The Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy

[Anat]

hi everybody

this one's a bit old, but a must if you like science fiction and a good laugh.

Has anyone read it already? What did you think?

Anat

[Anat]

The opening quote from the second book in this four parts trilogy:


There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizzare and inexplicable.


When you turn the page, it continues to say...


There is another theory which states that this already happened.

[TWTCommish]

Can someone give me the jest of this book? I hear a lot of people (both Christian and secular) who recommend it. What's it about? Just random ramblings really?

Sure sounds interesting, that's for sure.

[Anat]

The plot is not very important. I'm actually re-reading it now and I noticed that I remember phrases from the book and the unique atmosphere but I hardly remember anything of the story.

Basically it begins when the eaeth is demolished because of beurocratic misunderstanding really - someone was planning a bypass in space and it just happened to be in the way. When the earth people protest they are told by the autorities :


There's no point in acting all surprised about it. All the planning charts and demotition orders have been on display in your local planning department in Alpha Centauri for fifty of your earth years, so you've had plenty of time to lodge any formal complaint and it's far too late to start making a fuss about it now.

One earthman is saved when his friend (who turns out to be an alien) takes him along as he escapes the earth by hitchhiking with the space ship that came to destroy Earth. From then on it's the story of their journeys in the bizzare universe.

The book is influenced by the quantum theory. You know that they say in quantun theory that anything's possible - it's all a question of probablities. Well, the basic assumption in the book is that as it's all a matter of probablity, then in an endless (or at least very big) universe anything is bound to happen at some point or another. And so the strangest things happen in a mix of the most ordinary Englishness (the guy who was saved was English) and the most extraordinary incredible things.

It's great IMO and very very funny. I envy you for reading it for the first time.

Anat

[jamesglewisf]

I read it in 1988 while backpacking through Europe, but I don't remember much about it. I remember it being interesting, but not that interesting.

[utah007]

I just finished reading The Ultimate Hitchiker's Guide.... It had The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Life the Universe and Everything, So Long and thanks for the fish, The Restaurant at the end of the Universe, and Mostly Harmless... I think that was all, anyway it was the whole trilogy (lol) plus a bonus (Mostly Harmless).
By far one of the finest pieces of fiction I've read. Sheer genius...
To add on to Anat's description, with the quantum theory there is the possibility of parallel worlds and universes as well as time travel. In short "Nothing is impossible only highly improbable..."
The book is great... It pokes fun at rational thought. Douglas Adams jumps up to my second favorite author... My first being Robert A. Heinlein.

[Grimey]

I haven't read it.

[theyeti]

I've read parts of it. The whole thing has been near the top of my list for a long time but I just haven't gotten around to it...

[dreuby]

It's just come in the top 5 great works of fiction in this years "Big Read".