Customer Reviews

Mostly Brilliant

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For those who haven't heard of the Hitchhiker's Guide series, wake up to yourselves. It's by Douglas Adams and is extremely, clever, funny and ludicrous. It's a "science-fiction" series although there is nothing pertaining to science about it.

The series is largely about Arthur Dent - an ordinary man whisked off the earth just before it's destroyed to build and Intergalactic Superhighway. He discovers there's more alien species and happenings in the big wide galaxy than he could have ever imagines. The series is about the adventures of him and some aliens he crosses paths with.

For the uninitiated, the actual Guide to the Galaxy is a travel book, in the tradition of the Lonely Planet series. On the galactic scale, the earth is rather dull so at one point the entry only states "harmless".

The books are very funny and easy to read. Written by a genuine smartass, a kind of blend of Monty Python and Star Trek, if you can characterise it.

The box set has all the books in the Trilogy of Five. Therefore, it's good - don't make the mistake of buying just the first book or even the first three as you'll almost certainly want them all. A great read from an amazing Adams.

I have absolute conviction when I say that this is possibly one of the most important texts you will ever read.
The first time I read the series It didn't quite click with me but after a while something quite remarkable happened, and I understood that while the humor is good and strange, they really have an important message contained within them that can only be explained by reading.
Took me a while to see it but once I did - I never thought the same way again. Ever.
This is actually something that could help a whole lot of people :) - I think it's a little under-rated, as many people simply fail to understand it, get bored, and stop reading.
Good example of this is the recent film adaptation which quite frankly was absolute rubbish, and completely failed to capture the essence of the books.
Really go and read it :)
Love to hear from anyone who's had similar thoughts on this, or any thoughts at all really ^_^