Rating: Summary: Too young to die Review: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is the first book of a trilogy of four, consisting of five books. The whole series is downright brilliant. Douglas Adams, tragically passed away earlier this year, was a fantastic writer, who could make you laugh, cry, wonder, etc. in just a few pages. The book is a combination of Science, Science Fiction, Humor, Romance and a bit of suspense. It tells the story about a guy, whose house will be destroyed, and at the same time, the Vogons are just above the earth, in order to destroy the earth. Both places must be destroyed, in order to make room for a highway. The choise of words, the similarities, everything gives you a feeling of recognition and believe in all the strange things that happens in the book. Specially for everyone in ICT, like myself: the whole series in mandatory literature !
Rating: Summary: Funny but why? Why do people like this book? Review: I listened to this book on CD; the six CD BBC Radio production. While I certainly found the book amusing, I don't know why people are so excited about it. It seems that Adams pretends to have a plot but really does not want to have one. The tone is too ridiculous to be meaningful and the characters are too flat.The event that starts the novel is the demolition of Earth for a hyperspace bypass. Only one human, Arthur Dent, escapes with an alien taking human form, Ford Prefect. Following this, they meet some other characters and have a random, bizarre romp around the galaxy. There were some interesting ideas here but Adams just didn't pursue them. Super-beings create a computer to determine the answer to the meaning of life (this in itself could have an interesting point; man relies on machines for the most important of tasks etc...) and after millions of years, it reaches the answer. "The answer is 42." As this made no sense to the super beings, they designed a planet-sized computer called Earth to find the question to the meaning of life. In the novel, the question is never revealed even though one of the characters knows it. The title of the novel is an actual book in the story. It a collection of articles and miscellaneous data about the galaxy, towels, alcohol and all sorts of different topics; this could have formed the basis for an interesting plot. The story could have featured, Ford Prefect, himself a contributor to the guide travel about and write about the places he visits and other such tidbits. It could be some sort of "Lonely Planet" book for the galaxy. There were other parts of the novel that were just plain weird; the editor of the, "The Hitch hiker's Guide to the Galaxy," takes an inter-galactic cruise in his office. The main characters travel in a space ship powered by an Infinite Improbability Drive. The characters visit a restaurant that exists at the end of time... I fully admit that the book is funny; it has a sort of British humor that I just love but after that, there's not much of substance here. However, seeing as it is incredibly popular for some reason, it may be worth a read.
Rating: Summary: First Three HHGG Books Review Review: "Infinite: Bigger than the biggest thing and then some. Much bigger than that in fact, really amazingly immense, a totally stunning size, 'wow, that's big', time. Infinity is just so big that by comparison, bigness itself looks really titchy. Gigantic multiplied by colossal multiplied by staggeringly huge is the sort of concept we're trying to get across here," Douglas Adams writes The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, and Life, The Universe, and Everything by Douglas Adams are arranged respectively to create a continuous story about five randomly unique characters plus one more later in the first book, then leaves in the end of the First book, and finally joining again in the third. These novels are one constant adventure through the ENTIRE universe, except at times where there isn't any adventure, which is a very small amount (I'll get to the characters later). Adams creates random but not entirely unrelated thoughts from the ever-famous Hitchhiker's Guide - thoughts like: "the knack [of flying] lies learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss." He creates theories, one that states "that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable" and "another theory which states that this has already happened." Arthur Dent is Adam's central character; basically each novel revolves around his life. Arthur is an earthling who just barely escapes not only the demolition of his house but also the demolition of his planet, thanks to Ford Prefect and a few alcoholic beverages. Ford Prefect works as a "researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." Just seconds before the earth is destroyed which happens immediately in the first novel, he saves Arthur from near death by hitching a ride on one of the ships that destroyed the earth. Zaphod Beeblebrox is Ford Prefect's cousin. While he is president of the galaxy, he acquires the starship, Heart of Gold, which runs on pure improbability. Trillian, formerly known as Tricia McMillan, rides the Heart of Gold with Zaphod after she was plucked of the earth a few years prior to its destruction. Marvin is a persistently depressed robot with intelligence beyond any known race or any race mentioned in the trilogy. Slartibartfast joins the strange crew, then departs, then joins again. This man from planet Magrathea is in the planet making business, which all Magratheans are, or more accurately were. Slartibartfast is very fond of fjords. Together, this crew, equipped with the Heart of Gold, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and eventually the starship Bistromath, explore the Universe for "the Question," "the Answer," and everything in-between. Adams writes in a sarcastic, satirical, random, paradoxical manner, showing new ways to perceive concepts formerly thought of as dull. The most hysterical and repetitive example in the three novels is the extreme importance of tea. At one time in the continuous story known as "The Hitchhiker's Trilogy," "Arthur blinked at the screens [of the Heart of Gold] and felt he was missing something important. Suddenly he realized what it was. 'Is there any tea on this spaceship?' he asked." If you've enjoyed the sarcastic, satirical, random, paradoxical writing of this review, you'll definitely LOVE "the increasingly inaccurately named Hitchhiker's Trilogy."
Rating: Summary: Free form storytelling Review: I love science fiction, this book is only fiction. It's all silly. There is no science. Science has rules, this book makes things up as it goes along, anything can and does happen. Some may find this fun, I think it's cheating. I like books that lay down the groundrules and live by them, that it the true mark of a good book.
Rating: Summary: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Funniest Book in the Galaxy! Review: To put it simply, this book moved me. It moved me into a laughing fit! This is the funniest book I've ever read. On a scale of 1-10, it's a 99+. I highly recommend it to every person who can read, trust me you will love it.
Rating: Summary: A Humorous Alternative to Left Behind Review: I've always thought of Monty Python as the Thinking Man's SNL. I now think of Douglas Adams as the seriously Thinking Man's Monty Python. The subjects it tackles are those of time and space. The jokes it makes are humorous, drawing snickers and belly laughs from the readers. The points it makes can even be thought provoking at times. The story is this. Arthur Dent is saved at the last minute from the destruction of the world by his friend Ford Prefect. Ford is not actually from the planet earth. He is an alien from a planet in Betelguese who is writing a revised edition of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. For technical reasons he has been stranded on earth for 15 years. They hitch a ride on a spaceship and their adventure takes off from there. I won't tell you the whole thing, I'd ruin some of the greatest jokes. I'll just tell you to read it. If you're interested in "Destruction of the World" stories, do yourself a favor and don't read "Left Behind". Those books are boring and pointless, no matter how many times I've tried reading them. Read this instead. It's ultimately better. And shorter, for that matter!
Rating: Summary: Funniest book ever! Review: Douglas Adams in the only author that has made me actually laugh out loud while reading a novel. The delivery is so dry and sardonic, it could even be missed, but I treasure this book, and it definitely occupies my top 10 works of fiction. It pokes fun at just about everything, including history, theology, and beauracracy...you'll not find another book like it (excpet for Adams' sequels)! lol Go get this book, you won't regret it!
Rating: Summary: One word...OVERRATED!! Review: This book is marginally funny, at best. At its worst, it's just plain boring. I bought this book because I heard it was on the same level as Monty Python, nothing could be further from the truth, Monty Python has jokes, funny ones, this book relies on lame puns. Most of the time the book is just plain weird, some of it doesn't make a lick of sense, a hippie with three arms is president, people can understand any language in the universe by holding a fish to their ear, the meaning of life is 42, what the hell is that all about? Is this supposed to be funny? Seems there are only two schools of thought on this book, people who think it should outsell the Bible and people who use it for kindling. I use my copy to help cure my insomnia.
Rating: Summary: If you don't like it, you don't understand it. Review: This satire is probably the most hillarious book I've read. The one liners are so witty that I was actually laughing out loud while reading. All the folks who keep posting that they don't like this book don't seem to understand the concept of sarcasm. The characters are written as they are for a reason, there's no development for a reason. If you have a sense of humor and enjoy quick reads, this book is awesome.
Rating: Summary: Not a great book Review: Even though this book was very funny, there wasn't much point to it. The book moves very quickly and doesn't leave much room for character and plot development. There are four main characters and none of them have well-developed personalities. It ends abruptly, leaving the reader wondering "what just happened?". If you're going to read it, you would be better off going to the library and spending your money on something else.
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