I haven’t ever seen The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy film all the way through. I distinctly remember certain clips of it — most notably the “So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish” musical clip with dolphins leaving Earth, and the supercomputer decreeing the meaning of the universe is 42. So when I learned this film was based off a book series, and someone recommended it from my book club, I was really interested in this sci-fi/comedy story — and yes it is a book series and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is the first book. The subsequent novels have similar funny and ridiculous names including The Restaurant at the End of the Universe and Mostly Harmless.
Book Review: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
What you need to know upfront about my experience with The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, first published in 1979, is that I absolutely love this British humor. Written by Douglas Adams and narrated by my personal favorite audiobook narrator, Stephen Fry, this comedy science fiction series features the main character, Arthur Dent, and his friend Ford Prefect, who is writing the namesake book. But their worlds are thrown into chaos when the entire Earth is destroyed by the alien race Vogons to make way for a bypass through the universe, leaving the pair to hitchhike and have wacky adventures. That premise alone is enough to have me giggling — just the concept of having everything suddenly destroyed to make way for an interspace construction project and the bureaucracy of it all. Like, what do you mean the project plans have been on display millions of lightyears from Earth for months?
The comedy style, to me, is very reminiscent of Monty Python and very similar in delivery. I adore how when the spaceship they’re on, the Heart of Gold, encounters some trouble, autopilot switches off and the cast tries to use the manual controls; the only problem is the manual controls have never been used and nobody knows how to use them. Or when Ford uses some sort of reverse psychology to convince the crew attempting to demolish Authurs home to take his spot in protest while the pair go to the pub. It’s just so ridiculous.
Outside of the on-par and very pleasant humor, this first book in the series doesn’t take itself too seriously. The story and characters are very self-aware — except for Zaphod Beeblebrox, who is so over-the-top and funny and such a delight to have in the story. Overall, the best way I can describe The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is as a road trip book; it has this whole vibe of these characters going from one odd, outrageous, and funny misadventure to another.
Arthur is also the perfect person to act as a co-main character — he’s the everyman and I love him being so straightforward when confronted with amazing, convoluted things like poorly-written poetry read by aliens; intelligent plant-creating mice; and the entire planet being destroyed and being on a spaceship. Martin Freeman is also perfect casting for this man.
This first installment of the series, in short, would totally make me want to read the subsequent installments. I don’t care what the ultimate question is that would result in 42 — I’m just here for a good time. I recommend The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy for anyone who is a leisure fan of sci-fi; readers who want a slow start to sci-fi; or anyone who wants a funny story to keep them giggling. It’s quite different from the other sci-fi book I’ve read this year, but a good different.
My Rating: 4/5 Stars
