Šta da kažem o jednoj od meni najdražih knjiga? Urnebesna… Artur Dent misli da je njegov najveći problem bager, koji planira da mu sruši kuću, radi izgradnje obilaznice. Ne zna da vogonska flota upravo planira da razori celu Zemlju radi izgradnje svemirske zaobilaznice. Artur će se, u društvo neobičnog (što ne čudi, jer je došao Betelgeza pet) Forda Prefekta, naći u beskrajnom svemiru gde će proći kroz brojne neobične situacije.
Univerzum u nevolji, je pisan pod velikim uticajem Vodiča. Preporuka do kraja Vaseljene i nazad…

এরকম কিছু আগে কখনো পড়িনি, ভবিষ্যতেও কখনো আর পড়া হবে কিনা জানি না। সায়েন্সফিকশন আর হিউমারের এক অনন্যসাধারণ মিশ্রণ। ভাষাটা এককথায় দুদার্ন্ত, এমনসব ইউনিক আর ইন্টারেস্টিং সব কনসেপ্ট যে পড়তে পড়তে অবাক হই তো বটেই এমনকি পড়া শেষ করার পরেও মনে পড়লে হাসি এসে যায়। হিউমারের পিছনেও বইয়ের ম্যাসেজ বেশকিছু জায়গায় অনেক গভীর।

I didn’t get my laptop but I am still writing a review. Bravo for me.

This series was so fun to read – at least the first three books. I’ll get to that later.

I never realized how many modern-day phrases were references to this series. I knew there was a movie but I never watched it, only a few bits in passing while my brother was watching it.

I didn’t have a problem with reading this series, it didn’t put me into a slump, but I can see how it can do this to any reader. Because there is just so much information being thrown at you and you need to filter what is important and what is not and how can you do that if the very point of this book is not to make sense. Usually, the things you never thought could be important are important here – like towels. Towels are a big thing here.

You will have a wild ride with our diverse set of characters as they go through adventures in space. In the first three books.

The fourth book is different from the rest of the series, being a love story. And it’s not even set in space. So that was kind of disappointing. But the reading experience was okay for me.

Unlike the fifth book that was just bad. That is the sole reason why this book is a 4-star read and not a 5-star read.

If you are new to sci-fi check out the first three books and if you like them, check out the last two of the series, but set your bar really low. This was a unique series and I am pretty sure I won’t read anything like this soon, so kudos to that too. Now so long and thanks for the fish.
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This was a wild and fun ride. All of the reviews are coming in after I get my laptop back.

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.

Okumayı literal olarak yıllara yaydığım (okumaya pek kıyamadığım) türünün ilk, belki de tek örneği. Douglas Adams'ın Doctor Who metinlerine de el attığını söylediğimde bu kitabın aşağı yukarı hangi frekansta olduğunu tahmin edebilirsiniz. Yer yer sesli güldüğüm bu bilimkurgu kitapta sarkastik üslubu tork olarak kullanan yazar homo sapiensi yer yer politik ve sosyolojik olarak eleştirmek için işini türlü çeşit uzaysal saçma sapanlıklarla donatarak ortaya paradoksal bir absürdlük çıkarmış. Bunu da çok zekice ve iyi yapmış.

Not olarak eklemeden duramayacağım ki örnek olsun: CIA bu kitapta "Celestial Intervention Agency" olarak geçiyor.

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.

Ovaj Marvin je legenda!!! :D
Prva dva dela su maestralno napisana,preostali delovi razvučeni i za nijansu slabiji,ali to mi nije pokvarilo celokupan utisak o ovom romanu.
Jedna od knjiga kojoj ću se nanovo vraćati :)

"I give up!"

I exclaimed this very proudly. Just as proudly as Arthur exclaimed, "I will go mad!" At the beginning of the third book.

I enjoyed the first two books and the beginning of the third but decided that I have nothing to gain from reading the rest of this series. I was wrong! If you are going to read Douglas Adams then my advice to you is to read them one book at a time and not in The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide.

I grew tired of Douglas Adams' roundabout jokes that took on an identical spin by the time I reached the third book. Maybe it's because I'm American. What do you think? Is this British Monty Python humor? At times I read it and quite enjoyed it. At times I read it and quite loathed it.

Go ahead, read the first book. That one doesn't bite much. You'll quite like it I'm sure.

I'm quite sure I'm done now.

14 of 15 books completed this year. .933 isn't such a bad batting average.

Kitabı okurken kahkahalarla güldüm ve bitirir bitirmez Douglas Adams evreninde tüketebilecek başka neler var diye internetin altını üstüne getirdim.

Otostopçunun Galaksi Rehberi, bana göre, bizim kendimizi pek dahil hissetmeyeceğimiz bir evrende aptallığın ve saçmalığın hakim olduğu bir tesadüfler silsilesi etrafında şekilleniyor. Bu evren bir absürt komedi için bile çok saçma, ama ahmaklık tüm karakterlerin ortak noktası ve bu o kadar tanıdık ki, hayata bakışımızdaki ciddiyet perdesini biraz olsun aralıyor.

Douglas Adams kıvrak zekasını sonuna kadar kullanıyor. Okuyucuyu ters köşeye yatırmayı seviyor. Esprilerde yaptığı beklenmedik vurucu tespitlerle kalmıyor, her noktada bilim kurgunun sahip olduğu imkanları kullanmaktan çekinmiyor. Ama ne yaparsa yapsın sıradan olanın dışına çıkma konusunda müthiş başarılı. Örneğin zeki bir bilgisayara kişilik verdiğimizde ortaya Marvin çıkıyor ya da bir restorandaki hesap çözme probleminin yarattığı belirsizlik bistromatik seyir sistemi gibi icada dönüşüyor.

Beş kitabı bir arada okumak süreklilik anlamında iyi oluyor çünkü hiç beklenmedik noktalarda geriye referanslar görebiliyorsunuz. Öte yandan kitapların temposu epey farklı. Zaman zaman sıkıcı gelse de devam edin çünkü hiç bir alt hikayede oyalanmıyor yazar.

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.

Itt van 816 oldal összefüggéstelen hülyeség, történések sora, amik között szinte semmi kapcsolat sincs, állandóan megszakítva létfontosságúnak vélt adatok közlésével képzeletbeli bolygókról. A szereplők ide-oda vetődnek, néha egyszerűen eltűnnek, és nem bukkannak fel többet, soha nincs megállás, vagy ha van, ha éppen jól éreznéd magad, feltűnik a lányod, akinek az anyjával sosem volt intim kapcsolatod, és ellopja az órád. Katyvasz az egész, és imádod, mert vicces, mert ironikus, mert eredeti, mert olyan, mintha „Utánam a vízözön!” felkiáltással kiállnál egy tetszőleges (űr)autópálya tetszőleges irányba menő sávja mellé, hogy az első űrhajóval autóval, ami felvesz, elindulj akármerre, és így tovább, és így tovább. A kellemetlenségért pedig elnézést kérünk. :)

I read most of this series when I was younger and had only one book left to complete it. I saw this gorgeous piece of paper and ink in the bookstore and knew it was finally time to finish her off. Since it had been so long in between I decided to give the first four a reread which is not my usual at all. I'm a read it once and move on kind of girl. I found the introduction to be super interesting because I had no idea there were so many different versions of this story out there and I do love a little behind the scenes fact sharing.

Here is my book by book review of this amazing collector's edition with a little canned cream corn talk mixed in for fun:

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (5 Stars)

My grandparents had a closet full of canned goods and books in their back bedroom and it was where I happened upon this book a quarter of a century ago (I’m old enough now that I can say ‘ol timer shit like that). The absurd amount of canned creamed corn was amazing to behold, but this book with its quirky cover was where it was at. I’m pretty sure I devoured it in no time and was ready for the next installment of Arthur Dent does the Universe.

n  This is the story of a man named Arthur Dent and what happens to him after a friend rescues him moments before Earth becomes no more. Hitchhiking across the universe with a towel in one hand and a ridiculously written guide in the other, with barely a moment taken to absorb each new and exciting thing that comes his way.n

I found the writing to be superb with the perfect blend of dry humor, sarcasm, wit and randomness that I love. The characters were stellar, and the story was out of this world (if you aren’t rolling your eyes after reading that sentence you should be).

Five stars to a book that is a gazillion times better than canned cream corn.


The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (4 Stars)

This was another back bedroom closet find. I had it and the next two in the series tucked away in a hidden corner. I did not have any of that damned canned cream corn though. Seriously, who eats that crap? By how untouched they looked in my grandparents’ closet, not even them. I would like to believe it was an end of the world decoy canned goods stash. I’m thinking a person could peel the labels and put them on the good stuff and use the label free cans as weapons or something.

n  Arthur Dent continues his adventures through space forwards, backwards and possibly even sideways with the same fun-loving bunch of characters plus a few not so fun-loving ones.n>
Another excellent read. It didn’t feel like a new book but a continuation of a story I was dying to hear more of. The writing maintained its excellence and the characters were still quite entertaining. I didn’t love this read as much as the first, but it did get the job done.

Four stars to a book that made me excited to have a secret closet even if it contained canned cream corn.


Life, the Universe and Everything (4 Stars)

Pretty sure I liked this book more than I did the previous one but not enough to equal a star. I would say maybe a smidge over a half. I did however like it more than the canned cream corn it shared shelf space with. You are probably asking yourself right now, “Is she going to keep bringing up that damn canned cream corn?” and the answer is hell yes because annoying can be entertaining when you are doing it to someone else.

n  Arthur’s adventures turn a bit more serious when protecting the universe from destruction becomes the name of the game.n

Another great book that kept the story going in a way that didn’t bore or become repetitive. The author’s voice has to be the absolute best part of all this series. For once I can say it wasn’t the characters that kept me coming back for more but the man behind the words. I got the feeling his written word matched the way he was in person and he most definitely was a person I would have loved to have met.

Four stars to a book that almost made me forget about the closet canned cream corn for a moment.


So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (3 Stars)

This is the book that had a cover that stuck out in my mind just as much as the first book in the series did. This is also the book that began the downward spiral into lower star ratings. Even though I didn’t love it as much as I did the first three, (wait for it) I did love it more than my grandparents love canned cream corn (I am not sorry at all).

n  Arthur falls in love.n

Honestly, this one felt out of place. I didn’t want it or ask for it, and I sure as hell didn’t expect a mushy love story to fall into my lap when it did. The story that took place around it wasn’t bad but this dip into cootie pool was more than enough to contaminate it.

Three stars to a book that made me think about romance mixed with canned cream corn and man that is so freaking gross.


Mostly Harmless (3 Stars)

This was my welcome back to the series book after twenty-five years of doing the school, work, marriage, children and lots more work life. It had been on my list for a while and when I happened upon the collector’s edition I knew it was time. I must admit that it was a little odd seeing this book on a shelf without canned cream corn keeping it company.

n  Doing your own thing is the name of the game for Arthur until the universe happens again.n

This was my least favorite of all the books. The story wasn’t as entertaining, and I found myself putting it down to do other things. I can’t blame my rereading of the other’s first because devouring a book series in one gulp is kind of my thing. The characters were just as zany as before and I had zero complaints about the writing style. I think the fault was all in the plot and there just isn’t much you can do when that isn’t top notch.

Three stars to a book that is coming dangerously close to blending in with the canned cream corn at grandma’s house.


Young Zaphod Plays it Safe (3 Stars)

I was left wanting more after reading this. If this had been a full book and stayed on track with the path it was on I would have liked it more than the last two books in the series. It reminded me of how entertaining Zaphod could be and why he entertained me so in the first book. I'm torn on the rating because it was good but there wasn't enough there to satisfy me.

Three stars to a short story that make me want to throw canned cream corn at someone.