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Why not?
Significant how?
The original question was "Why is this book significant to Science Fiction literature?" In my humble opinion it is not simply because it has neither defined how future SF has or will be written nor has it vastly changed the genre in any major way. I base this on the fact that this book or series really stands alone as being different, unusual and imaginative perhaps, but not necessarily significant.
Just my two-cents.
That's a reasonable answer. It certainly is unique, and I can't think of any major books that have successfully imitated it. If we use your definition of "significant" I guess it does not qualify.
With that being said, I think Douglas Adams deserves a lot of credit for writing something that is so unique and that, try as hard as some people might, defies imitation.
Agreed. The series is definitely unique however that doesn't necessarily make it significant.
just because a work isn't written with te deceived claim of importance doesn't mean it has no literary significance.
@ Vimes - Agree. It made me, and many more laugh. That's how it's significant. And it's got some great philosophy of life running through it.
So then a good joke is significant if it makes you laugh? In my definition, significant is something that stands out above all others. As a work of science fiction I'm not certain the Hitchhiker's guide does that. It's certainly "different" but not sure it's significant.
John, you are right. A joke, we cannot call it exactly that significant. I didn't put the right reasons forward. I believe Hitchhiker's is significant because it shows us the Universe in a totally different perspective. I mean, it didn't expose any new thing in the Universe but it made us see the Universe, as a whole, in a totally new way. At least, I saw the Universe in a new way after reading this book. And, I didn't read many Sci-Fi books, and that's why may be I'm excited about it. If this is the only book that made us see the Universe as just a big joke, then I'm sure Hitchhiker's is significant.
Government sucks & the inefficiency of the bureaucracy is not a man-made phenomena
It introduced the concept of being serious and not serious at the same time. Dealing with issues about the universe and life and everything with a tongue-in-cheek attitude and still getting across and actual message... I do think it changed the genre. Not by much, necessarily, but it was ground-breaking in its own way and has plowed open the way for other books that may not have appeared otherwise. I would say it is significant.
I think you could say it is significant to science fiction the same way that Harry Potter is significant to fantasy. It was different and popular enough that it got people reading within a genre that they normaly wouldn't have touched.
You don't have to like the book, but it is significant. It is the standard by which any humourous science fiction book is measured.
If this book is not significant John, then what is? Examples please.
An-chan wrote: "It introduced the concept of being serious and not serious at the same time. Dealing with issues about the universe and life and everything with a tongue-in-cheek attitude and still getting across ..."
It may have been the first truly popular book to do that on a world stage, but he didn't really introduce it. That's just British humour and it's been around for a very long time!
John wrote: "So then a good joke is significant if it makes you laugh? In my definition, significant is something that stands out above all others. As a work of science fiction I'm not certain the Hitchhiker's ..."
It stood out to me. It was most significant to me because it changed the way I looked at the world. I was about 12-13 when I first read it and I'd never seen anything before it which so openly pointed out how ridiculous things like religion, our self-centred view of the universe etc. really are. Not only was it very funny and highly memorable but it actually made the world seem different after reading it. To me that was far more significant than Shakespeare.
It is significant enough to have all of you way-to-serious debbie-downers question its significance ...lol. You can't be serious in questioning what is so obviously a jab at the act of being serious.
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James
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Jan 08, 2012 12:53AM
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Significant how?The original question was "Why is this book significant to Science Fiction literature?" In my humble opinion it is not simply because it has neither defined how future SF has or will be written nor has it vastly changed the genre in any major way. I base this on the fact that this book or series really stands alone as being different, unusual and imaginative perhaps, but not necessarily significant.
Just my two-cents.
That's a reasonable answer. It certainly is unique, and I can't think of any major books that have successfully imitated it. If we use your definition of "significant" I guess it does not qualify.With that being said, I think Douglas Adams deserves a lot of credit for writing something that is so unique and that, try as hard as some people might, defies imitation.
Agreed. The series is definitely unique however that doesn't necessarily make it significant.
just because a work isn't written with te deceived claim of importance doesn't mean it has no literary significance.
@ Vimes - Agree. It made me, and many more laugh. That's how it's significant. And it's got some great philosophy of life running through it.
So then a good joke is significant if it makes you laugh? In my definition, significant is something that stands out above all others. As a work of science fiction I'm not certain the Hitchhiker's guide does that. It's certainly "different" but not sure it's significant.
John, you are right. A joke, we cannot call it exactly that significant. I didn't put the right reasons forward. I believe Hitchhiker's is significant because it shows us the Universe in a totally different perspective. I mean, it didn't expose any new thing in the Universe but it made us see the Universe, as a whole, in a totally new way. At least, I saw the Universe in a new way after reading this book. And, I didn't read many Sci-Fi books, and that's why may be I'm excited about it. If this is the only book that made us see the Universe as just a big joke, then I'm sure Hitchhiker's is significant.
Government sucks & the inefficiency of the bureaucracy is not a man-made phenomena
It introduced the concept of being serious and not serious at the same time. Dealing with issues about the universe and life and everything with a tongue-in-cheek attitude and still getting across and actual message... I do think it changed the genre. Not by much, necessarily, but it was ground-breaking in its own way and has plowed open the way for other books that may not have appeared otherwise. I would say it is significant.
I think you could say it is significant to science fiction the same way that Harry Potter is significant to fantasy. It was different and popular enough that it got people reading within a genre that they normaly wouldn't have touched.
You don't have to like the book, but it is significant. It is the standard by which any humourous science fiction book is measured.
If this book is not significant John, then what is? Examples please.
An-chan wrote: "It introduced the concept of being serious and not serious at the same time. Dealing with issues about the universe and life and everything with a tongue-in-cheek attitude and still getting across ..."It may have been the first truly popular book to do that on a world stage, but he didn't really introduce it. That's just British humour and it's been around for a very long time!
John wrote: "So then a good joke is significant if it makes you laugh? In my definition, significant is something that stands out above all others. As a work of science fiction I'm not certain the Hitchhiker's ..."It stood out to me. It was most significant to me because it changed the way I looked at the world. I was about 12-13 when I first read it and I'd never seen anything before it which so openly pointed out how ridiculous things like religion, our self-centred view of the universe etc. really are. Not only was it very funny and highly memorable but it actually made the world seem different after reading it. To me that was far more significant than Shakespeare.
It is significant enough to have all of you way-to-serious debbie-downers question its significance ...lol. You can't be serious in questioning what is so obviously a jab at the act of being serious.
