Vell, look, Zaphod's just zis guy, you know? (The Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams)

Member Name: Chaos-Theory

Product:	The Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
Date:	21/07/08 (68 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: An absolute classic, brilliantly funny and expertly written.

Disadvantages: Only that Douglas Adams died so can't produce any more brilliant books.

This is an absolute classic! I won't bother to summarise the plot as that's clearly been done already, but I would like to take a little trip down Memory Lane and wax lyrical about this masterpiece! My first introduction to Douglas Adams was when a school-friend loaned me a copy of The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy (with a banana stain on page 38 - isn't it funny the things you remember?). Anyway, it was late 1970s and it was still quite a new phenomenon (only later did I discover the radio series, the records, the theatre production, the badge, the T-shirt, the fan club, and the videos of the TV series). Yes, I'm showing my age, but it's kind of nice to think I lived through it all while it was still happening. A couple of months ago we were having a family meal in a local child-friendly place, and we had table number 42. I was impressed that the young (very young) waiter was able to comment on that being the answer to life, the universe and everything, and even inform me that Take Your Towel To Work Day was fast approaching! Only later did I stop and realise that this lad wouldn't have even been born when Hitch-Hiker's Guide was first published.

It's nice that such quality still appeals to the younger generation, and not just people of a certain age! Even now, some twenty odd years since I first read the book, I can still quote Vogon poetry (word perfect for my sins!). But don't worry, I'll spare you that torment.

The brilliance of Douglas Adams' writing was that this was the first time I had encountered science fiction writing crossed with out and out humour. It was a revelation!

Only later did I discover that Douglas Adams had written for the BBC and had been involved with some of the Dr Who scripts. Now, it may not have been his work, but there was one episode I remember (he was named as a script editor, but I don't suppose he was the only writer involved), in which Tom Baker was trying to climb back up a shaft he had fallen down. He whipped out a little book entitled Mountain Climbing For Beginners, glanced at it and muttered something about it being written in Tibetan. He discarded the book and pulled out another one, Tibetan For Beginners. As I say, I've no proof this particular bit was written by Douglas Adams, but it had his mark on it, as far as I was concerned.

Hitch-Hiker's Guide was, in my opinion, the best of the series. I felt it went gradually downhill after that - most noticeably with So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish, by which time I really felt his heart wasn't in it and he was only doing it for the money.

Nevertheless I would recommend this book without hesitation, it's a brilliant read - and once you're read this one you will simply have to read on to the end of the series, just as I did. Douglas Adams was one of the truly great writers of our time, and his works have given me hours and hours of entertainment - I just wish he had lived long enough to write even more.

Oh, and I'm sure when I started to write this review, it said there were 41 reviews already written. Please, please, let mine be number 42!!!!

Summary: A truly special and influential piece of writing.