Douglas Adams: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – 1979
I’ve previously acquainted myself with the story of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy through the 2005 film and the 1981 BBC series. Consequently, the plot was not new to me in any way. However, since it’s often said that the book is always better than the movie, I gave it a chance. My expectations were a hefty brick that would take quite a long time to get through with countless paragraphs of bureaucratic explanations.
So, I was greatly surprised when I held a paperback that was just over 1 cm thick in my hand! Granted, this one only contains the first part of the book series (a series of a total of six books if you count And Another Thing written by Eoin Colfer after Douglas Adams’ death in 2001).
Entertaining Language
The language used in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is undeniably entertaining! It’s uplifting explanations about this and that and seemingly insignificant trivialities. At least what appears to be trivialities; in the book’s world, these are the most interesting and essential components. It’s a completely absurd story with unbelievably improbable connections to reality. If this isn’t irony and satire, I don’t know what is.
Despite complex reasoning, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is very easy to read and almost reads entirely on its own. You might not always be so interested in what’s going to happen next; it’s not that type of story. Still, it’s so entertaining that you willingly read a few more pages—and a few more… The intricate reasoning is expressed in a way that is clever and very expressive. For example, what good is it to know that the answer is 42 if you don’t know what the question is?
I look forward to reading the remaining parts of the trilogy. Yes, you read that correctly! This is a trilogy in five parts (six if you include And Another Thing, which I will). Just such an improbable claim makes these books deserve a place on the bookshelf!
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy