# Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. A very strange book.



## Hakoona (Sep 9, 2004)

usualy tis kind of reading isn't my cup of tea, but I found this book strangely luring. It's very silly and not as funny as everybody told me it was, but it does get you to thinking about allot of stuff ad it's deeper than it first apears.

Also, has anybody else noticed how similar the book is to british sitcoms? Just a strange thought I had.

Very interested in your thoughts on this book.


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## petrel} (Sep 9, 2004)

Welcome to the forums hakoona. I read hitch hikers a long time ago, but whatI remember about it is the kookiness. More recently I read The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul which was amusing also; confusing, but amusing. :lol:


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## Hakoona (Sep 9, 2004)

Thanks for the welcome Petrel.

The long dark teatime is on my reading list, hoping this one is a little funnier.


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## Ralizah (Sep 9, 2004)

I never did like it. It tries too hard to be funny.


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## Spudley (Sep 10, 2004)

Hakoona said:
			
		

> usualy tis kind of reading isn't my cup of tea


So presumably it is your cup of something almost but not quite entirely unlike tea?



			
				Hakoona said:
			
		

> It's very silly and not as funny as everybody told me it was, but it does get you to thinking about allot of stuff ad it's deeper than it first apears.


Personally, I love it - it is every bit as funny as they say; I find new things that make me laugh out loud every time I read it. But it does have a lot of very dry and quirky humour, and I know a lot of people just don't get it at all, so if you have enjoyed it, then I'm pleased.

And you're right - there is a lot of hidden depth in there; once you go past the jokes and silliness, he does actually touch on some quite deep philosophical areas.



			
				Hakoona said:
			
		

> Also, has anybody else noticed how similar the book is to british sitcoms? Just a strange thought I had.


Well, it was originally a British radio sitcom, so that's understandable. They also made a TV series in the 80s, and there's a movie version in production right now which should be released next year.


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## Hakoona (Sep 10, 2004)

Ralizah said:
			
		

> I never did like it. It tries too hard to be funny.



I think if you read it again and work at getting past some of the silly stuff you could see what the author was trying to say.

By the way, great great great quote from RahXephon. Loved that Anime!!


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## Hakoona (Sep 10, 2004)

Spudley said:
			
		

> Hakoona said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Thanks for the informative reply. Very interesting that the sitcom was based on a show. The movie has potential to be the most annoying thing since Barny the Dinosaur.


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## Spudley (Sep 10, 2004)

Hakoona said:
			
		

> The movie has potential to be the most annoying thing since Barny the Dinosaur.



Hehe. Yes, you're right - it could be awful. And millions of HHGG fans around the world are praying it won't be.

Its a very similar situation to the Lord of the Rings movies when they were released -- both books have a massive base of extremely loyal fans, who will be utterly scathing of anything that isn't perfect. The movie producers are treading a very fine line; it has to appease the fans, but still be accessible to everyone else. If they pull it off, it will be a triumph. If they don't, it will be a disaster.

The biggest problem the movie producers have is that Douglas Adams died a couple of years ago, so this will be the first HHGG project that he hasn't been directly involved in. That could be used by the more obsessive fans as a way to attack it. (though the can hardly blame him for dying can they?!)

It's worth pointing out that the TV series had some very cheesy effects, but nevertheless managed to capture the essence of the book quite well, and is generally well liked by the fans.


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## Ryushi (Sep 10, 2004)

They are so funny, i'm laughing just thinking about them :lol: 

I could never work out how many there were in the series though, 5?

Ben M

It must be thursday, i never could get the hang of Thursdays...


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## Kaven (Sep 11, 2004)

I simply adore Hitchhiker's Guide! I grew up reading them ... at every stage in my life I found something deeper and funnier to enjoy in them. I never get bored of reading them, because they seem to grow with me! Douglas Adams was a genius. Such a clever clever guy ... the plots of all his books, the Dirk Gently ones too, have this knack of being able to appear silly and chaotic on the surface, but actually when you think about it, are incredibly complex and telling. 

I know his humour is not everyone's cup of tea, but like all true fanatics that's something I have great difficulty comprehending. For me they are in many ways, perfect.

It seems, that when you meet someone who understands Douglas Adams as you do, you've met someone that understands you.


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## bobothegoat (Sep 12, 2004)

I recently bought the Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which included the entire series.  Since then it's easily become my favorite series.  I loved how it made me laugh and think at the same time.

Note that my signiture has a quote from _Mostly Harmless_.


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## Hot Ice (Sep 19, 2004)

Oooh I'm reading "The Ultamite Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy"
 I'm on the third book I think. and I totally agree that its not as funny as I was told. But it is funny and I'm really enjoying it! 
I think when some one tells you something is funny you expect it to be funnier. Maybe people should just say its a great book and not mention the funnyness. Thats my theory anyway.


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## MA2 (Dec 1, 2004)

Spudley said:
			
		

> Its a very similar situation to the Lord of the Rings movies when they were released -- both books have a massive base of extremely loyal fans, who will be utterly scathing of anything that isn't perfect. The movie producers are treading a very fine line; it has to appease the fans, but still be accessible to everyone else.



Except, through Hitchhiker's many incarnations (Radio, Vinyl, TV, Book...) it changed details often.  None of the formats were exactly like the previous one, so they have some leniency there.

Possibly the funniest books I have ever read.


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## Kelhanion (Dec 1, 2004)

Probably my favourite quote of all times is from the first book:

"The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't. "

It tells it all, now doesn't it


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## demonic_harmonic (Dec 1, 2004)

I just didn't like it. It's not that I didn't understand it; it just wasn't my type of book.


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## SacredFlame (Jan 31, 2005)

*--*

*When I first got the book I thought my dad had gotten me a dictionary! I had the whole series and it was in blue binding, and he told me to read it. I was like "are you CRAZY!?" Anyways, so I read majority of "The Hitchikers Guide to the Universe" and a partial amount of "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe", and I must admit I LOVED IT! I was kind of disappointed by the whole craze that some people had-though they didn't read the book. It gave the book a whole new title of Illiterate, or so my friends thought.

I thought it was hilarious. The whole part of him going into the basement with the missing step and the no lights and the cage and stuff-classic. Which, in my opinion, makes a great book. I'm really sick of all the cliche pieces out there now, and I think that T.H.G.T.T.U was VERY original. (Ooh come on!>&lt*


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## Pawn (Jan 31, 2005)

I loathed the TV series, loved the radio play and am almost constantly in hysterics every time I read the book.

Nice to discover you're a Hitchhiker too, Spud.


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## Pawn (Jan 31, 2005)

True. I think everyone who really, really loved that book has, since reading it, been waiting for the entire world to change as a result of it. Bummer, that.


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## Crunchy Hamster (Jan 31, 2005)

Although they don't come up in daily conversation, THHGTTG added a few new interesting words to my vocabulary.

Buzz
Frood
Slartibartfast
 and
FOURTY TWO

The last has to be said in a deep, booming mega-computer-like voice for it to have any effect or meaning. Just thought I had to point that out...


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## Pawn (Jan 31, 2005)

*Sass*
know, be aware of, meet, have sex with

*Hoopy*
really together guy

*Frood*
really amazingly together guy

Hence a phrase which has passed into hitch hiking slang, as in "Hey, you sass that hoopy Ford Prefect? There's a frood who really knows where his towel is."


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## lisajane (Jan 31, 2005)

I've never read the book. I've never even seen it.


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## valeca (Feb 1, 2005)

:O  really?
Excellent books.  Had me convinced that mice really do rule the world.  
Love the humour in them.
Is Babel Fish translators a twist on his work?


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## Pawn (Feb 1, 2005)

It's a reference, yes.


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## European_Son (Feb 9, 2005)

I loved the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy books, the comedy was pretty much spot on, and I found them so readable and entertaining, I read the first three books in three subsequent sittings (i.e I read the whole first book in one go, had some sleep, woke up, read the whole second book in one go, etc etc).

They seem rather quaintly British, I can't imagine an author from a different country writing with that sort of distinct humour (but I'm blatently biased, I think Britain produces the best comedy in the world), but perhaps thats just me.

Anyway, love the books, not so sure about the tv series and not heard the radio version _yet_, but I fear the film will be horrible. I hope to be proven wrong on this last point.


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## blademasterzzz (Feb 14, 2005)

Well, to be honest I bought this book after reading this thread, and I must say, I enjoyed it immensly. Great book.


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## Pawn (Feb 15, 2005)

Cool! I find these forums very useful for picking up new literature.


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## TrustMe (Feb 15, 2005)

Oh, I love HG2G. I can't wait until the movie comes out. But of course we're not talking about movies here, are we -- we're talking about books. Anyway, I adore book 1 through 3, but the series took a turn for the much, much worse in book 4 and 5. I couldn't even finish them.


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## Mark Question (Mar 16, 2005)

TrustMe said:
			
		

> the series took a turn for the much, much worse in book 4 and 5. I couldn't even finish them.



I think the general consensus on the decline of the trilogy is his introduction of a love interest for Arthur in the form of Fenchurch.

What Adams was thinking when he came up with her, who knows?

- I better inject some new blood into the trilogy

- I'm going to dabble in romance

- I'd better do it, everyone knows you need some sort of love story (up till that point all the books had been in keeping with Adams' flippant cynicsm)

Fenchurch is annoying. Adams seemed to realise this and killed her off in the fifth one.


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## Ajax (Mar 16, 2005)

I read Life the Universe and Everything first. I wasn't even aware that this was part of a series. When I was a kid, my father owned a grocery store, and he sold novels at one of the stands. As part of the deal, if a book didn't sell after a long time, he'd rip the cover off it and send it back to the publishing house for a return. This apparently saved them postage.

So I had this huge collection of paperbacks without covers at my house, and one of them was Life the Universe and Everthing. When I got around to reading it, I was confused as hell. Who were these people? WTF was going on in this book.

The writing was good enough (and the subject strange enough) that I needed to figure it out. So I kept reading to see if I could "get it." Good God what a brain-fry.

Eventually, of course, I discovered it was part of a series (to my relief). I can't imagine anyone writing a book like that without having something come before it. I literally felt ill at times trying to understand what was going on in there with no background info. And the way Adams writes, so much of it is just blather there for amusement, it's hard to tell if something is actually a piece of the plot or just there for fun.

I've read them all now, and I do enjoy them. Can't wait to see the movie. Maybe I'll take my kids depending on the rating.


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## EsotericAngel886 (Apr 20, 2005)

Oh my!  I love Hitchhiker's so much!  I'm afraid though that the movie might not live up to the book (not that most any cinema really does live up to their......literature equivalent shall we say).  I dunno, but I'm still really excited about it.

I think what I loved most about the book was the entries of the actual guide.  Funny as hell!

Earth: _Mostly harmless_.


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## Trouserpress (Apr 20, 2005)

As an Englishman, a comedy writer and someone who feels at odds with society is it at all surprising that Douglas Adams is one of my idols?

For those of you who are thinking about seeing the film before having heard the radio series I strongly advise that you do not do so. I have a sneaky suspicion that the film could be a biiiiig let down and it would be very wrong to attribute its failure to the late Mr Adams.

As for the TV series... it was a faithful adaptation of the first radio series, but it was sincerely hampered by its budget, the visual effects of the day and the all-round nuisance of BBC executives who don't understand art.

And finally, to anyone who didn't find any of the books very funny... WHAT PLANET ARE YOU FROM?!


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## petrel} (Apr 20, 2005)

It's been a while since I've read any Douglas Adams, but I must agree with European Son  





> I think Britain produces the best comedy in the world)


. I am a total Anglophile.


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## PaPa (Apr 20, 2005)

Pawn said:
			
		

> I loathed the TV series, loved the radio play and am almost constantly in hysterics every time I read the book.



The TV series was pretty damn dodgy, but it did have some enjoyable aspects - the casting of Arthur and Ford was good, even if Trillian and Zaphod sucked balls.  There was a particular scene that I found funny, in which Ford and Arthur wander around various areas of prehistoric earth repeatedly saying things like "It's very odd, isn't it?" - "Yes, very odd".  Upon landing in Norway: "You know, this is very odd." - "Yes, I remember you saying that."  You have to see it to understand.



> I think the general consensus on the decline of the trilogy is his introduction of a love interest for Arthur in the form of Fenchurch.
> 
> What Adams was thinking when he came up with her, who knows?
> 
> ...



I seem to be the only person who enjoyed the 4th book.  Even Adams said that he regretted writing it, but I quite liked the departure from cynicism and the more optimistic feel of the book.


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## Ajax (Apr 20, 2005)

I was going to name my kid Agrojag, but my wife wouldn't let me. She wouldn't go for Slartibartfast either.


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## EsotericAngel886 (Apr 20, 2005)

Trouserpress said:
			
		

> I have a sneaky suspicion that the film could be a biiiiig let down and it would be very wrong to attribute its failure to the late Mr Adams.



And I have a sneaky suspicion you may be correct, and that saddens me.  Of course, no one in their right mind would attribute the movie's failure to Mr. Adams, and anyone who would must be shot at once!  It would be like yelling at Tolkein for the numerous failings within the LOTR movies (not to say I didn't like them....it's just that there were some things I totally disagreed with, which I'm sure you all understand)!!!


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## Manx (Apr 21, 2005)

Hitchhikers Guide - Very clever and funny at the same time. Great science fiction too and shows you don't have to be a trekky to enjoy sci-fi! I've only read the first two in the series - I thought The Restaraunt At The End Of The Universe was better than the Hitchhiker's Guide itself, but both were good, and I will finish the set off.

My boyfriend saw some previews of the film and said it looked bad. It is a pity they spoil things in film and on TV - the new Doctor Who is a prime example of something they should have left alone. WHAT is that all about?!


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## PaPa (Apr 25, 2005)

Manx said:
			
		

> It is a pity they spoil things in film and on TV - the new Doctor Who is a prime example of something they should have left alone. WHAT is that all about?!



The new Doctor Who is just as good as the old ones, and is only hampered by the fact that you don't view it through the rose-tinted spectacles of nostalgia.  The script is fine, the characters are fine, the special effects are a considerable improvement and it's probably the best family-orientated entertainment on British TV at the moment.

You must at least admit that it's better than their last stab at resurrecting the franchise,  the shitty 1999 made for TV film they produced.


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## Ajax (Apr 25, 2005)

My only complaint is that stupid "bawaaaawaaa" soundtrack. It bugs me for some reason.

But other than that, I did enjoy it. And I like the upgraded special effects. The Doctor lives on, it would seem. No stopping that guy.


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## Manx (Apr 25, 2005)

The problem with the new Doctor Who is that the storylines are way too rushed. I watched the first one and in three quaters of an hour the characters had been introduced, a new alien species had been introduced and then killed and the world was happy and peaceful again, free from walking plastic people - the point of whom I seem to have missed. It just wasn't explained. In the old series a storyline spanned 3 or 4 episodes which made it much easier to follow.

And, of course, the doctor should have kept his scarf.


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## PaPa (Apr 26, 2005)

To be fair, only one Doctor had a noticeable scarf.


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