This is a book I’ve been meaning to read for a very long time, but have been putting off for a number of reasons: 1) It’s honestly pretty rare that I read anything published before the 80s unless it’s classic horror. 2) It’s science fiction, which is my most hit-and-miss genre. 3) I love the film adaptation, and I’m always worried, after loving a film adaptation, that the book will ruin the film for me and I won’t be able to love it anymore.

n  “Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.”n

All of that said, this is probably my fiancé’s favorite book of all time, and as his birthday is later this month, I promised to finally read it! It was a quick and fun read, but it’s a really tough book for me to rate. My feelings are so all over the place, but I ultimately decided on 3.5 stars, rounded up.

n  “If there's anything more important than my ego around, I want it caught and shot now.”n

The single greatest thing that this book has going for it is absolutely, hands down, the humor. It’s very dry and probably would fit well into what many of us North Americans like to playfully refer to as “British humor”, but it somehow doesn’t feel dated to the 70s in any way. I laughed out loud—or smirked, at least—more times than I can count during this story, though I don’t know how much of that is in thanks to picturing the jokes being delivered by Mos Def and Martin Freeman. I’m honest enough to admit that I probably wouldn’t be rating this as highly if I didn’t enjoy the film so much, but that’s beside the point.

n   “This must be Thursday,” said Arthur to himself, sinking low over his beer. “I never could get the hang of Thursdays.”n

I’m not rating this book based solely on its wit and snark, though—there’s also something to say for how unique it is, how original it was for its time, and how solidly it has stood through the decades. I always say I’m not a big sci-fi fan, so I don’t really know the genre as well as many of you might, but for any book to have become this big of an international phenomenon, and then to have stayed as such for nearly 40 years as of now, is impressive and probably worthy of praise just for that.

n   “Ford… you’re turning into a penguin. Stop it.”n

Is this book perfect? I don’t know, honestly. I’m a broken record here, but with my ambivalent feelings for the genre as a whole, I’m not the best person to answer that for you. What I can say is that it’s a super fun read, and if you’ve never picked it up before, you should totally give it a try. Or watch the film. In fact, even if you have read it, you should still watch the film, because it’s amazing.

n   “So long, and thanks for all the fish!”n

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Buddy read with Terry!

You can find this review and more on my blog, or you can follow me on twitter, bookstagram, or facebook!

“Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.”

Another great reread of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Always entertaining and so absurdly profound!
~~~

Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is an entertaining romp through the galaxy. It's a book I've read several times (first in high school); however, after reading Kurt Vonnegut's most overtly science fiction novel, The Sirens of Titan, it almost felt like a fresh experience. Of course, Vonnegut and Adams are very different writers. Still, the influence of Vonnegut is evident in Adams' seminal novel of nerd culture. The absurdity of the human condition explored in Sirens (something which Vonnegut refuses to take seriously but can't treat as a punchline either) gets a funny and entertaining twist in Adams' work. While I view Sirens as a better novel, it took Adams to turn that absurdity into such an entertaining adventure.

Well, it's a rather tough one to review, isn't it?

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is a sci-fi comedy with a good dose of philosophy, lots of loveable characters, and an ingeniously absurd plot. You’ve probably read the thing and wonder what I’m going to have to say about it. As it turns out, probably not a whole lot you haven’t heard before.

So, instead of that, I thought about giving you 42 quick thoughts on the novel. But then, that too seemed too daunting an affair to consider writing and would almost definitely be an unpleasant thing to read. I mean, really, towards the mid-point of such a list you’d just be getting into a list of snacks I ate in between reading.

In lieu of all that, I’ll be brief.

I liked this a lot. It was a nice break from the hard sci-fi I’ve found myself reading of late, and a good reminder that there’s a lot that can be done with the genre. Speaking of: do we have much other funny sci-fi out there? If so, do let me know in the comments.

Sorry to my fiancé for having put this one off for so long. I LOL’d like everyone used to LOL when the book came out rather than how we all LOL today. It was a great gift all those years ago, but I worry that if I had read it back then a wormhole might have opened up to drop it into the distant past of a far away alien civilization. And I think we all know how that sort of thing turns out.

There’s a lot of great writing to be found between these pages. A lot of it uses simple language, portmanteaus, and suitably wild looking alien words to convey a world in which anything might happen. Very often that very anything does happen (see: orbital sperm whale).

I had a good bit of fun and will touch back with the rest of the books in the omnibus later in the year. I think I’ll be visiting them whenever I need a good laugh, or feel like something a bit lighter.

Reread. Last read it 2020. Its funny how much reading tastes changes over the years. Still like it but not at all as much. Lower rating this time around.

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This. Was. Amazing! I wasn't at all prepared that this tiny book would hold so much greatness and other worldy amazingness. It's funny, it's quirky and it doesn't try to be serious but it doesn't feel forced or overly ridiculous. It's just have enough fun bits and it doesn't feel overpowering. It's short but feel like it has the perfect length. I'm glad I got the next book on hand and I can easily say it's one of the best book I've read this year!!

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy #1), Douglas Adams

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a comedy science fiction series created by Douglas Adams.

The broad narrative of Hitchhiker follows the misadventures of the last surviving man, Arthur Dent, following the demolition of the planet Earth by a Vogon constructor fleet to make way for a hyperspace bypass.

عنوانهای چاپ شده در ایران: «راهنمای مسافران مجانی کهکشان»؛ «راهنمای کهکشان برای اتواستاپزنها»؛ نویسنده: داگلاس آدامز؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز نهم ماه سپتامبر سال2016میلادی

عنوان: راهنمای مسافران مجانی کهکشان؛ نویسنده: داگلاس آدامز؛ فرزاد فربد؛ تهران، پنجره، 1386؛ در 207ص؛ شابک 9789647822336؛ موضوع: داستانهای خیال انگیز علمی و خنده دار از نویسندگان بریتانیا - سده 20م

عنوان: راهنمای کهکشان برای اتواستاپزنها؛ نویسنده: داگلاس آدامز؛ آرش سرکوهی؛ تهران، چشمه، 1394؛ در 205ص؛ شابک9786002292902؛

راهنمای کهکشان برای اتواستاپ‌زن‌ها، داستان «آرتور دنت»، مردی از طبقه ی متوسط «انگلیس»، و نقش ناخواسته ی او را، برای دریافتن معنی زندگی، روایت میکند؛ رمان با حادثه‌ ای آغاز می‌شود، که برای ساکنان کره ی زمین رخداده است، اما در رمان آن رخداد، رویدادی فرعی است؛ «وگون‌»ها که یکی از نژادهای کهکشان هستند، سیاره ی زمین را، برای احداث یک بزرگراه بین کهکشانی، نابود می‌کنند؛ کره ی زمین نابود می‌شود، اما «فورد» و «آرتور دنت (دوست فورد)» چند ثانیه پیش از نابودی زمین، به یاری دستگاهی که «فورد» به همراه دارد، خود را به سفینه ی «وگون‌»ها منتقل کرده، و از آن پس با «اتواستاپ» زدن، سفر خود را در کهکشان‌ها ادامه می‌دهند؛ «فورد پریفکت»، از پژوهشگراان مؤسسه‌ ای ست، که کتاب راهنمای کهکشان برای اتواستاپ‌زن‌ها را منتشر می‌کند؛ او سال‌ها پیش از نابودیِ زمین، برای پژوهش میدانی به زمین سفر کرده بود؛ رمان، ماجراهای سفرهای این دو دوست، و نقشِ «آرتور» را، برای دریافتن معنی زندگی، در بافتی جذاب، و با زبانی روان، با واژه می‌آراید؛

گویا روانشاد «داگلاس آدامز»، برای نگارش همین سری شش کتاب در خیال خویش کاشته داشته اند، پنج کتاب، در زمان زنده بودن نویسنده، منتشر شد، عنوان کتاب نخست با عنوان سری یکسان است؛ و چهار کتاب دیگر سری، با عنوان‌های: «رستوران آخر جهان»؛ «زندگی، جهان و همه‌ چیز»؛ «خداحافظ و ممنون از اون همه ماهی»؛ و «بیش‌ترش چیزی خاصی نیست»؛ نامگذاری شده اند؛

روانشاد «داگلاس آدامز» در سال2001میلادی، از درب سرای این دنیا بگذشتند، و پس از درگذشت ایشان؛ «ایون کالفر»، نویسنده ی «ایرلندی»، با اجازه‌ ی بیوه ی «آدامز»، و با بهره‌ گیری از آرشیو یادداشت‌ها، و نوشته‌ های چاپ نشده ی «داگلاس آدامز»؛ جلد ششم و آخرین کتاب از همین مجموعه را نیز، با عنوان: «راستی تا یادم نرفته...» را نوشتند، و در سال 2009میلادی منتشر کردند

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 24/06/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 04/06/1400هجری خورشید؛ ا. شربیانی

اولین بار بود که تو ژانر پست مدرن، کتابی نیمه فانتزی نیمه علمی تخیل�� می‌خوندم، اونم با چاشنی طنز!
کتاب راهنمای کهکشان برای اتواستاپ‌زن‌ها با استفاده از طنز موقعیت و گاه اغراق‌های قابل توجه، به انتقاد و زیر سوال بردن مسائل عادی انسانی می‌پردازه.
بعضی بخش‌های کتاب رو واقعا دوست داشتم، طنزش به دل می‌نشست و آدم رو به فکر فرو می‌برد. با این حال بعضی جاها هم برام خسته‌کننده می‌شد.
تصویرسازی و شخصیت‌پردازی متوسط و گاه دم دستی بود. خلاقیت نویسنده ستودنی به نظر می‌رسید و همین‌طور فکر می‌کنم اگر کتاب رو زبان اصلی می‌خوندم بیشتر با طنزش ارتباط برقرار می‌کردم.
کتاب پایان‌بندی نداره و به جلد بعدیش وصله. یعنی انتهای کتاب وصل می‌شه به ابتدای جلد بعد که خب نظر دادن در موردش رو سخت می‌کنه. فصل‌بندی‌هاشم برای من عجیب بود چون اگر شماره‌ی فصل‌ها رو برمی‌داشتیم کل کتاب به هم متصل بود و لزوم شماره زدن رو متوجه نشدم.
من ترجمه‌ی آرش سرکوهی رو خوندم ولی گویا ترجمه فرزاد فربد بهتره.
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بخش‌های ماندگار کتاب:
آقای پروسر آرزو می‌کرد که الان در نقطه‌ی ت می‌بود. نقطه‌ی ت جای خاصی نبود فقط جایی بود که از نقطه‌های الف و ب و پ خیلی دور بود.
...
یکی از خصوصیات آدم‌ها که فورد هیچ وقت از اون سر در نیاورده بود، عادت عجیب و غریب اون‌ها بود به اینکه چیزهای پیش پا افتاده و بدیهیات مثل روز روشن رو دوباره و دوباره تکرار کنند.
...
اگر آدم‌ها بدون توقف، زبون و لب‌هاشون رو تکون ندن، مغزشون شروع می‌کنه به کار کردن.
...
زمان فقط یه توهمه.
...
میشه فقط برای یه لحظه هم که شده تو مهمترین چیز دنیا نباشی؟
...
دقیقا همون موقعی که آدم فکر می‌کنه زندگی از این بدتر نمی‌شه، یک اتفاقی می‌افته و آدم می‌بینه که خیلی بدتر از این هم هست.
...
خیلی دوست داشت بدونه که این چیه که تمام وقت سعی می‌کنه بهش فکر نکنه.

این کتاب ترکیبی از استعاره‌های ناب برای اتفاقاتیه که در اطرافمون زیاد میفته و گاهی شاید حتی بهشون توجه نکنیم، در کنارش با فلسفه‌ی زندگی و این سوال بنیادی درباره‌ی زندگی جهان و همه‌چی روبه‌رو میشیم که دلیل پیدایش ماجراهای این کتاب بود.
طنز کتاب خاصه، من یه جاهایی باهاش قهقهه میزدم اما نمی‌شه گفت که هر کسی با این سبک کنار میاد و می‌تونه ازش لذت ببره.

Jedyny element, który mi się podobał to Marvin

من خیلی ازش لذت بردم. امروز صبح یه ذره حالم خوب نبود و تا حالم اوکی بشه خوندمش. بلافاصله می‌رم سراغ جلد بعدی.
فقط یه حس دوگانه‌ای دارم، از یه طرف می‌گم کاش انگلیسی خونده بودم و از یه طرف می‌گم ترجمش خیلی خوب بود. نمی‌دونم.

Useful phrases in Icelandic

Að mestu meinlaus - Mostly harmless

Bless á meðan og takk fyrir allan fiskinn - So long and thanks for all the fish

Ekki örvænta - Don't panic

Fjörutíu og tveir - Forty-two

Húppi frúddi - Hoopy frood

Lífið, alheiminn og allt saman - Life, the universe and everything

Ó þú fretlaði rýtböggull - O frettled gruntbuggly

Öll mótstaða er tilgangslaus - Resistance is useless

Vetrarbrautarheilakúpubomba - Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster

Þennan hræðilega verk í öllum dióðunum í vinstri síðunni - This terrible pain in all the diodes down my left side

Þrjátiu altairska dollara á dag - Thirty Altairian dollars a day

Definitely one of the great sci-fi comedy classics with slapstick comedy, philosophical queries and the Answer 42. Always a fun book to read when otherwise life is throwing you curveballs!

So much fun to read.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy starts on a Thursday, and Arthur Dent is having a very bad day. Things start going sour when a construction crew tries to knock his house down so they can build a highway bypass through the land it sits on, and get worse rather quickly when the Earth is suddenly and completely destroyed. A galactic orphan, Dent embarks on an interstellar journey with his longtime friend Ford Prefect (who is really an alien who has been stranded on the Earth for the past fifteen years), Zaphod Beeblebrox, who is President of the Galaxy, Zaphod's girlfriend Trillian, and a depressed robot named Marvin.

There were some things I didn't like about this book, but overall I really enjoyed it. Just after the halfway point in the book, when the travellers reach the planet Magrathea, the tone changes from constant joke-telling and silliness, with a frenetic story and dialogue, to a more serious tone, with a more static story taking place in just one locale (on and around the planet Magrathea), with less jokes and humour and noticeably denser prose. This made the two halfs of the book quite tonally different from each other, which I personally found jarring. The book started to get funnier again near the end, but in a book that is only 180 pages you really notice when the tone changes for even 20-30 pages, as it did in this book.

I also generally didn't care much for the second half of the book for this reason; the first half was more fun, and I wish the entire book had been written in that way. It felt a bit like Adams got tired of trying to write non-stop silly prose and dialogue and somewhat gave up on that for a decent amount of the second half of the book, only picking it back up again near the end.

Some characters were also very one-dimensional and didn't add much to the story. The best example of this was Trillian. I would have liked to see her have a larger role in the story, given she is the partner of one of the main characters, but I found her to be flat and mostly invisible. Maybe she is developed more in later books in the series; I guess I'll find out when I pick these books up again.

Negatives aside, I loved Adams' humour; this is a very funny book, sometimes laugh-out-loud funny. I thought some aspects of the story and world-building were crazy but absolutely brilliant, and I feel, with this first book, like Adams has only just begun to craft what will end up being a hilarious and impressive tale of our universe and its "history".

Recommended!

4.5 stars