Anybody looking for a hilarious ride through Life, the Universe and Everything need look no further than these great books. Hitchhiker?s Guide to the Galaxy (HGTTG) (apologies to the purists) is actually a trilogy in four parts or rather simply put, it is four books. The titles in order are ?Hitchhiker?s Guide to the Galaxy?, ?Restaurant at the End of the Universe?, ?Life, the Universe and Everything? and ?So Long and Thanks for all the Fish?.
I recommend that all four books should be read in one sitting, otherwise they tend to not make too much sense. But then, nothing much in these books really does. Douglas Adams, the dubious but brilliant author of this lot, started this off as a radio series on the BBC. His idea was to write something that wed science fiction and comedy in a harmonious or at least politely indifferent union.
He intended to write something which he titled ?The Ends of the Earth? and had reached the point where the Earth was demolished to make space for a hyperspace express route, when he came up with the idea of ?The Guide?. What resulted was at least three books worth of brilliant nonsense, which in the end made perfect sense to the reader and messed up his head.
HGTTG starts off with a bang, literally. Within the first ten pages, Adams has managed not only to demolish poor Arthur Dent?s house, but also his planet and put the poor soul onto a Vogon spaceship where he and his friend Ford Prefect (who is actually an alien from the plant Betelgeuse and not from London as Arthur had thought) find themselves to be highly unwelcome hitchhikers who are about to be killed by being thrown into space.
This incident dictates the tone of the books and you are led into numerous occasions where our heroes are made to stand at the wrong ends of very fierce looking Kill-O-Zap guns. They meet different people on the way and make friends and generally figure out that the Universe is a mind bogglingly big place.
The HGTTG is actually a guide in which all the information about the Galaxy is stored whether correct or not and is very useful in more ways than one, mainly because it has these friendly words written on its cover ?DON?T PANIC?. Ford Prefect is in actuality a roving reporter for the Guide whose last assignment was to research Earth and who got stranded here for fifteen years before he yanked Arthur Dent out of it minutes before it is demolished. We are introduced to other delightful characters like Zaphod Beeblebrox, who is the President of the Galaxy and has no power over it whatsoever, and Trillian, an earthling, who might just be the most sane of them all.
We also have some characters that are not so delightful, especially Marvin, the Paranoid Android (warning: you may end up loving this guy). Together they journey to different worlds, through space and time and end up saving the Galaxy on many occasions.
Adams takes us on a wild journey which defies logic but entertains like a James Bond movie on hyper drive. Adams has a knack for the comic turn and has you laughing at every page. He also has you wondering about the plot and actually realizing that he is one clever dude. The character in ?Catcher in the Rye? Holden tells us, that there are some authors that you?d just love to call up and have a chat with, and Douglas Adams is just one of those.
His wit is sparkling and his imagination, well it defies imagination really. Throw in the fact that he has a great ability to build up a plot with intricate details and you have some really good things to look forward to.
So the verdict on these books is, go and get and read! However I will warn you, the first three are brilliant. Personally I found ?So long and Thanks for all the Fish? just a tad boring. Though ’God’s last message to creation’ is something to look forward to.
Adams may get a bit too heavy on the descriptions and his witty dialogue might spread itself a little thin at times, but it cannot be denied that on the whole this is a brilliant effort. So give it a shot, take some time off and read them all.
Tip: Oxford bookstore in Mumbai sells the entire pack, including a fifth book ?Mostly Harmless? for a mere 395 INR.
I will now leave you with a few hilarious quotes from the books.
u’d better prepare yourself for the jump into hyperspace. It’s unpleasantly like being drunk.’
’What’s so unpleasant about being drunk?’
’You ask a glass of water.’’ (Ford and Arthur having a conversation just before Arthur?s first hyperspace jump)
’I wish I had a daughter so I could forbid her to marry one...’ (Arthur Dent, about Vogons)
’’If human beings don’t keep exercising their lips, he thought, their mouths probably seize up. After a few months’ consideration and observation he abandoned this theory in favor of a new one. If they don’t keep exercising their lips, he thought, their brains start working.’’ (Ford Prefect)
There is a theory which states that if ever 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 theory which states that this has already happened.
p.s. I hear their making a movie out of this. Can?t Wait!