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Jon's Reviews > The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1)
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In my experience, readers either love Adams' books or quickly put them down. I, for example, quite literally worship the words Adams puts on the page, and have read the Hitchhiker's Trilogy so many times that I have large tracts of it memorized. But both my wife and father couldn't get past book one: the former because she found it too silly, and the latter because he found the writing to be more about "the author's personality" than plot and character.
Whatever.
The first three books in the Hitchhiker's Trilogy--The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, and Life, the Universe and Everything--are inspired lunacy. The ideas, plots, puns, jokes, and phrases that fill their pages have influenced an entire generation of not only writers, but people from all fields. For instance: the Babel Fish software that translates foreign websites for you is named after a species of fish that Adams created in book one; you can find dozens of recipes online for Pan-Galactic Gargle Blasters; the chess computer Deep Thought that lost two matches to Gary Kasparov in 1989 was named after a computer in book one; and seriously, who hasn't heard that the answer to life, the universe, and everything is 42? (For more of these, consult wikipedia.org's entry on "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Cultural References".) Chances are, if you're reading these books for the first time, you'll be surprised to see how many everyday things were named after Adams' creations.
The books aren't, of course, without their problems. Adams himself admitted that the Trilogy had, and I paraphrase, a long beginning, a long conclusion, and not much in the middle (though I can't remember where I read that). He was also regularly accused of writing for the sake of cranking out one-liners. The books as a whole jump about like a manic puppy on methamphetamines, and there are at least a few jokes in there that will completely fly over the heads of any readers who lack a basic comprehension of quantum physics.
Despite this, the Hitchhiker's Trilogy remains as the single most entertaining and enjoyable series of books I've ever read--a position they've occupied for some fifteen years. Adams' wit and wisdom still baffle me in their greatness, and he remains to this day one of only two authors who can regularly, consistently make me howl with laughter (the other being Terry Pratchett). Readers beware: if the Adams bug infects you, you will have it for life. And you'll never be sorry you let it bite.
Whatever.
The first three books in the Hitchhiker's Trilogy--The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, and Life, the Universe and Everything--are inspired lunacy. The ideas, plots, puns, jokes, and phrases that fill their pages have influenced an entire generation of not only writers, but people from all fields. For instance: the Babel Fish software that translates foreign websites for you is named after a species of fish that Adams created in book one; you can find dozens of recipes online for Pan-Galactic Gargle Blasters; the chess computer Deep Thought that lost two matches to Gary Kasparov in 1989 was named after a computer in book one; and seriously, who hasn't heard that the answer to life, the universe, and everything is 42? (For more of these, consult wikipedia.org's entry on "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Cultural References".) Chances are, if you're reading these books for the first time, you'll be surprised to see how many everyday things were named after Adams' creations.
The books aren't, of course, without their problems. Adams himself admitted that the Trilogy had, and I paraphrase, a long beginning, a long conclusion, and not much in the middle (though I can't remember where I read that). He was also regularly accused of writing for the sake of cranking out one-liners. The books as a whole jump about like a manic puppy on methamphetamines, and there are at least a few jokes in there that will completely fly over the heads of any readers who lack a basic comprehension of quantum physics.
Despite this, the Hitchhiker's Trilogy remains as the single most entertaining and enjoyable series of books I've ever read--a position they've occupied for some fifteen years. Adams' wit and wisdom still baffle me in their greatness, and he remains to this day one of only two authors who can regularly, consistently make me howl with laughter (the other being Terry Pratchett). Readers beware: if the Adams bug infects you, you will have it for life. And you'll never be sorry you let it bite.
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Reading Progress
Started Reading
January 1, 1988
–
Finished Reading
June 29, 2007
– Shelved
Comments Showing 1-34 of 34 (34 new)
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I'm DYING to read those books!
Garnet? you've got to get your hands on a copy.they're about as awesome for some people as jon said, and i think you'll be of those who will love them.
I've read all the books but my first exposure to the series was the radio program and I still think this is the best version. Reading the books became a revisiting of jokes, people, places, and Adams' wacky concepts mixed in with science, with just a bit more added here and there, and so I think they became more than their printed pages revealed...
I'd agree with your opinion on The Hitchhikers Guide. I am like you, where I could not get enough of every word that I read when reading the trilogy of Five. I didn't mind the last two books, although I did not care for the newest book: "And another Thing..." written by Eoin Colfer.If anyone would like to read more, an... Interesting account of Douglas Adams's great trilogy is written about in the book: "The Universe Next door: A basic Worldview Catalog" written by James W. Sire... in the Nihilism section...
OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!I would kill to get copies of those books...i Have only read the fist one...
I'm going to give it a shot, thanks to this review. I'm interested in knowing where I'm going to land on this spectrum. Here's hoping I get bitten! Thanks!
Elle wrote: "I'm going to give it a shot, thanks to this review. I'm interested in knowing where I'm going to land on this spectrum. Here's hoping I get bitten! Thanks!"Well, no bite-marks here, but I certainly didn't hate it. I'm glad to have read it since it's so important, but probably won't continue on with the series. Thanks for the great review that helped me pick it up!
Thank you for a very intelligent angle on these books. Personally I think they are completely weird and boring, but your eloquence and passion made me see the other side, so to speak.
I just finished the first of these books and was really surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I laughed out loud countless times. I really thought the jokes were well thought out. I can't wait to read the next one.
I've always thought of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as a standalone novel, mind you I've only read the second and not the third. Nice review nonetheless.
I feel exactly the same way about Hitchiker's Guide novels! And people who I recommended it too either start frantically swallowing all of the books, or can't go past the first one.
While I like the book myself, I think I share your father's opinion that the book is about Douglas' personality. Yeah, the writing is irregular too, but that probably because he narrated the story before he wrote it, giving it that voice-over feel. The science/maths jokes!
I started reading book 1 twice. I saw the high ratings and I thought I would enjoy, but I have just found it "silly" and very disconnected. The way he writes, it seems like he is throwing pieces of disconnected information. I still don't know who the characters are. I read 13% of the book and I really don't feel like reading it, I am not excited to read it.
"Inspired lunacy" says it all! If you cannot appreciate that concept, you will not enjoy the book(s). For those of us who nearly loose control of our bodily functions while laughing as we read this series, it is hard to understand why others cannot even smile at it. I'm so very glad my mind was created to be attracted to this kind of humour. I think my life is better for it!
Yes, they are pretty good.
If you like the books, check out the BBC series. It covers the first three books. While it leaves out much of the detail, it is nevertheless hilarious. Adams himself even makes a couple of cameos (in one, you see his bare ass walking into the ocean). This is a great way to enjoy the things you could only visualize before. I prefer to the movie, which featured some of the stars that appeared in the series. Give it a try, you won't regret it.
The Adams bug has truly infected me and it is the most satisfying feeling I have gotten from a book for a very, very long time. Diving into the other books now! Cheers for the wonderful review!
"Talk about nailing a fad. When's the last time you saw a digital watch on someone's wrist?"Eight years later, I'm wearing one right now. It's also a pedometer and GPS.
That’s funny. I’ve always compared Adams and sci-fi to Pratchett and fantasy. They complement each other. I just picked up the first four hitchhiker stories in a collected one book volume for a quarter. Sweet.
If a list of books were compulsory reads before you were allowed to leave school then this would be one on my list!
Nice review, but with one error, I think. The chess playing computer was called Deep Blue, whereas Deep Thought was, according to Adams, “a very obvious joke,” that is, a reference to a pornographic film which features an act that some people would find hard to swallow.
I 100% agree with your father. I read the entire book, but found it to scream "trying to hard to be clever" to the point of being obnoxiously pretentious. This is the only book I read that I actually liked the movie better, and even the movie isn't something to bother watching again, except for a couple chuckles because of Alan Rickman.
I think the books are even better than the review and the review is damn good.
I sort of agree with your comment. and now I realize that its perfectly okay for me to not be hooked with this book. There’s so much hype about this science fiction, and surely the author has great sense of humour, which what I enjoyed in most of the instances while reading this book. But as whole, the story didn’t grip me as I would have expected.
Phew 😅 So it’s totally normal to have chunks of this book memorized? 😂 I always felt alone in that. I’ve listened to/watched (miniseries)/read it so many times parts are permanently ingrained in my memory.
Can anyone give me the link of this book's pdf?
Your review is accurate
It is one of the best trilogies that I have ever red too. I had a friend that couldn't get past the first book because "it is just too random, I could get wtf was happening". But I red the trilogy more than 5x times and the first books specially more than 10x. It is one of those reads that I go to when I'm in book hangover.
The pleasure of the story escaped me. I thought it was nonstop drivel. But differences of opinion are what make the world go 'round.
The radio show - where it all began - was the best. I don’t think I would have gotten into the books without it.
I somewhat suspect that the first three books are so good because of the editorial and rehursal attention they got before airing on BBC Radio. And naturally, for Radio, the pacing is tuned to the short one-liners and quick dialog.
'These ape-like decendents were so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea." -- That was back in 1980. Talk about nailing a fad. When's the last time you saw a digital watch on someone's wrist?