6 shiny twinkling ★'s!

Really wonderful humor, funny language, absurd imagery and fantastic characters. The most fun I've ever had with books. And audiobooks.. I had this on tape, the BBC version, and would listen to this in my car or on my walkman repeatedly.

If you've ever wondered where those references to the number 42 come from, what it would be like to have two heads or what about the answer to life, the universe and everything - look no further.

Actually, I'm gonna head off right now to get the audiobook and pick up a ringtone & notification sound from that. Sorry, got to go!

Yay!

edit: back from picking up the BBC audiobook. OOOhhh, how wonderful. Sorry, gotta go again, walk the dog and listen to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy on my smartphone (that walkman is soo history..)
**hurries off whistling the intro tune and grinning crazily**

استفاده از رگه‌های طنز در آثار فانتزی یا علمی تخیلی، کار عجیبی نیست، ما در آثاری مثل «هری پاتر» یا «تلماسه» هم گاهی با شوخی‌های نویسنده مواجه شده‌ایم. اما کسی هری پاتر و تلماسه را اثر کمدی نمی‌داند.
حالا در مجموعه‌ی «راهنمای کهکشان برای اتواستاپ‌زن‌ها» تعداد این شوخی‌ها آنقدر زیاد است که رسما می‌‌توانیم کتاب را ترکیبی از ژانر علمی-تخیلی و ژانر کمدی بدانیم.
و ترکیب این دو ژانر، بهتر از چیزی که انتظار داشتم درآمده و از معدود نکات مثبت کتاب است.
داگلاس آدامز داستان را ابتدا به صورت بخش‌های نیم ساعته برای پخش در رادیو بی‌بی‌سی می‌نویسد، و بعد که کارش می‌گیرد و مشهور می‌شود، از سوی ناشران پیشنهادهایی برای چاپ داستانش در قالب رمان دریافت می‌کند و سرانجام، این مجموعه آنقدر معروف و محبوب می‌شود که از روی آن فیلم و سریال و بازی کامپیوتری هم ساخته می‌شود.
در مقدمه‌ی بامزه‌ی نویسنده در آغاز کتاب (این مقدمه در ترجمه‌ی فارسیِ کتاب وجود ندارد و من آن را از نسخه‌ی انگلیسی نقل به مضمون می‌کنم) داگلاس آدامز نوشته:
n  

در زمان نوشتن کتاب، از دنیا کمی اوقاتم تلخ شده بود و نتیجه این شد که در تمام طرح‌های ذهنم برای داستان، قرار بود کره‌ی زمین نابود شود.

n
بله! داستان از این قرار است که در همان ابتدای کتاب، نویسنده موقعیتِ کمیکی خلق می‌کند که کره‌ی زمین توسط آدم فضایی‌ها به منظور احداث بزرگراه فضایی، نابود می‌شود و «آرتور دنت» که یک انسان زمینیِ از همه‌جا بی‌خبر است، با کمک دوستش «فورد پریفکت» که یک موجود فضایی است که برای تحقیق به زمین آمده، موفق به فرار از زمین قبل از نابودی آن می‌شود. (نویسنده نام فورد پریفکت را انتخاب کرده تا نشان دهد این شخصیت از قوانین زمینی بی‌اطلاع بوده، چون فورد پریفکت در واقع نام یک مدل معروف خودروی فورد ساخت بریتانیا بوده)
خلاصه که داستان درباره‌ی سفرهای فضایی جناب آرتور دنت و ماجراهای اوست.
این مجموعه در شش جلد چاپ شده که در واقع پنج جلد اول را خودِ داگلاس آدامز نوشته و جلد ششم بعد از مرگ او بر اساس یادداشت‌هایش توسط نویسنده‌ی دیگری نوشته شده است.
به طور خلاصه نظرم در مورد کتاب -حداقل جلد اولش- این است که داستان، پر از ایده‌های بسیار خلاقانه است، اما این ایده‌ها به خوبی پرداخت و اجرا نشده‌اند. مثلا نویسنده توانسته تیپ شخصیت‌های بسیار جالب و بامزه‌ای خلق کند. از «زاپود بیبلبروکس» که برای دزدیدن سفینه، رئیس جمهور کهکشان شده تا رباتی که آنقدر اطلاعات زیادی دارد که افسرده شده یا رباتی دیگر که زیادی شاد و شنگول است. اما هیچ کدام از شخصیت‌ها عمق کافی ندارند و در واقع شخصیت‌پردازیِ کتاب خوب نیست.
به علاوه داستان، تعلیق و هیجان لازم را به عنوان یک اثر علمی تخیلی ندارد. بدتر از همه این که سؤالی که برای من در حین خواندن کتاب مرتب تکرار می‌شد این بود که «خب حالا که چی؟!». میخواهم بگویم کتاب پیام روشن و درون‌مایه‌ی آشکاری مثل بعضی از علمی تخیلی‌های معروف از جمله «تلماسه» ندارد. (گرچه مقایسه‌ی تلماسه با این مجموعه خیلی هم مقایسه‌ی درستی نیست)
به نظرم هیچ‌کدام از شوخی‌های کتاب آنقدر خنده‌دار نیست که خواننده قهقهه بزند، ولی انصافاً بعضی از شوخی‌ها پیچیده و عمیق هستند و به مسائل اجتماعی- سیاسی کنایه می‌زنند.
شاید بعدها یک جلد دیگر از این مجموعه را هم بخوانم تا ببینم داستان به جای جالبی می‌رسد یا نه.

درباره‌ی ترجمه
از ترجمه به چند دلیل راضی نیستم:
• تمام کتاب به زبان محاوره یا به اصطلاح، فارسی شکسته ترجمه شده است و من از توضیحات مترجم در مقدمه‌ی کتاب در این باره قانع نشدم. شاید داستان در رادیو طور دیگری خوانده می‌شده یا شاید زبان محاوره با فضای داستان تضادی نداشته باشد، ولی ربطی به زبان اصلی کتاب ندارد.
• علاوه بر تعداد انگشت شماری غلط واضح در ترجمه‌ی کتاب، تعدادی از اصطلاحات داستان هم ترجمه‌ی دقیق یا باکیفیتی ندارند مثلا Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster ترجمه شده به مشروب الکلی رعد پان کهکشانی. در مورد اصطلاح «اتواستاپ‌زن» که ترجمه‌ی کلمه‌ی «hitchhiker» است هم، توضیحات مترجم در مقدمه برایم قانع کننده نیست. نمی‌دانم، شاید فقط منم که کلمه‌ی اتواستاپ‌زن را نشنیده‌ام و این کلمه برایم ناآشنا و وصله‌ی ناجور به زبان فارسی است. (شما تا حالا این کلمه را شنیده بودید؟) برای من «مسافر بین‌راهی» با این که می‌دانم ترجمه‌ی صددرصد دقیقی برای hitchhiker نیست، ترجمه‌ی قابل قبول‌تری است.
• بعضی قسمت‌های داستان سانسور شده‌اند مثل طرز تهیه‌ی همان مشروب الکلی رعد پان کهکشانی!
یک نکته‌ی جالب هم این که ناشر و مترجم متوجه شده‌اند اگر کلمه‌ی god را به جای «خدا» به «ایزد» ترجمه کنند، می‌توانند حداقل در مورد بحث‌های آتئیستیِ کتاب، از چنگ سانسور وزارت ارشاد بگریزند. این هم از عجایبی است که در کمتر جایی از زمین، و حتی کهکشان‌ها پیدا می‌شود!

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...

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.

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

Roses are red
Violets are blue
the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything
is 42

What the hell did I just read?

Popsugar challenge 2020 - A Book with a Robot, cyborg or AI character / A Book written by an author in their 20's

Yeah, I'm not the intended audience for this book, with a male dominated cast in space I was never going to be able to relate.

I'd heard great things but I couldn't get into it, my mind kept drifting, i looked for the humor but couldn't find it (was it where the British guy wanted a cup of tea on a spaceship?).

It just didn't hold my attention i'm afraid which is a shame as its such a cult classic.

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. Demanding 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.

They stumbled out of the Heart of Gold and looked around them. It was very quiet among the tall buildings. The ground was covered with brightly-colored objects that, from a distance, looked a little like paperback novels. Trillian picked one up.

"It's a paperback novel!" she said, surprised. "Long Hard Ride, by Lorelei James." She flipped through it. "Hm, who'd have thought that the late inhabitants of Frogstar Z would have been into women's erotica?"

She picked up some more. "Be With Me, by Maya Banks... Dangerous Secrets, by Lisa Marie Rice... A Little Harmless Pleasure, by Melissa Schroeder. They're all women's erotica!

The rest of this review is available elsewhere (the location cannot be given for Goodreads policy reasons)

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."