The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

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Summary: The Reader's Guide to Entertainment
Review: This is the first, and undoubtedly the best, of the four books that (somewhat confusingly) make up the Hitchiker's trilogy.

Adams has blended a fantastic sense of humor with a brand of philosophical thinking that would have left Socrates tied up in mental knots.

There aren't too many books that lead off with the destruction of the earth. After all, where do you go from there? Adams uses this departure point to take us into outer space, where advanced interstellar communication is old news, and the collaboration of alien species is as common as it is in Star Wars. But this tongue-in-cheek universe is a far cry from that straight-laced epic series.

The rulers of this universe are often bogged down in the types of senseless rituals and paperwork requirements that plague the corporate and bueaucratic world.

Adams throws so many curveballs and insane elements at us at once that it's difficult to know what to expect when you turn each page.

There's no sense in trying to explain the impact on the plot of a Vogon construction fleet, a ship powered by an Improbability Drive, or the long sought after answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything. You just have to read it.

This might sound like the book itself is confusing, but that's actually not true. Adams has a way of explaining the inexplicable in a way that make it, if not completely logical, at least entertaining.

I highly recommend this book, especially to a young teen reader who might be looking for some answers that aren't in the rule book. This book might not have the answers either, but at least it raises the questions. Or maybe it doesn't even raise the questions so much as make us laugh about the results.

Or something like that.

Anyway, this is a must-read. I can only hope that the impending movie does it justice.

Rating:
Summary: The book made no sense at all.
Review: Total garbage. It didn't make any sense at all. If you like books where people put fish in their ears to translate languages then by all means read this book. If you prefer books without silly crap like this go elsewhere. Read the other reviews. Everyone says how wonderful the book is but no one says what the book is about. That's because no one knows. If you want to read quality science fiction books read early Heinlein.

Rating:
Summary: A Romp of Cosmic Proportions!
Review: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a book by Douglas Adams. It is arguably one of the funniest books in the galaxy. This is an incredibly imaginative, colorful, and hilarious novel by English author Douglas Adams that will have you turning the pages until you reach the last one, and then leave you wanting more. But don't panic! There are a total of five books in the trilogy.

The story begins with our hero Arthur Dent, who is about to have his house demolished in order that a bypass might be built where it stands. Little does he know that on this, the worst of all Thursdays ever, that doesn't mean much because the Earth is about to be demolished to build a hyperspace bypass through the solar system. Luckily for him, his close friend Ford Prefect turns out to be a field researcher for the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a sort of electronic encyclopedia, and is from Betelgeuse.

Ford explains to Arthur that the demise of his planet is imminent, and whisks him away to a spaceship at the last moment. Thus begins the fun, and along the way we'll meet more interesting characters, visit the end of the universe, discover the true origins of mankind, see the earth created (and destroyed), and find out that we are only the third most intelligent species on the planet. We'll also learn more about the guide it self, and why it sells so well: it has the words "Don't Panic" inscribed in large letters on the cover.

Adams writing style is chock full of original and entertaining metaphors and descriptions. We see spaceships that hang in the sky "much in the way that bricks don't", monsters so stupid that they assume if you can't see them, they can't see you; and learn it's unpleasant to be drunk: just ask a glass of water. Adams pokes fun at god, physics, probability, and life, the universe, and everything (the latter three being the title of a subsequent novel in the series).

If you read one book before the Earth is blown up, make it the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Click to purchase this one! Along with this masterpiece, let me recommend another hilarious romp (I picked up off Amazon) The Losers' Club: Complete Restored Edition by Richard Perez, not exactly science fiction but truly entertaining and loads of fun.

Rating:
Summary: laugh 'til you cry
Review: If you're looking for something that will make you laugh, don't hesitate- get this book and the rest of the trilogy. Simply some of the flat out tears-in-your-eyes-laugh-out-loud funniest books ever written. Classic science fiction in Adams' British humor. Made into a (now rarely broadcast) made-for-TV film in the '70s, and soon to be released on the big screen (think massive special effects blockbuster), Don't Panic!- you can still read these before you see it! Also produced as a very entertaining series of radio programs...or should that be 'programmes'?

Rating:
Summary: A great trip into the galaxy...
Review: The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy was a book I honestly never had thought about reading. I started reading it because of the movie coming out...which only when I was only five pages from the end did I realize wasn't even based on. BUT....

I am glad I read this book...and although like someone else stated some of the parts I was like "huh" and other parts I was like why didn't they finish explaining. I enjoyed them. I laughed hard at the beginning and even though not the most exciting book I ever read there was a compassion factor that made me keep reading to find out what happened to Zaphod and Trillian and Ford and Arthur. I actually am starting to read the next book because I want to know what happens with the mice, with the number 42 and what happens to the main characters. It is a quick read I finished it within a week-with work and college and many other things going on. So it is great for that. I am not disappointed that I read it. I actually am glad.


Rating:
Summary: An Enjoyable Comic Romp Across the Galaxy
Review: This is an amusing science fiction tale that at 320 pages is only priced at about $7! Imagine that! PublishAmerica charges astronomically more [$20 average] for their poorly edited titles. However, if you loved reading about Arthur Dent and his buddies, please, please, please check out Travis Tea's Atlanta Nights and prepare yourself for just as much comedy

Rating:
Summary: The Most Incredible Book Ever!!!
Review: I read the book and didn't understand a word. So I figure it must be "deep". Since I see that other people think it's so great, I'm going to say it's great, too, because I don't want to seem stupid, even though I suspect everyone else who said it was great didn't understand it, either.