From the Bookshelf of Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die…

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1)

Douglas Adams

Start date: August 15, 2024

Finish date: September 14, 2024

Discussion: 1001 Monthly Group Read

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What Members Thought

Nov 05, 2012 Tiffany rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-books, group_read

Well....

In high school, some of my particularly ~~intelligent friends~~ (No... all of my friends were intelligent. Some of my particularly ... nerdy friends? No, they were pretty cool, and not what you'd think of as nerds. Some of my particularly ... No, I'm still going to call them nerdy, but they were cool, despite being kind of nerdy at times) nerdy friends started quoting The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I have no idea why. Just all of a sudden, they were. It then became a book that I deci Well....

In high school, some of my particularly ~~intelligent friends~~ (No... all of my friends were intelligent. Some of my particularly ... nerdy friends? No, they were pretty cool, and not what you'd think of as nerds. Some of my particularly ... No, I'm still going to call them nerdy, but they were cool, despite being kind of nerdy at times) nerdy friends started quoting The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I have no idea why. Just all of a sudden, they were. It then became a book that I decided I should look into at some point in my life, just so I knew what they were all raving about.

Fast forward many years to 2005 when the movie came out. I saw it with a friend, and didn't get what the fuss was about. Aside from the fact that it was sci-fi and I'm not really a sci-fi person, I still didn't see any ... excitement about it. Generally I can appreciate how people would like a book or movie even if it's not a genre I like, but this one ... I was just bored.

Still, though, it stayed on my mental to-read list, and even got added to the real to-read list once I saw it was on the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list. So I read it and ... yeah, I still don't see what the fuss is about (Sorry to all those people who love this book.).

There are definitely some funny parts: Marvin the depressed robot/Paranoid Android (just the idea of a depressed robot is funny. Also, in chapter 22, Marvin's presence is requested, so he makes a big show of coming forward as if it were a physical difficulty for him, and then once he isn't wanted after all, "made an equally big show of turning round laboriously and trudging off down into the crater again muttering sour nothings to himself." And towards the end, when a spacecraft kills itself just so it doesn't have to listen to Marvin talk anymore?? Poor Marvin!); the semi-snarky, semi-know-it-all computer on the Heart of Gold; Adams' rye, dry, witty sort of humor (again, like the depressed robot, etc.); Adams' funny play with words and ideas (such as "Arthur slapped his arms about himself to try and get his circulation a little more enthusiastic about its job." Come on, blood! Rah! Pump, pump, pump! You can do it!); the dolphins' warnings about Earth being blown up misinterpreted as Sea World-type tricks. Still, though, these weren't laugh-out-loud moments for me; just chuckle-slightly-to-yourself-on-the-inside moments.

Some of the technology bits were intriguing. I mean, this book, written in 1979, talks about technology we have now, like electronic books and touch-and-swipe screens.

Other than that, I think the most interesting part of the book, for me, was seeing where a number of pop culture references came from, like Radiohead's "Paranoid Android" and BabelFish, the online translator.

So, aside from some brief flashes of humor, technology before it existed, and a Radiohead song, this book just didn't do anything for me. It wasn't the worst read in the world, but I was glad it was short and wouldn't take me long to finish. I've also been told "you really have to read the entire series to get everything", but for me, that's an unfortunate circle: we might not like this book much until we read the next books, but would we want to read the next books if we don't like this book much? For me, no, I won't be venturing on in the series. Oh, well. To each his own. ...more

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Jul 15, 2007 Jeni rated it really liked it

I love Douglas Adams' books.. They are SO RANDOM, which is my kind of funny, so I found them hilarious! They contain a lot of spaceship/science talk which for the most part doesn't make sense, but if you have any background in physics and can understand what he's implying, it makes it all the funnier. But no matter your background, you will finish with a big fat "WHAT THE...??" ...more

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Oct 23, 2007 Stacie rated it really liked it

Shelves: i-own, 1001books

This was a really fun book to read. I will definitely being reading the next in the series.

1 like · Like · see review

Nov 11, 2008 Ginny rated it really liked it

Shelves: sci-fi, humor, dystopia, philosophical

Such an absurd hilarious book! XD I actually liked the humor, but the racist and on the other hand philosophical tone of the writer bothered me at times.

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