Douglas Adams

Published: 26 Aug 2024
Last updated: 7 Sep 2024

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker Series #1)

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy book cover

Quick storygraph summary:

A classic and quintessentially British book. Tons of playful yet clever writing, oodles of jokes and punchlines (42 as a punchline is now permanently etched upon the human consciousness) and a great sense of comic absurdism - the universe is a joke, illogical and nonsensical but we can enjoy the ride along the way, or at the very least be baffled and bemused while dragged along for the ride.

Is this book perfect? Strictly speaking no, it has a big introductory beginning and a lengthy ending with little in the way of connecting middle tissue, and towards said ending there’s something to be said that a new sudden plot curveball is thrown every few chapters - one too many coincidences is usually a sign of a weak plot, but given the fun and the absurdity of it all, it really doesn’t bother me much at all. It has had a profound and tremendous cultural impact upon the world, and it is entirely deserved.

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (Hitchhiker Series #2)

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe book cover

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A textbook sequel, its more of the same, all the elements from the first book are here and runs the same formula, but it just doesn’t quite stand up to the original outing. It feels a little more unfocused, with the ensemble cast being split apart in differing strands of adventure for large chunks of time, only meeting up for certain occasions like the centerpiece/namesake Restaurant visit. It also feels like a disparate grab bag of ideas that didn’t quite make the first book, and while some are still very very funny, it doesn’t add up to something super substantial - likely hindered by the fact that this is the middle book of the initial trilogy.

But its still a light, breezy read and there’s an awful lot of funny things still going on here, with Adams’ sense of humour still shining through, sometimes even stronger than the original, such as the initial chapter and anything involving the Golgafrinchans. It fundamentally achieves what it set out to do, being yet another lighthearted romp through the Galaxy exercising Adams’ boundless imagination for quips and jokes - it just doesn’t elevate too much beyond that.

Life, the Universe, and Everything (Hitchhiker Series #3)

Life, the Universe, and Everything book cover

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The 3rd in the Hitchhiker series, and its here on out that the books all start to do their own thing - this one is the closest Douglas Adams comes to writing a book in the series with a traditional front-to-back plot, focusing around the saga of the Krikkit people and their bloodthirsty tendencies. That plot focus is a double-edged sword, it does give some modicum of structure to what is generally quite a silly and chaotic series but can also suffer due to its ‘overconnectedness’, where what would usually be non-sequitur end up being important plot points (Chapter 3, and Hactar come to mind), and the time travel shenanigans can really interfere with actually trying to follow the plot closely and sensibly.

Despite that focus, there are still plenty of funny set-pieces (bistromathics, Agrajag, Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolongued and The Longest Cocktail Party) that still allow Adams to exercise and stretch his absurd and creative muscles for quips, and as someone who enjoys cricket myself - the numerous connections and references scattered throughout the plot amused me, although I can definitely see non-fans being utterly baffled, even moreso than the typical fare that Adams’ usually serves up.

Overall I would see this as a slight step-up from the 2nd, and the slight mix-up on the formula has worked well - the ensemble cast are better used once again (Trillian is finally useful!) and the ending is the most satisfying of all the books so far.

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (Hitchhiker Series #4)

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish book cover

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The 4th in the Hitchhiker series, and this is really where it goes downhill, unfortunately. Douglas Adams decided he wanted to write a romance novel instead, and so shoehorned it (and I mean shoehorned, any simple, basics questions like “how was the Earth not destroyed?” are glossed over) into the Hitchhiker setting - or rather borrowed Arthur Dent, a every-man interesting when juxtaposed with the weird and wacky aliens of the Galaxy but dull as dishwater back on Earth. I have no idea why Arthur was so infatuated with Fenny/Fenchurch, and I don’t know why Adams thought we would care to read about a romance between an every-man/reader insert and one of multiple rather nondescript female characters - the little Ford Prefect and meta-literary sideshows poking at this fact say little other than the author has run out of ideas.

There’s still funny jokes here (American Express, pub sandwiches, Rob McKenna the Rain God) but what does it serve, what does it matter? In this literal down-to-Earth story, they feel out of place and incongruous.

“There was a point to this story, but it has temporarily escaped the chronicler’s mind.”

Mostly Harmless (Hitchhiker Series #5)

Mostly Harmless book cover

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DO NOT READ THIS BOOK! STOP AT #4, STOP AT “SO LONG, AND THANKS FOR ALL THE FISH”, TURN BACK NOW. THERE IS NOTHING HERE FOR YOU, BUT DESPAIR, MISERY AND REGRET. DO NOT PROCEED.

…but if you have to…

This is a strange, depressing book, where no-one appears to be having much fun existing in the galaxy and the story written out for them. Trillian is busy chasing around her glitzy reporting career and doesn’t seem to be enjoying it - and for inexplicable reasons has a daughter, Random, and spends most of her time neglecting her and eventually dumps her with Arthur, turning his own life upside down. Random is unhappy for existing, and is perpetually insufferable throughout. Ford, meanwhile, is unhappy with the marked changes and dulling up of the Guide. Marvin and Zaphod are nowhere here, and Fenchurch has been written out of existence by one passing remark - a baffling decision that makes the previous book functionally worthless.

The irreverent, whimsical and absurdist take on the Galaxy, the very thing that made the series so enjoyable and fun to read to begin with, has been completely supplanted with a sense of melancholy, dread, and nihilism. Achieves the rare feat of not only being a unenjoyable book, but putting a great damper on the entire preceding series simply by existing, especially due to the ending where, surprise!, the Earth blows up yet again - but no one escapes akin to the first book. Everyone is presumably dead. Gone. Kaput. The Vogons win.

I did not heed warnings from similar reviews not to read this book, and did not heed said warning. For that, I can only repent by warning others, DO NOT READ THIS BOOK!