The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
by Douglas Adamspublished
September 27th 1995
(first published 1979)
by Del Rey
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binding
Mass Market Paperback, 320 pages
isbn
0345391802
(isbn13: 9780345391803)
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| FMHS Rockin' Readers: What other book, movie, or TV show did your book remind you of? | 39 | 17 | 09/17/2008 01:57PM | |
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Read in January, 1988
recommends it for:
Douglas Adams fans
In my experience, readers either love Adams' books or quickly put them down. I, for example, quite literally worship the words Adams puts on the page, and have read the Hitchhiker's Trilogy so many times that I have large tracts of it memorized. But both my wife and father couldn't get past book one: the former because she found it too silly, and the latter because he found the writing to be more about "the author's personality" than plot and character.
Whatever.
The first three...more
Whatever.
The first three...more
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Read in March, 2007
Mostly harmless. That’s the entirety of the entry for Earth in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Of course, it hardly matters now, since Earth was destroyed half an hour ago to make way for a hyperspace express route. Now Arthur Dent is stuck on a stolen spaceship with the two-headed, three-armed President of the Universe, Zaphod Beeblebrox, and the girl he stole from right under Arthur’s nose. Arthur Dent is having a very bad day—and that’s even before he has to deal with the ...more
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H2g2 was one of the formative books of my youth (I say this now, when I'm only 18, but I read it long ago). It was one of the first science fiction novels I read, and definitely my first taste of Douglas Adams and British quirkiness.
The thing you have to get about h2g2 is that it's not enough to suspend your disbelief. You need to have it surgically removed, then seal it in an airtight box, ship the box overseas to Germany (use FedEx), and bury the box in an abandoned mine (alternatively, if...more
The thing you have to get about h2g2 is that it's not enough to suspend your disbelief. You need to have it surgically removed, then seal it in an airtight box, ship the box overseas to Germany (use FedEx), and bury the box in an abandoned mine (alternatively, if...more
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Read in March, 2004
recommends it for:
Everyone who has even the shadow of a sense of humor.
Don't Panic
If ever there was more helpful a phrase in the history of all that is written, that phrase should be terminated. "Don't Panic" should be reason enough to give this book a five star rating, but since you're probably not going to read it solely on that bit of information alone I will be forced to expound on the subject. (And I'm not quite so happy about that)
Douglas Adams presents us with Arthur Dent, your proverbial "every man". This makes Arthur Dent very...more
If ever there was more helpful a phrase in the history of all that is written, that phrase should be terminated. "Don't Panic" should be reason enough to give this book a five star rating, but since you're probably not going to read it solely on that bit of information alone I will be forced to expound on the subject. (And I'm not quite so happy about that)
Douglas Adams presents us with Arthur Dent, your proverbial "every man". This makes Arthur Dent very...more
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Read in October, 1994
recommends it for:
Humor readers, sci fi readers, people in need of a laugh
Douglas Adams' adaptation of his own BBC radio series was a smash hit, and remains one of my favorite novels. Where long introductions were unusual on radio, here they could be extended to whole chapters for his own amusement, and always to the same amusement in his readers. He also added a lot of new wordplay and literary nuance, which led many to mistake this for the original work and the radio show to be the spinoff. But from the destruction of a house, to the destruction of the earth, to the...more
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I absolutely HATED this book. I usually read books before seeing the movie when it's released in theaters, and so I read this book. If there was a point in all his rambling disguised as prose, I missed it. Don't waste your time reading this book. And if possible, the movie was worse.
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Read in January, 1990
I hated this book. It was required in one of my English Lit. classes in college. The time spent reading this book is time that I will never get back. I think this book may have shortened my life; it was such a waste of time.
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I read about 150 of 215 pages of this book, and couldn't even bring myself to finish it. I didn't find it funny, and decided to start another book I actually enjoyed reading than to plow through the end of it.
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While it had some funny moments, even some clever moments, I can't recall any of them, and I can only remember this as one of the stupidest books I've ever read.
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The movie did not do this book justice, but I knew that it never would be able to. This is a book that you simply cannot appreciate without reading and savoring every word, sentence, and paragraph in and of itself.
This is one of those books that are not loved for the author's talent with words (though he does have that) or the way the book pulls on your heart. Rather, there are simply moments of sheer brilliance in this book that just cause you to sit back and admire the incredible twist...more
This is one of those books that are not loved for the author's talent with words (though he does have that) or the way the book pulls on your heart. Rather, there are simply moments of sheer brilliance in this book that just cause you to sit back and admire the incredible twist...more
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Read in August, 2008
First, a review from the Encyclopedia Galactica:
Having heard ...more
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1979, D Adams), a mostly harmless work of science fiction whose humor falls flatter than a sperm whale dropped from the stratosphere, whose plot (what little of it there is) numbs the skull quicker than a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster, and whose dialog is more agonizing even than a Vogon poetry reading.... a few thoughts of my own
Having heard ...more
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Read in May, 2008
recommended to Mary by:
Everyone
I was quite afraid I wouldn't take to the book considering how many people close to me -- as well as at parties -- would rage, rage, RAGE at my never having read Hitchhiker's Guide. What would the fallout be? Would I be shanked at the next party I went to if, when asked about my liking of the book, I were to shrug? Oh, the anxiety!
But I'm happy to report I did like it.
A lot, too, once the sperm whale and petunia chapter came up, and then all the more when the old world builder (...more
But I'm happy to report I did like it.
A lot, too, once the sperm whale and petunia chapter came up, and then all the more when the old world builder (...more
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recommends it for:
everyone
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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Read in January, 2002
recommended to Lafcadio by:
Hannah
There was a time in my life during which I think I would have found this book the funniest thing I had ever read. I would have sought peers with whom to discuss its nuances and reveled in the glory that somebody out there had a delightfully twisted sense of humor. Indeed, during this selfsame time, when others discovered that I had not yet read this tome, they would exclaim, "You haven't read it? Wow... I would have thought that would be just your type of book..."
Sometimes ...more
Sometimes ...more
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Read in January, 2004
Entertainment-1 Stars
Education- 1 Star
Readability- 1 star
Innovation- 0 Stars
Inspiration- 1 Stars
I loved this book. It was pretty easy to read and very funny. Comedy is difficult :)
Marvin the robot captures my view of the world. I know this is most unfortunate. But it doesn't really matter anyway as we will all be dead and gone when the sun goes supernova in 5 billion years. We'll just mope along till then.
The part where the aliens send their invasion force to earth and turn...more
Education- 1 Star
Readability- 1 star
Innovation- 0 Stars
Inspiration- 1 Stars
I loved this book. It was pretty easy to read and very funny. Comedy is difficult :)
Marvin the robot captures my view of the world. I know this is most unfortunate. But it doesn't really matter anyway as we will all be dead and gone when the sun goes supernova in 5 billion years. We'll just mope along till then.
The part where the aliens send their invasion force to earth and turn...more
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Read in May, 2005
I tried to read this after seeing the 2005 movie. People had always talked about how funny it was, and made references to it, so I figured the time had come to familiarize myself with it. I have admit, I didn't even actually read half of it, I hated it so much.
This is on my short list of worst things for people to quote or refer to, along with the Simpsons and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The difference is, I like both the Simpsons and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. But, reading ...more
This is on my short list of worst things for people to quote or refer to, along with the Simpsons and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The difference is, I like both the Simpsons and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. But, reading ...more
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Read in August, 2007
I'd heard a lot about the Hitchhiker's series before I'd read this book and I was very excited to read it. I actually saw the movie first and I loved the randomness of the thing (it helped that I was inebriated at the time). While I enjoyed the book and it's more elaborate randomness, I was a bit disappointed only because I was thinking that it would be funnier than I found it. I need to stop listening to other people tell me what I'll like and what I won't like before I decide to read/see so...more
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recommends it for:
Monty Python lovers
Dear Sarah Abrams of Irvine,
Where ever you are, I hope you are happy and healthy. When we were 15, you lent me this book and started my habit of reading. I can safely say that this is probably the first book I read from cover to cover. Before that, I let my mild dyslexia and disdain for assigned reading keep me from enjoying books. If not for your suggestion of this dry British sci-fi comedy, I would probably still be reading cliff notes.
thanks again,
Stephen
To everyone el...more
Where ever you are, I hope you are happy and healthy. When we were 15, you lent me this book and started my habit of reading. I can safely say that this is probably the first book I read from cover to cover. Before that, I let my mild dyslexia and disdain for assigned reading keep me from enjoying books. If not for your suggestion of this dry British sci-fi comedy, I would probably still be reading cliff notes.
thanks again,
Stephen
To everyone el...more
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Read in January, 1997
recommends it for:
People who want to see just what can be delivered under pressure.
I saw the TV series first, then I listened to the original radio broadcasts, finally read the book and eventually saw the film. I doubt there are many people of my age who haven't come in contact with this quirky view of the future of humanity. Thankfully more are being born every day who will get the opportunity to discover this for themselves.
What surprised me on reading the book after seeing the TV series was how thin the story-telling is. Adams doesn't make any more of his situations tha...more
What surprised me on reading the book after seeing the TV series was how thin the story-telling is. Adams doesn't make any more of his situations tha...more
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Read in January, 1982
recommends it for:
the silly and the subversive
In a world where nearly everyone calls themself a nerd, (that started right about the time pundits said that nerds were taking over the world) this book defines true nerd-dom. I remember picking up this book when I was just becoming a teen and within the first ten pages thinking it was the funniest, most terrific book I had ever read. Then I had to put it down to play my turn at DnD. Sadly, that's not a joke. I know people say that the books are just a sting of one-liners, but actually it's ...more
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