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The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy #0.5-5

The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide: Five Complete Novels and One Story

douglas adams

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At last in paperback in one complete volume, here are the five novels from Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker series.

"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"

Seconds before the Earth is demolished for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is saved by Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised Guide. Together they stick out their thumbs to the stars and begin a wild journey through time and space.

"The Restaurant at the End of the Universe"

Facing annihilation at the hands of warmongers is a curious time to crave tea. It could only happen to the cosmically displaced Arthur Dent and his comrades as they hurtle across the galaxy in a desperate search for a place to eat.

"Life, the Universe and Everything"

The unhappy inhabitants of planet Krikkit are sick of looking at the night sky- so they plan to destroy it. The universe, that is. Now only five individuals can avert Armageddon: mild-mannered Arthur Dent and his stalwart crew.

"So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish"

Back on Earth, Arthur Dent is ready to believe that the past eight years were all just a figment of his stressed-out imagination. But a gift-wrapped fishbowl with a cryptic inscription conspires to thrust him back to reality. So to speak.

"Mostly Harmless"

Just when Arthur Dent makes the terrible mistake of starting to enjoy life, all hell breaks loose. Can he save the Earth from total obliteration? Can he save the Guide from a hostile alien takeover? Can he save his daughter from herself?

Also includes the short story "Young Zaphod Plays It Safe".

815 pages, Leather Bound

First published January 17,1996
Series
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

This edition

Format
815 pages, Leather Bound
Published
November 1, 2005 by Gramercy Books
ISBN
9780517226957
ASIN
0517226952
Language
English
Characters More characters
  • Zaphod Beeblebrox

    Zaphod Beeblebrox

    Zaphod Beeblebrox is a fictional character in the various versions of the comic science fiction series The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.He is from a planet in the vicinity of Betelgeuse, and is a "semi-half-cousin" of Ford Prefec...

  • Arthur Dent

    Arthur Dent

    Arthur Philip Dent is a fictional character and the hapless protagonist of the comic science fiction series The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.In the radio, LP and television versions of the story, Arthur is played by Simon Jones (...

  • Ford Prefect

    Ford Prefect

    Ford Prefect is a fictional character in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by the British author Douglas Adams. His role as Arthur Dents friend – and rescuer, when the Earth is unexpectedly demolished to make way for a hyperspace bypass at t...

  • Trillian

    Trillian

    Trillian Astra is a fictional character from Douglas Adams series The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. She is most commonly referred to simply as "Trillian", a modification of her birth name, which she adopted because it sounded more "space-li...

  • Marvin, the paranoid android

    Marvin The Paranoid Android

    Marvin is a robot (android) that has been programmed with a "Genuine People Personality" unfortunately he is therefore genuinely depressed.more...

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About the author

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douglas adams

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Librarian 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.

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Community Reviews

Rating(4 / 5.0, 110 votes)
5 stars
37(34%)
4 stars
34(31%)
3 stars
39(35%)
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110 reviews All reviews
Profile Image for Kimberly .
ricebox
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 17,2025
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After being told to read this book so many times I finally caved and I'm glad I did! I wish I would have read it sooner, I love it!

At times the story became slightly confusing and some chapters dragged a bit but overall this book is one of the best and most creative I've read. Its exciting, chaotic, sarcastic and hilarious!

Douglas Addams' use of words and attention to detail is amazing. He created multiple planets, cultures, and brought to life many memorable and likable characters. Following Arthur Dent and his companions on their adventures through space, and experiencing all of their crazy moments in life - from start to finish - has been so much fun! I will definitely be reading this book again.
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-Forgotten-
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 17,2025
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First of all: sadly I had expected more! But it was a really funny read that humor-wise reminded me of "The Humans" by Matt Haig and "Good Omens", content-wise of Doctor Who and "Mun Mun" by Jesse Andrews from the freak-level of the book. It was really refreshing and ingenious, full of incredibly witty dialogues and lovable characters, as well as frustratingly confusing storylines that I could very well have done without. I always really enjoyed the beginning of each story, liked the middle part well enough but eventually ended up getting tired of the conclusion, because either it didn't make any sense, left me feeling unsatisfied or felt like the author couldn't have been bothered to give the story a proper ending. Thankfully, at least the final ending was quite a good one in that regard (even though I had to google the explanation for that one as well! Way to make one feeling stupid), but I have to say that I feel like the author - same as it often happened for Doctor Who episodes - got lost in his ideas and tried too hard to be freaky and funny at the same time. As it happens, some jokes were bland and uninspired and seemed only to exist because either the author was so convinced that literally everything he said was funny, or because he felt that he had to fulfill certain expectations of making his readers laugh. Still, it was SUCH an enjoyable read and I'm glad I finally tackled it. 800 pages could've been spent much worse!
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HisokaFanFromBG
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 17,2025
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It's that book you pick up and feel obligated to love, if only to escape grievous fan persecution. Well. Here goes.

Let's start with the humour. Yes, it's everything that humour should be. For a while, you are oh-so-amused and impressed...but then you weary of being so amused. Akin to being kept on the edge of your seat for a good few hours - something's going to get sore. It's just such a strain. I skipped ten or so pages near the middle but I'm sure those ten pages were, like the rest of the book, terribly witty and sickeningly clever.

The plot takes twists like...ah, what's a good analogy? A snake on LSD? That'll do. Don't get me wrong, they're good twists and Adams is admittedly superb at making the inherently illogical seem orderly and precise, but they just don't stop coming. And after a while, the worst happens and the reader just stops caring.

I can see why this book has achieved its cult status. It deserves its cult status in many ways. There are moments of startling originality that knock you back and spin your world to a crazy new angle, but when the whole book is all but filled with these moments, the crazy new angle begins to make you dizzy and irritated. At the end, I'm still feeling oh-so-amused and impressed, but also oh-so-relieved I can stop.
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plushbun
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 17,2025
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Prilično sam sigurna da je ovo, za sada, jedina knjiga prilikom čijeg čitanja sam morala da napravim nekoliko meseci pauze zarad vlastitog dobra, što se ispostavio kao dobar potez.

Apsurd kojim ovih pet priča obiluje je inicijator fantastičnog humora i u više navrata sam se nasmejala glasnije nego što bih smela da priznam. Takođe, ne mogu a da se ne sažalim na sirotog Artura Denta koji mi je momentalno prirastao srcu uz još sirotijeg Marvina. Razlog za pomenutu pauzu tokom čitanja leži u neverovatnom broju obrta u pričama koji se za trenutak graniči sa besmislom i predstavlja noćnu moru bilo kome sa iole slabijom koncentracijom.

Sa druge strane, ni sama nisam bila svesna odličnih fazona koji su u opštoj upotrebi godinama unazad, a za koje nisam imala pojma da potiču baš iz Autostoperskog vodiča kroz galaksiju. Prema prvoj priči je snimljen i film, pa ko voli, nek' izvoli :) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0371724/
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drnyet
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 17,2025
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I don't know what everyone is so bent out of shape about-- the ending was perfect, and exactly what i've been hoping it would be.
my only regret is that I didn't read these when I was 12, because my head would have exploded. it's too bad I'm not able to go back in time to give them to myself, because if I could, it already would have happened.
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Eric-romance
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 17,2025
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Ever been on a drunk trip with friends where you converse about space and aliens and meaning of life and your existence etc! That's how this book reads. All throughout. It is weird in more than one ways and it is still brilliantly attention-grabbing. Adams has celebrated wit and intelligence of the language. He masters it. Nails it. He repeats words and sentences and twists and turns them and brings out more than one meaning out of them. I enjoyed this so much that I think I have fallen in love all over again.
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Hikkykun
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 17,2025
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What to say about the bible of mankind? This is the best, the greatest, the uber, the wonder, the rainbow, the sun, moon, satellite, planets, stars, universe.... This... is... 42!!!!
I have read these five books of the triology seven or eight times, and will read it at least once a year for the rest of my life!
If you haven't read it yet, stop reading this and run for your life to get your own copy, or borrow it from a friend! Because believe me, your life now won't seem like life at all after you've read it.

Although, if your copy is sitting beside you, and you are waiting for someone to fetch your pipe and whiskey before you start reading it, by all means, keep reading, but I warn you, some spoiling may occur. You see, as soon as I say Arthur Dent, och Ford Prefect, I have begun the spoiling!
This is namely how the first book starts. Ford Prefect who isn't at all from earth comes home to his old friend Arthur Dent to get him to drink some beer and eat some peanuts before the world ends. Somehow Ford is completely uninterested in the fact that Arthur's home is about to be demolished to make way for a new highway, due to the fact that the Vogon's are one their way to demolish earth to make way for an intergalactic highway.
You will find laughter, love, wonder, understanding of the universe and severe head pain while reading these books, as reading them is, in my own opinion close to drinking a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster. Please comment this when you know what I'm talking about!
I have lots more to write, I know to much and to little about the universe as interpreted by Douglas Adams, but I do not want to. I'd love to speak at length about The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy with anyone whom please, but as for now, I have only one thing to say;

DON'T PANIC

.... and... don't forget your towel!
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Kurahma
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 17,2025
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"Paniğe kapılmayın" çünkü elinizdeki kitap dünyanın en eğlenceli ve en ince mizahına sahip kitabıdır.

Bu tedirgin, boğucu ve belirsiz zaman diliminde okunabilecek en iyi kitaplardan biri kuşkusuz. Şahsımca bir kitaptan daha da öte.. Belki edebi bir tadı yok ama bunun dışında içinde her şey ama her şey var!

Evrene dair bildiklerimiz ve bilebileceklerimiz; birbirinden absürt kurgu ve karikatürize karakterlerle ve bu absürtlüğü sayesinde insanı içine çeken öyle bir anlatımla harmanlanmış ki hayran kalmamak elde değil. Kahkahalar ata ata, bazen sadece içten içe kikirdeye kikirdeye, bazen de tabiri caizse varoluşun hiçliğinin komiği bundan daha güzel nasıl çıkarilabilir diye düşüne düşüne bir bakmışsınız bitmiş.. Hacimli bir kitap olmasına karşın hiç bitmese, sonsuza kadar devam etse keşke denilen o nadir kitaplardan. Tıpkı minicik beyinlerimizle kendimizce algıladığımız evren gibi..

Douglas Adams'ın ölümünden sonra bilgisayarından çıkan taslaklarla derlenen Galakside Son Bir Kez Otostop Çekmek -Kuşkucu Somon bu beşli kadar iyi midir bilmiyorum ama kesinlikle okuyacağım, alındı listeye.

Son olarak zaman, evren, varoluş, farklı boyutlar gibi kavramlar ile ilgiliyseniz size bu mevzularda yazılmış çizilmiş şeylerin birçoğundan bambaşka yerlerden dokunuyor.. Daha karikatür, daha dünyalı daha lineer bir yerden :) Kıssadan hisse Italo Calvino'nun Bütün Kozmokomik Öyküler'inden sonra hayatımda okuduğum, Kozmos'a dair en iyi kitaplardan biriydi.

Muhtemelen çoğu ayrıntısını hatırlamamakla beraber; okurken aldığım tadı, bıraktığı düşünsel tatmini, attığım kahkahaları asla unutmayacağım.
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