Douglas Adams (1) (1952–2001)

I hate to admit this but this series is just not that great. The first book is brilliant, the second is entertain, and well, I have to wonder if Adams was running out of steam when he wrote this. He is working with uninspired ideas and his inability to write characters as anything but vehicles for punchlines and guttural confusions is trying to say the least.
There's just not much of a point of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy being a series other than each entry is a weaker form of satire than the last.

Oh, well. At least Martin Freeman's narration made this somewhat enjoyable. I'd say just read Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and stop there.… (mais)

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is the first of five books in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy comedy science fiction series written by the one and only Douglas Adams. The novel is an adaptation of the first four parts of Adams' radio series of the same name. It is perhaps one of the most beloved British science-fiction books of all time, one that combines humor with absurd but often acute observations on issues of materialism, the nature of existence, and the role of bureaucracy. You probably know the plot of its somewhat meandering story of Arthur Dent and Ford Perfect, the famous space wayfarers of the series.

In any incarnation, the Guide follows a befuddled and homeless earthling named Arthur Dent as he tries to navigate a universe filled with hyperintelligent but depressed androids, sentient mattresses, multiple dimensions, extremely bad customer service, mice trying to steal human brains to figure out the ultimate question that will explain the meaning of life the universe and everything, and so on and so forth. It's wacky, brilliant, and often, as all satire does, sheds light on the human condition: mainly how we can be so naive and futile.

The series is beloved and, for all its absurdity, predicted several bits of modern technology with spooky prescience. The Guide the series is named after sounds a lot like Wikipedia. The Babel Fish software that translates foreign websites for you is named after a species of fish that Adams created to help travelers of space translate alien languages.

The book is even insightful into the nature and intersection of celebrity and politics . Adams doesn't muck about with how Beeblebrox became president (and he only stays president long enough to steal a spaceship), but the impression is that everyone was shocked by the whole affair, not least Zaphod. Still it was and is a way to feed his hippie ego. "I freewheel a lot. I get an idea to do something, and, hey, why not, I do it. I reckon I'll become President of the Galaxy, and it just happens, it's easy," he says at one point. "It's like having a Galacticredit card which keeps on working though you never send off the checks." Sounds a bit like Donald Trump and numerous other politicians if you ask me.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a classic. If you haven't read it, give it a shot. It's not everyone cup of tea but if you love British humor, Science Fiction, satire, inspired lunacy, etc. you might just love it. Best enjoyed while drinking a pint of beer and clutching a towel.

remember: DON'T PANIC.… (mais)

A sequel to Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe continues to revolve around the life of Arthur Dent, who has found himself in outer space, on The Heart of Gold, being hunted by Vogons, and earth less. Travelling with Ford, Zaphod and Trillian throughout space and time, two questions emerge: firstly, who is the ruler of the known universe? And foremost, where shall we have lunch?
Witty and smart, not to mention, just a bit zany, Adam's combines the improbable with the ordinary. It is an amazing concoction of humour, adventure and philosophy but with a storyline that zig-zags all over the place.
Despite being a fun read, its ideas don't quite live up to Adams' first book in this series. Therefore, I found his ambitions for this novel comparatively underwhelming. There's an exchange between Arthur and Zahpod that sort of sums up my general feeling about the second book
“Look Earthman,” he said angrily, “you’ve got a job to do, right? The Question to the Ultimate Answer, right?”
“What, that thing?” said Arthur. “I thought we’d forgotten about that.”
Martin Freeman narratives the audio book and I must say, it is well worth a listen. Just don't expect to make to much sense of the plot points - it’s the journey not the destination that’s fun here. It's a wacky story, that in the end, leaves our heroes stranded on a pre-historic earth.… (mais)

Yes, So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish has a loose plot (mostly focusing on Arthur Dent and his girlfriend Fenchurch) and it is quite different from the farcical satire that comprised the first three books. At its heart this a romantic comedy, focused on Arthur discovering a new Earth (you see the dolphins, having escaped the destruction of the Earth by the Vogons, have gratefully provided humanity with a new planet) and a new girlfriend, Fenchurch. This fourth book suffers from a slow start, and a lack of Adams typically overt zaniness (although the dolphins are clearly the highlight).

There's less science fiction silliness here, which is what I typically come to Adams for. The plot is certainly more straightforward than the previous last three entries.

The different tone also reflects the rushed nature of the writing; Adams' editor Sonny Mehta moved in with the author to ensure that the book met its (extended) deadline. As a result, Adams later stated that he was not entirely happy with the book, which includes several jarring authorial intrusions, which fellow author and Adams' biographer Neil Gaiman described as "patronising and unfair".… (mais)