Douglas Adams

In this collection of novels, Arthur Dent is introduced to the galaxy at large when he is rescued by an alien friend seconds before Earth's destruction, and embarks on a series of amazing adventures with his new companion.

The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Per Anhalter Durch Die Galaxis

bro really did make the mice the superior species

blue

what a chapter (chap 28)...So turns out the earth is a computer, it made me chuckle

"I checked it very thoroughly," said the computer, "and that quite definitely is the answer. I think the problem, to be quite honest with you, is that you've never actually known what the question is."! "But it was the Great Question! The Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything!" howled Loonquawl. "Yes," said Deep Thought with the air of one who suffers fools gladly, "but what actually is it?"

i think it's great that the big question and the name of the trilogy are the same

"Of Life, the Universe and Everything..." said Deep Thought.

"Forty two," said Deep Thought, with infinite majesty and calm.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Extremely funny . . . inspired lunacy . . . [and] over much too soon.”—The Washington Post Book World Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read Seconds before Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last fifteen years, has been posing as an out-of-work actor. Together, this dynamic pair began a journey through space aided by a galaxyful of fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox—the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch president of the galaxy; Trillian (formerly Tricia McMillan), Zaphod’s girlfriend, whom Arthur tried to pick up at a cocktail party once upon a time zone; Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, and chronically depressed robot; and Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he’s bought over the years. Where are these pens? Why are we born? Why do we die? For all the answers, stick your thumb to the stars! Praise for The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy “A whimsical oddyssey . . . Characters frolic through the galaxy with infectious joy.”—Publishers Weekly “Irresistable!”—The Boston Globe

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Robby

Irreverent, absurd, brilliant, and just so much fun to read.

it's the subtle humor that i really like about this book

He gestured Arthur towards a chair which looked as if it had been made out of the ribcage of a stegosaurus.

"It was made out of the ribcage of a stegosaurus," explained the old man as he pottered about fishing bits of wire out from under tottering piles of paper and drawing instruments.

what makes it funny is the fact that there is no correlation between the 2

Curiously enough, the only thing that went through the mind of the bowl of petunias as it fell was Oh no, not again. Many people have speculated that if we knew exactly why the bowl of petunias had thought that we would know a lot more about the nature of the Universe than we do now

this is so random, still made me chuckle!

Another thing that got forgotten was the fact that against all probability a sperm whale had suddenly been called into existence several miles above the surface of an alien planet. And since this is not a naturally tenable position for a whale, this poor innocent creature had very little time to come to terms with its identity as a whale before it then had to come to terms with not being a whale any more. This is a complete record of its thought from the moment it began its life till the moment it ended it. 

Ah …! What’s happening? it thought. Er, excuse me, who am I? Hello? Why am I here? What’s my purpose in life? What do I mean by who am I? Calm down, get a grip now … oh! this is an interesting sensation, what is it? It’s a sort of … yawning, tingling sensation in my … my …well, I suppose I’d better start finding names for things if I want to make any headway in what for the sake of what I shall call an argument I shall call the world, so let’s call it my stomach. Good. Ooooh, it’s getting quite strong. And hey, what about this whistling roaring sound going past what I’m suddenly going to call my head? Perhaps I can call that … wind! Is that a good name? It’ll do … perhaps I can find a better name for it later when I’ve found out what it’s for. It must be something very important because there certainly seems to be a hell of a lot of it. Hey! What’s this thing? This … let’s call it a tail—yeah, tail. Hey! I can really thrash it about pretty good, can’t I? Wow! Wow! That feels great! Doesn’t seem to achieve very much but I’ll probably find out what it’s for later on. Now, have I built up any coherent picture of things yet? No. Never mind, hey, this is really exciting, so much to find out about, so much to look forward to, I’m quite dizzy with anticipation … Or is it the wind? There really is a lot of that now, isn’t there? And wow! Hey! What’s this thing suddenly coming toward me very fast? Very, very fast. So big and flat and round, it needs a big wide sounding name like … ow … ound … round … ground! That’s it! That’s a good name—ground! I wonder if it will be friends with me? And the rest, after a sudden wet thud, was silence.

It was of course more or less at this moment that one of the crew sustained a nasty bruise to the upper arm. This should be emphasized because, as has already been revealed, they escape otherwise completely unharmed and the deadly nuclear missiles do not eventually hit the ship. The safety of the crew is absolutely assured.

i'm going to eventually come back for a 2nd reread (3rd read) later for the humor of the author

“It is most gratifying, “ it said, “that your enthusiasm for our planet continues unabated, and so we would like to assure you that the guided missiles currently converging with your ship are part of a special service we extend to all of our most enthusiastic clients, and the fully armed nuclear warheads are of course merely a courtesy detail. We look forward to your custom in future lives.… Thank you.” The voice snapped off.

“Shhh!” said Zaphod. “There’s absolutely nothing to be worried about.” “Then why’s everyone so tense?” “They’re just interested!” shouted Zaphod.

i love the ridiculousness and uniqueness of this book

Stress and nervous tension are now serious social problems in all parts of the Galaxy, and it is in order that this situation should not be in any way exacerbated that the following facts will now be revealed in advance. The planet in question is in fact the legendary Magrathea. The deadly missile attack shortly to be launched by an ancient automatic defense system will result merely in the breakage of three coffee cups and a mouse cage, the bruising of somebody’s upper arm, and the untimely creation and sudden demise of a bowl of petunias and an innocent sperm whale. In order that some sense of mystery should still be preserved, no revelation will yet be made concerning whose upper arm sustains the bruise. This fact may safely be made the subject of suspense since it is of no significance whatsoever.

it's kinda brilliant tbh, still annoying though

One of the major difficulties Trillian experienced in her relationship with Zaphod was learning to distinguish between him pretending to be stupid just to get people off their guard, pretending to be stupid because he couldn’t be bothered to think and wanted someone else to do it for him, pretending to be outrageously stupid to hide the fact that he actually didn’t understand what was going on, and really being genuinely stupid. He was renowned for being amazingly clever and quite clearly was so—but not all the time, which obviously worried him, hence the act. He preferred people to be puzzled rather than contemptuous. This above all appeared to Trillian to be genuinely stupid, but she could no longer be bothered to argue about it.

“I’ve just thought of something,” she said. “Yeah? Worth interrupting a news bulletin about me for?” “You hear enough about yourself as it is.” “I’m very insecure. We know that.” “Can we drop your ego for a moment? This is important.” “If there’s anything more important than my ego around, I want it caught and shot now.” Zaphod glared at her again, then laughed.

“Sorry, did I say something wrong?” said Marvin, dragging himself on regardless. “Pardon me for breathing, which I never do anyway so I don’t know why I bother to say it, oh God, I’m so depressed. Here’s another of those self-satisfied doors. Life! Don’t talk to me about life.” “No one even mentioned it,” muttered Arthur irritably.

“Zaphod,” she said patiently, “they were floating unprotected in open space … you wouldn’t want them to have died, would you?” “Well, you know … no. Not as such, but …” “Not as such? Not die as such? But?” Trillian cocked her head on one side. “A second later and they would have been dead.” “Yeah, so if you’d taken the trouble to think about the problem a bit longer it would have gone away.” “You’d have been happy to let them die?” “Well, you know, not happy as such, but …”

the telephone cleaners weren't so useless were they huh?

Brooke Barnett

virulent disease contracted from a dirty telephone.

There was an accident with a contraceptive and a time machine.

Almost the exact same thing that happened in Chapter 1 with Arthur's house happened in Chapter 3 with Earth! LOL!

Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy

Bethany Jenkins

“But that's not the point!" raged Ford. “The point is that I am now a perfectly safe penguin, and my colleague here is rapidly running out of limbs!" 

“It’s all right, I've got them back now," said Arthur.

This planet has-or rather had-a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.

Chaïmae

“That ship hated me,” he said dejectedly, indicating the policecraft.

“That ship?” said Ford in sudden excitement. “What happened to it? Do you know?”

“It hated me because I talked to it.”

“You talked to it?” exclaimed Ford. “What do you mean you talked to it?”

“Simple. I got very bored and depressed, so I went and plugged myself in to its external computer feed. I talked to the computer at great length and explained my view of the Universe to it,” said Marvin.

“Science has achieved some wonderful things, of course, but I’d far rather be happy than right any day.”

“No. That’s where it all falls down, of course.”

“Pity,” said Arthur with sympathy. “It sounded like quite a good life-style otherwise.”

“Curiously enough, the only thing that went through the mind of the bowl of petunias as it fell was Oh no, not again. Many people have speculated that if we knew exactly why the bowl of petunias had thought that we would know a lot more about the nature of the Universe than we do now.”

“You know,” said Arthur, “it’s at times like this, when I’m trapped in a Vogon airlock with a man from Betelgeuse, and about to die of asphyxiation in deep space, that I really wish I’d listened to what my mother told me when I was young.”

The Hitch Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy (Gollancz)

Just fantastic fun with a great sense of humour

Angus Bretherick

DANA

Don’t panic. Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.

First a legendary radio series, then a sequence of bestselling books, and most recently a blockbuster movie, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy is one of the greatest fictional enterprises of the twentieth century. Reissued in time for the first novel's thirty-fifth anniversary, this hardback omnibus edition includes all five parts of the trilogy, along with a wealth of extra material prefaced and contextualised by Jem Roberts, the official biographer of Douglas Adams, to complete the canon. This unique hardback edition is indispensable for any would-be galactic traveller, and a must-read for all Douglas Adams fans.

The Nearly Definitive Edition

Sharp satire and absurdity that varies in its level of charm. Didn't like it as much as I thought I would, maybe post-Pratchett, I lean towards a more compassionate version of social commentary and wry hilarity.

Much as I enjoyed the 2005 film adaptation, it became very clear reading this edition that they took the teeth out of the story to make it fun for the whole family, in addition to, of course, not being able to cover beyond the eponymous first part/book.

 Veers into Alice in Wonderland style nonsense in the amount of new words/names and adjective and adverb choices that are just more creative than average.  

Moments of beautiful writing but I felt like they got drowned out by the running around and abrupt endings.  

Think my fave of the bunch was 'So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish'.

Not quite ready to forgive Adams for Marvin and Colin's fate.

⚠️ Suicide, mental health concerns, animal death 

Sharp satire and absurdity that varies in its level of charm. Didn't like it as much as I thought I would, maybe post-Pratchett, I lean towards a more compassionate version of social commentary and wry hilarity.

Much as I enjoyed the 2005 film adaptation, it became very clear reading this edition that they took the teeth out of the story to make it fun for the whole family, in addition to, of course, not being able to cover beyond the eponymous first part/book.

 Veers into Alice in Wonderland style nonsense in the amount of new words/names and adjective and adverb choices that are just more creative than average.  

Moments of beautiful writing but I felt like they got drowned out by the running around and abrupt endings.  

Think my fave of the bunch was 'So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish'.

Not quite ready to forgive Adams for Marvin and Colin's fate.

⚠️ Suicide, mental health concerns, animal death 

Sarah Schumacher

Longtime fan. Have to read this every 5 years or so. Perhaps an acquired taste, but it combines two of my favorite things; British humour and books. Nonsensical, funny space fiction punctuated by creative word sequences and astute observations.

Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect learn why Earth has been shunned by the rest of the galaxy as they journey through space and time.

Life, the Universe and Everything

This one has more of what you would call a plot. My favorite of the series after #1.

Raised on a planet at the remote edge of the universe, the daughter of Arthur Dent sets out on a transgalactic quest to find the planet of her ancestors

Mostly Harmless

A rather unpleasant way to end the series, particularly spoiled by the presence of the surprise daughter; the stereotypical selfish, needy tween girl (which is a solid way to ruin any form of media).

The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Nessa Luna

Read this review, and many more on my blog October Tune!

I haven’t made many notes about this book, because I was so busy with getting myself ‘into’ the book, that I didn’t really bother writing down the things I liked or didn’t like.

Like I said, I found it hard to get into the book, not just because it was written about thirty years ago, and because of the fact that a lot was explained in this short book. I started it September, and I barely got past ten pages, and then I put it down for a while, to read other books that were a bit easier to read. A couple of days ago I picked it up again and read up until the forty pages. Last night I reached the ninety pages and decided to watch the movie, which I had downloaded a while ago.

The movie was nice, though the beginning (with the dolphins) was a bit odd; but I liked it. It had Martin Freeman as Arthur Dent (which is funny because I remember Arthur being described as a tall man, which Martin isn’t really); Zooey Deschanel as Trillion and Alan Rickman (voice) & Warwick Davis as the robot Marvin.

After the movie, I found it a bit easier to read the rest of the book, because I understood a bit more about the story because I had already seen it. Of course, like with any other movie-based-on-a-book, there were some differences but they didn’t really bother me much.

In the end, I enjoyed the story, and I am certainly planning on finishing the rest of the series (which I already have on my shelf). And I recommend this book to everyone who likes a nice and funny Sci-Fi story!

Adams

I had high expectations for this book, a silly romp through the galaxy seemed right up my alley, but I never fell into the book, I didn’t find myself laughing out loud, or feeling the desire to pick this book up, fun read but underwhelming after 22 years of hype

cedar winslow

DON'T LEAVE EARTH WITHOUT THE HILARIOUS INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY 

About the end of the world and the happy-go-lucky days that follow...
About the worst Thursday that ever happened, and why the Universe is a lot safer if you bring a towel...
--back cover

Michael Springer

These books is much silly. Even if you saw the movie and didn't think it was funny, you should read the book. The book is very very much funnier than the movie. The Hitchhiker's Guide is a quick and funny read with several scenes that you will remember a long time after you finish it. It's currently about 16 years since I've read the damn thing, and I still remember my favorite scenes pretty well.

Cheri Fuller

Fun read. I'll likely read it again at some point. I caught myself drifting off to pay attention to other things while listening so a second listen will be even more enjoyable, I think.

'People of Earth, your attention please. This is Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz of the Galactic Hyperspace Planning Council. 
Plans for development of the outlying regions of the galaxy require the building of a hyperspatial express route through your star system, and regrettably your planet is scheduled for demolition. 

The process will take slightly less than two of your Earth minutes. Thank you.'

DON'T PANIC

For Arthur Dent, earthling and homeowner, the severe case of planning blight announced above is the overture to a quite remarkable set of travels, guided en route by an equally remarkable book--a book more popular than the Celestial Home Care Omnibus, cheaper than the Encyclopedia Galactica, it's...THE HITCH HIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY!
--back cover

Modith D.

Everything you need to know about this book can be summarized into two words

Forty Two

That is all. Have a good day

Bri Billaney

This was fun. Every moment of it was fun. I still quote this, despite reading it years ago.

Colleen

I've seen the TV miniseries and movie versions of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy several times, but this is the first time I've ever actually read the book. It is very short and very funny. It has a nonsensical sort of humor that revels in the absurd. There were moments that I said, "This is genius!" and other moments where I simply felt "Meh, it's alright." The hilarious moments more than make up for the crazier ones. I love the entire concept of a guide for traveling the universe. I love the reminder that you can at once be overwhelmingly inconsequential and vastly important. I love the manic-depressive robot, zany Ford, and of course poor Arthur got a lot more than he bargained for.

I will through out there a contender for the top three worst poets in the universe though. In the serendipitous nature of the world, my reading this book coincided with my playing unwilling audience to some dreadful poetry. So I got an extra chuckle out of that!

It was highly original, fun, and definitely worth the read.

This review fulfills the "Book Based on or Turned into a TV Show" category of the Popsugar reading challenge. http://www.popsugar.com/love/Reading-...

Varol Aksoy

Aman Allahııııııımmm bu ne kadar kucuk yazı puntosu boyle :| Hevesle okumak istememe rağmen gözlerim o kadar hızlı ilerlememe izin vermiyor. 500 sayfa fazla olsaymış ta en azından okunabilir bassalarmış :/ Fakat kitap gercekten muthis. Standart kitap ölcusunde muhtemelen 1200-1300 sayfa rahat tutar. Hic sıkılmadan da okunur izlenimi uyandırdı bende baslangıc icin.

Anthony

I really enjoyed the humour sprinkled throughout this book. I found it very entertaining from start to finish. A quick read too!

A beautifully illustrated edition of the New York Times bestselling classic, timed to celebrate the pivotal 42nd anniversary of the original publication--with never-before-seen illustrations by award winner Chris Riddell SOON TO BE A HULU SERIES * "Extremely funny . . . inspired lunacy . . . [and] over much too soon."--The Washington Post Book World Nominated as one of America's best-loved novels by PBS's The Great American Read Seconds before Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last fifteen years, has been posing as an out-of-work actor. Together, this dynamic pair begin a journey through space aided by a galaxyful of fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox--the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch president of the galaxy; Trillian (formerly Tricia McMillan), Zaphod's girlfriend, whom Arthur tried to pick up at a cocktail party once upon a time zone; Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, and chronically depressed robot; and Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he's bought over the years. Where are these pens? Why are we born? Why do we die? For all the answers, stick your thumb to the stars!

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

Vilandra

This book made me laugh out loud. I feel like I would have loved this book more if I had read it as a kid though. There were some parts I just wanted to get through. You can definitely see the influence either from or to Doctor Who.

Stephen Fry

Seconds before the Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last 15 years, has been posing as an out-of-work actor.
Together this dynamic pair begin a journey through space aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker's Guide ("A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have.") and a galaxy full of fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox, the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch president of the galaxy; Trillian, Zaphod's girlfriend (formally Tricia McMillan), whom Arthur tried to pick up at a cocktail party once upon a time zone; Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, and chronically depressed robot; and Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student who is obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he bought over the years.

Where are these pens? Why are we born? Why do we die? Why do we spend so much time in between wearing digital watches? For all the answers stick your thumb to the stars. And don't forget to bring a towel!

Lynn

This was alright, I liked the adventurous spirit of the book and the lighter discussion of big topics - creating a new perspective on the weight we put on everything we do. But overall this book just wasn’t my vibe. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Stephen Fry, but I feel like this would’ve been more accessible for me as a graphic novel. It also wasn’t as funny as I’d expected to be from reviews, but that might have just been an expectation vs reality thing. 2 stars because I won’t read again and would only recommend to certain people, it was short though so bonus points for not dragging on.

A Trilogy in Four Parts

Katherine Yang

Goodness this took me a long time o.o but it was completely worth it! I loved the humour in these books; somehow it managed to be hilarious and not over the top at the same time :) Really random book but would recommend it :D

Nina

Very funny, intellectual and amusing!! Read it in Dutch

Kshitij Bantupalli

This book was so long due.
It was a pleasure reading it. Sailed through. I can't wait to read the sequels!

Gillian Rose

A fun sci-fi romp. I had seen the most recent adaptation a few years ago, so I knew the general story and it was amusing.

In Life, the Universe and Everything, the third title in Douglas Adams' blockbusting sci-fi comedy series, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Arthur Dent finds himself enlisted to prevent a galactic war. This edition includes exclusive bonus material from the Douglas Adams archives, and an introduction by Simon Brett, producer of the original radio broadcast. Following a number of stunning catastrophes, which have involved him being alternately blown up and insulted in ever stranger regions of the Galaxy, Arthur Dent is surprised to find himself living in a cave on prehistoric Earth. However, just as he thinks that things cannot get possibly worse, they suddenly do. An eddy in the space-time continuum lands him, Ford Prefect, and their flying sofa in the middle of the cricket ground at Lord's, just two days before the world is due to be destroyed by the Vogons. Escaping the end of the world for a second time, Arthur, Ford, and their old friend Slartibartfast embark (reluctantly) on a mission to save the whole galaxy from fanatical robots. Not bad for a man in his dressing gown . . . Follow Arthur Dent's galactic (mis)adventures in the rest of the trilogy with five parts: So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, and Mostly Harmless.

3.5 stars

There were parts I liked more than the sequel, but it didn't match the first one again.

The fifth hilarious novel in the classic "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series follows the exploits of Arthur Dent, who has to adjust to a new life when his spaceship crashes on a remote planet. "If you were hoping for more of the zany, nonsensical, mayhem produced in the earlier books, you're in luck." --"The New York Times Book Review."

Another quick read and I appreciated seeing more of Tricia/Trillian, but overall, I've lost interest in this series.

it's all over the place, but that's its charm. The humor added up too. 

The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Reviews

Highlights