The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide #1) by Douglas Adams (May 2012 Group Read)

[Tara-Jayne (♥ I Read, I Love ♥) , The Great & Mighty Mod! :P]

GoodReads Description

Seconds before the Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last fifteen years, has been posing as an out-of-work actor.


Together this dynamic pair begin a journey through space aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker's Guide ("A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have") and a galaxy-full of fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox--the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch president of the galaxy; Trillian, Zaphod's girlfriend (formally Tricia McMillan), whom Arthur tried to pick up at a cocktail party once upon a time zone; Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, and chronically depressed robot; Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student who is obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he bought over the years.

Feel free to talk about the whole book but please use the spoiler brackets where necessary.

< spoiler > write your message here < / spoiler >

(without spaces)

[Jeshu]

THis is one of my favourites!!!

[Bookwyrm13]

Wow, I believe I've read this one more than 7times, I usually blow through the whole series on audiobook every summer too. Love it

[Rea, Ghost]

I love this book. Douglas Adams was pure genious. The dry humour in it is classic!

I love Marvin. =D
"Brain the size of a planet, I have trouble thinking down to your level."

[Jeshu]

Did anyone read the book? XD

[Andrew]

I did - though not for the first time :)

I love Hitch-Hiker's Guide. From the radio show onwards, it's an utterly brilliant depiction of a quintessentially English science-fiction universe. I personally think the later books are better novels, but this first volume really captures the carefree fun of the radio show :)

[Rea, Ghost]

It's one of the best bits of British humour out there. I gather that sometimes it's hard for our friends on the other side of the pond to completely grasp just how funny it is, though. (Not surprising as their humour doesn't always amuse me).

The radio shows were really good! My mum had some recordings when I was young but they got lost in the move to France. :(

[Andrew]

I gather you can now find the recordings of the radio show on iTunes, etc, Rea. Much as I love the books, I do always think of the radio series as the definitive version of the story.

[Stephanie]

Time it took to read: 2 days

Rating 2 out of 5

So I am not the biggest Sci-fi fan. So many people say that this is such a classic read that everyone should read, but honestly I don’t see why anyone should read this book. Just so you know, I have seen the movie before reading this book. All I even remember from the movie is some weird guy with three arms. The movie is not worth it at all. The book is barely worth it more than the movie.

Maybe it is just the writer’s style, but they sound like an idiot. The whole book is pretty much pointlessly about the Earth being destroyed and how one man got off the Earth before it was destroyed and his bungling adventures. I don’t know, maybe the book series gets better, but I just really didn’t like the book much. It was so easy to finish because it took fewer brain cells to read than to work facebook.

If it’s your kind of thing, then fine, but it’s not mine.