What to do after producing the cult book of the decade?
An interesting dilemma faced by the late great Douglas Adams after writing The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and the only solution is to follow it up with more of the same.
1st impressions aren’t as startling as HGttG as the cover of my well thumbed 1st edition paperback is based on the TV series in that it looks like a starfish made of cheap fluorescent lighting on a black background. But sometimes you don’t buy the book for its cover as the wordy bit is far more interesting.
The characters are again: - Arthur Dent – one of the only 2 survivors of the Earth’s demolition Trillian – the other survivor who is with Zaphod Beeblebrox – two heads, 3 arms, president of the galaxy and friend of Ford Prefect – writer for the guide, who lived on Earth for 15 years and is a friend of …… Arthur Dent
Also involved are Marvin the paranoid android, Vogons, the ruler of the Universe and a space ship full of telephone hygiene technicians.
The plot: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe follows directly on from HGttG with our heroes heading for a meal at the aforementioned restaurant only to be attacked by the Vogons. At the same time as Arthur disables the Heart of Gold spaceship by asking it to make a decent cup of tea, which is usually impossible for a machine to make. Zaphod’s dead granddad saves the day but kidnaps Zaphod to locate the ruler of the universe, which is the reason why he burned away ½ his brain. On Zaphod’s return our heroes all have a meal at the restaurant at the end of the universe choosing choice cuts from a cow that wants to be eaten. Slipping away Arthur and Ford travel back in time and land on Earth only to discover that mankind is descended from advertising executives, documentary directors and phone hygiene technicians rather than the original cavemen as the mice intended.
If all that sounds rather silly, its because its meant to!
This is a supremely funny book which relies on sly pokes at early 1980s culture and off the wall surreal silliness in equal measure and is guaranteed to make you smile and laugh out loud.
My only warning is that you must read Hitchhiker 1st or else very little will make sense but I would recommend you to buy all 5 books, as the series is an epic comic creation
Oh and in case you’re wondering the question for which the answer is 42 might be “What do you get if you multiply six by nine” which may explain why life the universe and everything is a bit screwy.
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Sep 5th, 2001
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