The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1)

by Douglas Adams

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Extremely funny . . . inspired lunacy . . . [and] over much too soon.”—The Washington Post Book World

SOON TO BE A HULU SERIES • Now celebrating the pivotal 42nd anniversary of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy!

Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read

It’s an ordinary Thursday morning for Arthur Dent . . . until his house gets demolished. The Earth follows shortly after to make way for a new hyperspace express route, and Arthur’s best friend has just announced that he’s an alien.

After that, things get much, much worse.

With just a towel, a small yellow fish, and a book, Arthur has to navigate through a very hostile universe in the company of a gang of unreliable aliens. Luckily the fish is quite good at languages. And the book is The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy . . . which helpfully has the words DON’T PANIC inscribed in large, friendly letters on its cover.

Douglas Adams’s mega-selling pop-culture classic sends logic into orbit, plays havoc with both time and physics, offers up pithy commentary on such things as ballpoint pens, potted plants, and digital watches . . . and, most important, reveals the ultimate answer to life, the universe, and everything.

Now, if you could only figure out the question. . . .

• ISBN10: 0345418913
• ISBN13: 9780345418913
• Publish Date: 23 June 1997 (first published 3 March 1983)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Random House USA Inc
• Imprint: Ballantine Books Inc.
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 208
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780345418913

Reviews

[kiracanread]

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is an absolutely nonsensical ball of fun, Douglas Adams is incredibly creative and made something truly special here.

[MurderByDeath]

As with Princess Bride I'm phenomenally late to the Douglas Adams party, but in spite of my dislike for science fiction (and, to be fair, space-related science fact, for that matter), my resistance was been worn down and I thought I had half a chance of enjoying it on audio.  When I saw an edition narrated by Stephen Fry, I figured my chances increased to at least 3:2.   Summed up thoughts:   I still don't like science fiction - If I'd been reading this book, I'd have DNF'd it at Zaphod Beeblebrox, and never even gotten to Slartibartfast.  The combination of space and names I can't pronounce would have spelled its doom.  Also, as much as I ultimately enjoyed Adams' humor, the space stuff still bored me.    The opening description of Zaphod Beeblebrox was almost the second death knell for this book; the author's description of him, in the scene right before he absconds with the Heart of Gold, was so unerringly and disturbingly similar to another alien life form currently squatting in an oval office somewhere in the US, that I almost couldn't go on.  Fortunately Zaphod Beeblebrox soon shows signs of intelligence and self-reflection that made it obvious he was a vastly higher being.   Stephen Fry is amazing.  Anyone who doesn't think a narrator can make a book better has never listened to Stephen Fry.  The book stands on its own merits, but I'd not have finished it without his voice bringing it to life.  I know this  because I'd originally started a different edition and I couldn't get past Ford and Arthur's first inadvertent hitchhiking experience.   Funniest moment for me:  the "spoiler alert" Adams gives out before the Heart of Gold lands on the mythical planet (of course I can't remember its name, it's some complex science fiction word).  That made me laugh out loud.   Overall, the story started slowly for me and I honestly couldn't figure out what all the fuss was about.  Once they they landed on the mythical planet, things got more interesting, and I was just really getting into the story when, of course, it ended.  Now I have to hope and pray Stephen Fry narrated an audio version of The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.  

[Quirky Cat]

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is considered to be a classic; one of novels (erm, series) you hold up as a shining example of science fiction and writing. Believe it or not while I’ve read the first novel many times, and the following few several times, I don’t think I’ve ever actually finished the series. I always seem to start again from the beginning (The Hitchhiker’s Guide being my absolutely favorite, and therefore happily finding any excuse to read it again), and more often than not I’ll make it one novel further in the series than I managed the last time. Not sure why I always get so distracted, as the series is phenomenal. So here I am, going through the series again. Maybe this time I’ll make it through all of them?
As I said above, I’ve read The Hitchhiker’s Guide countless times, but I’ve never actually listened to the audiobooks. So I figured this would be a fun new way of experiencing a universe I love so much. The fact that Stephen Fry did the reading for this novel certainly helped. I loved his impressions and different voices he used for each of the unique characters. Some more than others, of course. All in all it was a very fun and oddly new experience for me, so I’m really happy I gave this a try.



If you want a lesson in absurdity, or would like to join in on an adventure with the goal of finding out what forty-two means, then you’re in for a ride. The Hitchhiker’s Guide has a way of making even the most horrifying events absurd, comical, or really not that relevant. Perhaps that’s because of the calming words ‘Don’t Panic’ that are so oft repeated. More likely it’s Douglas Adam’s wit and writing style that does the trick.
The cast for this novel are incredibly unique. Arthur is probably what one would consider to be the main character; he’s a human who tends to say ‘what’ with a frequency that’s directly proportional to the danger he’s in. Ford is a hitchhiker and writer, and he has a lot to say about a lot of things. Trillion is another earther, and she’s actually pretty easy going, all things considered. Beeblebrox proves that two heads aren’t always better than one, and that the people in positions of power are typically the ones that deserve them the least.
This series is so quotable, it’s easy to forge that it’s the origin of a lot of common jokes and phrases seen all over the place (but practically in other science fiction series, of course). I swear every time I read them through again, I realize yet another series has been referencing them for years, and I totally just spaced on it.
On a side note, now I really find myself wanting to watch the movie again. Hrm, I wonder why that is. Also, if you haven’t heard, there’s a petition trying to get The Hitchhiker’s Guide made into a TV series, so if you’re a fan of that you might want to go see what you can do to help out, or at least to get your voice heard.


For more reviews, check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

[Terri M. LeBlanc]

I’ve never had much of an interest in reading classic science fiction. Much of it just doesn’t appeal to me and it has SUCH a rabid fan base that I fear if I don’t enjoy a much loved classic that I’ll be shunned. As a result, I’ve steered away from gems like The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. However, since SYNC offered it for free and the fact the theme for ICON is Hitchhiker’s Guide, I felt a weird obligation to tackle it.

First off, Stephen Fry does an excellent job narrating the story. Most of the time I was engaged and chuckling along with the story. Some of the oft known pop culture references snapped into place and I felt like I finally understood WHY one must simply carry a towel everywhere.

I disliked the number of side stories that popped up throughout the narrative. Many times I found them annoying, I just wanted Adams to move forward with Arthur’s story. And while some of the side stories provided some history about the universe at large, I felt that they were a distraction. (It also led to bit of an argument between my husband and I as we were listening to this one our road trip to Northern MN. We were trying to properly remember if, based on a side story early in the book involving the babblefish, if God really did exist.)

Anyway, I did enjoy The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It was worth the listen even if some of the humor may have been lost on me and the side stories were a bit distracting. Now excuse me while I go towel shopping. I’ll be back soon.
This review was originally posted on Second Run Reviews

[nannah]

I've been meaning to read this for such a long time! My friends introduced me to the (bad but entertaining) 2005 movie adaptation back in grade school, so this has been on my to-read list for a while. Glad I finally got around to it.

The prose is incredibly charming, and I know of so many more recently published books whose authors have tried to copy this particular style of voice, prose, and narration. It's very entertaining and difficult to put down (and for a sci-fi, really readable).

I know pausing the action to talk about some planet's history, some spaceship, some random army, or something or another, is supposed to be part of the book's eccentric humor, but about halfway through it began to bother me. Like I really don't care about this whale or bowl of petunias that suddenly appear into existence. I started to skim over these departures to get to the main characters, which saddened me.

And then there's Marvin, the manically depressed robot. As someone with bipolar disorder, reading this awful, awful representation of someone (something) with bipolar disorder - which is what manic depression is, for those who don't know - almost made me cry. I get this book was written in the 80s, and bipolar disorder isn't even understood or portrayed well today, but to create a character whose portrayal of a mental illness is for comedic effect? It's just so unbearably bad.

I'll still read the others in this series because it's so fun, but I really hope Marvin doesn't appear much later on.

[adamfortuna]

This one so closely follows the old BBC miniseries that I had to laugh along with it. All of the parts I remember from when I watched it as a kid -- Deep Thought, Norway, the Earth, the Highway. Hitchhikers Guide was the first comedic science fiction I ever learned about and I see why this is a classic.

[Nessa Luna]

Read this review, and many more on my blog October Tune!

I haven’t made many notes about this book, because I was so busy with getting myself ‘into’ the book, that I didn’t really bother writing down the things I liked or didn’t like.

Like I said, I found it hard to get into the book, not just because it was written about thirty years ago, and because of the fact that a lot was explained in this short book. I started it September, and I barely got past ten pages, and then I put it down for a while, to read other books that were a bit easier to read. A couple of days ago I picked it up again and read up until the forty pages. Last night I reached the ninety pages and decided to watch the movie, which I had downloaded a while ago.

The movie was nice, though the beginning (with the dolphins) was a bit odd; but I liked it. It had Martin Freeman as Arthur Dent (which is funny because I remember Arthur being described as a tall man, which Martin isn’t really); Zooey Deschanel as Trillion and Alan Rickman (voice) & Warwick Davis as the robot Marvin.

After the movie, I found it a bit easier to read the rest of the book, because I understood a bit more about the story because I had already seen it. Of course, like with any other movie-based-on-a-book, there were some differences but they didn’t really bother me much.

In the end, I enjoyed the story, and I am certainly planning on finishing the rest of the series (which I already have on my shelf). And I recommend this book to everyone who likes a nice and funny Sci-Fi story!

Surprisingly short and enjoyable. Guess I'll have to find the rest of the series now so I can read it.

[thepunktheory]

Douglas Adam's book is absolutely amazing. It is hilarious and filled with ideas that are so far from everything that you could call normal. I loved it from the first page to the last and it was never boring.

This book really is a must read. (Especially for everybody who wants to find out why nerds and geeks like me always joke about the number 42 ;))

[nitzan_schwarz]

To read more reviews and fun things go to my blog; Drugs Called Books!

I've got the edition of the entire series of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but because I wanted to have a record of when I finished each book, especially because I probably won't be reading the entire thing at once (my jaw can't take it. Too much laughing ain't as healthy as people would like you to believe. Feeling like my jaw is going to drop from too much laughing can't possibly be a good thing.) I figured I'll rate them separately as well. And I might not like all of them the same, too.

So... this has been a wonderful read. I've had the books for quite some time now. Actually, my best friend let me read the couple first pages of this book while at school, and I went and bought it myself the next week, because I just knew this was a series I had to have. Plus, she won't let me borrow it.
*coughcough* anyway…
By an unfortunate turn of events, I got to page 100 and had to stop. Why? Because some horribly stupid and insensitive people decided studying for my final exams was tiny bit more important than reading. I disagree, but my parents don't. So I put it aside, and it took a while to get back to it, partly because I got engaged with other readings I had to do and partly because I had to read the entire thing from the beginning again (At least that's what I always do when I stop reading a book for a long while), and despite loving this book it took a while to convince myself to complete this task.
So, this week (8-12 of July, 2012) I went to London. I had to choose a book to take, and decided on Adam's. I had barely any time to read because we had a busy trip filled with sightseeing and touring London by foot (my poor feet!). And yet, somehow, I managed to finish the first book - just like that.
It was one of the more amusing and entertaining books I've ever read, and one I kept laughing while reading - not to mention making my mother nuts with all sorts of quotes (My favorite being Zaphod's:“If there's anything more important than my ego around, I want it caught and shot now.”) and random moments of talking about things I've read in it.
It was also very educating.
For example: Did you know a towel is the most useful object to have?
Or that the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything is simply forty-two (haven't worked out the question, though)
Or that Mice have been experimenting on humans for millions of years now?
Oh, and Earth isn't a planet, not a real one anyway. Someone ordered us. Mice, if you want to be precise.
And Time is an illusion.
Always knew that one.

Yeah. Very enlightening!

I also loved the fact I could find the names of all the future books in the first one. It made me smile and feel all smart and everything. Wonder if that makes me stupid... nah.
Anyhows, loved it to the extreme and will read the next one soon.
Also, am I the only one who kind of wants Tricia and Arthur to be together??