The Encyclopedia Galactica, that venerable compendium, has a lot to say about the works of Douglas Adams. In particular, the first four books of his 'Hitchhiker's' series have over 7 million words dedicated to them. This includes synopses, critical analyses, research projects, philosophical treatises, and Babel-fish fan-fiction.
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But the fifth book in the series has not enjoyed this level of attention. Until recently, the Galactica article regarding this novel comprised a single word; 'pointless.'
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A sub-set of literature fans didn't appreciate this and launched an extensive campaign to rectify the situation. They argued that Mostly Harmless wasn't a lazy cash-grab or evidence that Adams simply wanted to put the series to bed... or at least that it was more than just those things.
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So while most agreed that Mostly Harmless paled when compared to its predecessors, they still felt that it had several funny bits and featured a distinctly sad perspective. They wrote impassioned essays about the book's themes; waxing eloquent about the search for purpose and the inevitability of fate. One particularly poignant contribution discussed how much of the novel felt like the beginning of a brand new adventure, a brand new series, which made the sudden finality of the ending feel especially soul-crushing.
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And after many years of protest and tasteless #harmlesslivesmatter jokes they finally convinced the Galactica editors to expand the article. From thence on, the book on Mostly Harmless reads 'Mostly pointless.'

Edited 2/14/2020

After reading this book, I got depressed for one whole day, locked myself in my room and couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. And then I realized it. The ending.

The ending was abrupt and unexpected. After going through the series, I was quite surprised to discover that Douglas Adams was my cup of tea. The oxymoronic wordplay and satire that made his writing irresistible to me was present throughout the whole book. However, although I certainly didn't expect a Cinderella "happily-ever-after" ending, I must say this type of ending is devastating to someone who fell in love with the whole series.

Some central characters were missing in this book, particularly Zaphod whom I found annoying and didn't miss that much. Random was absolutely irritating, and I believe that things could have been done without Random being such a pain. Yet again, I suppose every kid born in such a chaotic universe would be as exasperating as Random.

As always, the interaction between Ford and Arthur was absolutely ludicrous and enjoyable. Trillian didn't play much of a major role, but her role was complicated nevertheless. I loved the whole "holy sandwich maker" thing and the peaceful life Arthur had found.

I suppose I'm going to miss Douglas Adams and his eccentric humour. However sad and horrible the ending seemed, it provided a firm and definite conclusion to the series. So long, and thanks for all the fish!

This book is just as witty and entertaining as the first four in this brilliant five-part trilogy. I like all 5 of the titles so much that I can easily imagine reading all of them again!

The universe is a joke.

Even before I was shown the meaning of life in a dream at 17 (then promptly forgot it because I thought I smelled pancakes), I knew this to be true--and yet, I have always felt a need to search for the truth, that nebulous, ill-treated creature. Adams has always been, to me, to be a welcome companion in that journey.

Between the search for meaning and the recognition that it's all a joke in poor taste lies Douglas Adams, and, luckily for us, he doesn't seem to mind if you lie there with him. He's a tall guy, but he'll make room.

For all his crazed unpredictability, Adams is a powerful rationalist. His humor comes from his attempts to really think through all the things we take for granted. It turns out it takes little more than a moment's questioning to burst our preconceptions at the seams, yet rarely does this stop us from treating the most ludicrous things as if they were perfectly reasonable.

It is no surprise that famed atheist Richard Dawkins found a friend and ally in Adams. What is surprising is that people often fail to see the rather consistent and reasonable philosophy laid out by Adams' quips and absurdities. His approach is much more personable (and less embittered) than Dawkins', which is why I think of Adams as a better face for rational materialism (which is a polite was of saying 'atheism').

Reading his books, it's not hard to see that Dawkins is tired of arguing with uninformed idiots who can't even recognize when a point has actually been made. Adams' humanism, however, stretched much further than the contention between those who believe, and those who don't.

We see it from his protagonists, who are not elitist intellectuals--they're not even especially bright--but damn it, they're trying. By showing a universe that makes no sense and having his characters constantly question it, Adams is subtly hinting that this is the natural human state, and the fact that we laugh and sympathize shows that it must be true.

It's all a joke, it's all ridiculous. The absurdists might find this depressing, but they're just a bunch of narcissists, anyhow. Demnading the world make sense and give you purpose is rather self centered when it already contains toasted paninis, attractive people in bathing suits, and Euler's Identity. I say let's sit down at the bar with the rabbi, the priest, and the frog and try to get a song going. Or at least recognize that it's okay to laugh at ourselves now and again. It's not the end of the world.

It's just is a joke, but some of us are in on it.

What was supposed to be the last chapter of this saga has left me a bitter taste in the mouth, even if compared to the previous one is more interesting. Have been developed concepts of parallel universes, reverse engineering, Probability and so on, that do not increase the effectiveness of the story, but in some cases make it only more tangled. Arthur is always in search of himself, and never able to fully understand what happens around, but on the other hand we find Ford Prefect, which shows a bit of irony in the story. Between chases, landings disastrous and interdimensional travel, perhaps the final will turn up their nose to some fans of the series.
We'll see how will be the sixth, without the pen of Douglas Adams.

A quote that I particularly enjoyed:

The first thing to realize about parallel universes, the Guide says, is that they are not parallel.
It is also important to realize that they are not, strictly speaking, universes either, but it is easiest if you try and realize that a little later, after you've realized that everything you've realized up to that moment is not true.

"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools."

I laughed so much, I was ready to give the book five stars at 25%. Surprisingly, this book even had a plot that was nicely wrapped up at the end. I enjoy both the ludicrous narrative and the subtle criticism of certain social practices. My only beef with this book was the absence of some favourite characters.
I am happy to conclude the series with this book and I know for sure that I will come back to it for a pick up whenever I feel down.

"He had a nasty feeling that that might be an idiotic thing to do, but he did it anyway, and sure enough it had turned out to be an idiotic thing to do. You live and learn. At any rate, you live."

This series started off with an incredible book which is one of my all-time favorite reads, and then goes downhill from there. I found the story in this final installment difficult to follow. Giving Arthur a kid felt like a cheap plot device, and I hated that new character. There's really nothing about this book that I liked. Even Adams' humorous writing fell flat for me.

I know there's one other book in this series but written by a different author. I don't know if I'll ever pick that one up. I prefer to just focus on how amazing the original book is and forget about the rest.

باید مثل عنوان روی جلد نوشت: بیشترش چیز خاصی نیست!

همچنان بخشی از ایده‌های بکر و دیوانه‌وار کارهای قبلی رو داشت، ولی اون نثر درخشان جلدهای قبلی چندان اینجا دیده نمیشه و شاید دلیلش همون افسردگی نویسنده باشه.

Brilliant! I don’t know if I was just into the right mood or what, but this last book of The Hitchhiker’s Guide series made me laugh so much. It was hilarious!
The ending was perhaps too abrupt for me, and I’m still not sure if I liked it or not, so I was about to give 4 stars. But all the funny dialogues and situations throughout the book made definitely the 5 stars worth.
I’m sure I will reread the whole series sometime, they just put me in such a good mood. I love the so British, witty humor of Douglas, the science, the simple and at the same time twisted situations, the craziness of everything but rooted in the most logical reasonings. If you’re into any of these, please grab all five books and begin with The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and enjoy.

Mostly Harmless was, for many people, a disappointing end to a fantastic series. Adams admitted that he was having a "bad year" when he wrote this book, and it shows: the usual humor and manic pacing are largely gone, replaced by long tracts about actual theoretical science (as opposed to the lunatic-inspired science that created, say, the starship Bistromath), and the tone overall is far darker and more depressive. There are still glimpses of Adams' comedic genius, but the book as a whole is a definite cog or two down the scale from the first four. While Mostly Harmless does provide a firm and definite conclusion to the Hitchhiker's Trilogy, it can, in many ways, be left off the reading list for anyone who is not a die-hard Adams fan; the average reader will get enough conclusion from So Long..., if not from Life....

Mostly harmless and good!

Thoroughly meh. There were some glimpses of Adams' typical humor, but the final installment of the Hitchhikers' Guide "trilogy" is much more bleak. The story also skips around between three different plots (centered around Arthur, Ford, and Trillian/Trisha), none of which was satisfactorily wrapped up as far as I'm concerned. Adams does delve into the complications of the space/time continuum, which he handles with his characteristic combination of wonkiness and humor. I enjoyed listening to the audiobook, narrated by Martin Freeman, and it was nice to revisit this series almost 15 years after the first time I experienced it.