Forty-two and then some
Written: Jun 07 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: One of the funniest books ever written.
Cons: What cons?
The Bottom Line: "The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" is the best of all Adams's work and simply the funniest science-fiction comedy book ever written.
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| taylor-mayed's Full Review: The Universe of Douglas Adams: The Hitchhiker's Gu... |
When Douglas Adams died earlier this year, it caused shock and sadness amongst thousands, possibly millions of fans of his work all over the world. The fact that he was so well known and so loved at the time of his passing is almost entirely due to the runaway success of “The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” – a radio series that became a book that became another book that became a TV series that became more books that became a computer game and was to have been a movie had it not been for the sudden loss of Adams.
The idea first came to Adams, so he tells it, when he was lying drunk in a field in Austria one night in the early 1970s, whilst hitch-hiking around Europe. As he lay there intoxicated looking up at the stars, he wondered briefly why no-one had ever written a hitch-hiker’s guide to the galaxy, and what it would be like if they did. Then he fell asleep and forgot about it for the next few years.
By the late 1970s, Adams had the experience of writing for the likes of “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” under his belt, and had gained a commission to write a story for BBC TV’s ‘straight’ science-fiction drama serial “Doctor Who” when Radio 4 accepted a script he had first submitted to them some time before for the pilot of a comedy science-fiction series called “The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”.
The pilot and resulting series were an immense success, and in 1979, Adams found himself busy not only writing a second radio series of “Hitch-Hiker’s”, but also script editing “Doctor Who” having been offered the post after his story was well-received and the previous editor decided to leave. Amidst all of this, he wrote a novel of “The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” that was based on the first radio series that, in his words “went to the top of ‘The Sunday Times’ bestseller list and just stayed there. Clearly, someone had been listening.”
Even more of them were reading, not just in the UK but also all over the world, the book even becoming a cult hit in the USA. The brilliance of the book lies in the simple fact that there is a guaranteed belly laugh every few pages – whether it be from the absurd behaviour of the characters, the pithy narration of the book itself or some witty observation, the entire book just oozes humour and it’s all the more wonderful for it.
It’s a rare talent for an author to be able to keep up a consistent run of humour throughout a whole book – Robert Rankin’s works for example often tail off after the first few chapters in terms of actually being funny. But Adams never runs out of steam in an impressive powerhouse of comedy that keeps you involved and laughing right up into the very last page.
Adams creates a wonderful cast of classic comedy characters – from the otherworldly wisdom of Ford Prefect, the down-to-Earth panic of Arthur Dent, the insanity of the two-headed Zaphod Beeblebrox and of course my own personal favourite, the manic depression of Marvin the Paranoid Android. Each and every one is now a legendary comic character with a whole array of eminently quotable one-liners.
The framework of the book, with occasional narration being thrown in from the Hitch-Hiker’s Guide itself, gives a unique perspective and writing style and plenty more opportunity for humour as it tells us of such things as Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters and the third worst type of poetry in existence. Along the way there are a whole array of clever yet at the same time absurd science-fiction ideas, such as the translating Babel Fish and the infinite improbability drive that powers that star ship “Heart of Gold”.
Perhaps the most famous aspect of the book is the solution Adams gives to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything – 42. However, having found this answer, the characters then have to find out what the actual, exact question was in the first place, something that eludes them through the course of the book and its sequels as of course to actually find it would be to spoil the fun of the whole thing.
Never has a book cared less about conveying any kind of message or inserting any kind of deeper meaning than this one does. Even Terry Pratchett is usually making some well-hidden comment about the state of modern life when he writes his absurdities. All Douglas Adams ever wanted to do was make people laugh, and with this all-time classic he succeeds admirably.
There is far too much brilliance and weirdness in “The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” to be put across in any kind of review, to get a full understanding of it you simply have to read the book. Besides which, most of it is so surreal that if I told you about any of it here you probably wouldn’t believe me, especially about the bit with the sperm whale and the bowl of petunias...
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
taylor-mayed
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Location: England
Reviews written: 27
Trusted by: 8 members
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