Rating: 
Summary: Horrible is being generous
Review: I really cannot understand what all the fuss is about this book. It is a terrible book and I had to half drag myself through it because it is a purported classic. The plot is nothing to marvel at, the characters are dangling between the fantastic and the obscure and the writing is plebian. What a frustrating experience!
Rating: 
Summary: The greatest book series ever.
Review: There are no words able to completely convey how incredibly mind-bogglingly good the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Series is."For the most part. This book contains the five "Guide" books, those being: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The beginning of this whole kooky thing. Just incredible. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe: In my opinion, the best book of the five. Life, the Universe and Everything: The hilarity continues. So Long and Thanks for all the Fish: Umm, the closing line says it all: "There was a point to this, but at the moment it has escaped the chronicler's mind." Mostly Harmless: The final conclusion to the series. Wraps it up in a neat, hilarious little package. And then the side story, Young Zaphod Plays it Safe. A neat little add-on. My only possible complaint is that this edition is rather large, meaning that carrying it around, and you WILL want to carry it around, trust me, becomes difficult. All in all, a welcome edition to the bookshelf of any sci-fi or comedy aficionado.
Rating:
Summary: excellent
Review: Learn what to do if the earth is destroyed!
Rating:
Summary: What, you haven't read it?
Review: Don't Panic, there is still time to enlighten yourself. And while you're at it, get the entire collection right here and now, because you're going to be reading the entire thing. I have not heard of a person that did not enjoy these books- perhaps a few did, but are far too embarrassed to say on account of the fact that they will be forever be seen as an uncultured Vogon stooge if they do. In addition to the obvious benefit of being able to tour the galaxy on less than thirty Altairian dollars a day, with the Hitchhiker's Guide you'll never see your towels in the same light again. One word of warning, to whom it may apply: philosophers, psychiatrists and religious leaders should beware that some of this material is a threat to their occupation.
Rating:
Summary: The Hitchhiker's Guied to the Funniest Book in the Galaxy!
Review: To put it simply, this book moved me. It moved me into a laughing fit! These are the funniest books i've ever read. On a scale of 1-10, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a 99+. And to all who can read, I highly and strongly recommend this book and the series that follows. And to all out there who think this book is over-reated, they can kiss my towel!
Rating:
Summary: Absurd Universe!
Review: "The problem with the universe is not that it doesn't make sense, but that it almost makes sense."
~Unknown Wag "There is a theory which states that if 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." "There is another which states that this has already happened."
~ Douglas Adams, "The Restaurant at the end of the Universe" The six books in the Hitchhiker's trilogy are classics not only in sci-fi, but in comedy as well. This is British humor; so if you don't get that flavor of humor, skip this. This franchise is wildly popular, first starting out as a BBS radio program, and then turning into books, and finally a BBS miniseries. There is something enduring about this humor, but I think the key to understand "The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy" is that the main character isn't Arthur Dent, or Ford Prefect, but rather the Galaxy itself. Adams satirizes reality itself in these books. These books are for anyone has had to put up with the absurdities of existence. Consequently, in these books, Adams satirizes just about everything, but focuses his acid pen mainly on the politicians, philosophers and religionist since this unholy trinity is the primary gatekeeper of meaning in society. Adams has a good eye not only for the absurd, but the wickedly fraudulent. The main driving MacGuffen of the franchise is a quest for meaning, especially finding the answer to "Life, The Universe, and Everything," and when that proves incoherent, the quest for the original question. This humor is quite serious, since, as Joseph Smith observed, "if we start right, it is easy to go right all the time; but if we start wrong, we may go wrong, and it will be a hard matter to get right." Sadly the franchise slowly lost steam. I think Adam "jumped the shark" with "So long and Thanks for all the Fish," since he recreates the destroyed earth and introduces Fenchurch, and then abandons all of these in "Mostly Harmless." I think he had made his point in the first three books, but had an incredible franchise, so was encouraged to keep writing. The first three books trace the quest for the answer and the question to "Life, the Universe and Everything," and they come to the conclusion that both the question and the answer are mutually exclusive (Life, the Universe, and Everything, ch.34), which really settles the question and settles the quest. But for whatever reason, Adams kept on writing-probably as the insistence of the editors Adams so acidly satirizes in "Mostly Harmless." These books originally were a radio series, so the first two books are adaptations of the radio, so they are quick reads, but since you'll laugh your head off, it will take a little bit longer. "Life, the Universe and Everything" is Adams first novel, so it has a different feel. CAUTION: If you don't understand the British sport cricket, just plow ahead-it isn't really that relevant to the story. "So long and Thanks for all the Fish" is the shark-jump. It was billed as book four of a trilogy, but the slick marketing didn't help the book out. I think the problem was recreating the earth, which had been killed off. Didn't Dallas do that? "It's just a dream!" The center of gravity of the franchise shifted from Arthur and the others being lost in the cosmos, but a relationship between Arthur and Fenchurch, with the Rain God doing precious little. This story is an aberration, and anomaly. Adam's recognized it, and dropped the thread in "Mostly Harmless." Don't let this deter you: even Shakespeare wrote bad plays. "Yong Zaphod" isn't a story really, but more of a fragment. I wish that there were some explination about what it was, and where it was supposed to go. "Mostly Harmless" is a very dark and gritty story, and reminds me of Mark Twain's later works such as "Connecticut Yankee." It is always a sad thing to a comedian go sour and bitter. We actually see the logical out workings of an absurd universe. The fun soon fades, and absurdity brings despair. Adventure, excitement, and really wild things will eventually bore. Three symbols in the story reflect this. First, the electronic "Hitchhiker's Guide" stops working. A Freudian slip, or a projection of Adams subconscious into the story? I think the franchise and the fans got out of control. The second symbol is the name of Arthur's and Trillian's quasi-daughter (Arthur donated to a sperm bank)-Random. She is a symbol of the mainspring of the universe, but she is lost in the cosmos, as we all are. The third symbol is "Random's Watch," which should be the title of the story. Random does a reverse Paley's Watch argument inferring meaning from the watch. (Ch. 15) The watch is useless on planet Lamuella, with a different orbit, but the watch works perfectly on earth, where it was designed. We are designed to function somewhere, and the trick is to find out where we are suited. I recommend this series, even though it slowly looses steam, it has its very high moments!
Rating:
Summary: An incredible book
Review: I thought this book "The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy" by Douglas Adams, was amazing. I have never laughed so hard while reading in my life. Adams has a unique style of putting the extremely bizarre into fairly common language. He also has a witty humor that will get you rolling with laughter. The books center around two main characters, Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect, and their adventures so to speak around the galaxy. The two are faced with many bizarre and life threatening events throughout their journeys. They do varies tasks from finding the meaning of life, to saving the galaxy, and watching as the universe is destroyed as they eat a cow which they had had a conversation with a few minutes before hand. The whole book is full of mind-bending contradictions and hilarious out of the blue humor. The plot that I derived form the book, I doubt it is right, is don't sweat the small stuff. The events that happen to Arthur Dent are far worse then the petty stuff we complain about in life. If you read this you need to be up to laughing the whole way through, and a little time to decipher what Adams is saying in the book.
Rating:
Summary: Pure delight
Review: Not much needs to be said. These books are silly. But silly in an intelligent way, a way which has eluded us Americans for the most part. Intelligent and actually rather insightful as a commentary on society and humanity, but don't let that get in the way of having an incomparably fun read. Mostly Harmless, the last of the series, was rather disappointing -- it seemed as though Adams had a deadline and pressure more than a passion. The others are wonderful, however, and no English speaking reader with even a semblance of a sense of humor should pass this book up.
Rating:
Summary: Douglas Adams at his best!!
Review: All five Hitchiker books plus the free 'Young Zaphod Plays it Safe' in one volume. Join Arthur Dent on his travels through the galaxy. Only a GREAT mind could have come up with this. Great humour. Great adventure. Great book.
Rating:
Summary: 42
Review: I first heard some friends at school talking about the book, they didn't say much except that it was funny. Awhile later I decided to read it. I read the trilogy all at once, straight throug, and I think I was hooked on it after the first page. Ford's view on why humans talk so much is one of my favorite parts of the book, and the dolphins are next. I think it may be the funniest book ever written, the characters are funny, the plot is funny, and it never gets to serious. If you like comedy its a good book, and if you like sci-fi its a good book.
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