Read for the Second Time on March 18, 2012

Rating: 3 stars! (After 3 years, I still liked it!)

Six hundred books... 3 years... in between. Me not being really a sci-fi fan. But, yes...I still liked this book!

Resistance is useless! says the outer space alien who first apprehended Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect. I might as well not resist. My group here in Goodreads, Filipinos, love this book as they voted it as one of their 100 Favorite Books.

I appreciate the creativity and imagination of Douglas Adams for thinking that Earth is actually a big computer that is designed to give the Ultimate Question to the Ultimate Answer divulged in the book: "42." There are also references to Christianity like in the introduction where "the man nailed unto a cross" and Deep Thought mimicking St. John the Baptist preparing the way to the "greater one" (Earth symbolizing Jesus Christ). Who says that sci-fi cannot be appropriate as a Lenten Read?

My favorite character in this book is that soldier who does not know why he is doing his job and why is he shouting "Resistance is useless!" I also do not know why I reread this book and why I have this strong urge of knowing the Ultimate Question so I have to read the 4 other books in this "trilogy."

Resistance is useless!


Read for the First Time on June 15, 2009

Rating: 3 stars! (I liked it!). Review below:

This is a fascinating sci-fi novel. In 1979, it started as a radio program, became a TV series and a stage play. The author died in 2001 and as a tribute to him, the movie was shown in 2005. I am not a big fan of science fictions in book forms but I grew up liking Darna, Zimatar, Magnun, Lastikman, Panday, atbp as komiks (there was no electricity in the province so we did not have access to television) and AM radio were the handiest forms of entertainment when I was growing up in the province. So, reading this book brought me back to those days when I was tremendously hooked in sci-fi believing that there could really be a stone that when you swallow, you can become a superhero without choking or needing a doctor to operate your colon later.

I picked up this book two years ago after receiving an email from a British colleague in the UK. He was saying goodbye and his last sentence was “So long and thanks for all the fish!” I wrote him back asking what it meant and he explained that it was from this book. I postponed reading this after finishing less than 5 pages of the book as I found British humor not really funny. There was the transcript of interviews for the movie casts and screenwriter at the end of this edition and one of them said that his daughter literally fell off her chair laughing while reading the novel. Maybe I am already old and obviously not a Briton but I finished this book in less than 48 hours and was able to sleep well (without nightmares unlike when I was reading the holocaust novels). Although I felt happy and light so I am not that old yet I guess.

The fish BTW is said to be contradicting the existence of God. As you have to put this fish – a Babel fish – for you to understand any language. I found it funny (which was not in the first 5 pages) and not sacrilegious as the Mary Magdalene being Jesus’ wife brouhaha that made the Catholic Church call for boycott during the promotion of The Vinci Code movie in 2005. I fish swimming inside your ear!

There are other funny and witty ideas in the book like the Earth as a big computer designed to answer The Ultimate Question on Life, Universe and Everything with the Ultimate Answer as 42. I have already lined up the 2nd (The Restaurant at the End of the Universe) and 3rd (Life, Universe and Everything) books in my bookshelf as a To Reads later this year. I wish to complete by getting the last two (So Long and Thanks for All The Fish and Almost Harmless) as I would like to see how Douglas (May God bless his witty and talented soul) tied up 42 with the existential questions!

Otostopçunun Galaksi Rehberi bir radyo oyunu olarak başlayıp bir sürü değişikliğe uğrayarak bir kitap serisi haline gelmiş. Uzun zamandır baskısı yoktu ve Alfa Kitaptan tekrar çıktı. Elime geçtiği gibi de merakıma yenik düşüp okudum. Kitabın önsözü bile aslında size nasıl bir kitap okuyacağınızın izlenimini veriyordu.

Başlarda adapte olmakta fazlasıyla zorlandım. Hatta ve hatta ‘ben ne okuyorum ya’ dedim çoğu yerde. Bazen olaylar aşırı tuhaf bir hal aldığı için kitaptan koptuğum anlarda oldu. Oluşturulan evren oldukça ilginç. Bir saniye durun ve farelerin hayatın anlamını bulmak için insanları yaratmış olduğunu düşünün. İşte o kadar ilginç bir evren.

n  ’Hayatım boyunca dünyada bir şeylerin, büyük hatta uğursuz bir şeylerin döndüğüne, ama hiç kimsenin bana bir şey söylemediğine dair tuhaf ve açıklanmaz bir his vardı içimde.’n

Alışılmış bilimkurguların biraz ötesinde mizah yüklü bir kitap Otostopçunun Galaksi Rehberi. Diyalogları okurken inanılmaz eğlendim ve keşke hiç susmasalar dedim. İnce mesajları, felsefi düşünceleri, varoluşsal sorunları absürt mizahla harmanlayıp diyaloglara yerleştirmiş Douglas Adams.

n   ‘Ne aradığımı bilmiyorum.’
‘Neden?’
‘Çünkü… çünkü… ne aradığımı bilirsem onu arayamam.’n

Her şey kestirme yol yapımı için Arthur Dent’in evinin yıkılması ile başlıyor. Daha doğrusu yıkılmaya çalışılması ile. Arthur buldozerin önüne yatıp buna engel olmak isterken Ford Prefect geliyor ve ona dünyanın sonuna 12 dakika kaldığını söylüyor. Çünkü Vogonlar uzayda kestirme bir yol yapılması için Dünya’yı yok edecekler. Son anda Ford ve Arthur otostop çekerek Vogon gemisine binip kurtulmayı başarırlar ama bundan sonra olacak şeyler Arthur’un asla hayal edemeyeceği gibidir.

Huysuz manik depresif robot Marvin kesinlikle en sevdiğim karakter oldu. İçimde bir yerlerde bir Marvin barındırdığım için de olabilir tabi. Ama gerçekten haksız olduğunu kim söyleyebilir ki ?

n  ‘Hayat! Sakın bana hayattan bahsetmeyin.’n

Google’da ‘what is the answer to life, the universe and everything’ diye arattığınızda karşınıza 42 cevabı çıkar.
Cevap 42.
Peki asıl soru ne ?
Bu kitabı okuyun çünkü direnmek faydasız.

من خیلی ازش لذت بردم. امروز صبح یه ذره حالم خوب نبود و تا حالم اوکی بشه خوندمش. بلافاصله می‌رم سراغ جلد بعدی.
فقط یه حس دوگانه‌ای دارم، از یه طرف می‌گم کاش انگلیسی خونده بودم و از یه طرف می‌گم ترجمش خیلی خوب بود. نمی‌دونم.