Rating: 
Summary: Best Adams novel of all!
Review: This is by far the best of all of Douglas Adams's novels - including the entire Hitchhiker's series and both Dirk Gently books. It contains all-new material, not just scenes from the radio series rearranged and slightly altered. Adams splits off Arthur Dent from the rest of his friends and throws him into the strangest situation of all: his galactic hitchhiking has led him back to Earth, an Earth which had long ago been destroyed by the Vogons, but is, for some reason, still there.Adams is at his best here, creating wonderful imagery and great new characters. He perfectly captures the sensations of falling in love. The comedy is gentle, and the science-fiction elements nearly take a back seat to the love story - but come back in a big way when a long-estranged friend shows up. In M.J. Simpson's Douglas Adams biography "Hitchhiker", he maintains that many DNA fans (including Simpson) regard this as his worst book - an opinion Adams seemed to share (but Simpson points out that Adams had this opinion of most of his books at one point or another.) As a fan from the very first NPR radio broadcasts, I respectfully - and strongly - disagree. This is Adams at his gentlest, and his most poetic, and his best - in fiction, anyway. The nonfiction "Last Chance To See", itself a love story of sorts, is the only long-form Adams that I would rate higher.
Rating:
Summary: just as good as the original trilogy
Review: This is the fourth volume in the Hitchhiker's Trilogy and it is just as good as the first three books of this increasingly inaccurately named trilogy. Douglas Adams brings Arthur Dent back to Earth after a long trip hitchhiking across the universe. Yes, Arthur Dent is back on the same Earth that was destroyed by the Vogons to make an intergalactic highway. Exactly how the Earth and all of its original inhabitants are recreated is teased and hinted at and if you pay attention to what you're reading you'll easily figure out why (more why, than how). Arthur Dent is back on Earth and pretty confused as to exactly how there is an Earth to be back on. Throughout this novel we learn that all the dolphins are gone (which is old news and no longer newsworthy), and we meet a Rain God, find out what God's Final Message to Creation is, revisit Marvin the robot, and find out that Arthur finds love with a woman named Fenchurch. That's a whole lot to fit into one book. On top of that, we have levitation, a small house that walled in the entire ocean, Ford Prefect, and the world's stupidest dog. All of this is handled with the offbeat humor that we expect from The Hitchhiker's Trilogy. This novel, for a change, focuses on Arthur Dent and takes place almost entirely on Earth. In this way, it is different from the Universe hopping we got in the first three novels. In both quality and content, this is a worthy addition to Douglas Adam's Hitchhiker's Trilogy.
Rating:
Summary: just as good as the original trilogy
Review: This is the fourth volume in the Hitchhiker's Trilogy and it is just as good as the first three books of this increasingly inaccurately named trilogy. Douglas Adams brings Arthur Dent back to Earth after a long trip hitchhiking across the universe. Yes, Arthur Dent is back on the same Earth that was destroyed by the Vogons to make an intergalactic highway. Exactly how the Earth and all of its original inhabitants are recreated is teased and hinted at and if you pay attention to what you're reading you'll easily figure out why (more why, than how). Arthur Dent is back on Earth and pretty confused as to exactly how there is an Earth to be back on. Throughout this novel we learn that all the dolphins are gone (which is old news and no longer newsworthy), and we meet a Rain God, find out what God's Final Message to Creation is, revisit Marvin the robot, and find out that Arthur finds love with a woman named Fenchurch. That's a whole lot to fit into one book. On top of that, we have levitation, a small house that walled in the entire ocean, Ford Prefect, and the world's stupidest dog. All of this is handled with the offbeat humor that we expect from The Hitchhiker's Trilogy. This novel, for a change, focuses on Arthur Dent and takes place almost entirely on Earth. In this way, it is different from the Universe hopping we got in the first three novels. In both quality and content, this is a worthy addition to Douglas Adam's Hitchhiker's Trilogy.
Rating:
Summary: Thanks for the laughs
Review: This little book is funny. Adams has a satiric style that helps the reader to see how silly some of our conventions and traditions are, or seem to be when set against the backdrop of the entire galaxy.
Adams's style of writing seems to take a "follow your nose" approach. One word or phrase leads him to jump to a different thought, and the effect is that of meandering through a constantly changing environment. The reader's imagination is stimulated by all the images, such as Arthur and Fenchurch gravitating over her home, and watching a bicycle thief attempting, and failing, to steal her bike (he vandalizes it instead).
Arthur and Fenchurch travel to Southern California to attempt to answer the question bothering Fenchurch, "Where did all the dolphins go?" This trip to Southern California may evoke smiles and outright laughter in readers from Southern California (including this reviewer). They catch up there with Wonka the Sane, who had communicated extensively with the dolphins before they disappeared, and was given their final pronunciation, which is the title of the book.
Adams provides the reader with much-needed and much-appreciated comic relief, and because he satirizes the science fiction genre, he has his own special niche, upon which other humor writers (I like Dave Barry) have not yet encroached. Another thing about Adams is his use of what Americans might call Anglicisms, which may seem quaint and different to American readers (me). Much of his local scenery is England. Fenchurch got her name because she was born in Fenchurch train station. If you are a sucker for British writers, like me, you will get a double kick out of Douglas Adams. Diximus.
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