Hitchhiker's Guide To the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

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Submitted by Chris Van Tighem
(Oct 22, 2000)

The Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy is one of the most intriguing books I have reread lately. Originally published in the late seventies and early eighties it culminated in the final volume in 1992.  When I first read "Mostly Harmless" I was put off.  The tone of the book was much more serious and less flippant.  However, after rereading the whole series it occurs to me that the whole series can be seen as a reflection of the coming of age of the Personal Computer Generation.  Initially the romp through space is a free for all.  Sure Zaphod has a Big Thing to do but it plays second fiddle to the experiences of Arthur and the rest of the crew of the Heart of Gold.  However, the themes of "Mostly Harmless" are missed opportunities, corporatizing and parenthood.  All facets of what the people who were teens in the eighties had to face once the nineties came in.  Gone was the "fun" culture of companies like Microsoft and Apple.  The shortened work week we were promised with the advent of personal computers created sixty plus hour work weeks due to a number of things including the advent of personal computing. Biological clocks were ticking and people started to realize that they wanted to have children even after what their parents had put them through.

I think that Douglas Adams has touched a nerve we didn't expect through these books.  This group of zany characters has shown us the path that many of our lives took.  I would be interested to see what Hitchhikers guide 2000 might be like.

This is the ultimate book, when ever but not where ever...it causes you to laugh a lot and it is a mistake to read it on the subway...at least if you are travelling alone. The benefit with that is that you get a seat of your own *smile*

Anyhow, I recommend the whole trilogy. You need The Hitch Hikers Guide and nothing else to realize how weird everything really is.

Douglas Adams is a brilliantly funny parodist, and I highly recommend these books. However, I liked the first two books better than the later ones, that got stranger and less funny with each succeeding book. Read the first two.

Adams creates the weirdest characters, and writes the most incredible plots. To look for a better book better than this is useless. You'll only end up sobbing over lost hours and days. Spend those hours and days reading these books again, in stead. There really is no way, fair to the books, telling how great they really are! Read it!

This is an hilarious trilogy! If you have any sense of humour, I promise you that you will laugh your pants of!
The plot of the book(s)is very complex, since it's a very long story to tell, and really a lot happens.
Although there is really a lot of humour in it, there is also an undertone of reality and philosophy.