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The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: A Trilogy in Four Parts

(The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy #1-4)

Douglas Adams

4.50 · Rating details · 35,296 ratings · 570 reviews

"A trilogy in four parts". Anthology of first 4 books in the series. ...more

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Hardcover, Book Club Edition, 590 pages

Published 1986 by Book Club Associates - "Guild Publishing"

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Jun 02, 2008 Kara Babcock rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites, humour, science-fiction, own, deliciously-quotable

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 you 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 you live in Germany, ship it to Australia).

The book begins with the end of the world, which is naturally an excellent way to begin any story. In fact it's almost becoming cliche now. However, at the time Douglas Adams was doing it, it was just what you did to make money working for the BBC.

Arthur Dent is the lovable everyman with whom we can sympathize (and sometimes yell at for being such a dense clod). He is not a knight in shining armour, nor is he the renegade anti-hero we are so used to seeing in action films these days. He's British. He's middle-class. His home and planet have been demolished all in one day. You'd think the universe would cut him some slack, but no....

What really appeals to me about h2g2, however, is the fact that it is so readable. I take it with me whenever I travel (which isn't very often), because I always know I will enjoy it. And as I get older, there are new dimensions for me to appreciate. At first glance, the situations in the book seem absurd and infinitely improbable. Yet if you think about it long enough, you will realize that they are in fact what goes on in real life here on mostly harmless Earth. The universe of h2g2 is a microcosmic representation of our own society's bureaucratic fallacies, beginning with the demolition of one man's house and working its way up to the poignant irony that Earth is a computer built to find the Ultimate Question to Life, the Universe, and Everything.

The fact that the entire series is about the search for the question, and not the answer, which the book happily reveals to all of us, is a timeless metaphor for human existence. It doesn't matter whether you read this in the '80s, '90s, now, or in the future. We spend so much time searching for an answer, for the "meaning," that we often forget to simply enjoy the search itself. We forget for what we're searching--we're searching for an "answer", but to what? What do we expect to find? H2g2 conveys this unoriginal thought in a very original and fun manner--the Earth gets destroyed, naturally, then mice claim that they ordered it custom-made from a planet-building society, and ... well, Arthur doesn't get much of a rest from there on in.

So far I've only really explored the first book, and the overarching concepts of the series. What about the other books? Each has its merits, although unquestionably the first book is the best. Restaurant at the End of the Universe has the tastiest quotation of the entire series, right at the beginning, so cool that many just attribute it to the series itself. Life, the Universe, and Everything lives up to its name by positing interesting "facts" about the nature of the universe, physics, time travel, and sofas. So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish has the pithy God's Final Message to His Creation, which is really the epitome of bureaucratic rhetoric.

I didn't really like Mostly Harmless. I'm sorry, but it was depressing. I think that at that point, Adams had been doing h2g2 so long that it was no longer a burst of creative genius but an arduous struggle to write something new out of something so well done already. The absurdity of the original two books, which adapted material from the original radio series, was replaced by a more rigid, formulaic absurdity, and that just isn't as fun.

Still, h2g2 is an amazing and timeless series. With so many incarnations, so much different material and conflicting continuities, it is not a "book" or a "story" but a phenomenon unto itself. Few series, no matter how popular, can make that claim. And thanks to Douglas Adams, I always know where my towel is. ...more

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Apr 16, 2016 Thomas Stroemquist rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: in-collection, favorites

I was going to start this review with "After much pondering..." when I realized that there has been no pondering whatsoever. When I asked myself which book in the "hitchhiker"-series should go on my "favorites" shelf, there could be only one.

It had to be a collection - the individual books are brilliant, but who in their right mind would think to themselves "I think I'll re-read 'Life, the Universe and Everything' today", skipping the first two parts? Right, no one! That was rhetorical... never ...more

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Jun 10, 2018 John Hatley rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is one of the best science-fiction novels I've ever read, and one of the funniest too. It is also one that I could read over and over again. ...more

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Jul 17, 2011 Deedee rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

When I picked up the book I thought to be The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, little did I know that I had picked up the entire four part trilogy (yes, a trilogy of four parts, this is par for the course with Adams). It's quite fortunate I did because I think the best way to experience Adam's mad world is to read it as one book.

The book is full of the cleverest, funniest nonsense I have ever come across, so sharp it cuts itself into funnier, cleverer, more ridiculous nonsense still.

The first t ...more

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Jun 24, 2012 David rated it liked it · review of another edition

Ok, so this is 4 books in an anthology. The first book is the original hitchhikers guide and is fabulous. A work of real originality, humour, wit and acute satirical observation. No question about this being a 5 star book. 'Restaurant' is also very funny but somewhat episodic - there is a slight impression that the author is making it up as he goes along that detracts from the immersion. In the third book this impression is stronger, and there are less good jokes. 3 stars. The fourth and final b ...more

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Dec 03, 2010 Keri Stevens rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I've read this series six times. I cannot (ever) remember any of it, except random character names. So I read it again. And I enjoy it every time--and it all flows away. If I were on a desert island with only one book series, I'd take this because I know I'd always be entertained anew.

My oldest just read it for the first time and giggled aloud the entire time. He actually remembers parts of it, though--evidence of evolution, I guess. Assuming, of course, that remembering Douglas Adams enhances s ...more

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Sep 08, 2015 Melissa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: borrowed-books, young-adult, science-fiction, adventure, fantasy, adult, reviewed, fiction, humour, classics

Oh my, what have I just read?!
Random, witty, weird.Nonsensical in places but made perfect sense at the same time.
I loved this book from front cover to back.One of the most entertaining books I have read.
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe has got to be my favourite of the four.What a roller coaster of a ride Arthur Dent was taken on accompanied by very unique (for want of a better word) companions, including Marvin the robot.Oh Marvin, how I loved every word, sentence and miserable moan th ...more

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Jan 08, 2008 Lynn rated it did not like it · review of another edition

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.

Reading this book reminded me of watching "My dinner with Andre," in that it was soaked in self-consciousness. I couldn't stop being aware of the writing, how full of himself the writer seemed, how smart and funny he thought he was.

The m ...more

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Jun 22, 2012 Nandakishore Mridula added it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, humour

DID NOT LIKE IT... COULDN'T FINISH IT!!!

(OK, now waiting for the GoodReads lynch mob...) ...more

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Aug 21, 2019 Jianis rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

That book was so outstanding.

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Jan 13, 2021 Helen Pugsley rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Possibly the most pointless book I have read this year. The movie was better.

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Feb 22, 2016 Jeanette rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, science-fiction, humour

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Trilogy of Four (or a Trilogy in Four Parts by Douglas Adams contains four of the five books in the The Hitchhiker's 'trilogy' - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; The Restaurant at the End of the Universe; Life, the Universe and Everything and So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish. It is based on the radio plays and TV series of the same name/s.

Arthur Dent is having a bad day - just after his house is demolished to make way for a bypass, the Vogon fle The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Trilogy of Four (or a Trilogy in Four Parts by Douglas Adams contains four of the five books in the The Hitchhiker's 'trilogy' - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; The Restaurant at the End of the Universe; Life, the Universe and Everything and So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish. It is based on the radio plays and TV series of the same name/s.

Arthur Dent is having a bad day - just after his house is demolished to make way for a bypass, the Vogon fleet arrive to demolish the earth, to make way for a hyperspace bypass. He escapes by hitching a ride with his friend, Ford Prefect, who turns out to be an alien and introduces Arthur to the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - a prodigious book with DON'T PANIC printed on its cover. Instantly, we are catapulted into the word of excruciating and deadly Vogon poetry, Babel fish, an Improbability Drive, piles of galactic red-tape and wild adventures.

While I haven’t listened to the original radio plays, I have fond memories of watching the T.V. series as Arthur Dent (a quintessential Englishman) travels through time and space with Ford Prefect (a researcher for the guide, from a system near Betelgeuse), Ford’s half-cousin Zaphod Beeblebrox (a super cool guy with two heads and three arms), Trillian (from earth) and Marvin the pathologically depressed robot. Arthur’s hilarious, improbable and rather farcical adventures are interspersed with humerous and often eventually relevant asides from the guide itself. I love Douglas' dry and cynical sense of humour, as he gently pokes fun at life, the universe and everything - even if I have a more hopeful view of what it all means, myself.

The first two books covers most of what I remember from the TV series and the movie (though I think the movie does depart a bit from the originals), a lovely nostalgic read. The next two were new material for me - with the Krikkit Wars in book 3 & the mystery of the reappearance of earth and a sweet love story in book 4 which sustained my interest and whimsy. Each book has a vague plot and resolution as it careens through the galaxy in bizarre twists and turns and - mostly -saving the day.

What did surprise me (but probably shouldn't) was that almost all the active parts across the four books are filled by males. With the exception of Trillian (brilliant, generally smarter than the men, at times feisty, but in the end loyal to Zaphod) and, in the fourth book, Fenchurch - the females have small and infrequent bit parts as wives, girlfriends (preferably in bulk), prostitutes and maids. Hmm - I guess it shows the era in which it was written in.

Still, I was thoroughly amused and entertained by Adam's gentle, statistical wit and fecund imagination. I game to give the fifth book ‘Mostly Harmless’ a go at some later date.
...more

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Apr 14, 2012 Ritika rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: kolkata-collection-2016, 2012, omnibus

Perhaps it was a lucky chance that my second-hand bookseller (Marry Me!) did not have the five part omnibus. 'So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish' ends, not perhaps at perfection, but in a good place. A place where I am happy to leave the characters. Douglas Adams was not happy with Mostly Harmless and what precursory reading tells me, neither will I. And let us face it, Eoin Colfer, even with my immense liking for the first Artemis book, I would rather re-read the series a third time than read ...more

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Nov 13, 2018 Duncan Bradshaw rated it liked it · review of another edition

I last read Hitchhiker's when I was 13, 28 years ago (man that makes me feel old) and thought that buying this would be a nice trip down Memory Lane. Yes and no...the first two books are spectacular but I found that the further I went, the more tedious it got. By book four, I was ready to throw the towel in. Reading during my lunch break, I found myself nodding off a few times which is not the best response to a book. There are just some things that happen which come completely out of the blue, ...more

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Jun 29, 2008 Siria rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 20th-century, scifi, humour, british-fiction

I know that these are considered classics of the genre, and have been massively influential on two decades of genre writing and TV. Yet try as I might when I read them, I just couldn't see why. Creative, yes, imaginative, yes, and occasionally very sharp. But the characters just seemed flat to me, and I couldn't understand why anyone who wasn't a fourteen year old boy would find this more than sporadically amusing. ...more

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Sep 29, 2014 Richard Thomas rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

It's hard to better this whether as a piece of light sci fi or as a sustainedly funny book. I've returned and found something new each time I have re-read it (three times) and expect to do so again at some future stage. It's a pity that unlike the BBC radio and TV adaptations, the film version was so banal (to me anyway). Not a dull word in it and I'm still trying to work out the anagram of Slartibartfirst. ...more

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Feb 23, 2015 Rajat TWIT rated it liked it · review of another edition

A very imaginative and creative setup, the characters of this sci-fi extravaganza are treat to observe. But the fiction is quite average and at places it looses the attention because of vague storytelling and randomness of many events. But the sci-fi fans will find it extremely fun. Others may read few of the chapters before deciding whether they should go for the whole book or not.

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Dec 13, 2015 Alena rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Arthur Dent's story is one that is clever, witty and fun. Although this book was quite dense at some sections, it was an overall enjoyable read! ...more

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Aug 08, 2020 Mark rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Not a fan. I wanted to be, but am most definately not.

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Aug 12, 2019 Blerina rated it liked it · review of another edition

The edition I read actually has five books:

1. The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy
2. The restaurant at the end of the Universe
3. Life, the Universe and everything
4. So long, and thanks for all the fish
5. Mostly harmless

My favourite was part 1 and 5, a 4.5 rating. For the rest of the books a 3 star rating. Some parts in here were really bizarre, whereas some parts really entertaining. The names of some of the galactic creatures were just so tiresome for me! I so disliked Zaphod Beeblebrox, name a ...more

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Jun 04, 2021 Inessa rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2021

Probably the biggest waste of time reading a book — which I skimmed over 400 pages of it. I read the first story which warranted 2 stars, after that what was the point? Terrible writing. Conversations were also drawn out and pointless. Utter repetition for the heck of it, for example (a condensed page of writing below):

“Long time,” he said, “in a tank, in a trance.” He looked round severely at his audience.
He resumed.
“Where was I?” He said.
“In a trance,” one said.
“In a tank,” said another.
“Oh ye ...more

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Dec 18, 2020 Simon Ackroyd rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I really wanted to give this 5 stars as it's just my kind of humour. The first of the four parts of the "trilogy" is a classic and a wonderfully absurd tale. Part Two is not as strong but still very entertaining and continues with the regular nods to the Hitchhiker's Guide.

Unfortunately, I struggled with Part Three, perhaps because this is also when the hero is least enjoying life and references to other races and the guide's thoughts on them were few and far between. Part Four is stronger, agai ...more

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Dec 05, 2019 17mcpartlinh123 rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

The hitchhikers guide is a great book , with a great plot and full of witt. It is funny and incredible. I think that this book is amazing and would encourage others to read it. It is a science fiction book and this book contains all 4 books , I really enjoyed the book because it was funny and exiting. It has a good ending to the series an I would recommend this book to anyone who wanted to read it.

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Aug 02, 2021 Zoe rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fav-fiction

"life", said Marvin dolefully, "loathe it or ignore it, you can't like it."

It's great, and I love it. Have loved it when I first read the german translation at age 13, still love it now. There are two possible reasons for this: either this is a timeless piece of art, or my sense of humour hasn't changes since I was 13. Either way, it's getting five stars for purely nostagic reasons, and because of Marvin. ...more

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Sep 08, 2018 Jailan El-Rafie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

How does one even begin to describe such a book? I can now fully admit that I do regret not having had this book in my life earlier. I've been reading it since February, and I just...wow. It's been with me through some weird times where lots has happened. Right now it feels like I just lost a dear old friend.
I actually rarely say this for a book, but the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a book that I'll actually miss reading.
So long, and thanks for all the humor, the feels, and the casual yet ...more

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Jun 29, 2019 Stella rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I have read the first book twice now. I have found it quirky and amusing. But you kind of have to be in the mood for this kind of quirky. Before you decided if it worth reading, I would say read the first chapter and read the very last sentence in the final book. It does contain spoilers but it should be a good indicator whether or not it is worth the "trip". ...more

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Oct 10, 2018 Gehaenna rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites

I love it so much. Very sad that it's over, but very excited to read the fifth one.
More thorough review coming soon. ...more

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Jun 23, 2021 Raphael Knight rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

10/10 masterpiece. Ranked #1 in Raphael's top 1,000 books to read when self-isolating. Luckily the magic isn't over and the 5th and final book in the trilogy is due to arrive tomorrow. I will always remember you as the series that got me through COVID ❤️ ...more

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Mar 12, 2022 Rebekah rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2022

I have nothing to say about this book, aside from what has already been said many times over: it is immensely clever and funny and enjoyable. My only regret is that I didn't read it sooner. ...more

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Sep 27, 2020 Chesta rated it really liked it · review of another edition

We apologise for the inconvenience, is a pretty apt summary of the the experience reading this book. Is a mind bending concoction of weirdness that is an effort to read but worth it all the same.

So long and thanks for all the fish.

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About Douglas Adams

Douglas Adams

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Douglas Noël Adams was an English author, comic radio dramatist, and musician. He is best known as the author of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. Hitchhiker's began on radio, and developed into a "trilogy" of five books (which sold more than fifteen million copies during his lifetime) as well as a television series, a comic book series, a computer game, and a feature film that was ...more

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The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: A Trilogy in Four Parts

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