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 ... Read review

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 ... Read review

Advantages: 42
Disadvantages: none

...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 ... Read review

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) ... Read review

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 ... Read review

Advantages: Entertaining and funny
Disadvantages: Doug is no longer with us

...The Hitchhikers Guide to the galaxy by Douglas Adams 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 Hitchhikers Guide to 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. Douglas Adams has created some very well rounded and believable characters. Let me introduce you to the main players. ATHUR DENT... Read review

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Advantages: Lots of interesting information you probably didn't know
Disadvantages: Maybe a little narrower in scope than would be ideal

...For years, friends of mine have been trying to persuade me to read Terry Pratchett. They tried persuasion, encouragement, bribery and blackmail. None of it worked. They handed me a copy of “Good Omens” in the hope that this would change my mind. It did – I became a Neil Gaiman fan virtually overnight. One thing they enthused about that I did take a liking to, however, was Douglas Adams’ “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” I am a relatively recent convert to Hitchhiker’s. I knew it had been a radio series before it became anything else, but I’d never heard it. I knew it had been a TV series at one point, but I’d never seen that. And I knew it had more parts than any other trilogy ever published, and that was how I came to be a fan of the phenomenon that was “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”. So much so that I’ve been... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: fabulously funny, great storylines, great characters
Disadvantages: None at all

...I was very saddened by the recent death of Douglas Adams, as a huge fan of his books. My favourtie is of course The hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. I have read this book so many times I find myself chuckling before I get to a funny part, just because I know what is going to happen! The book revolves around a man named Arthur Dent who lives on Earth, oblivious to the fact his best friend is an alien. Ford Prefect, his best friend, rescues Arthur when the Earth is demolished to make way for a hypergalactic bypass. Well, these things happen. There begins Arthurs adventures around the universe. The afore mentioned guide is an electronic book (a kind of enyclopedia) about the universe, designed for... yes, you guessed - hitchhikers! This is the first in a trilogy of four books (as mentioned on the blurb). These books are hilarious... Read review

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