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.

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!

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.

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/

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.

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.

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!

"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.

I think the majority of people who rated this five stars only read the first book in the series which is the hitchhiker’s guide. After the first book, the wheels come off.

1. It so needs an editor. I think the author just had random ideas about where to put the characters and stick them there with bad dialogue and confused ideas about what to do with them. There were several scenes in the book with potential but they were destroyed by confusion and dry British humor.

2. Our main character, Arthur, seems ok that earth has been destroyed. Never once do we really deal with his thoughts or feelings about what happened. All the characters for that matter are one dimensional and get annoying after several hundred pages.

3. It’s confusing. It was so hard to keep track of what was really going on as the books came and went. It just added to the sheer frustration.

I really wanted to finish the five books because I’d heard so much about this series. It was so awful. Read book one and then stop. There is no reason to continue.

I'll admit it - this genre is not for me. I knew that I wouldn't be picking up very many books like these in the future, and so I decided to give this one my all. I cruised through all five books with relative ease, and what's more, I think I even genuinely enjoyed it! It's frustratingly hilarious. The books have truckloads of that peculiar thing that is English humor. I kept turning pages, one after the other, in the hope that everything would make sense in the end. And did it? Well.......I'm not saint enough to just tell you. What I have realized is that the Hitchhiker series is all about the journey. You get to zip across the Whole Sort of General Mish Mash, sometimes with Arthur Dent, and at other times with Ford Prefect, the alien journalist from Betelgeuse with a fondness for Earth. You also get to meet and hang out with Zaphod Beeblebrox, Trillian, and Marvin, the depressed as hell android. You come across the most beautiful ideas, the most logical ideas, the most fantastic ideas, and the most preposterous ideas, all within the space of a few pages. I think the book might have driven me a little crazy. Before you know it, you're in this roller coaster going forward and backward in time, riding the infinite improbability drive, cruising past distances several light years long, and holding on for dear life. I didn't think I'd make it through, but then, I couldn't resist. The whole thing was so wonderfully silly, that I had to know where it all went. And I found myself unable to stop reading. The books are a complete and utter laugh riot, but I'll still stick with what I said earlier - that I don't think this is my genre, but I cannot promise that I'll never come back for a re-read. And before you can ask me, yes, t'is true. T'is true that the answer to everything is indeed 42. Go figure!

Masterful comedy sci-fi, originally BBC Radio 4 productions in the 70s, later adapted to novel format. Incredibly imaginative and funny. My favourite character is Zaphod Beeblebrox.

Edit 11/17/2017: Added mini-review of The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
Edit 4/18/19: Added mini-review of Life, the Universe and Everything.
Edit 7/19/19: Added mini-review of So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish.
Edit 11/5/21: All done!

2013: I don't think I've ever gotten all the way through this five-books-plus-a-short-story trilogy but it still remains fond in memory as part of my British sci-fi TV phase in high school that also included Dr. Who and Blake's 7. (A good looking actor or two, and the scripts, had about equal influence on teenager-me's interest level.)

*

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: it has to have been since I was in high school that I read this one, since I would have recognized the Monty Python nods that pop up here and there from hanging out with nerds through college and beyond. Our universe here has a white maleness about it, but calling that out feels ungracious in the face of something that still made me laugh, even after having been through the story many times over the years in TV, book, and movie form.

*

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe:

Already we're moving on to parts of the series that I don't have nearly memorized. All I specifically remembered from this was the scene with the Dish of the Day, but bits and pieces of it came back as I went along.

This second novel finishes, sort of, the story started in the first book, giving us the ultimate question that is answered by the ultimate answer. Or does it?

Structure-wise it's a series of set pieces connected with huge jumps through time and space. My favorite part is where Zaphod meets the ruler of the Universe, who has an existentialist point of view so extreme that it becomes absurd. But all the sequences are striking in their own way. It has a somewhat relaxed and conceptual vibe, not as hectic or humorous as Hitchhiker's. Maybe some of that is because Arthur's become more accustomed to his life as a galactic wanderer and isn't freaking out all the time.

Restaurant ended rather abruptly: I was clicking away through my Kindle copy, and boom. If I'd been reading a paper copy, obviously I wouldn't have been surprised by it! That said, it would be a reasonable end to a duology, if we didn't all know the series went on for three more books. :)

I read this because one of the lines from the first book came to mind in a political discussion. Unsurprising, really. What sometimes surprises me, though, is how much these books are consolatory reading for me, despite their essential cynicism. In the face of events you can't control--and the characters witness and go through quite a lot of them--you have to keep on keepin' on.

*

Life, the Universe and Everything:

I'd read this novel only once over thirty years ago, and it was surprising how much of it I remembered, from the S.E.P. field to the immortal who travels the universe insulting everyone--literally everyone--in alphabetical order.

Adams himself admitted that he was a reluctant novelist who preferred to work in other media, and in this third volume, well, it's starting to show. Adams' wonderful talent for funny set pieces remains, but those set pieces have to share the stage with a not terribly interesting "save the Universe" plot (that apparently was, itself, imported from a scrapped other project), which makes parts of this story mildly boring to get through.

There are a couple of points where the reader can ponder serious questions like military escalation or how any given life sustains itself at the expense of other lives... but they certainly don't have to. This a quick and mostly entertaining read, and while it isn't the best of the lot by far, for me it was worth its brief time investment to see Arthur, Marvin and the rest again. This volume ends with Arthur being separated from the others, much as he was at the end of the second book. But with two volumes left to go, you know it won't be long before we're back to seeing the wildest corners of the universe through his goggling shocked eyes.

*

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish:

Well, what to say about this one. There are a couple of really good parts, the last few chapters being a standout. But more than half of the book is taken up with Arthur Dent falling in love.

It goes like this: Arthur first meets--or rather, sees, under circumstances that are on the "Yikes!" side--a woman named Fenchurch. They are separated by coincidence, and meet again through coincidence (neither of which coincidence involves the Heart of Gold, apparently). They are immediately infatuated and have a lot of sex.

That isn't a romance. It isn't even a story! And it eats up dozens of fairly boring pages. The story about the biscuits within the Arthur-Fenchurch hookup arc is much better than it is.

And then when Ford and Arthur meet again, Fenchurch fades entirely into the background. [goes off to ship Ford and Arthur]

Zaphod and Trillian are mentioned in passing, and Marvin makes a final (?) appearance, but anyone expecting a reunion of the gang is up for a disappointment.

It's hard to say what I'd think about this one if my mind hadn't been dazzled with the first two books. I can completely understand an author not wanting to write the same book over and over, and this one's different, all right, but it also largely fails to be either funny or thoughtful. There's a feeling of "if I must" about it, and Adams' reluctance to grind out more of these incredibly popular books hangs over the whole thing.

*

"Young Zaphod Plays It Safe": an elaborate, nicely-presented setup for a mid-'80s-topical punch line.

*

Mostly Harmless:

Wow, that was unexpected. It's a downer a lot of the time, and extremely unpleasant once or twice. I'll give this one a better write-up in its own review. (edit to add: the review is here.)

*

This "trilogy" is never the same thing twice, and that's all to the good. Some books work better than others; the third and fourth are skippable aside from a handful of passages, in my opinion. On the whole it's well worth a read, if you're of a certain age and/or have an affinity for British pop media of a couple of generations ago. I don't think Adams' imagination and novels... or at least, the discipline that goes into creating novels... were aligned all that well. But I am grateful that these, and the Dirk Gently novels, exist as a legacy of that imagination, both in its youthful exuberance, and in its later weary nihilism.