suvit_singh's Full Review: Douglas Adams - The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to...
Remember that "brain freeze" you got last year from guzzling too much smoothie through the straw too fast? Now imagine if that brain freeze were to last for days. That's what reading Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy feels like. It is laugh-out-loud hilarious, excessively overbearing, and most of all, has the tendency to lodge its absence of logic in the wrinkly folds of your gray matter, almost guaranteeing a state of constant seizure. Nothing in the story ever makes any sense, except for the parts that do; and the parts that don't will have made sense when the parts that do don't make sense anymore. I know the previous statement didn't make any sense, but rest assured, it will by the end of the review, unless, of course, you choose to stop reading this now, which would make perfect sense. But if anything means anything at all, which it doesn't, because nothing can mean anything unless it is something, I have read it 3.14159 times (which also happens to be the value of pi... hmm, go figure).
For two main reasons, I shall not venture to summarize the entire plot. Well, on second thought, there is only one (the other reason can find another reviewer; this one is not so inclined to acknowledge it for the moment). The sheer task of mustering the grammatical prowess (what with the tenses and all) to account for a chronologically convoluted story that happens randomly across all points in the space-time continuum proves too daunting for this humble reader. Suffice it to say, Earth has been destroyed by the Vogons to make way for a Hyperspace Bypass and there are only two human survivors, a man and a woman (well, let's not forget the mice and the dolphins). Arthur Dent, the man, makes his escape with the help of his friend, Ford Prefect, who, unbeknownst to him, happens to be an alien working as a field researcher for the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a guidebook/publication/gadget/handheld communicator/PDA/gizmo/thingamajig/multidimensional-bird for the entire universe. Soon after escaping the destruction of Earth, they are joined by an eclectic cast of characters, including Trillian, the last remaining woman; Zaphod, the two headed President of the Universe; and Marvin, the perpetually depressed robot. Arthur braves the new frontiers of space-time (well, it's all relative really, seeing as the universe has existed for billions of years) in search for the Ultimate Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything, which, by the way, happens to be 42. Searching for the Ultimate Question, on the other limb, will prove to be much more tiresome: That is why a quick bite at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe is highly warranted before such an ordeal.
Sure, there's love but it's not a love story; there's suspense but it's not a drama; there's philosophy but it's not a dialogue; there's humor but it's not a comedy (well, it is, but I wasn't about to destroy the rhythm of this sentence); and undeniably, there are countless alien species and all sorts of bizarre spaceships but it's not entirely science fiction (although it mostly is, for those with a compulsive need to stamp a genre onto it). For Bob's sake, there really isn't a steady villain to speak of either! The point of the whole story is that there isn't one. Every time we are on the verge of getting some semblance of a coherent plot, the author makes sure he sidetracks and changes direction immediately. My point is this - the author makes it a point to avoid making a point. Oh, but the glorious comedy that oozes out of such divine foolishness is utterly unutterable! Each humorous serving in this "trilogy of five" is dripping with witty sarcasm that belies the subtle genius of the author. Adams shamelessly exploits all the loopholes in quantum physics to structure this comedic cakewalk (fairy cake to be precise), be it the bent fabric of space time, worm holes, parallel universes, quantum super-positions, holographic universes, infinite improbabilities or chaotic Italian bistros. Yet, despite the lack of points and senses, and of logic for that matter, there is much wisdom to be had. One of these pearls, of course, is that in a universe where everything is possible, why even bother trying to make a point or sense of anything at all. What can I say, this compendium is an instant classic and simply that great! Phew, I think a Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster is in order!
Now in paperback in one complete volume, this ultimate guide collects the five classic novels from Adams s beloved Hitchhiker series.More at Buy.com Marketplaces
Science Fiction - Adventure Fiction - At last in paperback in one complete volume, here are the five classic novels from Douglas Adams s beloved Hitch...More at Barnes and Noble
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