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4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It’s so BRITISH.
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is a terrible, wonderful book.
Sheer cleverness, tremendous creativity, and a striking "voice" make this book, and the series that follows it, worthy of acclaim and nerd worship. And they hold up! Read it as a nerdy teenager and your eyes will bug out at the brilliance. Read it as a 30-something adult, and you'll still have a good time. My favorite parts during this re-read were things I'd completely forgotten... like the alien species that is a "sentient shade of the color blue". Neat, simple ideas that I had forgotten.
Does the book have character development, or any interesting characters with motivations? Nope. Not even slightly. The characters begin well, and have promise, but don't go anywhere or care about anything or do anything particularly interesting. Tricia McMillan? We see her thinking some interesting things early on... and then zap, she's just a dot in the background who makes occasional comments. Same for all of the characters, even Zaphod.
Does the book have a plot? No. A great beginning, but no middle and no end. Does the book have a clear setting, or language that takes the complex ideas and turns them into poetry? No, not so much. It's a science fiction stand-up comedy routine. You'll laugh, you'll groan, but you aren't going to be elevated.
This book soars on its ideas, cleverness, humor, and voice. These elements repeatedly astonish and delight. If the book also had characters and a plot, it would win a frickin' Pulitzer.
So... this is a terrible, wonderful book.
Sheer cleverness, tremendous creativity, and a striking "voice" make this book, and the series that follows it, worthy of acclaim and nerd worship. And they hold up! Read it as a nerdy teenager and your eyes will bug out at the brilliance. Read it as a 30-something adult, and you'll still have a good time. My favorite parts during this re-read were things I'd completely forgotten... like the alien species that is a "sentient shade of the color blue". Neat, simple ideas that I had forgotten.
Does the book have character development, or any interesting characters with motivations? Nope. Not even slightly. The characters begin well, and have promise, but don't go anywhere or care about anything or do anything particularly interesting. Tricia McMillan? We see her thinking some interesting things early on... and then zap, she's just a dot in the background who makes occasional comments. Same for all of the characters, even Zaphod.
Does the book have a plot? No. A great beginning, but no middle and no end. Does the book have a clear setting, or language that takes the complex ideas and turns them into poetry? No, not so much. It's a science fiction stand-up comedy routine. You'll laugh, you'll groan, but you aren't going to be elevated.
This book soars on its ideas, cleverness, humor, and voice. These elements repeatedly astonish and delight. If the book also had characters and a plot, it would win a frickin' Pulitzer.
So... this is a terrible, wonderful book.
I tried to read this when I was younger and I think I was just a little too young, but now I can't believe it took me this long to pick it up again! This was so so good and so so funny. It's also such a crazily quick read; I just flew through it!
I'll definitely be reading all five of these.
I'll definitely be reading all five of these.
I mean.
Yeah it's a great classic, really funny, really full of little bits of fantastic nonsense. Such classics of dork literature. But I still hold that Terry Pratchett could invent a character with more facets and detail and drama (particularly in the middle/later half of the series) and /still/ fit all the comedy and little bits of nonsense and satire in the plot without too much trouble. These characters read a bit flat.
Admittedly, it /may/ be because I'm into fantasy more than sci-fi. The What Ifs of fantasy usually grab my attention more than the How Does of sci-fi.
Yeah it's a great classic, really funny, really full of little bits of fantastic nonsense. Such classics of dork literature. But I still hold that Terry Pratchett could invent a character with more facets and detail and drama (particularly in the middle/later half of the series) and /still/ fit all the comedy and little bits of nonsense and satire in the plot without too much trouble. These characters read a bit flat.
Admittedly, it /may/ be because I'm into fantasy more than sci-fi. The What Ifs of fantasy usually grab my attention more than the How Does of sci-fi.
Summary in a Sentence
This Story is about an Unfortunate Catastrophe that leads Arthur Dent (mere Earthman) to find out about the greatest book in the Universe (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) and his adventures with the author.
This Story is about an Unfortunate Catastrophe that leads Arthur Dent (mere Earthman) to find out about the greatest book in the Universe (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) and his adventures with the author.
Philosophy not sci-fi; worth the read. Great one-liners.
A really great story! It was amazing to live inside Adams' world and mind for a little.
Of the many things that make this book a to-read is its humor sprinkled throughout the story. I don't laugh out loud uncontrollably at many books but I did for this one. I would recommend to any science-fiction enthusiast. A real masterpiece of surrealist proportions. I'm excited to watch the movie and to read the other books in the trilogy of five :-)
In a word: mindbendingly-funny-and-amazing
(08/29/23)
Of the many things that make this book a to-read is its humor sprinkled throughout the story. I don't laugh out loud uncontrollably at many books but I did for this one. I would recommend to any science-fiction enthusiast. A real masterpiece of surrealist proportions. I'm excited to watch the movie and to read the other books in the trilogy of five :-)
In a word: mindbendingly-funny-and-amazing
(08/29/23)
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated