This post first published March 7, 2012.
Author: Douglas Adams
Published: January 1979
Publisher: Picador
Series: Hitchhiker’s Guide #1
180 pages
I had heard of this book before I read it, but I had no idea what it
was about. I never saw the movie either, so I walked into this
experience truly not knowing what to expect at all.
It’s a regular day for Arthur Dent (well, sort of — he’s trying to
stop the city from bulldozing his house to build a new highway). To his
surprise, his best friend of fifteen years, Ford, reveals to him that he
is actually an alien and has been hitchhiking around the galaxy — that
is, until he got stuck here, on Earth, for the past fifteen years. Ford
also lets Arthur know that Earth is about to become demolished for a new
hyperspace bypass but no worries, he’s got a ride hooked up for the two
of them before Earth explodes. The two of them eventually find their
way onto the ship, the Heart of Gold, and through the use of its Improbability Drive, encounter all sorts of strange, bizarre coincidences …
First things first, this book is kind of plotless. I’ll totally admit that. It doesn’t really seem to have a point,
a greater goal that the characters are striving towards. There’s some
vague mysteries that don’t really seem too important, and the ending of
the book was really not an ending at all, more like an abrupt stop. I’m
not going to point out the bizarre coincidences though, just because
those are meant to be in the story via Improbability Drive and in a
strange way, made sense to me. Other readers may not feel the same way
though.
With that said, I actually liked the book a lot. It was really funny
and quirky to me, kind of like watching a cartoon show. There were some
subtle digs and social commentary as well, which I always love, though
admittedly they were overshadowed by the silliness of the entire story.
Sure, things don’t make sense a lot, but it fits with the type of humor
this book contains. Super intelligent mice, depressed robots, luxury
planet building businesses … this book is like a pot where the author
threw every crazy idea together just to see what happens. That, along
with Douglas Adams’ witty writing style just hit the spot for me.
I also finally discovered where a lot of pop culture sayings come
from now: this book! Like, “Don’t Panic” and how the answer to life, the
universe and everything is 42, and some other ones. I heard of those
sayings before and never knew where they came from. I just figured they
were from some old TV show I never watched because I was too young or
whatever. Feels kind of satisfying to discover the origin!
I can understand not every reader is going to like this book. If you
are a “serious reader” who requires strict structure and whatnot in your
books, this book is probably not for you. You definitely need a certain
type of sense of humour to enjoy this book and have to be open to the
idea that nothing’s going to make perfect sense. It’ll make some sense,
but still, nonsense. This book is definitely one of those hit-or-miss
types of books — you’re either gonna like it or dislike it for what it
is. However, if it’s of any persuasion, most people seem to enjoy it and
it is often considered one of the modern classics of literature.
My Rating: 4/5
No comments:
Post a Comment