***3 Stars***

This book was... weird.
But not bad weird.
Weirdly funny, weirdly entertaining and weirdly delightful.

Yet it had a certain ridiculousness to it, which is what made give it only 3 stars. But I also enjoyed reading it.
Will see if I'll ever feel like reading the other books in the series.

I absolutely HATED this book. I usually read books before seeing the movie when it's released in theaters, and so I read this book. If there was a point in all his rambling disguised as prose, I missed it. Don't waste your time reading this book. And if possible, the movie was worse.

A work that showed humanity its insignificance and that madness is a general, entertaining trait in the universe.

One of the greatest milestones of the rare Sci-Fi comedy hybrids, although it´s losing quality after the first 3 parts. Fantasy seems to be more prone to comedy than Sci-Fi, I don´t know why that´s the fact. I would tend to call it kind of Terry Pratchett in space, because of the unique wit, just without the stamina for so many parts. Adams dying in a fitness center of a heart attack comes in here too, although he already stopped continuing the series years before.

More sheer fun than the rest of the serious
It´s just hilarious and very clever, using different comedy tropes in space, not for science! One of these ideas one has once in a lifetime, in Adam's case mixed with talent. It´s mostly constructed by

Running gags, some sci-fi elements, and comedy characters.
Thereby, the wacky protagonists construct the laughs with slapstick, some deeper stuff, and general strangeness. The underlying criticism level isn´t very high in the first part, which can mostly be seen as pure entertainment.

So successful because it´s so easy to read
There is better, more ironic, and more complex sci-fi out there, but nothing as pleasant as Adam's work. No need to think too hard or get depressed about human nature, no info dump and worldbuilding overkills, just characters, puns, and gags mixed with some dept and

The second and third part of the series include some of the best indirect social criticism too.
But it sadly doesn´t improve after that, I´ve read until the fifth one and Adams just can´t live up to the expectations anymore, starts recycling his schemes, and just isn´t as compelling as in the original trilogy. Maybe he had already enough money, wasn´t really motivated, or lost his muse, but it´s quite a shame because there would have been potential as endless as space for more, really good parts.

Useless fandom trivia
The author, as the story goes, had the idea while watching the sky completely wasted, some might say poisoned, by Gösser beer in my home country Austria. I don´t believe this, because Stiegl beer is just much better than this bitter concoction. Whip me with a towel if you have a problem with that, I can easily handle a little intergalactic spanking.

Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...

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?

چی میگید اگر بهتون بگم توی این کتاب رئیس جمهور شدن "ترامپ "پیش ببینی شده؟
(کتاب سال ۱۹۷۹ نوشته شده )

کتاب طنز بانمکیه، توش میتونی جمله های فلسفی باحال پیدا کنی برای استوری اینستاگرامت و خودتو کول نشون بدی. درباره‌ی معنای زندگی ام سوال می پرسه و جوابشم نمیده طبق معمول. نکته‌ش اما این نیست . چیزی که همه‌ی این کتاب میخواد بگه اینه که برو زندگی کن،حالشو ببر و سوالاتی رو که جوابشون دو به توان بی‌نهایت غیر محتمله، بیخیال شو. مثل منکه هیچی از فیزیک کوانتوم حالیم نمیشه بنابراین وانمود میکنم اصلا وجود نداره.
راستی شاید براتون جالب باشه بدونید معنی اسم من به زبان ساکنان سحابی ماژلان میشه *دختری که هیچی از فیزیک کوانتوم نمیفهمه و هیچ وقت ته دیگ سیب زمینی هاش نمیسوزه.*
..
همه‌ی کتاب رو توی چهار ساعت خوندم. نه اینکه خیلی خفن و پرکشش باشه‌ها، فقط برای اینکه صدای رعد و برق و بارون نمی ذاشت بخوابم.
.
.
.
عذاب وجدان گرفتم ...بی‌انصافی نباشه داستانش‌هم بانمک بود خب. احتیاج داشتم به طنزش. جلدهای بعدی رو هم میخونم.
فکر کنم نوجوونا بیشتر ازش خوششون بیاد. شاید!

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

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.”

This is one of those books that I had been meaning to read for ages and thanks to my awesome friend, Roya, I finally did. I will be honest, this is one of those books that I couldn’t have finished by myself. Thanks Roya!

As a big fan of science-fiction, I felt obligated to read this book. This book is a classic and so many of my friends love it that I just had to try. However, I knew I might need help for reading this for two personal reasons. First, I am too used to a serious tone in my science-fiction stories. Science-fiction and humor in one book? Fascinating and a little hard to believe. I wasn’t sure this combo could even work. Second, I don’t easily laugh. Almost 90% of books and 98% of movies that are supposed to be very humorous and funny, only succeed in making me smile.

Now this book's introduction actually managed to make me laugh several times! The introduction raised my hopes and I started to look forward to the story. Unfortunately, I found the beginning of the story boring and I had to drag myself through it. As I continued to read, I kept wondering, where is the appeal? How come so many of my friends love this? Why is this book SUCH A BIG DEAL? I thought perhaps it's necessary to read the entire series. I reminded myself that sometimes the first book is more like a pilot episode and the series gets better as it continues.

I did love Arthur as the main character and I specially loved his reactions to all the madness. But I didn’t really care for all the other characters that were running around. Except Marvin. He was awesome too.

While I think the author has a very nice sense of humor, I didn’t find the story that hilarious. But the book IS filled with witty and memorable sayings and these sayings were one of my motivations to continue. Eventually I got so far into the story that I couldn’t leave it unfinished since I was very curious about several intertwining plots. I am sorry to say the book ended very abruptly and the story was left unfinished. I was like…what the hell did I just read?

So...I didn’t love this book while reading it. I didn’t enjoy it that much either. Many events were just a little too random for me. I actually really love nonsense stories that have their own unique logic, like "Alice in Wonderland" or "Howl's moving castle" but I had a hard time finding any kind of logic in many parts of this story. All the Petunias and whale sperms were just too random.

So…why 4 stars?

I actually started to really like this book when I finished it and got around to thinking about it. The thing is, this book was first published in 1979. I completely forgot this tiny important detail when I was looking in the story for the appeal. With this in mind, I came to see the ingenuity of the author.

I am sure there are people that find Startrek: the original series very silly and don’t pay much attention to the depth of the stories and their messages. I love this series and while I too laugh at many scenes that really are funny to today’s viewers, I also take this series very seriously. Startrek was a visionary series at the time of its creation and the same applies to Hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy.

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

This books contains many visionary elements, from electronic books, holograms and computers networked together to usable portable information devices and touch-sensitive objects. Even the guide, the book inside the book, is very similar to Wikipedia, a database full of instantly available information. The artificial intelligences like Marvin, the depressed paranoid Android and Eddie, the spaceship’s mind are very unique and memorable. The quotes and sayings that I mentioned above also play an important role in my rating. Many of them are unique, witty and simply unforgettable. Here are a few famous examples:

…"In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."

…"Would it save you a lot of time if I just gave up and went mad now?"

…"The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't."

…“‘You know,’ said Arthur, ‘it's at times like this, when I'm trapped in a Vogon airlock with a man from Betelgeuse, and about to die of asphyxiation in deep space that I really wish I'd listened to what my mother told me when I was young.’
‘Why, what did she tell you?’
‘I don't know, I didn't listen.’”

…“Arthur: If I asked you where the hell we were, would I regret it?
Ford: We're safe.
Arthur: Oh good.
Ford: We're in a small galley cabin in one of the spaceships of the Vogon Constructor Fleet.
Arthur: Ah, this is obviously some strange use of the word safe that I wasn't previously aware of.”

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

…“Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?”

The plot IS too random and some events ARE too silly, but all the visionary elements, great quotes and funny commentary on human behavior and society, make it worth reading.

So...give this book a try if you are a big fan of science-fiction and want to read the classics. Give this book a try even if you are like me and might not find this story very humorous. Do keep in mind how old this book actually is and that it started out as radio broadcasts.

Don’t look too hard for logic. In this book, the universe is a joke and that’s kind of the whole point of the story.

“The last ever dolphin message was misinterpreted as a surprisingly sophisticated attempt to do a double-backwards-somersault through a hoop whilst whistling the 'Star Spangled Banner', but in fact the message was this: So long and thanks for all the fish.”

This was my first exposure to the writing of Doug Adams. I went on to read the full Hitchhiker series with great enjoyment. The perfect tongue in cheek humor and a plot that pulls you along combination.

I need a Babel fish and make it translate my mind.

"Whatever happened to my mind, I did it."

.
.
.

"This planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time."

Story: Earth is demolished. A man is secretly taken to another planet. So enjoy I say.

It's filled with weirdos because most of them are beings from somewhere else (to keep it subtle or to make it worse) and the story is chaotic and funny as heck.

But really though, reading this series talking about demolishing the Earth during the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic did made me question my choice of books.

(And every book I pick up these days are either too depressing or stressed the heck out of me. I question my choices. Yes, I do that a lot these days.)

I was going crazy trying to calm down and understand what was going on in the first few chapters. But then chapter 6 started and there's no going back. Of course, we gotta read the first 5 chapters to get this feeling.

I love this chapter! Funny yet the discussion going on in there. Fun! Faith vs Man.

My favourite character would be Ford. He would be someone I would want to punch in the face but cannot survive without.

Arthur. Oh Arthur. You remind me of us humans that I keep getting all the second-hand embarassment whenever you appear.

Trillian. The way her character is reminds me of some of the most calmest yet intriguing people. I like how her vibes scream sarcasm towards Gaphod, the semi-cousin of Ford.

And what the hell is wrong with Grunthos (yes, that's a real fictional character's name... Real and fictional.) Torture yourself with the poems by Poet Master Grunthos. (My Favourite Bathtime Gurgles....yes, get the hint.) The horror! I cried laughing there!

And you will meet a few more characters. Almost philosophical ones I would say.

Marvin, you will be remembered.

The more pages you turn, the more you will enjoy the story. There's nothing normal here. Because, of course, it didn't happen on our planet. Let your imagination have its exercise and be tickled with an imaginary world somewhere out there.

The entire read reminds me so much of the nerds Sheldon Cooper, Lennerd, Howard and Raj. Like they have written a story together finally!

(The irony though that the book series happened years before the show.)

Another story there, Magrathea. It could happen. Myth?

Love the space time I had with the first book!

Parts like this out of nowhere got me laughing out loud
("Ah...! What's happening?it thought.

Er, excuse me, who am I?

Hello?

Why am I here? What's my purpose in life?

What do you mean by who am I?")

Of course, it's not always about the human and humanlike beings here.
I just wish no fictional animal was harmed in the story.

The end of chapter 21 made me quite emotional. I wish I never have to say such lines. Ever.

And (bam!) the chapters that followed this until the end made this read a perfect read for me. I am telling you this is the kind of book the more pages you read the more you get invested.

I kept telling myself "this is so chaotic", "do I need to be worried about how worried I am now while reading this crazy story?" and "I want to go there". Actually the whole story felt rather claustrophobic too.

I really love the last few chapters more. It's everything you need to think about you, the world you live in and what might be actually happening as opposed to what we are made to believe all our lives.

And human, be very scared of mice. (Now I know why we go crazy sht seeing mice!)

"Resistance is useless."

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!

Okay, I can understand how somebody might not absolutely love The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It does after all combine a few things—such as scifi and screwball comedy, for instance—that not everyone can deal with. In other words, the nerd quotient is high here, and people who aren't wired that way might end up perplexed.

BUT--and this is a big ol' BUT: I don't understand how anybody can HATE this book. In fact, if I weren't such a saintly, even-keel, kittenish kind of guy, I might say that I'm tempted to hate haters of this book. How can you hate such a genial, well-meaning book? I mean, Douglas Adams just saunters in, gives his readers the glad hand, rolls up his sleeves, and gets down to business—summoning every gag in his repertoire just to keep you curmudgeons entertained. And does he succeed? In my opinion, yes. Most definitely.

I should probably tell you, by way of disclaimer, that I have some hardcore nostalgia invested in the Hitchhiker books. (There are five in all, but I never read the fifth Mostly Harmless.) This may be the first non-film novelization full-length book that wasn't strictly intended for kids that I ever read. That's an accomplishment for a kid who was raised on reruns and talking to himself in the tool shed in the backyard. I kind of hated reading for the most part before I got out of college. (I know! I was one of those people! Endlessly grasping for the channel changer and being ruined by the media.)

Since I was maybe twelve or thirteen when I read this, I'm sure some of the dry humor flew right over head, but the slapstick, sight gags, and ridiculous plotting sure didn't. There are so many absurdist details in this ricocheting narrative that presenting you with a thorough summary would be tough. Suffice it to say that it centers on an Earthling named Arthur Dent who narrowly escapes the destruction of the planet when it is destroyed to build a galactic superhighway. He ends up hitching a ride on a stolen spaceship with the (two-headed, three-armed) president of the galaxy.

If you're rolling your eyes, you are (1) a killjoy and (2) not the intended audience for this book. Go read Jane Austen or one of those books about cats that live in libraries. If you're smart and have good taste, read this book. It's kind of like a slightly lowerbrow Woody Allenesque scifi farce, if you can imagine such a thing. (Well, there was Sleeper, so I guess maybe you can.) The plot, like those in Allen's earliest films, is a little flimsy and haphazard, but the Child Version of Me insists that you will enjoy it anyway unless you're a complete asshole.