If you want to know the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything, this is the place to go!

Douglas Adams has been writing radio scripts for the BBC in the same vein as the Monthy Python's Flying Circus, or Rowan Atkinson's sitcom Blackadder, or even Mel Brook's Spaceballs. This cult novel is no different and quite obviously a surreal parody of the space-opera science-fiction genre. It mostly juggles with logic and wordplays, like Lewis Carroll, and quite a few episodes seem to be inspired by Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

On the whole, many dialogues include hilarious schoolboy pranks and punchlines, and the plot (the zany adventures of the last surviving human and his bizarre sidekicks across the galaxy) is quite dizzying. Not much else to take away from all that though, except that the answer to said Ultimate Question is indeed probably  forty-two .

What can I say? I wish I had been in the movie, although it was bad and I guess I should be happy about NOT being in it.

Edit: My review is unchanged, but I wanted to point out that this is my 15th straight year of reading this book!

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is my favorite book of all time, and most likely always will be. I’ve read it more times than I can remember, and it has made me laugh every single time. Lines like “Life, don’t talk to me about life”, “Space is big. Really big. You won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is”, and “Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so” will never fail to make me smile, and just typing those out did the trick. I could sit here all day and talk about how great this book is and how brilliant Douglas Adams is.

This book is ridiculous in the best possible way, but the comedy isn’t the only thing that makes it so great. The plot is really interesting as well, and it takes you on an incredible journey across the universe with some very memorable characters. From Arthur Dent being completely overwhelmed by everything to Zaphod Beeblebrox’s total absurdity to Marvin the Paranoid Android (just as a whole, because he’s amazing), every single character is great in their own way.

There is a reason that this book is so highly regarded among science fiction works, because it’s a truly incredible work of art. It’s one of the best books I’ve ever read, and one that I would recommend to anyone. So remember, don’t panic, and always know where your towel is.