Jedyny element, który mi się podobał to Marvin

I had forgotten how frigging frood
This book is which I read
When I was still a hip young dude
With nothing in my head

Not that there is much more today
Inside this ageing brain
—Six poems two novels and a play
Is all it doth retain

But if a Vogon constructor fleet
Came down to smash the Earth
Steamrolling houses into jeet
And streets into gallurph

And I could salvage but one book
Before I hitched a ride
Away from our big crumbling rock
I think I’d pick this Guide

For face to face with the extent
Of Time and Space and Void
I’d need to laugh with Arthur Dent
And cry with Marvin Droid

Absurdity at its finest.

Arthur Dent is having a bad day, his house is about to be levelled down because it’s in the way of the construction of a new freeway. At the local pub, he encounters his enigmatic friend Ford Prefect. Prefect, a galactic hitchhiker, is leaving the Earth, and taking Dent with him. A minor nuisance; apparently the Earth is just about to be demolished to make way for an interstellar freeway. Dent’s realization is instant, several billions of people are going to have a very bad day.

This is the most ridiculously funny book I’ve ever read. Although that may be because it was my very first of the kind. I think the hype is very well deserved, if you are into that kind of humor. I lost track of how many times it made me laugh, and I’m not really an easy person to make laugh. Outrageously silly sci-fi humor in every single chapter. An unforgettable ride through an absurdity of worlds scattered along the vast craziness of an unfathomable galaxy.

The movie (2005) is a mediocre adaptation at best; even with a stellar cast like Rockwell, Deschanel and Malkovich. It’s not nearly as funny as the book, not by a long shot, at least for me. It doesn’t make it justice and is not exactly faithful to the original work. And sadly, you just can’t bring down the magnificently complex absurdity of Douglas writing to cinematic dialog without losing much of its original magic.

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n  PERSONAL NOTEn:
[2007] [193p] [Humor] [Highly Recommendable] [Outrageously ridiculous] [Wonderfully crazy galaxy] [Never forget Marvin] [ –I really don’t think you are going to like it. –Tell us!!! – Ok… 42. ]
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★★☆☆☆ 0.5. Young Zaphod Plays It Safe [1.5]
★★★★★ 1. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
★★☆☆☆ 2. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe [2.5]
★★★☆☆ 3. Life, the Universe and Everything
★★★★☆ 4. So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
★☆☆☆☆ 5. Mostly Harmless
★★★☆☆ 1-5. The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy  
★★★☆☆ 6. And Another Thing... [2.5]

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Absurdidad en su máxima expresión.

Arthur Dent tiene un mal día, su casa está a punto de ser derribada porque está en el camino de la construcción de una nueva carretera. En un bar local, se encuentra con su enigmático amigo Ford Prefect. Prefect, un autoestopista galáctico, está por abandonar la Tierra, y se va llevar a Dent con él. Una pequeña molestia; al parecer la Tierra está a punto de ser demolida para darle paso a una autopista intergaláctica. La realización de Dent es instantánea, varios billones de personas van a tener un muy mal día.

Este es el libro más ridículamente gracioso que leí jamás. Aunque eso es tal vez porque fue el primero que leí de su especie. Creo que su fama está muy bien merecida, si te atrae ése tipo de humor. Perdí la cuenta de cuántas veces me hizo reir, y no soy una persona realmente fácil de hacer reir. Atrozmente tonto humor de ciencia ficción en cada capítulo. Un inolvidable paseo a través de una absurdidad de mundos esparcidos a lo largo de la vasta locura de una insondable galaxia.

La película (2005) es una mediocre adaptación cuando mucho; incluso con un elenco estrella como Rockwell, Deschanel y Malkovich. No es ni de cerca tan graciosa como el libro, ni por asomo, al menos para mí. No le hace justicia y no es exactamente fiel a la obra original. Y tristemente, no podés traer la magníficamente compleja absurdidad de la escritura de Douglas a diálogo cinematográfico sin perder mucha de su magia original.

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n  NOTA PERSONALn:
[2007] [193p] [Humor] [Altamente Recomendable] [Atrozmente ridículo] [Maravillosamente alocada galaxia] [Nunca olvidar Marvin] [ –Realmente no creo que les vaya a gustar. –Dínoslo!!! – Ok… 42. ]
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Wow! I cannot articulate just how much I loved this book!

“Ford... you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.”

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is my first Douglas Adams novel, and it is going directly to my favorites shelf. The humor is wonderfully dry and the writing oh so clever. This is the kind of novel that will stick with me forever; the kind that I will read over and over.

I can't wait to jump into The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

“So long, and thanks for all the fish.”

I honestly couldn't care less for Zaphod and his part of the story, or the most of it. Therefore I give it 4,5 stars. Other than that I loved the book and the humour in it. It was simply brilliant. Easy read with lots of fun. Pity I didn't have a chance to read it as a teen. In English.

I was quite afraid I wouldn't take to the book considering how many people close to me -- as well as at parties -- would rage, rage, RAGE at my never having read Hitchhiker's Guide. What would the fallout be? Would I be shanked at the next party I went to if, when asked about my liking of the book, I were to shrug? Oh, the anxiety!

But I'm happy to report I did like it.

A lot, too, once the sperm whale and petunia chapter came up, and then all the more when the old world builder (or award-winning fjord artist) wandered in. And then I felt as if I might come to possibly have a crush on the book after Zaphod gave his monologue about how he thinks.

The absurdity in the story and its world was of the specific kind I care about -- an absurdity that manages to parallel this world's absurdity but tinged with mystery, whimsy, and wonder, of course. It's the kind of absurdity that exists in the stupendous Doctor Who, which makes sense, and exists somewhat in Dead Like Me. I don't find much purpose for the other kind of absurdity. You know the kind, that ragged, empty, cold, fraught, and menacing absurdity that lives in the Batman's Joker and performance art projects by people with bold, asymmetrical hair cuts. Shudder.

It's all right. I've found my way back.

I'll now take joy in reading Chris's hefty and timeworn Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide, rather than approach it with the dread of potentially being shanked. Which is a good thing, no?

6 shiny twinkling ★'s!

Really wonderful humor, funny language, absurd imagery and fantastic characters. The most fun I've ever had with books. And audiobooks.. I had this on tape, the BBC version, and would listen to this in my car or on my walkman repeatedly.

If you've ever wondered where those references to the number 42 come from, what it would be like to have two heads or what about the answer to life, the universe and everything - look no further.

Actually, I'm gonna head off right now to get the audiobook and pick up a ringtone & notification sound from that. Sorry, got to go!

Yay!

edit: back from picking up the BBC audiobook. OOOhhh, how wonderful. Sorry, gotta go again, walk the dog and listen to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy on my smartphone (that walkman is soo history..)
**hurries off whistling the intro tune and grinning crazily**

Reread. Last read it 2020. Its funny how much reading tastes changes over the years. Still like it but not at all as much. Lower rating this time around.

----

This. Was. Amazing! I wasn't at all prepared that this tiny book would hold so much greatness and other worldy amazingness. It's funny, it's quirky and it doesn't try to be serious but it doesn't feel forced or overly ridiculous. It's just have enough fun bits and it doesn't feel overpowering. It's short but feel like it has the perfect length. I'm glad I got the next book on hand and I can easily say it's one of the best book I've read this year!!

From what I can tell, I'm not in the majority when it comes to rating The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. I'm giving it a 3, which means I still liked it... but unfortunately, I wasn't as fond of the humor as most people are.

This was a book club selection from about 6 or 7 years ago. We agreed to read just the first one in the series. And it was the first science-fiction novel we took on. I was excited. Several had already read it but wanted to again.

I'm generally a fan of crazy humor. I love Spaceballs, the movie. I kinda liken it to that, but for some reason, this wasn't as funny as I felt everyone said it was. Tons of laughs. Many great lines. The characters were memorable. I'm pretty sure there are a few movie or cartoon adaptions of it.

And I honestly would recommend that everyone read it -- even non SF fans. There are parts you will totally enjoy. But it's hard to get into for a non-SF reader right from the beginning. My first reactions were "Oh that's not possible..." But then I realized I wasn't reading a typical novel, so I suspended the lil' bit o' grouch in me... and I was able to enjoy it.



Very imaginative. Lots of cool commentary on life as other people would see it. A fair approach for someone new to the universe, so to speak.

I may go back and read it now that I'm older and have read a few other SF and fantasy books. I'm curious... what's the huge appeal for others about this book?



n  n    About Men  n
For those new to me or my reviews... here's the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at https://thisismytruthnow.com, where you'll also find TV & Film reviews, the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I've visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by.

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n  n    “I don’t want to die now!” he yelled. “I’ve still got a headache! I don’t want to go to heaven with a headache, I’d be all cross and wouldn’t enjoy it!n  n

I found my love for Sci-Fi comedy when I read The Martian. And this was a good addition to my read shelf in that accord. I loved the moments I spent with this book. Unlike The Martian, this book would also work well for non-Sci-Fi readers. Because there is soo much humour you can't repress your laugh and enjoy this book.

OVERVIEW
Earth is scheduled to demolition for the construction of hyperspace bypass by Vogons, a galactic race. Arthur Dent is saved by his friend, Ford Prefect, who is actually an alien. Ford hitches the lift on Vogons' Spaceship. When Vogons find them in their ship, they throw them in the open space. We can live in space without breathing for 30 seconds. But they are saved in 29 seconds by Heart of Gold, an incredibly fast spaceship which can cover every corner of the universe in fraction of a second. This spaceship is stolen by Zaphod, the president of galaxy. With Heart of Gold, they find a legendary planet named Magrathea. This planet is known to manufacture planets.


RANDOM THOUGHTS
=> I liked every character. Everyone was humorous. Arthur and Ford were my favourites. I also liked Zaphod.

=> Hyper-intelligent race, mice, build a supercomputer, Deep Thought, on Magrathea. It was built to determine the answer to life, universe and everything. After seven million and so years, it calculated the answer 42. But it was confusing. So Deep Thought build another supercomputer to calculate the question to this answer. This supercomputer was Earth which would calculate the question in ten million years. But five minutes before completing its task, it was demolished by Vogons.
WHAT?!

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy #1), Douglas Adams

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a comedy science fiction series created by Douglas Adams.

The broad narrative of Hitchhiker follows the misadventures of the last surviving man, Arthur Dent, following the demolition of the planet Earth by a Vogon constructor fleet to make way for a hyperspace bypass.

عنوانهای چاپ شده در ایران: «راهنمای مسافران مجانی کهکشان»؛ «راهنمای کهکشان برای اتواستاپزنها»؛ نویسنده: داگلاس آدامز؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز نهم ماه سپتامبر سال2016میلادی

عنوان: راهنمای مسافران مجانی کهکشان؛ نویسنده: داگلاس آدامز؛ فرزاد فربد؛ تهران، پنجره، 1386؛ در 207ص؛ شابک 9789647822336؛ موضوع: داستانهای خیال انگیز علمی و خنده دار از نویسندگان بریتانیا - سده 20م

عنوان: راهنمای کهکشان برای اتواستاپزنها؛ نویسنده: داگلاس آدامز؛ آرش سرکوهی؛ تهران، چشمه، 1394؛ در 205ص؛ شابک9786002292902؛

راهنمای کهکشان برای اتواستاپ‌زن‌ها، داستان «آرتور دنت»، مردی از طبقه ی متوسط «انگلیس»، و نقش ناخواسته ی او را، برای دریافتن معنی زندگی، روایت میکند؛ رمان با حادثه‌ ای آغاز می‌شود، که برای ساکنان کره ی زمین رخداده است، اما در رمان آن رخداد، رویدادی فرعی است؛ «وگون‌»ها که یکی از نژادهای کهکشان هستند، سیاره ی زمین را، برای احداث یک بزرگراه بین کهکشانی، نابود می‌کنند؛ کره ی زمین نابود می‌شود، اما «فورد» و «آرتور دنت (دوست فورد)» چند ثانیه پیش از نابودی زمین، به یاری دستگاهی که «فورد» به همراه دارد، خود را به سفینه ی «وگون‌»ها منتقل کرده، و از آن پس با «اتواستاپ» زدن، سفر خود را در کهکشان‌ها ادامه می‌دهند؛ «فورد پریفکت»، از پژوهشگراان مؤسسه‌ ای ست، که کتاب راهنمای کهکشان برای اتواستاپ‌زن‌ها را منتشر می‌کند؛ او سال‌ها پیش از نابودیِ زمین، برای پژوهش میدانی به زمین سفر کرده بود؛ رمان، ماجراهای سفرهای این دو دوست، و نقشِ «آرتور» را، برای دریافتن معنی زندگی، در بافتی جذاب، و با زبانی روان، با واژه می‌آراید؛

گویا روانشاد «داگلاس آدامز»، برای نگارش همین سری شش کتاب در خیال خویش کاشته داشته اند، پنج کتاب، در زمان زنده بودن نویسنده، منتشر شد، عنوان کتاب نخست با عنوان سری یکسان است؛ و چهار کتاب دیگر سری، با عنوان‌های: «رستوران آخر جهان»؛ «زندگی، جهان و همه‌ چیز»؛ «خداحافظ و ممنون از اون همه ماهی»؛ و «بیش‌ترش چیزی خاصی نیست»؛ نامگذاری شده اند؛

روانشاد «داگلاس آدامز» در سال2001میلادی، از درب سرای این دنیا بگذشتند، و پس از درگذشت ایشان؛ «ایون کالفر»، نویسنده ی «ایرلندی»، با اجازه‌ ی بیوه ی «آدامز»، و با بهره‌ گیری از آرشیو یادداشت‌ها، و نوشته‌ های چاپ نشده ی «داگلاس آدامز»؛ جلد ششم و آخرین کتاب از همین مجموعه را نیز، با عنوان: «راستی تا یادم نرفته...» را نوشتند، و در سال 2009میلادی منتشر کردند

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 24/06/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 04/06/1400هجری خورشید؛ ا. شربیانی

Please, before anything... DON'T PANIC.


This review is harmless, well mostly harmless.

I think that one of the things that one has to keep in mind while reading this book is that it was written in 1979. Having this important factor in perspective, it's quite astonishing the vision of Douglas Adams, the author, presenting a lot of visionary elements, starting with the very "book inside the book", I mean The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, since it's presented as an electronic book. which now it's a very common way to read a lot of books now. Also, he mentioned stuff like "touch-sensitive screens" that yet again, it's now something introduced in our daily lives. Science-Fiction, the good science fiction is defined by being visionary in the moment to be published and a fact, years later. Just like Verne's work predicting events like space rockets and nuclear submarines.

n  The President of the Universe holds no real power. His sole purpose is to take attention away from where the power truly exists...n

Obviously, beside the mesmering tecnology stuff that he predicted, the signature style here is his remarkable sense of humor, SMART sense of humor. In literature and pop culture in general, there were been unforgettable examples of computers like the cold HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey and the noble K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider, also robots like the loyal R2-D2 from Star Wars and the logical robots from I, Robot short story collection. However, nothing of that can prepare you to the experience of meeting "Eddie", the Main Computer of the Heart of Gold spaceship or Marvin, the Paranoid Android. This is one of the best traits of Douglas Adams' wit in the development of artificial intelligence. I wasn't surprised since some months ago, I read Shada by Gareth Roberts but based on the Doctor Who's unaired script written by Douglas Adams where you find another priceless example of a computer with a personality that only Adams is able to develop. You laugh and laugh with them BUT not only because they's funny but also they are truly logical as artifical intelligences in their way to react to situations. Adams' impact of how presenting artificial intelligence can be found too in another novel of Doctor Who, Festival of Death by Jonathan Morris, where the author showed how well he learned Adams' lessons.

n  Resistance is useless!n

I believe that Douglas Adams' involvement in the production of the iconic British sci-fi TV series Doctor Who as script editor and writer of three stories, it was fated since I found remarkable similarities on the premises of both works, this novel and the TV series. Both has a peculiar fellow who stole certain machine and along with companions is travelling around. So, it wouldn't a surprise that he got some inspiration since Doctor Who was widely known since 1963 specially on its native country, England. Of course, his participation on another British TV institution like Monty Python's Flying Circus was a relevant point for Adams to explode his humoristic potential.

n  To boldly split infinitives that no man had split before...n

It's possible that people unfamiliar with Adams' work could think that since this is a novel with comedy, they could think that it can't be a "serious" science-fiction book. However, the brilliance of this novel is its capacity of offering smart humor while using scientific concepts like the theory of faster-than-light objects. Even you won't be able to fight against his priceless explanation behind the UFOs' sightings.

Without spoiling anything, I think that my only reason of getting off a star in my rating of this great novel was its lacking a proper closure. I understand that this the first book in a trilogy of five books (yes, you read correctly, it wasn't a mistake) so the adventures and mysteries will continue in the second book The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. However, it was quite unsettling when you are having the time of your life reading it and the book just stopped to have words. I describe it like that since I didn't feel an ending. It was indeed just like the impossibility of not finding more words in the book. What I can give to Adams is that that was quite improbable but in my opinion, quite unlikely way to just "ending" this book.

Certainly I want to read the rest of this great n  TRILOGYn of n  FIVEn books. (Yes, yet again, you read well, and it isn't a mistake)