11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unlike anything else, October 12, 2009
I typically think of books as a spectrum with one end being the character novel and the other end the plot based novel. Really good novels are balanced in the middle, fantastic and engaging characters with a plot that builds and pulls you in. Take a Robin Hobb novel and you know you are going to get amazing and deep characters, but the plot may be lacking. Take a Michael Crichton novel and you know that the plot will flow like an action movie, but the characters will be forgetable. The best novels combine the both of these two worlds.
The Hitchikers Triology is neither. It really isnt. It caused me to make a whole new spectrum when I look at novels: the idea novel. Imagine someone with an interest in and lots of ideas about science fiction, space, time travel, ect. Now give that someone a very quirky sense of humor. Instead of writing a typical sci-fi novel that revolves around amazing plots, each chapter in this book revolves around some interesting idea.
Imagine a planet where matresses are creatures that live in swamps- thats a chapter. Imagine a planet where all the alien species want to do is destroy the universe- thats a chapter. Imagine a tree with creatures on it that never leave that tree unless they question whether there is life in the universe outside of the tree (in which case they get kicked out of the tree)- thats a chapter. There is a very loose plot and some very weak characters that move throughout the universe, not for the purpose of telling a plot or developing the characters, but purely for the purpose of exploring these ideas the author had.
The strength of the novel is the humor. It is quirky, understated, sarcastic, hilarious... To enjoy this novel, I had to get into the right mindset and read purely for the entertaining ideas. Once I got this and abandoned any desire to find a plot thread, I loved it. These books know what they are, if you can embrace that, they are a great read.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
becareful this volume contains all five novels, December 19, 2010
I was fooled by the title (which is of course a joke on the author's part) so be advised that this volume contains all FIVE volumes of the series and don't go buying volume 4 and 5 before receiving this one in the post... like i did...
Otherwise, fabulous story and nice compilation...
^^
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
your guide, October 12, 2005
Okay, for those of you who haven't read the book yet but did watch the movie you guys missed out on a lot the movie didn't include all the scenes that I personally though was very well.
Now that that's out of the way. Douglas Adams in his one of his possibly best know books really out did himself. In this adventure a boring simpleton named Arthur Dent living on the planet we call earth has befriended a guy named Ford Perfect, who is not as he claimed from earth but from a planet called Betelgeuse. Where he was sent from to do research for "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe" (it's a book where it has everything and anything that you could possibly need to know about the universe). Ford tells Arthur that he isn't from around here. He isn't from Earth. In telling Arthur this he also tells him that the earth is about to end.
And since they have gotten to be really close friends he takes Arthur with him when he hitches a ride with the Vogan ships (these are what the aliens are called that destroyed our planet earth). Vogan's in particular don't like hitchhikers very much. So they kick them off the ship, shortly after they get on. And by pure chance they get picked up. And the story goes from there.
Now that I've told you how the book starts I'll leave it up to you to read the rest of the book. And if you read this book, then watch the movie. You'll see that the movie is hardly based on this incredible book .
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No