole sequence is the part I remember most from the TV show, so it was particularly uninteresting to read about. Then we get all that rather disheartening stuff with Arthur and Ford (neither of whom I particularly like) on prehistoric Earth. The intrigue of those two questions set up in the first book are both deliberately flushed down the toilet towards the end of this one, which means that everything that was interesting about this series is completely over now. Also Trillian does absolutely nothing in this book.
Life, The Universe And Everything is the real odd one out in the series because it has almost nothing to do with the characters. Slartibartfast (and there is no reason it is this random character from book 1) is trying to stop some aliens getting hold of five artefacts (yes this does feel like a computer game plot) that will allow them to destroy the universe. For no reason at all (I genuinely assumed this was plot-relevant, but none of the characters even notice it happening) 4 of the 5 artefacts are in the direct vicinity of our five heroes. The fifth one we only find out about in an epilogue. So that's frustrating and disappointing, but far worse than that is the fact that the characters do nothing for almost all the book. Arthur and Ford have joined up with Slartibartfast kind of against their will, and Ford, who has always been an apathetic selfish jerk, is worse than ever and has zero interest in saving the universe. So our three leads just stand around, arriving too late and doing nothing at each scene. Literally the plot could continue perfectly well whether they were there or not. Meanwhile, Trillian is reduced to being unsympathetic, Zaphod remains by far the best thing in it for the two scenes or so that he gets, and Marvin shows up again, being surprisingly nice. Trillian, who has barely been in it, randomly solves the problem right at the end in a very poorly set-up manner and we move on with our lives.
Book 4, So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish, is different. When I listened to this as the radio version back when I was at uni (and it was newly adapted) I actually liked it the best because it was the least SF so I was able to almost follow what the hell was going on for once. But 15 years later, clearly my tastes have changed. Because this one is boring. It's entirely about Arthur having one of those impulsive instant love affairs with a woman called Fenchurch and I really hate that kind of love story. Also Ford is in the book, doing some gibberish I wasn't able to follow at all. Marvin gets a cameo, but Zaphod and Trillian don't feature at all, getting a brief mention from Ford that they settled down and had kids. It's probably the nicest of the books. The Earth is restored and Arthur is happy. Ahhh.
Book 5, Mostly Harmless, seems only to exist to take a big poop on book 4. So some of you liked all that niceness, did you? You liked that the story had ended, did you? Let me ruin it for you! This book focuses on parallel universes, except not, and I was absolutely, completely never sure what was going on because of that. It also directly contradicts a few things already established, although occasionally sort of pooh-poohs the ideas, as if ol' book 5 knows better than all that stuff that came before. Arthur has never, NEVER, been an interesting lead. A character whose only trait is that he never knows what is going on is not a motivating lead. Book 4 and 5 have focused more on him as a person, but following on from three books of him being nothing, it's a bit late, and the fact that he has given up on Fenchurch in this one and is only obsessed with Earth is really jarring, although I liked that he cared about poor psychologically-damaged Random, although she never gets a chance to be anything more than a catalyst for the ending. Ford has the exact same role as he had in book 4, that is that we cut to him doing some exciting harebrained schemes that are totally out of character for this apathetic jerk and are clearly the realm of Zaphod in books 2 and 3. Trillian is absolutely ruined forever, and is a heartless awful person, plus there is a random other version of her now; one regrets leaving with Zaphod and the other regrets not leaving with Zaphod. Zaphod himself is nowhere to be seen. Neither is Marvin but that's because that's one piece of continuity from book 4 we are keeping. Anyway, everything that happens escalates to the climax, in which you discover that once again forces beyond the characters' control have been controlling them Hard to find a more disheartening way to end the book. And yet it is annoyingly 'neat' and 'ties in'. Clever and utterly horrible. I really wish I had not read book 5 because it offers nothing but a series of adventures that turn out to only exist to kick you in the gut.
Also, a kind of nasty or sad note to these books is that it doesn't seem to value friendship at all. It is never explained why Ford saves Arthur from the destruction of the Earth. Neither particularly like each other (or anyone) and by book 5, they actively despise each other. Arthur repeatedly chooses to live alone, with no contact with the other characters between books. When he loses the woman he loves, he doesn't even try to seek out the only people he knows in the universe. The five heroes of the original book simply don't like each other and only seem to spend any time together because of the outside forces driving them. The only times you get any hint of warmth from characters is that Zaphod likes Trillian and Arthur and Fenchurch love each other, but these are romantic relationships - friendship doesn't exist in this universe.
So, overall, the SF humour of these books pretty much completely bypasses my brain. Oddly the very particular humour of the first book is notably absent from the others. The plots (infuriatingly deliberately) don't go anywhere, end in anti-climaxes and are propelled by seemingly relevant coincidences that are hardly ever explained. And the characters are shallow and unlikeable. Except for Zaphod, who I love. And ultimately each book (not including 3 which really doesn't fit with the rest of it) is slightly more depressing than the last (okay book 4 was happier, but less eventful, so it still had a downer feel to it), finally ending in utter misery. The first book is fun but too insubstantial on its own, unfortunately nothing it sets up goes anywhere satisfactory in the later books. The only part of the omnibus that I really enjoyed was the first third of book 2. And when you read an entire series waiting for 'The Adventures Of Zaphod Show' to come back and then he's not even in the last two books... I guess I'm just not the intended audience here.
May 10, 2017
I can't believe I waited until my 30s to read this. I remember growing up watching my friends around me rave about Adams' work and I just never jumped on the bandwagon.
Well I'm glad I finally did! It took me about 5 months to read this. Well, actually I chose to read the 'trilogy' over that long on my kindle. I got through the first book in a matter of days (I just couldn't stop...I was so engrossed) and realized just how much I enjoyed the story, characters, Adams' humor and creativity. I made the choice to try to space this out and ride the ride as long as I could, reading it in small chunks between other books; it feels like this has been a part of my life for quite some time now. It was a great feeling to know that I had more of the story to read, to experience, to be amazed by...between reads I would wonder how the story could progress and then I'd dive back in savouring every minute... I cared about the characters and narrative that much. I really didn't want to rush this; It's weird I know, but I'm glad I did it.
Today I finished the ride and I can say that it was amazing. I'm sad its over, and that I'll never have that fresh experience that a first read through provides you. That said, I do plan to read this several times more in my lifetime and hope to have further appreciation for it each time over.
Read the first 10 pages of the first book; if you enjoy it keep going.
Well I'm glad I finally did! It took me about 5 months to read this. Well, actually I chose to read the 'trilogy' over that long on my kindle. I got through the first book in a matter of days (I just couldn't stop...I was so engrossed) and realized just how much I enjoyed the story, characters, Adams' humor and creativity. I made the choice to try to space this out and ride the ride as long as I could, reading it in small chunks between other books; it feels like this has been a part of my life for quite some time now. It was a great feeling to know that I had more of the story to read, to experience, to be amazed by...between reads I would wonder how the story could progress and then I'd dive back in savouring every minute... I cared about the characters and narrative that much. I really didn't want to rush this; It's weird I know, but I'm glad I did it.
Today I finished the ride and I can say that it was amazing. I'm sad its over, and that I'll never have that fresh experience that a first read through provides you. That said, I do plan to read this several times more in my lifetime and hope to have further appreciation for it each time over.
Read the first 10 pages of the first book; if you enjoy it keep going.
March 7, 2017
Ist es nicht immer so? Eine Buchreihe beginnt mit Furore und verliert mit jedem Teil etwas von seiner Energie. Auch bei der weltweit einzigen fünfteiligen Trilogie "Per Anhalter durch die Galaxis" verhält es sich so. Glücklicherweise versinkt die Saga aber nie in in extraterrestrische Müllberge - den sechsten Teil vergessen wir hier jetzt einfach mal.
Der Höhepunkt erfolgt natürlich gleich mit dem ersten Buch, der Eröffnung, der Grosstat von Douglas Adams. Mit seinem kurzen und unglaublich humorvollen Roman über Verwirrungen im Weltall, Handtücher, Fische in den Ohren, goldene Raumschiffe und depressive Roboter hatte der Autor ein Kleinod erschaffen. Noch heute ist der Lesespass riesig und nie wird "Per Anhalter durch die Galaxis" mühsam. Somit erhält der erste Teil ohne Probleme fünf Sterne.
Mit den Fortsetzungen "Das Restaurant am Ende des Universums" und "Das Leben, das Universum und der ganze Rest" wird die gleiche Formel noch zwei Mal angewandt - erneut begleiten wir die bekannten Charaktere des ersten Bandes durch wilde und oft auch absurde Episoden von unfreiwilligen Abenteuer. Und wiederum funktioniert der Schreibstil von Adams perfekt - auch lässt er immer wieder Sozial- und Gesellschaftskritik in seine Szenen einfliessen. Trotzdem erreichen diese Bücher nicht mehr ganz die Genialität des Erstlings. Je vier Sterne.
Die zwei letzten Bücher "Macht's gut, und danke für den Fisch" sowie "Einmal Rupert und zurück" erschienen mit leider etwas halbgar, vielleicht weil sich hier die Handlung auf einzelne Schauplätze reduziert und eher stringent funktioniert. Es wollte sich nicht mehr die gleiche Faszination einstellen und vieles erschien mir eher irrelevant. Als ob Douglas Adams zwar die Bücher raushauen wollte, aber doch zu wenige Gründe für einen fesselnden Inhalt fand. Wirklich schlecht sind aber auch diese beiden Werke nicht. Doch für mehr als je drei Sterne reicht es nicht aus.
Durchschnitt: 3.8 Sterne -> 4 Sterne für diesen Gesamtband.
Der Höhepunkt erfolgt natürlich gleich mit dem ersten Buch, der Eröffnung, der Grosstat von Douglas Adams. Mit seinem kurzen und unglaublich humorvollen Roman über Verwirrungen im Weltall, Handtücher, Fische in den Ohren, goldene Raumschiffe und depressive Roboter hatte der Autor ein Kleinod erschaffen. Noch heute ist der Lesespass riesig und nie wird "Per Anhalter durch die Galaxis" mühsam. Somit erhält der erste Teil ohne Probleme fünf Sterne.
Mit den Fortsetzungen "Das Restaurant am Ende des Universums" und "Das Leben, das Universum und der ganze Rest" wird die gleiche Formel noch zwei Mal angewandt - erneut begleiten wir die bekannten Charaktere des ersten Bandes durch wilde und oft auch absurde Episoden von unfreiwilligen Abenteuer. Und wiederum funktioniert der Schreibstil von Adams perfekt - auch lässt er immer wieder Sozial- und Gesellschaftskritik in seine Szenen einfliessen. Trotzdem erreichen diese Bücher nicht mehr ganz die Genialität des Erstlings. Je vier Sterne.
Die zwei letzten Bücher "Macht's gut, und danke für den Fisch" sowie "Einmal Rupert und zurück" erschienen mit leider etwas halbgar, vielleicht weil sich hier die Handlung auf einzelne Schauplätze reduziert und eher stringent funktioniert. Es wollte sich nicht mehr die gleiche Faszination einstellen und vieles erschien mir eher irrelevant. Als ob Douglas Adams zwar die Bücher raushauen wollte, aber doch zu wenige Gründe für einen fesselnden Inhalt fand. Wirklich schlecht sind aber auch diese beiden Werke nicht. Doch für mehr als je drei Sterne reicht es nicht aus.
Durchschnitt: 3.8 Sterne -> 4 Sterne für diesen Gesamtband.
Read
October 25, 2011Fun book. Reads like Dr. Seuss for adults. lol. Not in the sense of rhyming, but in the ludicris words used. You can tell Mr. Adams had fun writing this completley random story. Ford Perfect makes the story enjoyable to read while Arthur Dent brings a confused realness to it. The way they relate to each other is entertaining to read. I've written more quotes than usual this time around and I'm not sure If I'm going to type them all so please bear with me...
"This planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much most of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largly concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy."
-pg.5
"What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through and still know where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with."
-pg. 22
"For this reason the president is always a controvercial choice. Always an infuriating but fascinating character. His job is not to weild power but to draw attention away from it."
pg. 30
(perhaps it is...)
"The mice will see you now."
pg. 136
"A large dairy animal approached Zaphod Beeblebrox's table, a large fat meaty quadruped of the bovine type with large watery eyes, small horns and what might almost have been an ingratiating smile on it's lips.
"Good evening," it lowed and sat back heavily on it's haunches, "I am the main Dish of the Dayh. May I interest you in parts of my body?" It harrumphed and gurgled a bit, wriggled its hing quarters into a more comfortable position and gazed peacefully at them.
Its gaze was met by looks of startled bewilderment from Arthur and Trillian, a resigned shrug from Ford and naked hunger from Zaphod Beeblebrox.
"Something off the shoulder perhaps?" suggested the animal. "Braised in a white wine sauce?"
"Er, YOUR shoulder?" said Arthur in a horrified whisper.
"But naturally my shoulder, sir," mooed the animal contentedly, "nobody else's is mine to offer."
Zaphod lept to his feet and started prodding and feeling the animal's shoulder appreciatively.
"Or the rump is very good," murmured the animal. "I've been excercising it and eating pleanty of grain, so there's a lot of good meat there." It gave a mellow grunt , gurgled again and started to chew the cud. It swallowed the cud again.
"Or a casserole of me perhaps?" it added.
"You mean this animal actually wants us to eat it?" Whispered Trillian to Ford.
"Me?" Said Ford, with a glazed look in his eyes. "I don't mean anything."
" That's absolutely horrible," exclaimed Arthur, "the most revolting thing I've ever heard."
"What's the problem Earthman?" said Zaphod, now transferring his attention the the animal's enormus rump.
"I just don't want to eat an animal that's standing there inviting me to." said Arthur. "It's hearless."
"Better than eating an animal that doesn't want to be eaten." said Zaphod."
-pg. 237 & 238
(hahaha)
"To summarize: it is a well known fact that those people who most want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary: Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made president should on no account be allowed to do the job. To summarize the summary of the summary: People are a problem."
pg. 294
"An S.E.P. is something that we can't see, or don't see, or our brain doesn't let us see, because we think that it's somebody else's problem. That's what S.E.P. means. Somebody else's problem. The brain just edits it out; like a blind spot. If you look at it directly you wont see it unless you know precisely what it is. Your only hope is to catch it by supprise out of the corner of your eye."
pg. 354
(reminds me of retail)
"It is very easy to be blinded to the seesntial uselessness of them by the sense of achievement you get from getting them to work at all."
pg. 630
(random as seen on tv things and things to make life "easier" ring a bell)
"Everybody has their moment of great opportunity in life. If you happen to miss the one you care about, then everything else in life becomes eerily easy."
pg. 667
(This unfortunately has truth in it)
"You see, the quality of any advice anybody has to offer has to be judged against the quality of the life they actually lead."
pg. 724
"...if you recieved an answer, the question might be taken away."
pg. 801
(As in we might forget why we do something. What the purpose was and forget the importance of it and the steps to take it)
"This planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much most of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largly concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy."
-pg.5
"What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through and still know where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with."
-pg. 22
"For this reason the president is always a controvercial choice. Always an infuriating but fascinating character. His job is not to weild power but to draw attention away from it."
pg. 30
(perhaps it is...)
"The mice will see you now."
pg. 136
"A large dairy animal approached Zaphod Beeblebrox's table, a large fat meaty quadruped of the bovine type with large watery eyes, small horns and what might almost have been an ingratiating smile on it's lips.
"Good evening," it lowed and sat back heavily on it's haunches, "I am the main Dish of the Dayh. May I interest you in parts of my body?" It harrumphed and gurgled a bit, wriggled its hing quarters into a more comfortable position and gazed peacefully at them.
Its gaze was met by looks of startled bewilderment from Arthur and Trillian, a resigned shrug from Ford and naked hunger from Zaphod Beeblebrox.
"Something off the shoulder perhaps?" suggested the animal. "Braised in a white wine sauce?"
"Er, YOUR shoulder?" said Arthur in a horrified whisper.
"But naturally my shoulder, sir," mooed the animal contentedly, "nobody else's is mine to offer."
Zaphod lept to his feet and started prodding and feeling the animal's shoulder appreciatively.
"Or the rump is very good," murmured the animal. "I've been excercising it and eating pleanty of grain, so there's a lot of good meat there." It gave a mellow grunt , gurgled again and started to chew the cud. It swallowed the cud again.
"Or a casserole of me perhaps?" it added.
"You mean this animal actually wants us to eat it?" Whispered Trillian to Ford.
"Me?" Said Ford, with a glazed look in his eyes. "I don't mean anything."
" That's absolutely horrible," exclaimed Arthur, "the most revolting thing I've ever heard."
"What's the problem Earthman?" said Zaphod, now transferring his attention the the animal's enormus rump.
"I just don't want to eat an animal that's standing there inviting me to." said Arthur. "It's hearless."
"Better than eating an animal that doesn't want to be eaten." said Zaphod."
-pg. 237 & 238
(hahaha)
"To summarize: it is a well known fact that those people who most want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary: Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made president should on no account be allowed to do the job. To summarize the summary of the summary: People are a problem."
pg. 294
"An S.E.P. is something that we can't see, or don't see, or our brain doesn't let us see, because we think that it's somebody else's problem. That's what S.E.P. means. Somebody else's problem. The brain just edits it out; like a blind spot. If you look at it directly you wont see it unless you know precisely what it is. Your only hope is to catch it by supprise out of the corner of your eye."
pg. 354
(reminds me of retail)
"It is very easy to be blinded to the seesntial uselessness of them by the sense of achievement you get from getting them to work at all."
pg. 630
(random as seen on tv things and things to make life "easier" ring a bell)
"Everybody has their moment of great opportunity in life. If you happen to miss the one you care about, then everything else in life becomes eerily easy."
pg. 667
(This unfortunately has truth in it)
"You see, the quality of any advice anybody has to offer has to be judged against the quality of the life they actually lead."
pg. 724
"...if you recieved an answer, the question might be taken away."
pg. 801
(As in we might forget why we do something. What the purpose was and forget the importance of it and the steps to take it)
August 31, 2009
OHMIGOD!!! Hilarious! I loved this book (er, books, as the trilogy actually encompasses five...). I laughed out loud so many times; who knew what would come out of Adams's brain next into that story. It is the best of everything, adventure, story-telling, and that wonderful British humour of irony and blase-indifference, that, according to some people's reviews (I am supposing Americans, to be completely sterotypical...) is just boring and NOT funny. Well, totally got it. I totally loved every stinkin' minute of it. My brother was my introduction to the Hitchhiker's Guide, as he was older and far more astablished in the world of pop-culture comedy, and he got the whole set and followed up by lending them to my mother, who also loves this kind of humour (she is also a Python fan), and I came to them later when I was ready to be initiated. And that was that. There was no going back. No need even to be carrying a towel, or requiring a Babel fish to get the effect. I will push this book(s) forever. And, who thought that a big-screen movie could have worked. Not me. I thought there was no way that they could do anything approaching it, but those Brits proved me wrong. As far as it could be done, it was done soooo right. But don't just watch the fantastic film version. Read the book(s). And then read them again. And again. Until you feel better about everything.
--"Even he, to whom most things that most people would think were pretty smart were pretty dumb, thought it was pretty smart."
Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt, p. 205
And it is, indeed, forty-two!
--"Even he, to whom most things that most people would think were pretty smart were pretty dumb, thought it was pretty smart."
Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt, p. 205
And it is, indeed, forty-two!
November 14, 2015
I finished the first book and it was so dumb, I thought I would really like this book. I was highly let down with is no form of any real plot and just not great humor. Not going to read the next one
April 27, 2020
Every now and then, after devouring book after book and taking an inordinate amount of pride in the number of pages you have left behind, along comes a book which reminds you that the destination really isn’t important every time. Sometimes you go on the journey that the book promises you with the sole objective of enjoying the journey. The destination, when it comes, is only a bonus and possibly a letdown, given how much you enjoyed the travel there. Science has shown that these books generally tend to come from British authors with an extraordinary mind capable of simplifying the most complex of concepts and complicating the simplest of situations and an even more extraordinary prowess over the language with a flair to put words together in a way which fulfils the purpose aforementioned extraordinary mind.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, has been the buzzword in science fiction literature for the longest time. What started off a radio show has now become a genre unto itself, with presence in the fields of books, movies and possibly a few songs written about it too (avoid the poems by Vogons in the book itself, given that they are the third worst poets in the known universe). Complementing the science of it all, most of which sounds legit, is an author who is obviously a fan of P. G. Wodehouse putting together the stories, which don’t always make sense and in some cases, aren’t supposed to.
Maybe this set of books is best described as Wodehouse writing about the world Blandings, if Lord Emsworth were to suddenly be beamed up one sunny day, and go around missing the Empress terribly.
Douglas Adams is every bit worth the legacy of that great Master, and for most of the series, he proves his mettle with a funny observational writing which simultaneously makes you laugh and feel uncomfortable when you realize it is you he is making fun of. And that’s what ultimately makes The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy that much more relatable. It’s the fact that while it takes you across the universe using an increasingly complex technology and even more complicated jargons, it remains a very human tale. By that, I mean that Adams wastes no time, space or opportunity to poke fun at human beings, our arrogant sense of supremacy in this world (and maybe the universe), the customs and gods we have invented to find a purpose and a very futile search for happiness.
When you strip away the absurdity that populates his universe, you only realize that Adams has only been showing us a mirror and all that absurdity was only ours to begin with. Our obsession with Philosophy (and finding a purpose to life), economics (and how fragile the entire system really is), politics (and how idiotic that system really is) and even society (and how ignorant we tend to be about other societies) is pointed out through metaphors, syllogisms and analogies which you might come to realize only a chapter later, only to shift back the pages and gape in anger and laughter.
Here in this book you will be regaled by an entire arc about finding the entity that runs the universe, only for the tale to end in a spectacular anti-climax. There are a bunch of chapters dedicated to finding the answer to Life, The Universe and Everything (the Ultimate Question, you see), concluding with the answer being found (spoiler: the answer to this Ultimate Question is 42) only to realize that no one ever bothered to find out what the question really is. There are pages filled with a single-minded determination to discover what God’s ultimate message to his creation is, which ends only with the Creations being apologized to.
The journey spans millennia, lightyears, multiple universes and even entire dimensions only to end up where it all began. It goes across doors which are extremely pleased to do their jobs well, robots with veritable identity crisis and permanent depression (inspite of having a brain the size of a planet) and spaceships which use the peculiar mathematics which exists only inside restaurants (bistromatics) to traverse space and time. Perhaps it is only fitting, then, that it all began with the destruction of the Earth, because only when we destroy what we think to be true can we actually know what really is true. And that there probably isn’t any truth to begin with.
The answers we find are of no importance. Only the questions are, and the quest to find the answers is the only part which is true.
As I said, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is not a book big on conclusions. If you are looking for a book with a happy ending, or any conclusive ending at all, I suggest you move onto the next inhabitable planet. However, if you are looking for a highly improbable journey, which will play with your mind, reveal that you are just a pawn in a world ruled by mice and where dolphins have found true happiness, eat at a restaurant while watching the universe itself explode and end, play a game of Krikkit manipulated by a supercomputer and all in all, just discover a trilogy of 5 parts which has been put together surprisingly well (considering the sheer complexity in the design of it all), sometimes incoherently, with a fair bit of foreshadowing and hints strewn along your path, this is just the place to start.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is not at all the perfect book. While I read an omnibus of all five books of the trilogy put together, they would make better reading one book at a time, with a break between books. Read continuously, the concepts get a little tiresome, and the comedy gets a bit old. Read it like you would a Wodehouse. On a nice Sunday afternoon, with a hot cup of tea and one of those 5 books in your hands. Enjoy the journey without too much thought and just go with the flow. You’ll end up with a good laugh, some food for thought to chew upon, and big smile to float you through the next couple of months when you pick up the next part.
Till then, please reference this review to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, so that everyone in the universe can read it. It’s mostly harmless. Please continue playing your game of Krikkit. And most of all, Don’t Panic.
So long, then, and thank you for all the fish!
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, has been the buzzword in science fiction literature for the longest time. What started off a radio show has now become a genre unto itself, with presence in the fields of books, movies and possibly a few songs written about it too (avoid the poems by Vogons in the book itself, given that they are the third worst poets in the known universe). Complementing the science of it all, most of which sounds legit, is an author who is obviously a fan of P. G. Wodehouse putting together the stories, which don’t always make sense and in some cases, aren’t supposed to.
Maybe this set of books is best described as Wodehouse writing about the world Blandings, if Lord Emsworth were to suddenly be beamed up one sunny day, and go around missing the Empress terribly.
Douglas Adams is every bit worth the legacy of that great Master, and for most of the series, he proves his mettle with a funny observational writing which simultaneously makes you laugh and feel uncomfortable when you realize it is you he is making fun of. And that’s what ultimately makes The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy that much more relatable. It’s the fact that while it takes you across the universe using an increasingly complex technology and even more complicated jargons, it remains a very human tale. By that, I mean that Adams wastes no time, space or opportunity to poke fun at human beings, our arrogant sense of supremacy in this world (and maybe the universe), the customs and gods we have invented to find a purpose and a very futile search for happiness.
When you strip away the absurdity that populates his universe, you only realize that Adams has only been showing us a mirror and all that absurdity was only ours to begin with. Our obsession with Philosophy (and finding a purpose to life), economics (and how fragile the entire system really is), politics (and how idiotic that system really is) and even society (and how ignorant we tend to be about other societies) is pointed out through metaphors, syllogisms and analogies which you might come to realize only a chapter later, only to shift back the pages and gape in anger and laughter.
Here in this book you will be regaled by an entire arc about finding the entity that runs the universe, only for the tale to end in a spectacular anti-climax. There are a bunch of chapters dedicated to finding the answer to Life, The Universe and Everything (the Ultimate Question, you see), concluding with the answer being found (spoiler: the answer to this Ultimate Question is 42) only to realize that no one ever bothered to find out what the question really is. There are pages filled with a single-minded determination to discover what God’s ultimate message to his creation is, which ends only with the Creations being apologized to.
The journey spans millennia, lightyears, multiple universes and even entire dimensions only to end up where it all began. It goes across doors which are extremely pleased to do their jobs well, robots with veritable identity crisis and permanent depression (inspite of having a brain the size of a planet) and spaceships which use the peculiar mathematics which exists only inside restaurants (bistromatics) to traverse space and time. Perhaps it is only fitting, then, that it all began with the destruction of the Earth, because only when we destroy what we think to be true can we actually know what really is true. And that there probably isn’t any truth to begin with.
The answers we find are of no importance. Only the questions are, and the quest to find the answers is the only part which is true.
As I said, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is not a book big on conclusions. If you are looking for a book with a happy ending, or any conclusive ending at all, I suggest you move onto the next inhabitable planet. However, if you are looking for a highly improbable journey, which will play with your mind, reveal that you are just a pawn in a world ruled by mice and where dolphins have found true happiness, eat at a restaurant while watching the universe itself explode and end, play a game of Krikkit manipulated by a supercomputer and all in all, just discover a trilogy of 5 parts which has been put together surprisingly well (considering the sheer complexity in the design of it all), sometimes incoherently, with a fair bit of foreshadowing and hints strewn along your path, this is just the place to start.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is not at all the perfect book. While I read an omnibus of all five books of the trilogy put together, they would make better reading one book at a time, with a break between books. Read continuously, the concepts get a little tiresome, and the comedy gets a bit old. Read it like you would a Wodehouse. On a nice Sunday afternoon, with a hot cup of tea and one of those 5 books in your hands. Enjoy the journey without too much thought and just go with the flow. You’ll end up with a good laugh, some food for thought to chew upon, and big smile to float you through the next couple of months when you pick up the next part.
Till then, please reference this review to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, so that everyone in the universe can read it. It’s mostly harmless. Please continue playing your game of Krikkit. And most of all, Don’t Panic.
So long, then, and thank you for all the fish!
September 6, 2019
Itt van sokszáz oldal összefüggéstelen hülyeség, történések sora, amik között szinte semmi kapcsolat sincs, állandóan megszakítva létfontosságúnak vélt adatok közlésével képzeletbeli bolygókról. A szereplők ide-oda vetődnek, néha egyszerűen eltűnnek és nem bukkannak fel többet, soha nincs megállás, vagy ha van, ha éppen jól éreznéd magad, feltűnik a lányod, akinek az anyjával sosem volt intim kapcsolatod, és ellopja az órád. Katyvasz az egész, és imádod, mert vicces, mert ironikus, mert eredeti, mert olyan, mintha „Utánam a vízözön!” felkiáltással kiállnál egy tetszőleges (űr)autópálya tetszőleges irányba menő sávja mellé, hogy az első űrhajóval autóval, ami felvesz, elindulj akármerre, és így tovább, és így tovább. A kellemetlenségért pedig elnézést kérünk. :)
July 9, 2020
The first book started off as meh and it got progressively worse from there. That ending, what even was that ending? After reading it I honestly can’t see what all the fuss is about if I had an open fire this would be going on it with the kindling. I don’t think I’d ever recommend this book to anyone. Worst of all is it could have been ALOT shorter, he continually says the same thing over and over in different ways full paragraphs of that shit and I can only imagine it was to bulk the shit out. Never again I’ve wasted far too much time on it, that shitty little Zaphod book at the end can get to fuck I ain’t wasting no more time on it. I know what the ultimate question is now to! How many pages into this book do you get before you realise it’s boring and a big mistake? 42!
March 1, 2022
I think the writing is clever and the pacing is great. The storyline is interesting and the author has done a really good job in making you think of topics from an interesting perspective. The reason for 3 stars is I did not feel particularly attached to any character.
February 8, 2020
DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME!
March 26, 2018
This was soo very different from all sci-fi I've read so far! There are some boring chapters, but doesn't really matter when you've got 700++ pages of pure awesomeness!
There's something about the book that made me keep reading, without slowing down, even through the really boring chapters (or maybe it's because my exams start in a week).
This book is so weird! Most of it is comedy. Just fun. But, all that comedy kind of enhances the serious bits. You really start to question a lot of things in life.
There's something about the book that made me keep reading, without slowing down, even through the really boring chapters (or maybe it's because my exams start in a week).
This book is so weird! Most of it is comedy. Just fun. But, all that comedy kind of enhances the serious bits. You really start to question a lot of things in life.
December 24, 2018
This book is fun to read, I guess, if we can all agree that there is a universal definition of fun. There is a lot that could have been done with the characters. It does go, as you might imagine, where few books go: om, the galaxy! I am still processing what I read, hoping to make sense of it all. It is an easy read if you want something that lifts off the page.
October 8, 2023
это не книга а шедевр!
January 14, 2024
I was led to this book by certainly the most famous running gag generated by it. I am a bit of a truthseeker, so I craved to find out the ultimate answer to life, the universe, and everything, contained in this book.
That was something unusual. Something special. But at the same time, something not for everyone. I decided to save some money and buy a 5-in-1 edition with all 5 parts of a so-called trilogy. I immediately regretted it when I realized I needed at least a short break after reading one part. I value such a kind of humor, but it is often hard to comprehend, especially for a non-native speaker. I liked how easy-going the plot is, but sometimes I wished it was developing just a little bit more seriously. Though I must admit, it did become more serious in "Mostly Harmless", the last part.
I had to spend a lot of time just to get used to Adams's specific narrating style. But when I finally was comfortable, I started genuinely enjoying it. Although I would not describe it as a masterpiece, which I rarely do for fiction literature. I wish I read the first 3 parts again because that was the time I had not gotten used to the book yet, so they are a bit blurred in my memory. Although I would give a decent 4 out of 5 to all of them. The 4th part, "So long, and thanks for the fish", was the most confusing for me in a bad sense, so I would give it only 3/5. There was an attempt to make the plot more serious, but at the same time, jokes became even more ridiculous. And "Mostly Harmless" is definitely a 5, since it is extremely good from the beginning till the very end.
But overall, the humor was my cup of tea. If I were a fiction writer, or if someday I try to write my own standup, I know where to draw inspiration from.
That was something unusual. Something special. But at the same time, something not for everyone. I decided to save some money and buy a 5-in-1 edition with all 5 parts of a so-called trilogy. I immediately regretted it when I realized I needed at least a short break after reading one part. I value such a kind of humor, but it is often hard to comprehend, especially for a non-native speaker. I liked how easy-going the plot is, but sometimes I wished it was developing just a little bit more seriously. Though I must admit, it did become more serious in "Mostly Harmless", the last part.
I had to spend a lot of time just to get used to Adams's specific narrating style. But when I finally was comfortable, I started genuinely enjoying it. Although I would not describe it as a masterpiece, which I rarely do for fiction literature. I wish I read the first 3 parts again because that was the time I had not gotten used to the book yet, so they are a bit blurred in my memory. Although I would give a decent 4 out of 5 to all of them. The 4th part, "So long, and thanks for the fish", was the most confusing for me in a bad sense, so I would give it only 3/5. There was an attempt to make the plot more serious, but at the same time, jokes became even more ridiculous. And "Mostly Harmless" is definitely a 5, since it is extremely good from the beginning till the very end.
But overall, the humor was my cup of tea. If I were a fiction writer, or if someday I try to write my own standup, I know where to draw inspiration from.
May 5, 2022
Am citit prima dată Ghidul autostopistului galactic în urmă cu 15 ani, când l-am cules oarecum la întâmplare din raftul unei librării la care lucram în 2006. Era SF, deci un criteriu suficient pentru mine, iar titlul mi s-a părut foarte atrăgător. Păi cum să nu-ți dorești să ridici degetul mare în așteptarea unui OZN care să te plimbe printre stele, galaxii, găuri negre și quarci? Să ajungi pe planete ciudate cu locuitori încă și mai bizari. Cum să nu visezi la 21 de ani că faci autostopul în căutarea unei destinații necunoscute din Univers?
Acum, la distanță de ani lumină de la prima lectură, mai țineam minte doar delfinii, care nu erau deloc ceea ce păreau. Și că era destul de amuzantă. Am recitit-o cu un ochi critic pentru un club de carte la care nu am mai ajuns, și mi-am dat seama că nu mai e la fel. Pardon, eu nu mai sunt la fel, Ghidul e același. Multe glume mi s-au părut forțate, de umplutură, doar ca să fie; o parodie uneori chinuită a romanelor SF "serioase". Acțiune haotică pe alocuri, de nici nu mai știam pe ce planetă mă aflu, în ce timp sau dimensiune paralelă ajunsesem.
Dar am și râs, trebuie să recunosc. Iar personajele sunt bine conturate, l-am invidiat pe Arthur Dent pentru aventurile lui, mi-aș fi dorit nava super-tehnologizată a lui Zaphod și l-am compătimit pe Marvin, cel mai deprimat robot din toate universurile (ne)cunoscute.
Și dacă tot e un fel de etalon, am oscilat între 2 și 3 stele pe Goodreads. Am ales 3 pentru că nu aș fi aflat care e sensul ascuns al existenței Universului dacă nu o citeam.
P. S. nu uitați prosopul când plecați în călătorie. Autostopiștii galactici știu de ce...
Acum, la distanță de ani lumină de la prima lectură, mai țineam minte doar delfinii, care nu erau deloc ceea ce păreau. Și că era destul de amuzantă. Am recitit-o cu un ochi critic pentru un club de carte la care nu am mai ajuns, și mi-am dat seama că nu mai e la fel. Pardon, eu nu mai sunt la fel, Ghidul e același. Multe glume mi s-au părut forțate, de umplutură, doar ca să fie; o parodie uneori chinuită a romanelor SF "serioase". Acțiune haotică pe alocuri, de nici nu mai știam pe ce planetă mă aflu, în ce timp sau dimensiune paralelă ajunsesem.
Dar am și râs, trebuie să recunosc. Iar personajele sunt bine conturate, l-am invidiat pe Arthur Dent pentru aventurile lui, mi-aș fi dorit nava super-tehnologizată a lui Zaphod și l-am compătimit pe Marvin, cel mai deprimat robot din toate universurile (ne)cunoscute.
Și dacă tot e un fel de etalon, am oscilat între 2 și 3 stele pe Goodreads. Am ales 3 pentru că nu aș fi aflat care e sensul ascuns al existenței Universului dacă nu o citeam.
P. S. nu uitați prosopul când plecați în călătorie. Autostopiștii galactici știu de ce...
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