Douglas Adams has captivated my funny bone yet again in his book: “The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy.
In the realm of science fiction you have a wide variety of theories concerning the seriousness of the future (or a long time ago) of space. And “The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy takes a refreshing break from all of the impending doom set by modern sci-fi movies and books. “The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy” Takes place in the present (1980 when it was published) and focuses on a “six foot tall ape descendent” named Arthur Dent. An the story begins on the day that the earth is about to be destroyed! You would think that the story ends rather quickly due to the fact that Arthur is a human being from the present and that he has nothing to escape the earth in. But what he did not know is that his closest friend For Prefect is an alien who got stuck on the earth for fifteen years and eventually gets them off the earth before it blows up, which it does in the end. Now Earthless and homeless, Arthur and Ford end up journeying across the galaxy and across time meeting bizarre alien creatures. And team up with a quirky cast of characters like: Zaphod Beeblebrox a three armed, two headed, half insane semi-cousin of Ford’s, Trillian a human scientist who escaped the earth with Zaphod, a horribly depressed robot named Marvin, and a few others.
The book provides a fun and entertaining read and also probes some deep questions and thoughts about the universe, while providing very good British humor along the way. And of course the story would not be complete without the Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy. Let me explain. In the story there is a book called the Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy that Arthur Dent uses as a guide through out the story, and Ford Prefect is a researcher for the book. The book is electronic, like a kindle or an e-book, enclosed in a plastic cover with the words “Don’t Panic!” (One of the reasons why the book sells so well) and provides friendly and useful information on the various topics that the universe has to offer. And the funniest parts of the story are the excerpts from the book, such as what it has to say about getting a lift from a Vogon, or what the use of a Babel fish is, or what a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster is, and adds to the pure and utter comical insanity that the book provides.
In short, you do not want to miss out on reading this book. You would have had to have been listening to Vogon poetry in order to not want to read this book. You would be a fool not to. And even after you are done with that, you can read the sequels such as: “The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe”, “So Long And Thanks For All The Fish”, and a few other novels that I can’t remember the names of. So start reading them all, and good luck!