The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Ratings2,452
Average rating4.2
A quirky, fun, and concise satirical sci-fi novel. Featuring an awesome performance from Stephen Fry on the audiobook.
When Earth is set to be destroyed, Arthur Dent's friend, who is secretly an alien, takes him off of Earth, saving his life. Ford Prefect is a researcher for “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy”, a book that details out basically everything there is to know about the different planets, peoples, etc. What follows is a fun, silly adventure as they try to find their place now in a galaxy with Earth.
This book was fun. The story was silly and there were a few chuckles throughout. It was kind of boring, though. There didn't really feel like there were any stakes since the book was more lighthearted and fun. It wasn't a bad book by any means, but I don't really have a whole lot to say about it. It was cute with some fun characters and interesting settings. Worth a quick read if you like this kind of story.
TW: suicide
This book is best thought of as a series of almost hallucinatory episodes, written by a truly original mind. Don't worry about the plot, just allow yourself to be immersed in a very lopsided - but acutely observed - universe.
Don't panic.
Only rarely does any media manage to merge sci-fi with humour - for most other genres, they can meet sci-fi somewhere in between, but it isn't easy to meld comedy, from my experience.
H2G2 towers above the rest when it comes to this - through a spectacular mixture of humour in the vein of Monty Python, surrealism/absurdism and excellent quotes.
There's little to no plot, considering the novel takes its hitchhiking aspects seriously - so the book is just characters meeting, interacting and then moving on. This lack of story can understandably be a dealbreaker to many (the destruction of Earth takes place within the first few chapters, and it's just glossed over). But if you can read beyond that, H2G2 begins to take a life of its own. Another plot point I loved was the treatment of sentience - and the iconic ‘the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything.'
All in all, as an intro to the series, I couldn't have asked for anything better - and even read as a standalone piece, the humour is amazing - well worth reading for, and I'm looking forward to reading the entire series soon.
This is the fourth time I've tried and it's just not for me. Thoroughly unamusing.
I actually want to read this again because there's quite a few times where I was so invested that I actually forgot to consciously think about what I was reading. A few bits in the middle to do with character motivation confused me a bit, but it just adds to the general wackiness. That is what prevents me from giving it the 5 stars it probably deserves.
A book that recognizes the absurdity of life in a surprisingly uncynical way. A blast to read from start to finish. The characters aren't the most complex, (the short page count doesn't leave much room for character development), but I liked them nonetheless. And it was very funny of course!
This is a possible addition to my favourites list.
The story was kinda weird, but I enjoyed it. I liked the sense of humor, and the weirdness of it all.
This is an awesome book that I could not put down! I loved every single one of the characters and loved the great jokes and puns too! I highly recommend reading this book for something immerse, entertaining, and extremely interesting. I actually was not aware that I was chiming near the end and was very sad when it ended. But, it was an amazing book. I'm definitely going to read this a million more times in the future!
What a great way to end such a dreadful year! This was my first time reading this (audiobook narrated by Stephen Fry) and I had a good few lol moments. It was comforting and fun and I loved every second of it.
Average rating of 4.22.
Over 1.4M ratings.
Sci-Fi.
Regarded as one of the funniest books ever written.
And only 130 pages long!
I must admit that the length was the main reason I decided to read this. No way I wasn't gonna read such a critically acclaimed book which I would finish in just about 4 hrs. Boy was I overconfident.
Date started: 18 Aug
Date finished:27 Aug
Total: 10 DAYS
10 DAYS. 130 pages. WTF HAPPENED?!
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Why it's a Fiasco
-Just a few days before this I had finished a book of 360 pages in about 3-4 days. Yes, my reading speed is not good but I should have been able to finish this in 1-2 days. So why did it take a lot more days? Because it's just a nothing story, except for the first few chapters everything else was bleak, stupid & not good enough to hold my interest & curiosity. I switched off my Kindle probably more than 100 times & looked to do some other things to pass the time. That's how these 10 days went, everyday I'd think that I will definitely finish it today but I kept delaying it. I should have put this in the dnf shelf & moved on but I don't like doing that & the page length of 130 was in my head the whole time. I wanted it to be over after only like 6 chapters, that's how dismal this experience was.
-Filled with pointless descriptions: Probably the main reason for the downfall of this book for me. You can't create a compelling enough plot if your book is full of descriptions of inanimate objects & other rubbish stuff. Here's an example of many such descriptions which drove me crazy:
“Its main console was installed in a specially designed executive, mounted on an enormous executive desk of finest ultramahogany topped with ultrared leather. The dark carpeting was discreetly sumptuous, exotic plot plants and tastefully engraved prints of the principal computer programmers and their families were deployed liberally about the room, and stately windows looked out upon a tree-lined public square.”
I DON'T CARE ONE BIT ABOUT THE TOPPING OF A FUCKING DESK!
-Underwhelming humor: Where is the highly praised humor that was promised? What was I supposed to find funny? The absurd names, terms for characters & objects? Seems like this book is using a sense of humor which was done & dusted a long time ago. Still there were 2 instances when I genuinely laughed but both the jokes in those cases had the element of surprise. Was that the plan? To bore me for hours & then drop a joke out of nowhere? Well played then. So other than those 2 instances I found the humor to be a big let-down. Would have liked it if the jokes were present frequently throughout.
I wish I could get back the time & energy I wasted on this bullshit. This book has thrown me into a reading slump from which it will be a struggle to get out of. Well lessons have been learnt. Don't underestimate a book of 130 pages, it can very well turn out to be a slugfest.
Lectura muy animada y divertida por la gran gracia de la escritura de Adams. A veces resulta complejo de saber como sigue la historia pero todo acaba cuadrando con el mejor ingenio y una subyacente crítica. Todo esto sin dejar de lado muchos de los tópicos de las novelas de ciencia ficción y, más en concreto, del género espacial.
I tried again. DNF at around 50%. I think it's just too silly for me. I can definitely see how this would be a great read for some people but it's just not for me.
Stephen Fry is a master at voicing characters!
His perfect transition from an alien to a human is really fun to listen to :)
This book was an absolute joy, and has been on my to read list for quite some time.
I remember watching the movie and falling in love with the bizarre concept introduced, and thouroughly enjoyed Alan Rickman as Marvin :D
Would recommend!
Love the writing style and found myself chuckling out loud often, but there is very little point to the plot (which I know, ís the point of the plot, but which still made it hard to care sometimes)
Als Hörbuch gehört.
Verdienterweise ein Klassiker.
Die Interpretation von Christian Ulmen ist hervorragend. Kann mir aber vorstellen dass Sie nicht Jedermanns Sache ist.
Loved this book! I heard it was a must read and I wasn't disappointed. I was already familiar with some great quotes from the book and finding those in the text felt like rediscovering something dear and precious.
It's a light read with a lot of great jokes. Word of caution: you end up laughing out a lot and having to explain to people around you what's so funny. But there's also deeper stuff here, Adams manages to keep it hilarious but also hits the nail.
Definitely recommend this one to everybody, doesn't matter if you like sci-fi or not. Read it!
Finally read this cult book. I completely understand why people love it. But it was not for me. All this made up units that make absolutely no sense drove me up the wall even though I understand the entire point was that they make no sense. Oh well.
I watched the movie then read all the other books years ago, now is the first time I've read the first book and wow so different than I expected.
He's just brilliant. if you like Monty Python and Terry Pratchett, you'll like Douglas Adams.
