The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

This post first published June 11, 2013.


Author: Douglas Adams
First Published: June 1997
Publisher: Picador
Series: Hitchhiker’s Guide #2
200 pages (paperback)
 
I’m not sure what it was with this second book, but it didn’t quite catch my interest like the first book did. Maybe it’s because it’s the second book in the series, or maybe it’s because I’m reading this one a year after I read the first, or maaaybe it’s because book two was published almost twenty years after the first. I don’t know. I thought The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy was funny, witty and creative. I thought book two was immature, aimless and nonsensical. And I’m not sure why! Because, if you have read this series, you would know that being silly is kind of the whole point of the books. Yet I found the silliness in book one to be more understandable than book two! Strange …

I am not even too sure how to describe the plot of this book because it was kind of all over the place. Our main characters decide they need to eat some food after what happened in the last book, so they are looking for a place to eat when they end up at the restaurant at the end of the universe, Milliway’s. Of course, during their journey the gang ends up going through a series of wacky adventures, including meeting the man who runs the entire universe.

So from what I understand, a lot of people like book two and think it’s just as good, if not better, than the first. Apparently, I have a dissenting opinion, haha. Maybe I just don’t “get” this one, but I wasn’t very engaged with the story at all. It was all just very bizarre. And I know it’s supposed to be bizarre. I can’t really pinpoint why this book felt different from book one’s silliness. And to top it all off, I can’t even really remember what I just read, because the plot felt like it went all over the place. It was all kind of a blur, especially since the book is so short.

This is going to be one of my shorter reviews since I don’t really know what else to say about this book. It was “okay”. I will continue the series because I own all five in a box set so I’ll get around to it eventually. Book two hasn’t exactly made me excited for book three, though.

My Rating: 2/5