First Published: 1980

Rating: Great

"Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun."

It seems like everyone else has already read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, so I figured I should give it a go. After all, how can I call myself a science fiction fan if I haven’t read anything by the late Douglas Adams ? Although after reading it, maybe I should ask this--do I still get to call myself science fiction fan if I read this genre classic and didn’t think it was worthy of an excellent rating?

Don’t get me wrong; I enjoyed the book. I love British humor, and I offer as proof of this claim my ownship of the complete DVD collection of Blackadder. But I think a lot of the fun of this brand of comedy is being able to hear the tones and nuances, so while The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy may have made an excellent radio play (I don't know; I haven't heard it), something seems to be lost in book form.

I’ll set up the plot for you, though Adams’ fiction seems to have no interest in logical, plot-driven narratives. Our intrepid hero, Arthur Dent, wakes up with a hangover, finds his house about to be bulldozed, and, after laying about in front of it for a bit, goes to the pub with his friend Ford Prefect.

Unbeknownst to Arthur, Ford is an alien, and also unbeknownst to Arthur, the Earth is about to be effectively bulldozed, too. But Ford is an accomplished hitchhiker--in fact, he's a major contributor to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy--and he manages to hitch a ride for them both on the same ship that zaps Earth into oblivion.

They proceed to go on adventures; hilarity ensues. 

It’s a good book, a great book if your tastes lean more to the absurd. If they don’t—you might not like it so much. If you do like it, there are four more books after this one--The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Life, the Universe, and Everything, So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, and Mostly Harmless. You might want to have one handy, because the ending to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is incredibly abrupt.

One thing to keep in mind while reading this book is that it's not supposed to be a great literary masterpiece--it's supposed to be fun. The lack of plot, the non sequiturs, the deus ex machina, and all the other elements that go against what they told you to do in your novel writing class--in Adams' capable hands, they serve to make the book interesting and enjoyable.

And you may find, as I found, that the novel actually makes a great deal more sense than a lot of the post-modern absurdist literary--dare I say--drivel that gets published today. It discusses some of the deeper philosophical questions of science fiction, and it offers a commentary on society that, decades after its publication, is still quite applicable.

Furthermore, even though it was not really my cup of tea, I encourage you to read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for the following reasons: 1) It is short. 2) It is a quick, fun read. 3) It is fairly amusing. 4) Reading it will give you insight into the origins of many pop culture references, such as Babel Fish and 42. 5) Everyone else has read it and enjoyed it, so why not give it a try?

 [Buy The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy at Amazon.com] | [Buy Douglas Adams books at BookCloseouts.com]