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Summary: artichoke sangria
Review: I was going to read this book, then i decided to have a salad. The salad did not taste very good, because it was filled with maggots and saliva. Four armadillos charged into the room, and a small pack of antellope galloped over me as i contemplated reading this book. Finally, I picked up the book and to my dismay found that I could no longer read. I lost my literacy to a 47 year old mongoose wearing leather. The mongoose grabbed my with its overgrown toenails and threw me into a canyon. Luckily, I had a parachute, and I pulled the ripcord. Suddenly, my emotions siezed me. I could feel the last drop of soy sauce empty from my pores as I fell into deep sleep.
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Summary: An outstandingly vivid portrait of atheism
Review: I decided to read "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" because it is widely acclaimed as a contemporary science fiction classic. Douglas Adams' description of Arthur Dent, who is the lone man to survive the destruction of the planet earth, is consistently humorous and entertaining. Dent is set loose to roam the galaxy, accompanied with an alien friend who is thankfully equipped with the indispensable Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. As the novel progresses, it becomes evident that despite the superficial whimsical tone, Adams is dealing with deeper themes relating to the meaning and existence of human life. The absurdity created by his imagination is not just a matter of light-hearted sci-fi entertainment, but is a cloak which Adams uses to convey his philosophy of human life and his personal worldview. One needs to recall that this novel was born in the late 1970s, in the hey-day of technology and space travel, a time when there was a great deal of optimism and faith in science as the saviour of mankind. Adams mocks this human arrogance. The arrogance of Bent's fellow-humans in destroying his home, becomes a microcosm for the arrogance of humankind, and when it is applied to man's own home earth, results in man's own destruction. Adams' scorn for scientific arrogance is especially manifest when it appears that the rulers of earth are not scientists, but their own laboratory mice, who were secretly conducting large-scale experiments on their captors all along. Yet this novel achieves much more than a scoffing of scientific arrogance. It becomes painfully evident that something essential is missing from the universe described in the Hitchhiker's Guide: God. When questioned by man about his existence, God "promptly vanishes in a puff of logic." God's absence from Adams' fictional universe corresponds to God's absence in Adams' personal worldview. The worldview which Adams believes in and portrays is a galaxy without a Creator. Adams is in fact a self-confessed "radical atheist", and holds this position very seriously. But if Adam's universe is a world without God, this leads to an inevitable question: In such a universe, what is the meaning and purpose of life? Adams toys with this question when he describes the "The Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything." After seven and a half million years of calculation, the super computer "Deep Thought" announces that the answer is "Forty-two." This meaningless answer is incomprehensible, and is apparently so because we don't understand the question properly! Here Adams whimsically propounds his purpose for planet earth: earth is a gigantic experiment, because it is on earth that the question about the meaning and purpose of life is voiced, but never answered! The purpose of earth is to raise the question about its purpose. In Adams' atheistic worldview, the question about the purpose of life cannot be answered, because the existence of the very creator of the universe is denied. Such a question can only be asked, answered, and understood in a Christian worldview where the existence of the Creator is maintained, because apart from Him, creation is indeed purposeless. In this respect, the message of Adams' classic is the same as that of the Bible book of Ecclesiastes: there is no purpose and meaning in a world that rejects God. However, it is eternally unfortunate that Adams does not have the same conclusion as Ecclesiastes, where the premise of practical atheism is reversed, God's existence once again affirmed, and purpose discovered by serving and obeying God the Creator. Present day adherents of practical atheism who share Adams' empty worldview will discover that they will spend their life in the same way as Adams - in life whimsically hitchhiking an empty earth without God, and in death discovering that God was always there, but that by their rejection of Him in the past, they will spend eternity without Him in the future. But then it will be too late. Because unlike the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, eternity without God has no room for frivolous laughter, but only for sorrow and regret. In endorsing an atheistic worldview, Adams is to be most pitied. In portraying the emptiness of an atheistic worldview, Adams is outstanding, his book a classic.
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Summary: The best book ever
Review: Now let me tell you this is an awsome book. I really don't read much and i don't like science fiction at all. So it is surprising that i enjoyed this book so much. The only reason i read it because i was sitting at work bored as usual and i saw it on the counter so i picked it up and started reading it. well lets just put it this way i couldn't put it down. the humor is one of a kind and it keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time wondering what's going to happen next. so to keep this short and sweet if your looking for a good laugh buy this book and it won't let you down.
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Summary: The Ultimate Techie Book of All Time
Review: If you are a techie, you must read this book. Talk to any techie, and you'll find that most have read it. Once you start reading, it is impossible to put it down until you've finished. It is considered by many people (including myself) to be the greatest comedic work of all time. Finally I would like to say to Douglas Adams. So Long, and Thanks For All The Fish. Douglas Adams will be missed by many.
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Summary: A true genius lost, but what a legacy to leave...
Review: As far as the written aspects of this book, Mr.. Adams (whom shall be fondly missed by more people than he could ever have imagined) has written a book that will live on forever as one of the greats. I would put it up against Shakespeare any day of the week in accomplishing what the author set out to do, and I'd win at least 47 out of 51 times. If you read this book, be careful, it has a way of altering the way you look at things (for the better), and if you're a person who even remotely enjoys it, you end up being a better person for having read it. The entire collection of Douglas Adams books, but especially The Hitchikers Guide Series, are quite possibly the purest forms of comedy that there are, have been, or ever will be. And though mostly science fiction based, no real love of science fiction is needed to thourougly enjoy this book, nor for that matter is a deeply rooted love of comedy, or even the ability to read needed. Though I admit they all contribute to the enjoyment of the books immensly If it does turn out that you can read, (and if not stop looking at this because you don't understand any of it!) your enjoyment of the book need not end when you finish reading. This book has been published in many formats and thusly it's various sizes and shapes lend it to being a useful device around the house. If you open it to 90degrees, you can set things on top of it. My hardback will hold up an entire tea tray full of tea and drinks, whereas the paperback will only hold up a can of soda. Actually I own about 150,000 copies as their usefulness is limitless. I use two sideways at each end bookends, and then I have one that stops the rocking chair from rocking because the beaver chewed off the back of the rocker so its more of a flip-over-backwardser if the book isn't under it. My monitor sets too low so I've stacked 5 copies under it to raise it up to eye level and I use two copies side by side for wrist rests. The Large Leather-bound copy I have makes an excellent mouse pad, and I've just used a nice hardback copy to brain my helper monkey who tends to misbehave if I don't read to him from the book on a daily basis. Now that I think of it, this would most likely work on children as well. My drum set tends to sound a bit too "ringy" without 15 copies shoved into the bass drum. At night a heavy larger print copy perched over the doorframe makes a stunning burglar alarm. My CD-ROM version of the book makes a nifty mirror to look around corners with. Large hardbacks open walnuts and turtles alike, and two together make a wine press that you can be proud of. I know I simply could not sleep at night without my pillow made from shredded copies that have been too severely damaged to be saved. Building a home from the books should ONLY be done by a professional who pre-laminates the books into blocks, and of you go get yourself hurt building a home from copies of The Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide without consulting a professional don't come crying to me. Unless of course you can't read in which case, you wont know whom to cry to. And though and at least one copy is absolutely essential for life, I suggest buying at least half a million copies to get your through to old age. (Mr. Adams will be sorely missed...So long and thanks for all the fish.)
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Summary: So Long Mr. Adams and thanks for all the fish...
Review: The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide is the ultimate collection for all Douglas Adams fans. I was shocked to find out that he passed away from an untimely death on May 11th, 2001. As he travels that undiscovered country with a copy of the Hitchhiker's Guide and a towel, Mr. Adams will be greatly missed by this fan.
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Summary: Probably the funniest Scifi books ever written
Review: This is a sad day when you hear of such a great author taken from us at such a young age he passed away on 5/11/01 in Santa barbara, CA. Douglas Adams writer of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Dirk Gentlys exploits and a few other gems is a must read writer. His wit and upside down way of looking at the world is incredibly refreshing. Unforgettable things like Pan Galactic Gargle blaster. Or images like Arthur jumping from one pool to another pretending he is in a martini and he is the olive... the theory around the babel fish and why god does not exist and the answer to it all is 42. Get this book and enjoy. You will not be dissapointed.
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Summary: RIP MR Adams, by the way your a jerk, a complete Kneebiter.
Review: So Long and Thanks for all the Fish.
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Summary: nice present
Review: Not all dagals Adams Hitchhiker's Guide, but most of them,organised together in a respectable hard cover book, for price of onebook !!! The books are a bunch of sketches and episodes - some are brilliant some are less, and some are not finished. Worth buying for the brilliant parts of it. In any case, if you don't like Adams special humor, it's always a great gift to give to friends, or a nice book to put on the shelves !
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Summary: Decline in quality
Review: Douglas Adams wrote, with assorted help, an extremely funny radio show called "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". Part of it was made into a funny tv show (the cheapness of which added to the joy of it: one got the sensation that the galaxy outside of earth is all done on the cheap); and translated into two books, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe". The books, which I read before finally getting the radio series on tape, are not as funny as the original. Like Shakespeare, Adams comes off better when he's heard than when he's read. Therefore, the funniest book of the lot (and maintaining that position in a recent re-reading of all the books except the last) is "Life, the Universe and Everything". The first two, in light of subsequent hearings of the radio series, are not as funny as I recalled (I even wrote in lines I liked from radio into the books where they were missing); "Life, the Universe and Everything" is still very funny, though it drags near the end, when I think Adams got very tired of writing it and just wanted to get through with it. "Life" is recommended, and the first two books also, since "Life" is totally dependant on them. "So Long and Thanks for all the Fish" is a marked decline. While still proving Adams can be a good "ideas" man (such as the "Take me to your lizard" episode) he fails in execution. By the time you reach this book one reaches this book one realizes that Adams not only doesn't like writing, he doesn't do it very well, and one wearies of the unremitting imitation-Wodehouse (actually faux-Wodehouse) style, which made Wodehouse the funniest writer ever but palls with Adams' constant use of it. One also realizes that Adams does not just use things he doesn't like as comedic fodder, he rants about them bitterly and some of his ranting comes off very distastefully. "So Long" would be an acceptible end to the series, tying up many, though hardly all, loose ends, and getting Arthur a decent love interest. "Mostly Harmless" (which made me laugh out loud once, and which I eliminated from my recent re-reading of the series) is a lame attempt to tie up remaining loose ends. One shouldn't second guess a writer's use of his own characters, but the loss of Fenchurch is staggeringly disappointing, and the book never seems to rise from its unpleasantness. The child angle doesn't work at all. It's clear Adams is sick to death of the Hitchhiker series; already in "Life" he makes a few snide comments directed at his readers. "Mostly Harmless" is an insult to his fans. It's too bad we can't find eddies in the time continuum, go back, and restrain him from embarrassing himself and us with "MH".
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