Title: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Author: Douglas Adams
Series: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy #1
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Humour, Science fiction, Space
Pace: Fast
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 1979
Wow can I understand the hype surrounding The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy now. There is something so witty and hilarious about this entire story, and from the very first sentence, I really didn’t want to put it down. Sometimes books that I find have a whole lot of hype surrounding them (I’m looking at you Wuthering Heights) are just kind of crappy or a seriously major let down. That is so many levels of not the case with The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It well deserves its reputation and now I’m just sad that I’ve only introduced it into my life in my thirties… teenage me would’ve completely run with this story and become suitably obsessed.
There is something beautifully poetic and lyrical about Adams’ turn of phrase throughout this. Honestly, without even thinking beyond the surface of the words, it was incredibly easy to get swept away. But then, you start to really think about the many different layers of meaning. There were some moments and sentences throughout that I read multiple times. Partly because they were well written and enjoyable to taste with my literary tongue. But also because every time I read the sentence, something new would come up for me.
Probably one of my favourite things about The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is the pure randomness of the entire story. It starts with the earth getting destroyed and a few drinks down at the pub. And then it meanders through to the Answer and there’s all sorts of shenanigans and nonsense along the way. Honestly, if I had to give a synopsis for the story and explain what actually happens in this book, it would be just as meandering and nonsensical as the story. Which is exactly how it should be. A wonderfully joyous and hilarious adventure that I will most definitely repeat again in the future.
All in all, what I took most as the theme and message of this novel was the absurdity of humanity. We are so damn self-involved and fixated on our own journeys that sometimes we forget that other species, people, things exist and have their own emotional lives too. And, as such, it’s possible that we are not actually the most intelligent animals on the planet, or indeed, in the universe. Our presumptiveness (whether as an individual or a species) could very well be our undoing. Something that we should probably be reminded of more often than not.
| <- Young Zaphod Plays it Safe | The Restaurant at the End of the Universe -> |
Earth and Skye 