Mostly Harmless
Ratings351
Average rating3.8
Probably the worst of the Douglas Adams Hitchhiker's Guide series, but also my absolute favorite.
This book occasionally shows vague traces of promise, but overall it's a dud, a failed attempt, and not worth reading unless you're a Douglas Adams addict with a compulsion to read everything he ever wrote. Be warned that it's mostly dreary, depressing, and pointless.
I don't know what had gone wrong with his life at the time, but it must have been something pretty awful. Instead of writing this dud, he should have taken a nice holiday, or a bunch of happy pills, or something.
I read it a second time after almost 32 years only because I'd forgotten all about it. It is best forgotten.
I've been reading this series over the course of the past year and then some. I thoroughly enjoyed the first book, but the more I read, the more it dissolved into a fever dream. I treaded on because of the comedic absurdity, but I could not have explained the plot to you (if there even was a plot). I also found it kind of sad that for a book dealing with literal aliens, somehow earthly stereotypes and sexist jokes continued to make an appearance. oh well.
Incredibly slow for the first half but eventually picks up and then finishes quite abruptly. Some funny and clever stuff but not on par with the earlier books in the trilogy, imo.
Of all the books in the Hitchhiker's series, this one seems the darkest. There is a weird cynicism presented throughout which says, yes terrible things are happening in the universe and only the main characters seem to care. In this particular case, it's the wild and crazy Ford Prefect.
I might have forgotten about this book deliberately and pretended the series ended with Life, the Universe, and Everything if only because that would wrap up things for Arthur nicely, taking him from passive tourist to active participant in saving the galaxy.
Still, I like this book. Adams can't really write a bad one; all the humor and bizarre story stuff is there. The bits with Arthur and his daughter are interesting, though I have a lot of questions about the character motivation on Trillian's part that never get resolved. Selfishly having a daughter with Arthur's DNA and without his permission, then sticking the responsibility on him seems out of character, but then we never learned much about her anyway. We get more here, with the story of her life in an alternate reality where she does not go off with Zaphod.
If you're a die hard fan, it's an entertaining book to read. If you're casually interested in the old Hitchhiker's phenomenon, this one's skippable.
In which Douglas Adams gets his teeth into the multiverse. More plot (of sorts), less anarchic humour. The End. 3.5 stars.
A rather unpleasant way to end the series, particularly spoiled by the presence of the surprise daughter; the stereotypical selfish, needy tween girl (which is a solid way to ruin any form of media).
This book lacks the lightness and zaniness of the previous Hitchhiker books. I basically read it because I wanted to see how the whole thing ended, and now I know. Probably should have stopped at “So Long and Thanks for All the Fish”.