Customer Reviews

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This was such a disappointment. Martin Freeman just has all the voices wrong. From the first moment I realized it was different. I gave it a chance. I tried to listen to it, but when Beeblebrox's Great Grandfather spoke in an American Southern accent, filled with screeches, I gave up. It's all wrong. The reader just doesn't seem to get the flavor of the work.

The audio version by the BBC with the reading by Douglas Adams, the author, is clearly worth the effort of looking for it.

Arthur Dent, having had his planet blown up, hitchhiked across the galexy with the aide of his friend Ford Prefect (from the vacinity of Beleguse, and not southern England as he'd always claimed) and the wholly remarkable book "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galexy," and discovered mice built the computer Earth to find the Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything, is a hungry man, as are his companions, fellow human Trillion, and the erstwhile President of the Galexy, Zaphoid Betlebrox. This is the wholy remarkable story of their attempt to get to the Resturant at the End of the Universe, where rather exotic and pleased-to-be-served dishes are provided to the enjoyment of the clientelle.

A Hillarious book, with a wonderful britsh feel from its audioreader, its a must have for fans and newbies alike. From their eventful dinner, to the population of the Earth, various bouts of time- and space- travel, and Adam's hillarious humour, The Resturant at the End of the Universe is a favourite....

You definatly need to read the first book to understand what is going on in this one but this falls short of the first book. The ending was disapointing and the section where they are actually at the Restaurant seems to go on to long, but Adam's humor is great throughout.

I really enjoyed this production. I thought the the characterisation for all characters was spot on, especial that of Beeblebrox. If you have already read the books you really need to clear your mind of any preconceived ideas of how the characters should sound, sit back and enjoy the ride. It is a pity that Stephen Fry hasn't voiced the whole series after his excellent work on 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy', however Martin Freeman has done a very good job. I am looking forward to hearing the rest of the series and would highly recommend this audio book.

A seance to communicate with Zaphod's dead grandfather? A ruler of the universe who doesn't believe in the existence of the universe? A talking cow begging to be slaughtered? Ford Prefect staggeringly drunk for half the novel? The long-awaited return of the Messiah just before the end of the universe? How do these elements fit into a science-fiction novel?

Well, they don't. This follow-up suffers from the same problem as the first Hitchhiker's Guide book (though to a slightly lesser extent), namely, the episodic nature of the story. To be sure, this one has a slightly more coherent plot than the first, but there are a lot of pointless (and sometimes lengthy) digressions. Some of them (the Messiah bit, for instance), are very funny, but some of them, well, aren't. Adams is funnier when he doesn't try to do philosophy. The cow that wants to be eaten isn't nearly so amusing nor thought-provoking as Adams apparently intended it to be, and the solipsistic philosopher-king is just stupid. And again, as in the first book, one is not too sure when Adams is doing satire or when he's being serious, but there are some disturbing indications (the protagonists, for instance, feel quite good about the inane ramblings of the philosopher-king, while the bad guys are quite appalled by him).

However, the book also shares some of the first book's virtues, such as Adams' knack for hilarious dialogue, and his great science fiction premises like the restaurant itself and the supernova concert finale (despite also throwing in garbage like seances).

On the whole, definitely worth a read, especially as a preliminary to the rest of the series--which, on the whole, gets better from here.

Martin Freeman's deadpan (except for when he's doing Beeblebrox) narration is quite appropriate and enjoyable--but I can't compare it to Adams' own, as I haven't heard that version yet, so take it for what it's worth.