The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Illustrated Edition

Douglas Adams’ bestselling book The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy published in 1979 is witty, occasionally complex, and accessible to the average reader. The protagonist, Arthur Dent, is a befuddled Englishman and his friend, Ford Prefect, is a hitchhiking alien doing research for the latest edition of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The two narrowly escape destruction with the rest of planet Earth when Ford catches wind of its impending demolition by intergalactic civil servants and beams them to the nearest accessible spaceship--the Vogon demolition fleet’s mothership. Inside, they encounter murdered mattresses, ruthless bureaucrats, and torture by poetry. They are soon ejected into space and twenty-nine seconds later (one second short of death), the president of the universe and his girlfriend rescue them in their recently stolen state-of-the-art spaceship, The Heart of Gold. In the remaining pages, Adams prioritizes unpacking the absurdity of bureaucracy, politics, and religion over a strong plot and whimsically manipulates grammar and rhetoric to inspire in the reader a sense of his disregard for the possibility of any sense or meaning to life. Entries peppered throughout the book from the “real” The Hitchhiker’s Guide inform the reader of non-essential historical, cultural, and always humorous tidbits about the universe and its inhabitants. For example, the popular drink the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster makes the drinker feel like their brain is being “smashed out by a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick” (Ch 2). Ford hopes to update the electronic guide with how one can see the wonders of the universe for 30 Altarian dollars a day, but due to being stuck on Earth for 15 years his signature contribution remains his description of Earth as “mostly harmless”. Arthur Dent is more the butt of every joke than the hero of the story and simply plays the role of baffled human encountering the unknown. The president, Zaphod Beeblebrox, who happens to be Ford’s cousin, has two heads, three arms, and the ego of a true politician. He steals almost everyone’s thunder, but that’s probably because, while only six people know it, he’s succeeding phenomenally at his presidential mandate of distracting everyone’s attention away from power instead of wielding it. Zaphod is accompanied by his human girlfriend, Trillian, who acts as the token female character in the typically male-dominated sci-fi tale. Smart and sexy, she is mostly disregarded by her boyfriend while dutifully following him into every folly. Marvin is a pet robot of sorts with a serious depression problem which proves to have tremendous utility. On account of the Heart of Gold’s Infinite Improbability Drive, the serendipitous crew encounters and escapes from a series of unthinkable situations, the most notable being the discovery of the fabled planet of Magrathea. Believed to now be dead, it supposedly designed and constructed luxury planets at the behest of ultra-wealthy clients until closing up shop with the collapse of the intergalactic economy some ten million years ago. At this point in the book a loosely coherent plot begins to emerge. After narrowly evading the planet’s automatic defense missiles, the crew land the Heart of Gold on the surface and Zaphod leads the bunch on a hunt for the unfathomable riches he is certain must be hidden there... somewhere. Instead, he comes to a shocking realization about the key to his wildly successful career of misconduct, Arthur learns of the mysterious nature and fate of his late beloved Earth, Trillian loses her two pet mice, and Marvin unwittingly saves everyone’s lives just by being himself. Adams playfully goads the reader closer and closer into agreeing that “The Universe is almost certainly being run by a bunch of maniacs” (Ch 31) by poking fun at bureaucracy and politics with amusing analogies. Much like the local bureaucrat trying to tear down Arthur’s house, the Vogons respond to Earthlings’ protests before imminent destruction by stating, “All the planning charts and demolition orders have been displayed in your local planning department in Alpha Centauri for fifty of your Earth years” (Ch 3). Zaphod Beeblebrox is the posterchild for theatrical two-faced politics. His wild antics make him the most successful president in history and he possesses two heads, and therefore two faces, one of which is more popular than the other (Ch 4). Adams then picks apart religion and philosophy without being overtly insulting due to his use of their very own arguments. A small but exceedingly sophisticated fish proves God’s existence and is therefore the final and clinching proof of his nonexistence. God “promptly vanishes in a puff of logic” because “without faith I am nothing” (Ch 6). Philosophers protest the creation of a supercomputer they fear will put them out of a job if it is able to answer the questions of the Universe, thus they demand the “total absence of solid facts” (Ch 25). Adams’ deft criticism of these topics threatens to elicit not much more than a self-deprecating chuckle from the very people he is poking fun at. Absurd similes and outrageous statements infuse the writing style with charming humor while occasionally reminding the reader that reality can in fact be quite ridiculous. “For a few seconds Ford seemed to ignore him, and stared fixedly into the sky like a rabbit trying to get run over by a car” (Ch 1), and, “The ships hung in the sky much the same way that bricks don’t” (Ch 3), are clearly very foolish things to say, yet confer upon the reader a precise picture of the given situation that Adams wants them to have. In a similar vein, a police ship commits suicide after hearing Marvin’s depressing view of the universe (Ch 34), letters of the alphabet can be “friendly” (Ch 1) or “unfriendly” (Ch 34), and the answer to life, the universe and everything is simply the number “42” (Ch 27). Adams makes clear to the reader exactly how seriously he takes his subject matter. Poking fun at politics and religion and making ludicrous statements are the more obvious of Adams’ tactics to discourage the reader from taking life, or really anything, very seriously. Less obvious, but equally effective, is his manipulation of grammar and rhetoric. By rendering the familiar structure of language malleable in his expert hands, he reminds the reader at every turn that all is not as it seems. He breaks commonly accepted rules of writing by blatantly using redundant vocabulary and pairing oxymoronic words. Arthur wakes up blearily then gets up and wanders blearily around his room (Ch 1), Ford Prefect is not conspicuously tall and his features are striking but not conspicuously handsome (Ch 1), and Zaphod rides a thoroughly ridiculous form of transport, but a thoroughly beautiful one (Ch 4). The windows on Arthur’s soon to be destroyed home are “of a size and proportion which more or less exactly failed to please the eye” (Ch 1), and there is something “very slightly odd” about Ford Prefect (Ch 1). With these deviances from the norm and by slipping in a clever grammar joke here and there, “...to boldly split infinitives that no man had split before” (Ch 15), Adams taunts the grammar police and then scoffs when their powerlessness and lack of creativity are exposed. By deftly rendering malleable the familiar institution of language, Adams bring home his deeper message that societal constructs are the mere product of a human desire to invent order out of chaos. While Adams can boast a nimble sense of humor and a clever mind, obvious plot holes emerge as the story progresses. For example, the Vogons dump Arthur and Ford millions of lightyears away from Earth but then Trillian and Zaphod pick them up in the same vector as Earth. This could be due to the fact that Adams was a legendary procrastinator who would often leave manuscripts unfinished until the last minute. His biographer, M.J. Simpson, author of Hitchhiker: A Biography of Douglas Adams says that Adams also had problems following the traditional structure of a story. He shares that, “Adams was good at writing beginnings, middles, and endings, but when he got to the middle he’d thought of another good beginning and wanted to write that instead of the ending”. Adams’ habit of making things up as he went along is uncomfortably apparent to the reader who craves consistency and resolution, especially from a book some say holds a place in the sci-fi genre. Therefore, his book might more accurately fall under the category of comic science fiction. While he falls short of producing the next great science fiction series of our time, Adams succeeds remarkably in demonstrating how a truly inquisitive mind works. He breaks the rules of fiction writing, but rather than being his downfall, these bold deviations add to his appeal. By weaving together intelligence, humor, and slapstick, he reaches a broad audience without sacrificing his unique voice and underlying message. So much so that the reader is left almost certain that “the chances of finding out what really is going on are so absurdly remote that the only thing to do is to say hang sense of it and just keep yourself occupied” (Ch 30).

This is another one of those books that gets recommended a lot on forums I frequent. A not-too-old classic that got turned into a movie, I finally decided to give it a shot because the rumored humor aspect to it all. And I got to say, at times, this book was damned clever and funny. It was funny in a subverting tropes kind of way. Only, instead of subverting tropes about genre fiction, it instead subverted the very tropes of life and existence in general, poking fun at a lot of the things most people take too seriously and doing a fine job at it. There were even especially unique ideas that were placed in the book, such as The Heart of Gold, a ship that travels through space by manipulating the odds of things occurring. Truly, if I hadn't seen the movie already, I would have been 100% lost as to what, where, or how the book would turn at every page. I've never read a story less predictable than this one! That said, this book was short and in its effort to pursue the humor and crazy twists and turns, a lot of things that I love about fiction were left stranded. There was little-to-none descriptions of setting, placement, movement. This book was closer to a movie script with countless lines of witty dialogue occasionally doted by "so-and-so enters, so-and-so leaves," that left me able to listen to the book but unable to picture the book, if that makes any sense. Unique characters were presented, but they felt a tad flat and somehow cliche. They felt less like characters and more like prop pieces in a romance-comedy. Loved the witty lore stories that dropped in for a bit of fun by the way. I feel there could be a whole book just containing those entries. All said and done, the Hitchhiker's Guide was a unique-as-all-hell read that had me grinning most of the time, occasionally chuckling, and completely baffled as to what would happen next. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride, but I am not hooked on the series. This book missed too much of my old favorites, so although I'll be giving it the good rating it deserves, I won't be moving on to read more of the series. This hitchhiker's ride stops here.

The story is hilariously clever. Is it sci-fy or fantasy? How cares? Particular lines are iconic (e.g. the mice, the dolphins). Time caught up with some of the 'technology'. Nowadays, we don't need a babel-fish anymore; we can use google translate. One thing no search engine nor A.I. can tell us: the question !!! I would love to hear how the writer came up with this ending.

“But the story of this terrible, stupid Thursday, the story of its extraordinary consequences, and the story of how these consequences are inextricably intertwined with this remarkable book begins very simply. It begins with a house.” The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams is the first in it’s series, also made into a movie. The sheer weirdness of this book is unexplainable for one to understand without reading it. It plays with the kind of humor where everything is so random that your mind feels it is comical. Also, this book is truly not the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy itself, but rather, as it explains in the exposition, a book about the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and those who are using it. The story, at first, seems normal as a narrator tells us about a man getting his house knocked down. The reality slowly fades, as random names and phrases that the narrator uses are seeming very un-Earth like. It is present day, or around this time, and first set in London, England. Soon after, the setting turns into a fantasy, yet not impossible, world of aliens around our galaxy that we never knew. It jumps into this turn fairly quickly, and persuades you to keep reading with the constant action and suspense. Then, there are the characters. “The thing that used to worry him most was the fact that people always used to ask him what he was looking so worried about.” Our main character; Arthur Dent. Arthur is the one real character in the story that can be related to or understood by us, the human people of Earth. A stubborn, normal, fed up human that is always confused or questioning things in all the madness of the plot. Ford Prefect, Zaphod Beeblebrox, Marvin-all know what is going on in this crazy world since they are a part of it. A women named Trilian brings a mother character to the book, being human aswell but always caring and responsible during the adventure. These main characters are the protagonists, and the entirety of their journey is the antagonist. They all seem to be in search for something, but each character doesn’t really understand what it is or how to find it. In the beginning, all Arthur cares about is his house. Shortly after, his house and everything around it aren’t his biggest problem. His home planet of Earth went through a dramatic change, from full of life to non-existent. His best pal Ford, who was secretly not from Earth himself, decided to rescue Arthur from his death. This spirals to extreme coincidences and near death-experiences as they hitchhike their way through space. They later get picked up by the president of the Universe, Zaphod Beeblebrox, and his two helpers Trillian and Marvin. They are now searching for the legendary planet of Magrathea, which was told to have been creating planets as luxury items. The ship searches, and discovers, the hidden planet, but finding the true treasures are harder than they appear. The randomness of their adventures and the narrations throughout the novel show a genius way of connecting these facts and instances into one story that captivates the reader. The erratic events somehow create a normality. It brings the reader into the story, teaches and explains all the events and ideas, and gives flashbacks so all the facts come together into one plot. While reading this, every chapter has something that would make me laugh or force me to press forward in the book. Adams achieved his goal, finally bringing us a children’s book for adults. When explaining this to someone, it sounds like you are reading a kindergarten’s story. But when actually reading it, the elements of description and hidden pieces of the story somehow make the overall book feel more mature and more deep. I loved the sudden and random way he would explain, almost over explain, all the details in the story. Though you could say he was droning on and on, the way he does this helps the story seem more clear through the insanity. I enjoyed the comical way that Adams used to describe who people are without even the character itself knowing about it. Mr. Prosser, the man trying to knock down Arthur’s house, was shown to us as this; “Curiously enough, though he didn’t know it, he was also a direct male-line descendant of Genghis Khan..” The story later tells that the stubby male called Mr. Prosser gets very vivid, but violent, war scenes in his memory every now and then. Adams later uses this to explain Mr. Prosser’s thoughts and feeling about what he does or how he lives. Interesting ways that Adams shows his characters are far from normal, but far from normal is perfect for me and I appreciated it immensely. My favorite thing about the characters was having Arthur as the main focus. Arthur is the rock, the glue, the sanity of the entire story. I related to him myself, and he keeps you in focus during the book. Though I was thrilled with these parts of the book, sadly not every story is perfect. Compared to the roaring events of the rest of the story, the ending just didn’t meet my expectations. There just wasn’t enough action in it like the rest of the story, but I could see how a tranquil ending would wrap up all the crazy events in the book. Adams has a very unique style, and it would seem to work with young adults who find themselves not usually enjoying reading books. It has that childish setting and overall feel, but with mature ways of writing. A younger child may enjoy the fun setting but have trouble sticking to the plot, so a more young adult would suit it better. The Hitchhiker Guide to the Galaxy is a comical, interesting book that would be great for anyone who likes science fiction or fantasies.

My Rating - If You Are Looking for Something Level - Quick, easy read Summary Arthur Dent is trying to stop bulldozers from demolishing his house when his friend Ford Perfect stops by and convinces him to go to the pub instead. Perfect then finds out that the entire planet Earth is about to be destroyed. Turns out Perfect is a writer for the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe. This means he was able to save them two of them by catching a lift before the planet was destroyed. They then begin a journey of mishaps and characters, including the Galaxy President. My Thoughts This book is extremely popular, but I just couldn't get quite into it. It is the opening book of a series, but I doubt I will continue on. Adams style is fast paced and laced with jokes and puns. It is entertaining enough, something just didn't sit right with me. It's gets a little trippy there towards the end, which belies it's conception in the late 70s. As a city planner, I did appreciate the first bulldozer crew telling Dent that there had been a meeting, he must have just missed it, that decided to demolish his home for a highway. The once on board the spaceship, Dent and Perfect are told that Earth is being destroyed for a highway and that there was a meeting they must have missed. Also, all I could picture for Zaphod Beeblebrox was Zapp Brannigen. So much so that I assumed maybe the latter was based on the former, but apparently not. Perhaps that made it a little more entertaining for me. I'd say if you are looking for something to read, maybe on the beach for at the airport/on the plane, this is probably a good choice. It is short, simple and kind of goofy, and if you end up liking it more than I did, you can look forward to four or five more books. More at [...]

Your Guide To The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (SPOILER ALERT) Arthur Dent is an ordinary man. He lives in a small house in England, and goes through the same dreary routine every day. However, all of that changes when he learns his friend, Ford Prefect, is an alien, the Earth is destroyed, and Arthur and Ford are picked up by a passing ship called the Heart of Gold. Also in the Heart of Gold are another human named Trillian and Zaphod Beeblebrox, the President of the Galaxy. After this initial encounter, the motley group embarks on a series of adventures that eventually lead them to Magrathea, a legendary planet in galactic folklore. On Magrathea, they learn that the Earth was manufactured by mice, which are in fact “hyperintelligent pandimensional beings” (Adams 134). Earth was meant by these beings to be an elaborate computer program to produce the Ultimate Question, but was destroyed moments before its purpose came to fruition. As a result, the mice attempt to extract Arthur’s brain; however, Arthur manages to escape, and the group sets out for “a quick bite at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe,” ending their adventurous journey through the galaxy, for now… (Adams 171). The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is an altogether incredibly clever and revolutionary work of literature that has changed for me the very definition of what a book can be. This work is a comedy, a satire, a commentary on the universe at large, and a profound reflection of our own beliefs all rolled into one incredible package. The book presents countless instances of dry humor, such as the fact that Ford Prefect accidentally named himself after a car because he believed that cars were the dominant lifeform on Earth. Furthermore, the satire of the book is perfectly illustrated when it is revealed that the President of the Galaxy has no power, and is instead meant to distract from those who actually have the power, mirroring beliefs about our modern-day democracy. Moreover, the book gives us a commentary on the universe as we see it, presenting an astounding image of a universe filled with exotic locales, advanced spaceships, and altogether strange beings. Finally, the book reflects the beliefs of the human race as a whole in that it shows our narcissistic nature; nearly all of the beings encountered by Arthur, Ford, Trillian, and Zaphod have some semblance of human appearance, and much of the universe has the same perception of emotion and happiness that humans do. This is most evident in the features found in the Heart of Gold, which include human-sized doors, human-accessible controls, and, most importantly, a happy demeanor programmed into the ships computer to help promote happiness, a uniquely human (or perhaps broadly alien) emotion. While The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy breaches many controversial issues, it does so at such a breakneck pace and with such a matter-of-fact tone that it has not been banned in many circles that may have beliefs that conflict with those in the Guide or even directly contradict the book. It has made its way into the hands of people in every walk of life, and changed their world outlook in the process. This book helped me to profoundly change my own philosophy. When I first began reading the book, I proceeded to attempt to point out any inaccuracies that I could under the belief that the absurdity of the book rendered it irrelevant. However, as I continued to read, line by line, page by page, the book began to shift my outlook. It helped me to realize that the only thing we truly know about the universe is that we know nothing, and that however much we theorize and speculate and philosophize, it means nothing if we do not act on it. This book has inspired me to become more active in my life, and has convinced me that what I do matters in the grand scheme of things. I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone, of any age, race, creed, or ethnicity. This book changed the world, and it has let me know that so can I. -DEC, Jr.

I once believed I was an alien life form, albeit I was in third grade at the time, and thus subject to the ramifications of peer pressure, which sometimes contradicts common sense. Having watched enough cartoons, along with enough animated movies and not so animated ones, I even resorted to the beep-beep noise used by The Road Runner and unintelligent Martians. It was not one of my prouder moments, but looking back on it now, probably showed my ability to suspend disbelief, and helped sprout the seeds of my imagination. Since then, I've developed the spine of a porcupine, I can spit nails, and I have the hard exterior shell of a Plexiglas spacecraft, so I guess the cycle is complete and all is right with the cosmos. But there are definite glitches in our universe, as evidenced in THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY. First, we have the demolishment of the Earth for a galactic freeway or hyperspace bypass. We find out our intelligence level has been exceeded by mice and dolphins, and that dolphins tried to warn us multiple times of our impending doom, but gave up when their form of communication was not acknowledged and accepted our offerings of fish instead. Ford Prefect is alive and well, is not to be confused with the failed Ford model, and in multiple cases, his intelligence exceeds that of the protagonist, Arthur Dent. The plot becomes a bit discombobulated and farfetched at times and sometimes powered by the Infinite Improbability Drive, but that only adds to the wackiness and pleasure of the overall experience. Even towels are magically transformed to "the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have." And you just might need one to stifle your laughter, grins, and outright guffaws at some of the hilarious discussions presented in this fun, quirky read. Where, in the end, "I came for a week and got stuck for fifteen years." "Resistance is useless!" So you should just sit back and enjoy yourself, albeit from another planet like Mars or Pluto, and where the future is not mired by a hyperspace bypass. Of course, there's always the possibility that introverts may rule this particular universe, and this brings me to one of my favorite lines of this tale: "If they don't keep on exercising their lips, he thought, their brains start working." So, in that regard, I will continue to exercise my brain through the absence of moving my lips, except when I have something intelligent, relevant, or interesting to say, or when I occasionally forget that my mouth is moving. If you have a wickedly morbid, sarcastic sense of humor, this book is definitely for you. Since I laugh so often I sometimes don't even know why I'm laughing, I rather enjoyed this read. And you can too, for the measly sum of less than thirty Altairian dollars a day. "So long and thanks for all the fish." Robert Downs Author of Falling Immortality: Casey Holden, Private Investigator

Author and Title: Douglas Adams’ Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy I listened to this title in audio format on the audio app which is how I enjoy most of my books. Lenth: This title is only 5 hours long. I like to get at least 10 hours out of an audio book to make it worth using one of my free audiobooks included in my audible membership. Narrator: British, male, excellent tone, inflection and cadence. The story is witty and his voice matches the wit completely. Brief overview: This is the story of a British earthling who somehow finds himself traveling the galaxy with his good friend, and the shenanigans that ensue. My impression: Despite the fact that this book is only 5 hours long, it packs a ton of entertainment into that 5 hours. Far more than books twice or even three times as long. Recommend: Thoroughly quirky and delightful. Would give more than five stars if I could. Highly recommend.