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

The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide

douglas adams

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"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".

817 pages, Hardcover

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

This edition

Format
817 pages, Hardcover
Published
January 17, 1996 by Wings Books
ISBN
9780517149256
ASIN
0517149257
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(3.9 / 5.0, 110 votes)
5 stars
36(33%)
4 stars
30(27%)
3 stars
44(40%)
2 stars
0(0%)
1 stars
0(0%)
110 reviews All reviews
Profile Image for Kimberly .
danterev
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 31,2025
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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.
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LighTing4321
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 31,2025
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"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.

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monokuma-k
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 31,2025
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Seriously, I would read anything he wrote, even his grocery lists.
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yukii88
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 31,2025
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Bir sabah, kestirme bir yol inşa etmek için evinizi yıkmakla görevli ekipleri görerek uyanmanızdan daha berbat bir durum varsa, o da dünyanın yok edileceğini öğrenmek olacaktır ama "paniğe kapılmayın", çünkü esas olaylar bundan sonra başlayacak. Tabii yanınıza bir havlu almayı unutmayın.

"Bir kürdan kutusuna ayrıntılı bir kullanma kılavuzu koyabilecek ölçüde aklını kaybetmiş herhangi bir uygarlığın içinde daha fazla yaşayıp da akıl sağlığımın yerinde kalması mümkün değilmiş gibi geldi.”

En keyifli bilimkurgu kitabı olarak tanımlayabileceğimiz "Otostopçunun Galaksi Rehberi", hayal gücünüzle çıkabileceğiniz en absürt ve varoluşsal yolculuğa çıkabilmek için bulunmaz bir nimet. "Beş perdelik bir üçleme" şeklinde tasvir edilen bu beş vagonlu hız treni, okuyucuyu anlamsal sorularla cebelleşeceği diplere götürebildiği gibi, macerayla birlikte ivmelendirerek en üst noktalara da ulaşabiliyor.

"Bu gezegenin şöyle bir sorunu vardı. Üzerinde yaşayan halkın büyük bölümü çoğu zaman mutsuzdu. Bu sorun için pek çok çözüm önerilmişti, ama bunların çoğu genellikle yeşil renkli küçük kağıt parçalarının hareketleriyle ilgiliydi. Bu da tuhaftı çünkü aslında mutsuz olanlar yeşil renkli küçük kağıt parçaları değildi."

Edebi değeri gerek tür gerekse dil yönünden tartışmaya açık olsa da, hayat, evren ve gündelik yaşantımızla ilgili zeki göndermeleriyle çok zengin bir anlatı sunan bu beşibiryerde kitabın popüler kültürdeki önemi inkar edilemez.

"Eğer bir gün biri çıkıp da Evrenin hangi nedenle ve niçin burada var olduğunu keşfederse, Evrenin birdenbire yok olacağını ve yerini çok daha garip ve anlaşılmaz bir şeyin alacağını öne süren bir kuram vardır.
Bir başka kuramsa bunun zaten gerçekleştiğini ileri sürer."

Varoluşun kasveti olmadan oluşturulmuş bu varoluşsal galaktik parodi; "Otostopçunun Galaksi Rehberi", "Evrenin Sonundaki Restoran", "Hayat, Evren ve Her Şey", "Elveda ve Bütün O Balıklar İçin Teşekkürler" ve "Çoğunlukla Zararsız" kitaplarından oluşuyor. Beş kitap olması göz korkutursa da, Douglas Adams'ın zekası ve mizahıyla tanışmış olmak adına ilk kitaba bir şans verilmesi gerektiğini düşünüyorum.

"Bir şeyi görmen onun orada olduğu anlamına gelmez. Aynı şekilde bir şeyi görememen de onun orada olmadığı anlamına gelmez. Her şey algılarının senin dikkatini nereye yönelttiğine bağlıdır."

Yer yer alelade bir insan olan başkahramanımız Arthur Dent'le, yer yerse depresif robot Marvin'le benzerliklerimizi bulabileceğimiz bu insanlık komedisini, evren ve hayatlarımızı farklı ve mizahi bir perspektifle irdelemek, bunu yaparken de eğlenmek isteyen tüm yetişkin okurlara öneririm.
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molsk
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 31,2025
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The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: ★★★★★
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe: ★★★★★
Life, the Universe, and Everything: ★★★★
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish: ★★★★
Young Zaphod Plays it Safe: ★★★
Mostly Harmless: ★★★★

I read the first book in this series, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, a few years ago, but at the time I was in sort of an on-again, off-again relationship with reading so I didn’t finish the series. After some disappointing reads this year, I wanted something I knew for a fact wouldn’t let me down. I reread the first book to refresh my memory, and this time I read the rest of the series without stopping.

This series is a wild ride in all the best possible ways. It’s hilarious, it’s wacky, it’s absurd, it’s very British, and it’s so much fun. Douglas Adams reels you in from the very beginning and keeps you hooked until the very end. The hits just keep on coming: Whereas most books contain, at most, a handful of truly memorable lines, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series boasts at least a handful of truly memorable lines in every chapter. If I’d read this series in ebook form, it would have more highlights than the rest of my Kindle library combined.

This series is filled with witty dialogue between memorable characters with distinct personalities. Even the most minor characters left an impression and contributed something valuable to the story. In his narration, Adams goes off on amusing tangents that add to both the entertainment value and the worldbuilding. Usually this writing style would grate on my nerves because it distracts from the plot and impedes a story’s forward momentum, but for some reason, when Adams does it, it just works.

I’m not sure what exactly it was about the last three books that didn’t quite do it for me in the same way the first two did. I think it came down to a series of minor complaints: parts of their plots dragged, or they focused too much on characters I didn’t care for, or certain plot points confused me, or there wasn’t enough character interaction. I’ll also admit that I got a bit fatigued reading over 800 pages.

I have one final complaint that was consistent throughout the series. I’m just generally underwhelmed by science fiction that depicts the entire galaxy/universe as just as patriarchal and heteronormative as the planet Earth. It’s boring and unimaginative. In The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the male to female character ratio was abysmal, none of the few female characters were anywhere near as well-developed as their male counterparts, and their personalities and character arcs almost entirely revolved around men.
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TheMysteries
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 31,2025
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Yazara haksizlik etmek istemem ama durmadan ordan oraya sürüklenen, kacislar ve zor durumlarla bezeli, gercekten gulmek istiyorsaniz cok nadir olarak -o da sacma seyler oldugunu dusundugum yerler vardi- bulunmakta.

Eger kurgusunu bircok sacma seyle doldurmasaymis yazar iyi bir is cikarabilirmis. Kendi bulduğu isimler ve karakterlerin dünyaların yapıları çok iyiydi. Bu yuzen uc yildiz verdim yoksa iki verebilirdim.

Ayrica diğer yorum yazanlarada katiliyorum ilk uc kitap son ikiye gore daha iyi bir halde.
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fazacc203
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 31,2025
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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.
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