Book Review: Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Title: The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Author: Douglas Adams
Published: 6 stories between 1979 and 1992
Pages: 815
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: 5/5

Buy  |  Borrow  |  Accept  |  Avoid

Plot Synopsis

Well, there are six stories in this volume, so let's give a quick run-down of each. First, we have the book that hooked me, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy which chronicles the adventures of Ford and Dent as they roam through the universe after the destruction of Earth - a hyperspatial express route was needed and Earth was in the way.

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, book 2, pairs Ford and Dent with Zaphod and Trillian. The four spend their time seeking the ultimate question to the ultimate answer, and watching the end of the universe.

Life, the Universe, and Everything plays upon the previous two novels and has Dent and company are tasked with saving the universe.

So Long and Thanks for all the Fish brings us back to Earth, not currently demolished for the bypass. Arthur must figure out why - and where all the dolpins went.

Young Zaphod Plays it Safe, book 5, has Zaphod exploring the reasons a ship that could never crash crashed and learning a few disturbing secrets about himself and the universe along the way.

The last book, Mostly Harmless, has Arthur trying to get back to Earth, but becoming a master sandwich maker instead. While he's making his sandwiches some not good things are happening to the Guide.

Weekly Geeks asked participants to list books they have read but not reviewed and then invite others to ask questions about these books. The idea was to help us catch up on our reviews. I listed Hitchhiker's Guide as one of those books. I'm pretty sure most people thought I meant only the original, and honestly that's probably what I was thinking when I listed the book, but I thought if I was going to review, I may as well throw in the Ultimate Guide.



Louise wanted a quick summary of HHG.

*points above*

Bart from Bart’s Bookshelf had some excellent questions for an HHG reader including “do you know where your towel is” and “who is your favorite character”.

Well Bart, I have a plethora of towels in various locations just in case. I have a towel in the trunk of my car, attached to my golf bag, in a drawer at work, and of course there is a square-shaped material of some sort in every room of my house.

My favorite character.....tough one.....I adore Marvin with his pessimistic, fatalistic depression. He definitely ranks up there on a list of favorite characters. And I would think that second place would probably go to Ford. His personality is addicting.

Becky asks: Did you enjoy this one? Who would you recommend this one to? Do you think it would be a good place for sci-fi newbies to start? Have you read any of the sequels? Have you seen the movie? If you have, would you recommend them?

I think this is an excellent place for SF newbies to start because the book never takes itself too seriously like some SF books do. The humor is laugh-out-loud funny and rather insightful. I have read all of the sequels and have seen the movie. The sequels I highly recommend; the film is so-so. Like many book-film transitions, the movie is just too different and doesn't capture the complex, humor-filled, satirical essence of HHG.

Jodie of Book Gazing asks: What was your favourite crazy sci-fi detail from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy? How do you feel about the proposed ‘new’ Hitchhiker book being written by Eoin Coiffer?

This is a tough question. My favorite crazy sci-fi detail from HHG? I'm not even sure I could pick one without re-reading the novels. A few things jump out at me: the origins of the human species being the unnecessaries from another culture, the Earth game cricket's connection to the Krikkit Wars, and the gin and tonic phenomena are the ones which really stand out.

I'm fine with someone writing a new HHG book. I'm not a fan of re-telling whether it's a book, movie, or song, but I'm a-okay with new authors/directors/singers adding to the collection. For example, Coiffer adding a book to the HHG series is perfectly acceptable; him trying to rewrite the original HHG, not so much. Madonna remaking American Pie, ugh; Kid Rock using portions of Sweet Home Alabama to create a new song, okey-dokey. Texas Chainsaw Massacre 45...good stuff; updated version of Psycho, bad. Make sense?

My Final Thoughts on HHG

When people ask me if I have a favorite book, this is the only one which always makes the list. And yes, I give a list when someone asks for a favorite book. HHG, the original single story, appealed to me so much when I first read it (sometime in high school), I re-read the book immediately after finishing it - two readings in less than three weeks.

I love the way it is written. For example, I just randomly let the book fall open and this is the passage that first caught my eye:

Bypasses are devices that allow some people to dash from point A to point B very fast while other people dash from point B to point A very fast. People living at point C, being a poitn directly in between, are often given to wonder what's so great about point A that so many people from point B are so keen to get there, and what's so gread about point B that so many people from point A are so keen to get there. They often wish that people would just once and for all work out where they hell they wanted to be.

Hilarious.