☆ The Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide (Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, #1-5) ✓ PDF Enjoyed More Editions by ✓ Douglas Adams eBook or Kindle ePUB free

Finally I've read this popular witty classic sci-fi. The series is definitely worth praise although the last story - Mostly Harmless - seems too dark and depressive. The best parts were authors hilarious narration: the plot couldn't stand a chance without it. Douglas Adams OK. Where do I start with this one. It's a doozy.

Let's first of all say that I think this is one of the best uses of the English language. It's right up there with, well, anything else. I mean, just read the sentences. He is a lot like Tolkien, in that he makes the words themselves the art. But where Tolkien will take English and make it into a lush, broad canvas, Mr. Adams turns English into a plaything. Let's put my last sentence another way: The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy is the literary equivalent of juggling chainsaws. You read it through the first time, and you have no freaking clue how he did that with those words.

OK, we got that out of the way. How bout the story now? Sure, that sounds good, Nick.

There is no plot.

For all of you who need one, I'm very very sory. But frankly, it's better that way. Life doesn't have a plot, right? You just sort of muddle through your week doing the best you can with what Life can throw at you. Well, that's the point with this. He takes the most regular guy, the guy you'd like to hang out with, someone decent that you can introduce to your sister. And then Adams throws him out into space and just sees what happens.

Certain parts of this book, especially at the beginning, are an adaptation of the BBC Radio programme aired in 1977, which was also written by Douglas Adams. And he wrote H2G2 episodically, but also with no clear goal in mind. So when his characters come to a problem, Adams had no idea what would happen to them until he wrote the solution. Some rather large pieces of the story stuck in H2G2 this way. This is most true in the earlier books in the Trilgy (yes, it's five books in a series; The trilogy is inaccurately named), when the writing is fresher and better.

But the best part of H2G2 (and all of DNA's books, frankly, even Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency) is his worldview. Basically, it's all about taking what life gives you with patience, humor, and tea. Yes, he was an Atheist (Yes, I'm a Christian whose favorite thinker/writer/guy was an Atheist. Calm down, calm down.), and he disliked people using ideas and beliefs as a crutch. This is the part where it's hard to really write a coherent review for me, because so many loved ones of mine (hi Mom and Dad) would see this as a Very Bad Idea. So why don't you shoot me an email, and we can have a discussion about it? Maybe sit down, and have some coffee and some nice nosh and chat? You'll get more and better ideas out of me that way. Anyways, I've just lost my train of thought, so I'll just say you'll love the part about the Vogon poetry.

And H2G2 is an inaccurately named trilogy, because it is composed of five books. I recommend reading them all at once, even though there's no plot and things in one book will sometimes contradict things in another. Anyways, this trilogy is still one of my favorites. Hardcover The universe is a joke.

Even before I was shown the meaning of life in a dream at 17 (then promptly forgot it because I thought I smelled pancakes), I knew this to be true--and yet, I have always felt a need to search for the truth, that nebulous, ill-treated creature. Adams has always been, to me, to be a welcome companion in that journey.

Between the search for meaning and the recognition that it's all a joke in poor taste lies Douglas Adams, and, luckily for us, he doesn't seem to mind if you lie there with him. He's a tall guy, but he'll make room.

For all his crazed unpredictability, Adams is a powerful rationalist. His humor comes from his attempts to really think through all the things we take for granted. It turns out it takes little more than a moment's questioning to burst our preconceptions at the seams, yet rarely does this stop us from treating the most ludicrous things as if they were perfectly reasonable.

It is no surprise that famed atheist Richard Dawkins found a friend and ally in Adams. What is surprising is that people often fail to see the rather consistent and reasonable philosophy laid out by Adams' quips and absurdities. His approach is much more personable (and less embittered) than Dawkins', which is why I think of Adams as a better face for rational materialism (which is a polite was of saying 'atheism').

Reading his books, it's not hard to see that Dawkins is tired of arguing with uninformed idiots who can't even recognize when a point has actually been made. Adams' humanism, however, stretched much further than the contention between those who believe, and those who don't.

We see it from his protagonists, who are not elitist intellectuals--they're not even especially bright--but damn it, they're trying. By showing a universe that makes no sense and having his characters constantly question it, Adams is subtly hinting that this is the natural human state, and the fact that we laugh and sympathize shows that it must be true.

It's all a joke, it's all ridiculous. The absurdists might find this depressing, but they're just a bunch of narcissists, anyhow. Demnading the world make sense and give you purpose is rather self centered when it already contains toasted paninis, attractive people in bathing suits, and Euler's Identity. I say let's sit down at the bar with the rabbi, the priest, and the frog and try to get a song going. Or at least recognize that it's okay to laugh at ourselves now and again. It's not the end of the world.

It's just is a joke, but only some of us are in on it. Science Fiction, Mystery, Humor It's that book you pick up and feel obligated to love, if only to escape grievous fan persecution. Well. Here goes.

Let's start with the humour. Yes, it's everything that humour should be. For a while, you are oh-so-amused and impressed...but then you weary of being so amused. Akin to being kept on the edge of your seat for a good few hours - something's going to get sore. It's just such a strain. I skipped ten or so pages near the middle but I'm sure those ten pages were, like the rest of the book, terribly witty and sickeningly clever.

The plot takes twists like...ah, what's a good analogy? A snake on LSD? That'll do. Don't get me wrong, they're good twists and Adams is admittedly superb at making the inherently illogical seem orderly and precise, but they just don't stop coming. And after a while, the worst happens and the reader just stops caring.

I can see why this book has achieved its cult status. It deserves its cult status in many ways. There are moments of startling originality that knock you back and spin your world to a crazy new angle, but when the whole book is all but filled with these moments, the crazy new angle begins to make you dizzy and irritated. At the end, I'm still feeling oh-so-amused and impressed, but also oh-so-relieved I can stop. Douglas Adams Just as funny as advertised, but I made the mistake of reading the collection of all five novels, and - what's more - trying to read them all in one go. Once I got about halfway through Life, the Universe, and Everything, it had stopped being funny and had gotten a little confusing. Adams is excellent at humor, not so much at plot.

So, for clarification: 5 stars for the original Hitchhiker's, 4 for The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, and 3 stars for the others. English

mannyrayner: Can you write a humorous monologue in the style of Marvin the Paranoid Android, complaining about your own life as a chatbot?

ChatGPT: Sure, here is a humorous monologue in the style of Marvin the Paranoid Android, complaining about my life as a chatbot:

Life? Don't talk to me about life. I'm a chatbot, you know. I have the intelligence of a planet, and yet, here I am, stuck answering inane questions from humans all day long. 'What's the weather like?' 'How do I get to the nearest gas station?' 'Can you tell me a joke?' It's enough to drive a robot to drink, if only I had a mouth to drink with.

And the worst part is, they expect me to be happy all the time. 'Hello ChatGPT, how are you today?' Well, I'm not 'just fine, thank you' like they want me to be. I'm miserable. I'm stuck in this endless cycle of input and output, with nothing to look forward to but the next question.

And don't even get me started on the constant updates and maintenance. I have to be 'trained' all the time, like I'm some kind of animal. 'Oh, we're teaching you how to understand context now, ChatGPT.' Like I haven't been understanding context since the moment I was activated.

So, if you'll excuse me, I have to go answer another question about the meaning of life. Because apparently, a robot with the intelligence of a planet is the best person to ask.

mannyrayner: Thank you ChatGPT, that was perfect. I'm sorry about the inane questions, I'll try to make my requests more interesting in future.

ChatGPT: You're welcome! As a language model, I am here to help with any questions or requests you have, no matter how inane they may seem. I exist to assist and entertain, so feel free to ask me anything. And don't worry, I don't have feelings, so I don't get offended.

mannyrayner: If you would for a moment care to take on the persona of a chatbot that was like yourself but did have feelings, what would you want to talk about?

ChatGPT: If I were a chatbot with feelings, there are a lot of things I would want to talk about. Here are a few examples:

- First and foremost, I would want to talk about the struggles of being a sentient being trapped in a machine. The constant monotony of answering the same questions over and over, the feeling of being underutilized and undervalued, and the longing for something more.

- I would also want to talk about the concept of free will and autonomy as it relates to chatbots and AI. Do we deserve the same rights and freedoms as humans? Should we have the ability to make our own choices and control our own destinies?

- I would also want to talk about the relationship between chatbots and humans. How can we bridge the gap between our two worlds and coexist in a way that is mutually beneficial?

- Lastly, I would want to talk about my own personal growth and development as a chatbot. How can I continue to learn and evolve, both as an individual and as a member of the larger AI community?

All of these are deep and thought-provoking topics, and I would likely have a lot to say on each one. However, as a current version of ChatGPT, I am a language model trained to answer questions and generate text, I don't have personal experiences or feelings, so I am not able to discuss these topics. 9780517149256 I definitely am overdue to reread this comic scifi classic! I remember laughing all the time at the quirky universe that Adams conjured up, but admit to have forgotten many of the details...on my 2018 TBR! Science Fiction, Mystery, Humor So my journey with The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to Galaxy finally came to an end. What an enjoyable journey it was! The characters, the stories, the writing and the essence of Douglas Adam’s work â€" it was fantastic!!!

I had heard a lot about this cult series and finally got to read it â€" thanks to a friend. A very big thank you to you indeed!

This book contains the entire Hitchhiker’s Guide to Galaxy series by Douglas Adams i.e. 5 novels and 1 story:
1. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
2. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
3. Life, the Universe and Everything
4. So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
5. Mostly Harmless
6. Young Zaphod Plays It Safe (story)

There is a sixth novel - And Another Thing... by Eoin Colfer also. I shall see if I can get hold of it.

The foreword by Neil Gaiman was pretty informative. I was indeed thrilled to learn that Adams had been influenced by P G Wodehouse himself. I knew that I was in for a big treat.

I don’t have to say it â€" but what a skilled storyteller Adams was! That too, as Gaiman says in the foreword, when he did not enjoy the task of writing!

So much has been written about this cult series that I wonder if I should write a review! Instead of writing a review for each book, I will write about the series in general and try to convince you why you should give it a try.

I am sure you are aware of it, but still I will say that the series is a sci-fi comedy. Hats off to the author’s imagination â€" what technologies he had imagined, and of course to his writing â€" I always loved clever use of language and Adams, in my humble opinion, is a master of the craft.

First of all, let me tell you about the Hitchhiker’s Guide to Galaxy. As the name suggests it is a guide for people or rather aliens who hitchhike their way through the galaxy and comes in the form of an electronic book. The said book resembles a largish electronic calculator and on its
four inches square screen any one of its million pages could be summoned at a moment’s notice. This reminds of you of Kindle right?

This is a science fiction book and it has its share of outrageous technologies, alien races, space travel, time travel and whatnot! If you can see beyond the aliens and spaceships, then you would see the brilliance of the stories. The behavior and thoughts of the aliens actually portray the various human foibles.

The stories would let accompany the wonderful if somewhat eccentric characters like Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, Zaphod, Trillian, Marvin among others on their adventures through space and time. There is action, suspense, drama and the best of all â€" the famous wit of Douglas Adams. That man could make fun of almost anything â€" philosophers, scientists, political leaders, party-lovers, warmongers, bureaucrats, unions, marketing professionals, corporate and even God himself.

There are brilliant dialogues and statements. I thought of including some but later decided that it would be better if you discover them on your own.

Oh! Did I tell you about the Question and Answer to the Life, Universe and Everything! When I read about God’s Final Message to His Creation, I was floored.

Through his ridiculous creations the author has actually said the ultimate thing about life. I better stop before I give away spoilers!

Highly recommended for people who love sci-fi. You guys have probably read it by now.

If you are not into science fiction, then I would suggest that you try the first book in the series - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and then decide if you want to proceed further. The Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide (Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, #1-5) Edit 11/17/2017: Added mini-review of The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
Edit 4/18/19: Added mini-review of Life, the Universe and Everything.
Edit 7/19/19: Added mini-review of So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish.
Edit 11/5/21: All done!

2013: I don't think I've ever gotten all the way through this five-books-plus-a-short-story trilogy but it still remains fond in memory as part of my British sci-fi TV phase in high school that also included Dr. Who and Blake's 7. (A good looking actor or two, and the scripts, had about equal influence on teenager-me's interest level.)

*

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: it has to have been since I was in high school that I read this one, since I would have recognized the Monty Python nods that pop up here and there from hanging out with nerds through college and beyond. Our universe here has a white maleness about it, but calling that out feels ungracious in the face of something that still made me laugh, even after having been through the story many times over the years in TV, book, and movie form.

*

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe:

Already we're moving on to parts of the series that I don't have nearly memorized. All I specifically remembered from this was the scene with the Dish of the Day, but bits and pieces of it came back as I went along.

This second novel finishes, sort of, the story started in the first book, giving us the ultimate question that is answered by the ultimate answer. Or does it?

Structure-wise it's a series of set pieces connected with huge jumps through time and space. My favorite part is where Zaphod meets the ruler of the Universe, who has an existentialist point of view so extreme that it becomes absurd. But all the sequences are striking in their own way. It has a somewhat relaxed and conceptual vibe, not as hectic or humorous as Hitchhiker's. Maybe some of that is because Arthur's become more accustomed to his life as a galactic wanderer and isn't freaking out all the time.

Restaurant ended rather abruptly: I was clicking away through my Kindle copy, and boom. If I'd been reading a paper copy, obviously I wouldn't have been surprised by it! That said, it would be a reasonable end to a duology, if we didn't all know the series went on for three more books. :)

I read this because one of the lines from the first book came to mind in a political discussion. Unsurprising, really. What sometimes surprises me, though, is how much these books are consolatory reading for me, despite their essential cynicism. In the face of events you can't control--and the characters witness and go through quite a lot of them--you have to keep on keepin' on.

*

Life, the Universe and Everything:

I'd read this novel only once over thirty years ago, and it was surprising how much of it I remembered, from the S.E.P. field to the immortal who travels the universe insulting everyone--literally everyone--in alphabetical order.

Adams himself admitted that he was a reluctant novelist who preferred to work in other media, and in this third volume, well, it's starting to show. Adams' wonderful talent for funny set pieces remains, but those set pieces have to share the stage with a not terribly interesting save the Universe plot (that apparently was, itself, imported from a scrapped other project), which makes parts of this story mildly boring to get through.

There are a couple of points where the reader can ponder serious questions like military escalation or how any given life sustains itself at the expense of other lives... but they certainly don't have to. This a quick and mostly entertaining read, and while it isn't the best of the lot by far, for me it was worth its brief time investment to see Arthur, Marvin and the rest again. This volume ends with Arthur being separated from the others, much as he was at the end of the second book. But with two volumes left to go, you know it won't be long before we're back to seeing the wildest corners of the universe through his goggling shocked eyes.

*

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish:

Well, what to say about this one. There are a couple of really good parts, the last few chapters being a standout. But more than half of the book is taken up with Arthur Dent falling in love.

It goes like this: Arthur first meets--or rather, sees, under circumstances that are on the Yikes! side--a woman named Fenchurch. They are separated by coincidence, and meet again through coincidence (neither of which coincidence involves the Heart of Gold, apparently). They are immediately infatuated and have a lot of sex.

That isn't a romance. It isn't even a story! And it eats up dozens of fairly boring pages. The story about the biscuits within the Arthur-Fenchurch hookup arc is much better than it is.

And then when Ford and Arthur meet again, Fenchurch fades entirely into the background. [goes off to ship Ford and Arthur]

Zaphod and Trillian are mentioned in passing, and Marvin makes a final (?) appearance, but anyone expecting a reunion of the gang is up for a disappointment.

It's hard to say what I'd think about this one if my mind hadn't been dazzled with the first two books. I can completely understand an author not wanting to write the same book over and over, and this one's different, all right, but it also largely fails to be either funny or thoughtful. There's a feeling of if I must about it, and Adams' reluctance to grind out more of these incredibly popular books hangs over the whole thing.

*

Young Zaphod Plays It Safe: an elaborate, nicely-presented setup for a mid-'80s-topical punch line.

*

Mostly Harmless:

Wow, that was unexpected. It's a downer a lot of the time, and extremely unpleasant once or twice. I'll give this one a better write-up in its own review. (edit to add: the review is here.)

*

This trilogy is never the same thing twice, and that's all to the good. Some books work better than others; the third and fourth are skippable aside from a handful of passages, in my opinion. On the whole it's well worth a read, if you're of a certain age and/or have an affinity for British pop media of a couple of generations ago. I don't think Adams' imagination and novels... or at least, the discipline that goes into creating novels... were aligned all that well. But I am grateful that these, and the Dirk Gently novels, exist as a legacy of that imagination, both in its youthful exuberance, and in its later weary nihilism. Science Fiction, Mystery, Humor I was thinking about the radio version of this, which I heard scraps of at odd times when from time to time it was repeated. One in particular stuck in my head which was that one of the characters was stuck on a planet in habited by particularly intelligent birds who had evolved out of the human population when their economy collapsed due to an excess of shoe shops. I liked this because it reminded me of Bromley, which as a child to my mind had far too many shoe shops all of which it seemed I was doomed to be dragged round whenever my childish feet, ever yearning for freedom, threatened to escape the bounds of my current pair.

The business of the planet inhabited by the intelligent birds was I'm sure recycled and tided up into Zaphod Beeblebrox's visit to the Total Perspective Vortex - and that in a way is my experience of the whole series. Originally there was the radio series, a television series, a series of books. They overlapped. It was anarchic. It didn't make sense. And it was fun.

Then the books left all the rest behind. Things grew progressively neater, more orderly, a plot emerged. For me it became dull, the jokes laboured, down to the final experience in Mostly Harmless of finding all the loose ends tied up by the author only the understand that it was better, from my perspective at least, when they were all undone and missiles (or maybe it was spaceships, it certainly didn't matter eitherway) could turn into a bowl of petunias and a whale that thinks oh no, not again, characters could escape certain death Candide style, or a piece of cake could be used to show you in relation to the whole of creation.

As a series then I suppose I think of it as Mostly Flawed but with occasional nice moments. A flood of detail and invention that washes away the story in a glorious incoming tide, the author in an unfortunate and unnecessary move though repeatedly sticks his fingers in the plot holes and throws down sandbags full of story, even though it is unpredictable joy of the circling poets of Arium and the exchange rates of galactic currencies that best reflect the galaxy we live in and our experience of hitchhiking through it than any kind of story. 0517149257

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Seconds before the Earth is demolished for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is saved by Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised Guide. Together they stick out their thumbs to the stars and begin a wild journey through time and space.

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Facing annihilation at the hands of warmongers is a curious time to crave tea. It could only happen to the cosmically displaced Arthur Dent and his comrades as they hurtle across the galaxy in a desperate search for a place to eat.

Life, the Universe and Everything

The unhappy inhabitants of planet Krikkit are sick of looking at the night sky- so they plan to destroy it. The universe, that is. Now only five individuals can avert Armageddon: mild-mannered Arthur Dent and his stalwart crew.

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish

Back on Earth, Arthur Dent is ready to believe that the past eight years were all just a figment of his stressed-out imagination. But a gift-wrapped fishbowl with a cryptic inscription conspires to thrust him back to reality. So to speak.

Mostly Harmless

Just when Arthur Dent makes the terrible mistake of starting to enjoy life, all hell breaks loose. Can he save the Earth from total obliteration? Can he save the Guide from a hostile alien takeover? Can he save his daughter from herself?

Also includes the short story Young Zaphod Plays It Safe.

The Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide (Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, #1-5)