The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

AdamsArthur Dent is already having a really bad day, even before the Earth gets demolished to make way for a new hyperspace bypass. After that things get much, much worse.

With just a towel, a small yellow fish and a book, Arthur has to navigate through a very hostile universe in the company of a gang of unreliable alien oddballs.  Luckily the fish is quite good at languages.  And the book is The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy…

Blurb from the 2009 edition published by Macmillan Children’s Books

8 thoughts on “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

  1. Douglas Adams’ seminal novel ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ is a stunning example of unrefined, accessible surrealism which both grips the reader and delivers a truly universal tale in an especially British manner. The broad narrative of the novel follows the misadventures of the last surviving human Arthur Dent, following the demolition of the planet Earth by a Vogon constructor fleet to make way for a hyperspace bypass. And if you aren’t already confused let me assure you – you will be.

    The novel is, in my eyes, a stunning tribute to the revolution of campy seventies science fiction films and the slowly diminishing allure of B movies. With witty humour and a cast of nonsensical characters ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ has left an eternal imprint on popular culture and as I began to reread the novel (perhaps for the fourth or fifth time) for TSBA I was not only instantaneously teleported back in time to my early teenage years, when I originally read the novel, but also I was pleasantly surprised to discover I own a first edition copy – a gift from an old friend.

    At times convoluted and without clear elements of plot distinction, the novel is not without its faults, in part due to Adams’s notorious inability to hit deadlines. However, to a great admirer of the novel, this is perhaps part of its unique appeal. Reading ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ for TSBA, but also in general, is a quirky delight; considering it is quite a short book a mountainous quantity of imaginative, intergalactic adventure is packed in its pages and the novel is well worth reading again and again.

  2. How many apocalyptic science fiction novels are there? Millions? Trillions? Googolplex? The answer is, of course, all of the above. But there are none so mindbogglingly good as ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’. This book is of a rather scientific nature. Or more accurately, of a mindbogglingly ridiculous nature.
    Each paragraph is a whole house crammed with trap doors. Douglas’ liberal use of anti-climatic events, dry humour and a constant spew of irrelevance renders the reader slightly befuddled. A brief synopsis would be too complicated, therefore I shall have to go with the fleeting synopsis: Arthur Dent is rather annoyed at his house being demolished for a bypass. His (alien) friend Ford Prefect rescues him from the demolishment of earth for a hyperspace bypass. They then proceed to hitchhike their way throughout the galaxy, following a book (aptly named) ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.’
    Douglas employs the use of a tone of absolute authority, which is ironically spewing facts of complete and utter nonsense. Despite the rather depressing events that occur ( such as mankind being destroyed forever), Douglas manages to maintain an irresistibly giggly manner. The sort of priceless knowledge only attainable here is at its very best in: a towel is undoubtedly the ‘most massively useful’ thing; and the meaning of life, the universe, and everything, is 42 (obviously).
    The author somehow manages to vividly describe illogical and impossible (rather, highly improbable) scenes. A prime example would have to be, ‘The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don’t.’ This peculiar description instantly conjures the desired image. An impressive (or exhausting) range of humour is used. From anticlimaxes, ‘…Zaphod Beeblebrox- or should I say… Phil?’ to sheer irony. The bypass that demolished Arthur Dent’s house is rendered useless by a hyperspace bypass, which is then rendered useless due to new technology. And, my personal favourite, ‘the best bang since the big one.’

    The protagonist is a rather odd man by the name of Arthur Dent. Now, Arthur is a bit of a downer, disinterested in the extra-terrestrial beings and objects whizzing around his human head. His negative aura is best expressed by the rather depressing quotation: ‘On the surface of Magrathea Arthur wandered about moodily.’ Though of course, his depression may have been influenced by the destruction of mankind. Arthur really is the only source of reason, like a pair of sunglasses against the blinding sun of this book.
    The other prominent character is Ford Prefect. Ford is an alien journalist from a small planet in the vicinity of Betelgeuse. Ford was writing for the wholly remarkable book ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ when his trip was incidentally prolonged to 15 years on the ‘rather dull’ planet of earth. Ford has managed to merge with mankind quite well, except his seemingly ‘inconspicuous’ name. Ford’s black sense of humour and complete inability to detect sarcasm makes for a very amusing alien indeed. Other characters include, (the genuinely stupid, it has been decided) Zaphod Beeblebrox, a clever human girl named Trillian, and a rather depressed robot who’s dismal view of life makes the enemy commit suicide.
    In conclusion, this book is really rather extraordinary. One could say this epic book is the father of all future science fiction novels. Or rather, the carbon based life form who happened to procreate quite quickly. The point is, the wholly remarkable book ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ is brilliant, and I don’t give a dingo’s kidney who says otherwise.

  3. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was written by Douglas Adams and first published on 12 October 1979
    This book begins normally on earth with a character called Arthur Dent who had found out the day before that his house was about to be knocked down the next day to make way for a by-pass.
    He had an alien friend named Ford Prefect from an area near Betelgeuse on the other side of the galaxy who had been stuck on earth for fifteen years and he warned Arthur that aliens were about to build a much bigger by-pass through the galaxy.
    This book then begins to get strange as the two friends begin to travel through space on a Vogan space ship. They get caught by Vogan troops and are taken to their leader who read poetry to Arthur and Ford which he had written.
    Arthur and Ford are then blown from an air lock and are rescued after twenty nine seconds in space by a probability ship. This is where they meet Zaphod Beeblebrox and his girlfriend Trillian.
    Zaphod is a two headed and three armed former hippie who was president of the galaxy. They then travelled to a planet which was a planet factory and it turned out that earth was designed by a robot who found the answer to life, the universe and everything and this answer was 42. The robot then created a computer which was organic and living and this computer was the earth which was ruled by mice.
    Sadly the question to which the answer was 42 was lost because the Vogans destroyed earth. This question was part of Arthur because he was part of earth. The mice found this out and wanted to get Arthur’s brain but they reasoned with him and came up with the fake question which was ‘How many roads does a man have to cross?’
    I found the book very exciting and rather random which was funny. I was never bored as the book moved quite quickly in a complicated manner.
    I found the story a little bit too strange at times and rather silly on occasions. At the beginning of the book I thought Zaphod Beeblebrox to be an evil character but when he met Arthur Dent for the second time he turned out to be a good character who was probably one of my favourites.
    Overall I enjoyed the book but it was certainly rather complicated and I feel I will enjoy it more at an older age.

  4. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was written by Douglas Adams and first published on 12 October 1979
    This book begins normally on earth with a character called Arthur Dent who had found out the day before that his house was about to be knocked down the next day to make way for a by-pass.
    He had an alien friend named Ford Prefect from an area near Betelgeuse on the other side of the galaxy who had been stuck on earth for fifteen years and he warned Arthur that aliens were about to build a much bigger by-pass through the galaxy.
    This book then begins to get strange as the two friends begin to travel through space on a Vogan space ship. They get caught by Vogan troops and are taken to their leader who read poetry to Arthur and Ford which he had written.
    Arthur and Ford are then blown from an air lock and are rescued after twenty nine seconds in space by a probability ship. This is where they meet Zaphod Beeblebrox and his girlfriend Trillian.
    Zaphod is a two headed and three armed former hippie who was president of the galaxy. They then travelled to a planet which was a planet factory and it turned out that earth was designed by a robot who found the answer to life, the universe and everything and this answer was 42. The robot then created a computer which was organic and living and this computer was the earth which was ruled by mice.
    Sadly the question to which the answer was 42 was lost because the Vogans destroyed earth. This question was part of Arthur because he was part of earth. The mice found this out and wanted to get Arthur’s brain but they reasoned with him and came up with the fake question which was ‘How many roads does a man have to cross?’
    I found the book very exciting and rather random which was funny. I was never bored as the book moved quite quickly in a complicated manner.
    I found the story a little bit too strange at times and rather silly on occasions. At the beginning of the book I thought Zaphod Beeblebrox to be an evil character but when he met Arthur Dent for the second time he turned out to br a good character who was probably one of my favourites.
    Overall I enjoyed the book but it was certainly rather complicated and I feel I will enjoy it more at an older age.

  5. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy so far is a fantastic book. If you have seen the film or know about any aspect of the book then it is an excellent choice.

    At times when you read you will notice that it has gone off the story of Arthur Dent and off topic and at times into the page of the guide itself. You will be confused as to why it has gone off topic but, reading on it will be obvious to why it has gone off topic.

    If you have seen the film it gives new characteristics to the characters. Such as Ford being less friendly in the book.

    Final thoughts

    If you have not seen the film and know nothing about the franchise it is still a good choice of reading. If you like logic based sci-fi and you like to laugh, then this is something that might interest you.

  6. I enjoyed The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy a lot more than I thought I would. I’d seen it described as ‘silly’ but I actually didn’t think it was silly at all. It struck me as being very, very British. I was mostly worried about the comedic aspect, rather than about it being set in outer space, but I adored its blunt, and slightly satiric humour. I loved recognising certain phrases and references, so it occasionally felt strangely familiar and the little nuggets of genius and imagination.

  7. Connor from Royal Russell School writes:
    A Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

    I really like to book and I would also recommend it to other readers, this book is funny because it can be very weird and funny sometimes also wacky. The book is also crazy because it goes everywhere very fast, for such from earth to the edge of the galaxy. It has a MASSIVE sense of humour.

    I really like the plot twist of “ what’s the meaning of life and the answer was 42” that was a hysterical moment, well… for me.

    The start was trying to say that everything was normal until this point Because his friend tells him that he’s an alien and aliens destroy the planet. So pretty much everything just changes.

  8. Crazily funny, and very exciting, this book is full of weird and wonderful things. From the babble fish that translates languages, to the mice who had the Earth built as a way of finding out the ultimate question- eventualy had to make it up-, to the Guide itself, to the crazily happy doors and paranoid android no bit of this book is dull. In a laclusture-incomparison-word; mindblowing.

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