Douglas Adams
HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1979)
Author: Douglas Adams
Genre: Science Fiction (Space Opera/Humorous)
Plot Summary:
Arthur Dent never could get the hang of Thursdays and this Thursday would change his life forever. Arthur awakes to his house about to be demolished by a bulldozer so that a bypass can be built. So in an effort to abate this process he does the only thing he can think of with such short notice and a slight hangover; he lies down on the ground, wearing his pajamas, robe, and slippers, in front of the approaching bulldozer. While arguing with Mr. L. Prosser, who works for the local council and is a direct male-line descendant of Genghis Khan, Arthur’s friend Ford Prefect arrives to speak with Arthur about a few things, but he needs to do it down at the pub. Ford talks Prosser into taking Arthur’s place on the ground in front of the bulldozer until he brings Arthur back from the pub. Ford explains to Arthur that he is not from earth but actually from a planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse, he is not an out of work actor but is a researcher for a book called The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and the Earth is about to be destroyed by a Vogon fleet to build a new hyperspace bypass. Ford takes Arthur with him as he hitches a ride on one of the Vogon ships. As it happens Vogons do not like hitchhikers and they are soon caught, forced to listen to Vogon poetry, which is the third worst in the universe, and are tossed into the vacuum of space. This would be quite the death sentence for any being had it not been for at the exact same moment a ship called the Heart of Gold was travelling through the exact same coordinates as Arthur and Ford and through an infinite improbability picked them up. This is explained by the ships main power system; the infinite improbability drive. The Heart of Gold has been stolen by the President of the Galaxy, Zaphod Beeblebrox. Zaphod, who happens to be Ford’s cousin by which they share three of the same mothers, is travelling with Tricia McMillan (now known as Trillian) and the two mice she took with her when she left earth, and Marvin the paranoid android (a robot with clinical depression and a brain the size of planet. Arthur and Ford then join the others on their search for the planet Magrathea, a planet that designed custom planets before the galactic economy collapsed. After they arrive on the planet Arthur is separated from the others, who happen to get kidnapped, and is approached by Slartibartfast and taken deep into the inner area of Marathea where Arthur is needed to help fix some recent problems that have presented themselves. SPOILER: As it turns out the mice that Trillian had been carrying around were actually Frankie and Benjy Mouse a pan-dimensional race that had Earth built after they were told by the super-computer Deep thought that building Earth was the only way to figure out the Ultimate Question to the Ultimate answer, 42. The mice realizing that Arthur is the last human need his brain so they can extract the Ultimate Question, seeing as how earth was destroyed five minutes before the experiment was complete. After Arthur refuses to give up his brain there is a brief scuffle which is interrupted by Magrathea alarms as the galactic police arrive to arrest Zaphod for stealing the Heart of Gold. While the group escapes the mice they are confronted by two police men. Marvin talks the police’s control ship’s computer to commit suicide taking with it the police men’s life support system. As the group escapes the planet they decide they are hungry and decide to take in a bite to eat at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
Geographical Setting: Earth and Space
Time Period: 20th Century
Series: Hitchhiker's Guide To the Galaxy, Book 1
Appeal Characteristics:
First and foremost Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is a humorous social satire and full of classical British wit, as Kirkus reviews calls it “Sci-Fi Monty Python style” (Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 1980). The story is very cinematic in nature and fantastical in its unfolding. The action parts read very quickly but this is tempered with information from the “Guide” explaining the things in space that our hero Arthur Dent comes across giving this title a rollercoaster pace. The inserts from the guide and the narrator also provide a philisophical lean to the book addressing the question "why are we here and what is the purpose of existence," bridging the gap between action-driven and philisophical Science Fiction.The story essentially revolves around Arthur Dent who is clearly defined; however secondary characters such as Ford, Trillian, and Zaphod are not sacrificed and are given just enough care to help the reader identify with them as well. The book has an enormous created world (universe?) which the author expounds on throughout the rest of the Hitchhiker’s series.
Read-alikes: In addition to the rest of the Hitchhiker’s series, fans of this book should seek out the different versions of the series. Originally created as an audio play for the BBC and then becoming a novel, and eventually and television series, and most recently a movie, Douglas Adams has written and co-written most everything associated with each of these projects. Each new format brought with it changes to the story making for some drastically different versions but all holding true to the original concept of the story. The book series itself holds four more titles, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, i>Life, the Universe, and Everything, So Long and Thanks for All the Fish, and Mostly Harmless. Another title that involves socials satire, humor, space travel, and questions of the meaning of life is Kurt Vonnegut’s Sirens of Titan. According to SFReader.com the story takes the reader on “ a rollercoaster ride of imagination, planet by planet,“ and a user suggestion from Library Thing “"before The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - more than 20 years before it - there was THIS book about space travel, time travel, and the "ultimate answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything". For those not so interested in exploring Science Fiction one author who uses humor and wit and writes in a very cinematic style in a similar way to Adams is Jasper Fforde. Novelist recommends his Thursday Next novels starting with The Eyre Affair the first in the series. If one is more interested in Fantasy titles Good Omens by Terry Prachett and Neil Gaiman will give the reader humor in addition to the well rounded characters. According to Readalike.org it is a similarly fantastical story written in a similar style. Finally rounding out this read-a –like list with Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers by Grant Naylor, which coincidentally began as a BBC television series. Reader reviews on Amazon.com overwhelmingly link the humor, writing style, and space setting to having very much in common with Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s series.
Red Flags: Mild Language and Mild Violence.
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