Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy....

JackKelly

Well,I'm just after finishing reading the first in the series by Douglas Adams, and i have to say, I'm not really that impressed at all.
I never had heard much about these but had been told they were laugh out loud funny, which is hard to get in a novel. In the end, I think i only really laughed properly once (

when Marvin tells the crew that he made the police ship commit suicide

)
I'd wouldn't mind reading a few more of the collection but I was a bit dissapointed to be honest, what are other people views of the book?

Karoma

Nothing lives up to hype.
I found it 'laugh out loud' funny. Keep going and you'll warm to it more... or else. Worse case scenario: you've wasted a few hours reading them.

_blank_

My favourite books ever. I read the trilogy at least once every three years or so.

Also, I loved the Dirk Gently novels too.

Tree

i too adore douglas adams' books. the hitchhikers guide has some absolute gems, no book is perfect but this one is so good overall i cant really point out faults! (well apart from teh fact of douglas adams' death )

Dirk Gently

seansouth wrote:

Also, I loved the Dirk Gently novels too.

I actually prefer the Dirk Gently books to the Hitchhiker series.
The long dark tea time of the soul is my favourite of all his books.

r3nu4l

I read these years ago and loved them, they are the kind of books that become funnier as you read them simply because you can predict a characters reaction to any given situation.

There are some very very funny scenes in later books that connect back to events in the other books. Sometimes a seemingly innocent sentance in one book spawns chapters in the later books. Very clever and well pu together. Loved them

Earthhorse

Hmmm, I suppose they're not everyone's cup of tea. Personally, I thought they were hilarious with the best one being So Long and Thanks For All The Fish.

The Dirk Gently novels are alright. Some interesting ideas but not as funny as Hitchhikers.

Dades

I think the books were more unique when they were introduced. We're used to every type of satire/comedy now.

I love 'em to bits.
Particularly the lifts that can see a little bit into the future.

odhran

I really enjoyed Hitchhikers...., but felt that the trilogy got weaker as it progressed. I read the five books one after the other, but by Mostly Harmless I felt that the humour was very repetitive. Also, to be perfectly honest, I lost all idea of what was happening somewhere in the middle of So Long.... Still definitely worth reading though, in my humble opinion.

John

I agree wholeheartedly with odhran

mike65

The books were merely a fleshing out of the radio scripts as such they lack the jokes to the minute ratio of the BBC 4 series which you really should buy on disc.

http://www.bbcshop.com/invt/056347789x

Mike.

Valmont

I found the restauraunt at the end of the universe bloomin' hilarious. I laughed out loud on the 45 one day for ages, I just couldn't help it. The books did get less funny and more predictable after they still made me smile. I also did not like the final conclusion to the series, bit wussy in my opinion. I boycotted the film because I had Ford in my head as a white guy and marvin as more linear so it was confusing looking at the trailers. Actually I hate movies from books as the actors always push my interpretations out of my head and replace them. Rant over

mike65

Mike, if you can find any evidence that the BBC don't mind this particular copyrighted stuff being downloaded (drop me a PM or something) I'll happily restore this post - sceptre

JackKelly

Well, I bought the "Restuarant at the End of Universe" for 2 euro or something today, so i'll give that a go as well. I think i was a bit harsh on the first. It's definitely a great story and maybe I just wasn't in a funny mood when reading it. More to come!

Tree

no point talking bout the book in relation to the film. in at least one of his introductions and biography it is pointed out that there should be no similarities between teh radio show, record, towel, computer game or book.

r3nu4l

The Atheist wrote:

I think the books were more unique when they were introduced. We're used to every type of satire/comedy now.

This is true, the humour has a massive Monthy Python element to it (Adams was friendly with the Pythons and has a walk on part in The Life of Brian) but by the time the fourth book was written the humour was far from new.

Also Adams was involved in a lot of scripting for the film and changes to the scripting between the radio, books, TV series and movie are mostly to do with how Adams worked.

Apparently he agonised over every word he wrote and would sometimes spend days rearranging even the simplest sentence. This got worse as he became more successful and he realised how much money every word was worth. It appears to have been a guilt thing, as if he didn't feel quite right about how much he had made from writing.