Do you remember the old Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
advertising campaign? You know, the one where the
peanut butter and chocolate lovers clumsily bump into
each other.
"You've got peanut butter on my chocolate! You've got
chocolate in my peanut butter!" they exclaim before
finding out just how delicious the combination turns
out to be.
Replace peanut butter and chocolate with science
fiction and humor and you get "The Hitchhiker's Guide
to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams.
Follow the rollicking exploits of Arthur Dent and Ford
Prefect as they pinball around the universe, getting
into tight scrapes and meet up with a zany assortment
of characters. You won't find hard science here or a
complex tale mirroring a modern day social issue. In
fact, Adams lampoons these staples of science fiction
and instead creates a wild parody without equal.
You'll even learn the puzzling answer to the meaning
of life, provided by Deep Thought, the second greatest
computer in the universe.
The story begins when a nasty bunch of officious
aliens called the Vogons destroy the Earth to make way
for a 'hyperspatial express route.' Arthur and Ford
survive by thumbing a ride on the Vogon spaceship just
before end of the world. They're able to do this only
because Ford happens to be an alien and, more
importantly, is also a researcher for The Hitchhiker's
Guide to the Galaxy, a type of electronic tome, a
cross between a Lonely Planet guide, a George Carlin
cassette and the Encyclopedia Britannica.
Adams uses entries in the Guide with great effect,
providing quick tongue-in-cheek explanations or
background information on a host of topics. These
italicized portions of the book are peppered
throughout and highlight Adams' wild creativity. Just
as entertaining are the cast of characters: the
wisecracking Ford Prefect; straight man to the farce,
Arthur Dent; the swashbuckling Zaphod Beeblebrox,
President of the Galaxy, who happens to have two heads
and three arms; Marvin, the Paranoid Android, a
severely depressed robot, and a beautiful woman by the
name of Trillian. All are thrown together, jetting
about the universe on The Heart of Gold, a stolen ship
powered by an Improbability Drive and equipped with an
annoyingly cheery computer named Eddie.
Forget about highly defined plot lines and let
yourself bounce from one screwball situation to
another. Give in to the hilarious lunacy and snappy
dialog that drive the novel. Douglas Adams is without
a doubt the funniest science fiction author in the
universe. And don't panic! "The Hitchhiker's Guide to
the Galaxy" is just the first in a classic and oddly
titled five book 'trilogy.' So there's plenty more to
read if you enjoy this introduction to the series.
Just think twice about reading this in public, since a
bark of laughter in a café or on a train may earn you
some odd looks.
Do you remember the old Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
advertising campaign? You know, the one where the
peanut butter and chocolate lovers clumsily bump into
each other.