♥ Nothing Better Than Reading!! ♥ discussion
Book/Genre of the Month
>
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams - April BOTM 2014
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
A, Crazy.
(new)
Mar 31, 2014 09:09AM
Mod
reply
|
flag
I have always wanted to read this one. Hoping to actually read it this month
Mod
Are we aiming to read the entire trilogy of four or just part one?
Mod
Till now, just part one.
Adams makes this amazing point right at the start--that 2000 years ago a guy told us all to be nice to each other, so we crucified him. I don't identify as Christian so I don't raise this as a way to get into a religious discussion. Rather, I wanted to highlight the sense of underlying sadness in this novel. Of course it's full of humor--I laughed out loud in parts, though after reading the whole series I'm never sure which parts I'm remembering belong to which books. It's worth noting, though, that in addition to the humor is some pretty sharp satire (all the smart people tricked all the silly people into populating Earth so they'd be rid of them) and a sense of deep outrage (the Earth will be bulldozed just as people's homes are destroyed to make way for highways).
I loved this book. It was incredible. Sharp, engaging, astute and hilarious.Sophia, you're right. Most of the humour stems from anger and disillusionment- the jokes are so funny because we're laughing at our own inadequacies, not in spite of them.
The best gag- the meaning of life- is perhaps the most satirical one of all. It's so true.
