The
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
No
matter how many times I’ve read The
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and it has been a few times now, it never
fails in inducing endless laughter and joy. To me, it was a childhood staple
and every few years I enjoy re-reading it over again. With this novel, Douglas
Adams brought life to a phenomenon that I believe will outlive being a popular
fad. This is science fiction made as a vehicle of laughter. It pokes fun at the
genre while honoring its tradition, but it is much more than that. The humor is
stemming from sociology, philosophy, and of course science. It’s not just
slapstick comedy for young readers. Beneath the surface of utter hilarity,
Adams used sarcasm and wit to make some rather poignant statements about life
and the manner in which we are going about living it. This is one reason the
book is so appropriate for multiple readings. You will understand things you
did not the first time around because of the author’s subtle, ideas and approach
to writing. The story is explains how things become even trickier for main
character when he discovers the great usefulness of sticking a Babel fish into
his ear and then meets the singular President of the Galaxy Zaphod Beeblebrox
and his shipmate Trillian, both of whom Arthur actually met months before at a
party. Impossible coincidences are explained by the fact that Beeblebrox's ship
is runs on the new Infinite Improbability Drive. Dent grows more and more
confused during his travels on board the Heart of Gold, and the story
eventually culminates with an amazing visit to an astronomically improbability
of the world.
It is difficult to describe the humor and the equally humorous characters.
Arthur Dent, who basically has no idea what is going on; Ford Prefect, Arthur's
remarkable friend from Betelgeuse; Zaphod Beeblebrox, with his two heads, three
arms, and arrogant attitude; Trillian the charming Earth girl who basically
flies the Heart of Gold; Slartibartfast the planet builder and fjord-make
extraordinaire; and Marvin the eternally depressed robot. Life-"loathe it
or ignore it, you can't like it" is the Paranoid Android's philosophy. One
brilliant thing that Adams does is to step away from the action every so often
to present interesting facts about the universe as recorded in the Hitchhiker's
Guide; here we learn about Vogon poetry, the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of
Traal, Trans Galactic Gargle Blasters, and other intriguing pieces about life
in the wild universe Adams created. He even gives the reader the ultimate
answer to the question of life, the universe, and everything in between.
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