... The process will take slightly less than two of your earth minutes. Thank you’
That was the moment when the people of earth discovered that they are not alone in the universe; Arthur Dent discovered that his friend Ford Prefect was not from Guildford after all, but a small planet somewhere ... Read review
Losing your planet isn't the end of the world . . . the movie tie-in edition of Douglas ... more
Adams's perennially popular novel, with exclusive on-set stories, interviews and pictures. Pan's tie-in edition of this cult classic will include substantial extras...
Postage & Packaging: refer to website Availability: in stock
Wonderfully wacky. Absurdly hysterical. Insanely irreverent. It's the laugh-out-loud ... more
intergalactic comedy The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy. Based on Douglas Adams' best-selling novel and filled with out-of-this world visual and special effects, this is one ride you don't want to miss. Seconds before Earth is destroyed by the nastiest creatures in the universe, mild-mannered Arthur Dent is whisked into space by his friend, an alien in human form. And so the misadventures begin as he and fellow travellers, including a two-headed Galactic President and a paranoid android, search for answers to the mystery of life, the universe and everything.
Wonderfully wacky. Absurdly hysterical. Insanely irreverent. It's the laugh-out-loud ... more
intergalactic comedy The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy. Based on Douglas Adams' best-selling novel and filled with out-of-this world visual and special effects, this is one ride you don't want to miss. Seconds before Earth is destroyed by the nastiest creatures in the universe, mild-mannered Arthur Dent is whisked into space by his friend, an alien in human form. And so the misadventures begin as he and fellow travellers, including a two-headed Galactic President and a paranoid android, search for answers to the mystery of life, the universe and everything.
Climb aboard for wacky, irreverent fun with The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy on ... more
Blu-ray's high definition disc. Based on Douglas Adams' best-selling novel, this cosmic comedy soars in this awe-inspiring new format.Seconds before Earth is destroyed, mild-mannered Arthur Dent is whisked into space by a friendly alien in human form to search for answers to the mystery of life, the universe and everything. Experience thrilling effects and intergalactic misadventures in astonishing 1080p, and feel the impact of every supernova with enhanced audio. It's a wild, out-of-this-world ride with Blu-ray High Definition.
The Earth has miraculously reappeared and, even more miraculously, Arthur Dent has found ... more
it. Returning to his cottage after ages, he falls in love with the girl of his dreams. But Ford Prefect is on to something, which might well burst Arthur's bubble. There is something fishy about his girlfriend's feet, and what has happened to all the dolphins?
Losing your planet isn't the end of the world...the movie tie-in edition of Douglas ... more
Adams's perennially popular novel with exclusive on-set stories interviews and pictures Summer 2005 finally sees the release of THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY movie from Walt Disney Pictures. Stars include Martin Freeman as Arthur Dent Sam Rockwell as Zaphod Beeblebrox Bill Nighy as Slartibartfast supercool hip-hop artist Mos Def as Ford Prefect and the gorgeous Zooey Deschanel as Trillian. Completely new characters were developed specially for the film by Douglas Adams before his death and will be played by John Malkovich and Anna Chancellor. Pan's tie-in edition of this cult classic will include substantial extras from Executive Producer Robbie Stamp: exclusive cast interviews stories and photographs from the set.
Postage & Packaging:£0.00 Availability:3-5 working days
Advantages: Incredible humour. Disadvantages: Douglas Adams R.I.P you are sadly missed
...is Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz of the Galactic Hyperspace Planning Council. Plans for development of the outlying regions of the galaxy require the building of a hyperspatial express route through your star system, and regrettably your planet is scheduled for demolition. The process will take slightly less than two of your earth minutes. Thank you’
That was the moment when the people of earth discovered that they are not alone in the universe; ... ...a small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Beetlejuice and the incredible cult that is the Hitchhikers Guide to the galaxy begins.
Back in the late 70’s the Hitch-hikers guide began life as a radio show, written by Douglas Adams, who was also a script editor for Dr Who and previous jobs had included chicken shed cleaner (according to my copy of the book) The idea for the book came when he was lying on his back, drunk in a field near ... more
‘People of Earth, your attention please. This is Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz of the Galactic Hyperspace Planning Council. Plans for development of the outlying regions of the galaxy require the building of a hyperspatial express route through your star system, and regrettably your planet is scheduled for demolition. The process will take slightly less than two of your earth minutes. Thank you’
That was the moment when the people of earth discovered that they are not alone in the universe; Arthur Dent discovered that his friend Ford Prefect was not from Guildford after all, but a small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Beetlejuice and the incredible cult that is the Hitchhikers Guide to the galaxy begins.
Back in the late 70’s the Hitch-hikers guide began life as a radio show, written by Douglas Adams, who was also a script editor for Dr Who and previous jobs had included chicken shed cleaner (according to my copy of the book) The idea for the book came when he was lying on his back, drunk in a field near Innsbruck with a Hitch-hikers guide to Europe in his hands.
The Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy, is an electronic book, with the words ‘Don’t Panic’ written in large, friendly letters across the cover. It includes much information that is essential to Hitchhikers across the galaxy and Ford Prefect is a writer and researcher updating the book. He rescues Arthur from the premature demolition of Earth by hitching a lift aboard the Vogon ship, the plot continues by them being ejected unprotected into deep space from the ship, where they are rescued by Fords cousin, the ex-president of the galaxy Zaphod Beeblebrox, who stole a space ship that he was supposed to be launching, which was fitted with the new infinite improbability drive, which when activated means the ship can simultaneously pass through every point in the Galaxy. The other main characters are Trillian, (an attractive Ape descendent who Arthur had once met at a party in Islington) and Marvin, the paranoid android who has a terrible pain in all the diodes down his left side.
So begins a series of adventures that spans 5 books ‘The Hitchhikers guide’, ‘The restaurant at the end of the universe’, ‘Life the universe and Everything’, ‘So long and thanks for all the fish’ and ‘Mostly Harmless’. The first two books were originally serialized for Radio 4 and are available on cassette, or currently on CD on Amazon at £15.99. On 21 September this year they return to Radio 4, with the last 3 books finally serialized, although there are slight changes in the cast due to the sad death of Peter Jones, the book. The late Douglas Adams himself is also playing a part, as he always wanted to play the part of Agrajag and recorded himself years ago so thanks to digital technology the great man himself can still be part of it.
The first of the books, the Hitch-hikers guide to the galaxy, is easily the most popular of the set, it takes the ‘heroes’ across the galaxy, to Milliways, the restaurant at the end of the universe. You discover how the earth was built, why it was built, the answer to Life the Universe and Everything, which it is no spoiler for me to tell you that it is actually ‘42’ and why sci-fi geeks have spent the last 20 years quoting phrases like ‘So long and thanks for all the fish’ and ‘Its Thursday, I never could get the hang of Thursdays.’
Douglas Adams does build a very bizarre link between Science Fiction and Religion; the books include whole theories on the existence of God and creation, and you meet Slartibartfast who won an award for his design of Norway. It opens with a comment that ‘one Thursday, approximately 2000 years after one man had been nailed to a tree for saying how great it would be to be nice to people for a change’.
The books therefore are not for everyone, they have a very dry sarcasm running through them with infinite numbers of potential quotes on every page. The audio books are in my opinion the best medium to enjoy the hitchhiker’s guide, probably something to do with the fact that that was the medium it was written for. Every time the characters are encountering certain death you get the monotone voice of the book giving fascinating facts about the universe (which are all true I’m sure!) I am also convinced that this gave the inspiration for Holly in the Red Dwarf series, although Holly is a more interactive version. The books were also made into a TV series, which is repeated every now and then but it is looking decidedly dated and I just didn’t find it as good. There are rumours of a film, which may be a better option with the advances of technology now at their disposal but there is something about the guide, it seems to belong to a normal croud of people who just enjoy a laugh, and I am not convinced a slick, modern film would really do it justice, and would actually take a lot of the character out of it.
No discussion about the Hitch-hikers guide to the Galaxy would be complete without a trip to the BBC website. www.bbc.co.uk/cult/hitchhikers/quiz/ this is an excellent website with quizzes about the show and you can check out other cult shows over the years Star Trek etc the hitch-hikers section even offers a personal profile test for robots wishing to work for the Syrius Cybernetics Corporation I did this test and thought you may be interested in the result:
‘You are perky, chipper, and always ready to help out with advice in a crisis. You will do anything to make your friend's lives easier, but tend not to prioritise tasks well. Most people despise you, as you have absolutely no concept of when to keep your mouth shut.’
So my apologies for anyone I have irreversibly offended, I’m sure it wasn’t intentional, so I’ll just go and soak my head in a bucket of water and thank you for reading my review.
The hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy is available on Amazon for £5.59.
MHam 23.06.2004 (23.06.2004)
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Review of The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy - Douglas Adams
Advantages: laugh out load funny Disadvantages: they've changed the cover now
...thumb and been discovered.
The quote came from a critics recommendation on one of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, Terry Pratchett being the current king of the comic sci-fi / fantasy novel an honour previously accorded to Douglas Adams. It was this quote along with the news of the death of Douglas Adams that led me to dig out hitchhiker for a re-read.
Being a fan of both authors I thought hold on I remember Hitchhiker: the radio series, ... ...Sandra Dickinson as Trillian on the TV) so I dug the book out to see whether I had a rose tinted memory or whether it is as good as I remember.
Found the book and 1st impressions are great, the cover from the 1979 edition is still stunning – green, blue, orange and pink splodges with the title picked out in red and the phrase “Don’t Panic” similarly highlighted on the back cover. So what’s is it all about I hear you ...
brownp1 02.08.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy - Douglas Adams
Advantages: Written by the late, great Douglas Adams Disadvantages: There'll be no more of his unique humour
I've just seen the tragic announcement that Douglas Adams has died after a heart attack at the criminally young age of 49. I love the guy's writing and this is a very real loss to the literary world. An extraordinary talent cut brutally short. God bless you, Douglas, you've given me some real laughs, fun and enjoyment with your books. May you rest in peace.
************************************************************************* Douglas Adams considered ... ...stupor. Fair play to the guy. As we all know, we've had some fantastically brilliant ideas when under the influence, but very few are looked on in the same way the following morning. Thankfully for the literary world, this one was still a right corker. The book centres around the exploits of two friends, Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect. Now Ford, unbeknownst to Arthur, is a galactic hitch-hiker, while Arthur is just your ordinary sort of bloke, who ...
Salgirl 12.05.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy - Douglas Adams
...finished reading this book for the umpteenth time and it's still brilliant. I first came across this story when it was serialized on BBC Television, but it started out as a BBC Radio series. I was so taken with the TV series that I sought it out in the school library back in about 1985. (It was written in 1979). I found the book so absorbing, hilarious and just downright brilliant that I 'forgot' to take it back, and still have that original copy ... ...and the following 4 books in the trilogy. (Yes I said trilogy, yes there are 5 books in this innacurately-named trilogy).
For those of you unfamiliar with Douglas Adam's work, you are missing out big time. Go read all of his books (starting with this one) and then cry for all the lost years you spent piddling about reading far lesser books. Then cry some more that the world will never see this sort of genius again, for Douglas Adams met his untimely ...
bespinleia 01.02.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy - Douglas Adams
Advantages: Greatest author ever Disadvantages: will write no more
...when I saw it in the paper. They had given him a very small section, one column and about thirty lines. I actually gave a minutes silence almost automatically after seeing the headline.
Douglas Adams was almost a hero for me, as I enjoyed all his books. I would often learn things about the way he felt and thought about things, and it would sometimes scare me. I can say ‘I never really got the hang of Thursdays’ without it being a pure ... ...It is the worst day of my week often. I also agree with many of his beliefs, on reading ‘Last Chance to See’ I agreed at every turn.
The Hitch-Hikers Guide has influenced me more than any other book, and I must confess that my friends and I look out for the number forty-two everywhere, just so that we can shout forty-two at the top of our voices. I have found it in many strange places. I have read the book (and it’s four sequels) ...
R_Easton 09.10.2001 (14.10.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy - Douglas Adams
Advantages: Hillarious, brilliant writing Disadvantages: Impossible to put down
...impoverished Hitchhiker trying to see the marvels of the galaxy for less than thirty Altarian Dollars a day?
For Arthur Dent, a perfectly ordinary Earthman, he is about to find out when his planet (a small blue green world called Earth) is destroyed or rather demolished by a Vogon constructor fleet to make way for a hyperspace bypass. He is also shocked to find that his best friend (the interestingly named "Ford Prefect" turns out to be from a planet ... ...after all!
After escaping the Earth the two men go through many adventures getting blown out of spaceships by the poetic Vogons before meeting up with Fords semi cousin the two headed Zaphod Beeblebrox who has stolen a spaceship and together they visit the dead planet of Magrathea to find the answer to Life, the Universe and everything (but what is the question!)
The book of the Hitchhiker's Guide was written following the radio and televison series ...
explainable 19.08.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy - Douglas Adams
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Advantages: Very funny, great characters, exciting and original. Disadvantages: Some theories were a little hard to understand, perhaps too random in places
Sci-fi at its finest and most entertaining, in my view. DouglasAdams gets the balance of seriousness and comedy down to a tee.
Based on the BBC radio series, the story follows Arthur Dent, a lover of habit and stability, whose life is turned upside down when the planet Earth is destroyed to make way for a Hyper Space Bypass. Arthur has to get his head around the mind-bendingly enormous galaxy with its wacky planets, vile aliens, unimaginably powerful spaceships and one very sulky robot.
Fear not as helping Arthur on his way is his friend Ford Prefect, two-headed (and three-handed) alien Zaphod Beeblebrox, the beautiful and clever Trillian and of course the HitchhikersGuide itself. An amazingly advanced encyclopedia telling Arthur everything he needs to know.
The jokes and sheer randomness of the Universe had me laughing all the way ...
Advantages: Entertaining and funny Disadvantages: Doug is no longer with us
The HitchhikersGuideto the galaxy by DouglasAdams is a trilogy in five parts. There were originally meant to be only three parts, but the whole story grew. By the time, the fourth and fifth books came along; HHGTTG was already established as a trilogy, and so continued to be known as such. The five parts are:-
-The HitchhikersGuideto the Galaxy
-The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
-Life, the Universe and Everything
-So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish
-Mostly Harmless
Today though, I?m just going to concentrate on book one. The first book had the difficult task of establishing characters while still telling a good story. In my opinion, both tasks are achieved brilliantly. DouglasAdams has created some very well rounded and believable characters. Let me introduce you to the main players.
ATHUR DENT ...
, otherwise the mice won't be best pleased. I love DouglasAdams' writing style, it's witty, and somewhat nerdy at the same time. As well as the Hitch-hiker's Guideto the Galaxy books, check out his Dirk Gently (The Holistic Detective Agency) books, which are of a similar style about a rather ineffective private eye. If you're a fan of these books look at http://www.h2g2.com ...
Product Information for "The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy - Douglas Adams" »
Product details
Type
Fiction
Genre
Science Fiction
Title
The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy
Author
Douglas Adams
ISBN
0330258648; 0330437984
Manufacturer's product description
Losing your planet isn't the end of the world...the movie tie-in edition of Douglas Adams's perennially popular novel, with exclusive on-set stories, interviews and pictures Summer 2005 finally sees the release of THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY movie from Walt Disney Pictures. Stars include Martin Freeman as Arthur Dent, Sam Rockwell as Zaphod Beeblebrox, Bill Nighy as Slartibartfast, supercool hip-hop artist Mos Def as Ford Prefect and the gorgeous Zooey Deschanel as Trillian. Completely new characters were developed specially for the film by Douglas Adams before his death and will be played by John Malkovich and Anna Chancellor. Pan's tie-in edition of this cult classic will include substantial extras from Executive Producer, Robbie Stamp: exclusive cast interviews, stories and photographs from the set. About the AuthorDouglas Adams created all the various and contradictory manifestations of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: radio, novels, TV computer game, stage adaptation, comic book, bath towel and major movie. He lectured and broadcast around the world and was a patron of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund and Save the Rhino International. He was bron in Cambridge and lived with his wife and daughter in Santa Barbara, California, where he died suddenly on 11 May 2001. For more information, visit douglasadams.com
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