This radio play is one of the smartest and funniest around. Adams' largely plotless creation is full of ironic humour, as well as complete wierdness. The 'story' follows an earthman, Arthur Dent, who is rescued when the Earth is destroyed (to make way for a hyperspace Bypass) by his friend, Ford prefect, who turns out to be a hitchiking alien. What happens next is less of a story than an explosion in a wierness factory, with frequent interruptions from Peter Jones as the book of the title, The Hitchiker's Guide To The Galaxy. Although the pace is fast, the events wacky, and the whole thing seems directionless, every chance remark by the characters,or seemingly pointless interjection by The Book does eventually get resolved. This means that as you progress throught it, the whole thing seems to reach some sort of identity in a way that is very complex and clever. If you have the stamina for this, it is incredibly entertaining. The books, too are well worth a look. They came later than the radio play, and are based on it. They are just as wacky and intelligent, letting writer Douglas Adams explore just about every possible idea in existence, from rain gods, to people who can fly! (Its just a matter of falling and forgetting to hit the ground, apparently. All you have to do is distract yourself at the crucial moment....) Both the books and radio series are well worth exploring. They have a long shelf-life because every time you listen to or read them you discover new connection that you missed the first time. There was a T.V. version of the radio play made, which is available on video. This is the worst of the lot, as Adams' gags often depend on the imagination and don't transfer well to T.V. Probably not worth bothering with.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Advantages: Hilarious, Classic, Well-written, Well-acted, generally brilliant. Disadvantages: Not in a terribly convenient format for listening to one episode at a time
Jul 4th, 2002
very helpful by (26%):
helpful by (66%):
somewhat helpful by (7%):
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