Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

[Mikael, Lowly Founder of Book Club]

I've read this! So I haven't really been keeping up with the readings (like, at all) but I have been reading the responses! I HAVE read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy though so I figured I'd put in my two cents.

I really like this book. I don't think it's perfect and I'm not one of the many fanboys that herald it as the best comedy/sci-fi in the world, but it's definitely worth reading.

Arthur, as best as I can tell, seems like the classic Englishman attitude of "I'm quite happy where I am, thank you" and Adams puts him in a position that is possibly the most uncomfortable thing he could experience: hitchhiking...in space. Plus you can't go home. Already the book's 10/10.

Honestly, all the space politic drama isn't really up my alley (and it gets REALLY weird in the later books). What did keep me engaged though was all the neat little inventions and philosophical points/jokes Adams makes. In one of the books, Zaphod is forced to go into a machine designed to kill people that are on death row: the machine shows you your size in comparison to the rest of the universe and your brain implodes because no one should ever be able to know how insignificant they really are. THAT'S AMAZING. (He doesn't die by the way, he finds out that he's in an alternate universe where he's the most important being in the universe, which is also pretty awesome/hilarious.)

There's lots of examples of this kind of thing, but it's been so long that I can't remember which book they're all from and I don't want to spoil anything.

As far as the relationship between Arthur and Trillian, I like it. I thought it was very schoolyard crush but in an endearing way. Plus, Zaphod is the classic schoolyard jock so it all kind of fits in nicely (see also Tim and Dawn in "The Office", incidentally also a Martin Freeman role). Their relationship kind of holds the narrative in a relatable place while all the crazy space opera stuff is happening around them.

I highly recommend reading the other books (there are...four others I think?) if you liked this one.

Also: DON'T PANIC

[Grant, Usurper of Book Club]

I also quite enjoyed this book. It was very clever in a funny way. Right from the start when Arthur's house is getting cleared to build a bypass, just as the same thing is happening to Arthur.

I only read the first book, and will probably circle back to the others later when I'm looking for something fun to read.

I think the biggest take a away is the comments the book makes on the idea of progress. Starting with the bypass, destroying things for "progress," even though it's counterproductive.

I also liked the parallel between the mice and "philosophers." While everyone claims to be looking for the meaning of life, everyone is perfectly content to sell out. Which is a pretty big and serious topic for such a short and comedic book to take on, but it does so without ever sounding too preachy.

I enjoyed that the book didn't get too bogged down in details either. Even though the book was written quite some time ago, it doesn't sound like the past's version of the future.

Really great book, worth anyone's time to read.

[Grant, Usurper of Book Club]

Thinking about it again, I like the way the whole language thing was dealt with once. Babblefish. We're not going to talk about language or comprehension or whatever again. Done. I appreciate sci-fi more when it assumes the problems we have today will be solved, regardless of how they're going to be solved.

Good endings are really hard. This book, (I'm aware that it's part of a series) for a book that talks about "the answer" has a really good answer. 42. So deadpan. Once people have "the answer" they'll back into it any question they want (eg. how many roads must a man walk down).

So for any hitchhiker its more about the journey (question) than the destination(answer). Well played.

[Mikael, Lowly Founder of Book Club]

I like how the babel fish is so casually inserted too, basically making any exolinguistic sci-fi masturbation totally useless. I KINDA feel like it was a bit of a fuck you to hard sci-fi writers but still enjoyed it.

Also, there's a fuckton of metaphors in this once you start looking. The journey/destination one is the big one but the whole commentary on bureaucracy, construction cycles, and politics is a rich vein throughout all the books.