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A review by jackrb
Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams
1.0
I, er, wow.
I knew this book didn't have the greatest reputation, both as an ending to the 5-book Hitchhiker trilogy and just as a stand-alone book, as well as the fact Douglas Adams (RIP) was not in a good place mentally when writing. It shows.
It feels like this should be an author's exploration on how to "fit into a chaotic world", but ironically, it means the book itself does not fit into its own series, being significantly more dark and more miserable. None of the characters are having any fun in their own universe.
And the ending... the less said about it the better. Stavromuller Beta indeed.
Perhaps the tonal dissonance can be explained this way. The earlier books are whimsical, and absurdist, taking joy out of life's pointlessness. This book I see as nihilistic, wallowing miserably in life's pointlessness, and is utterly self-defeating because of that fact. If life is pointless, then this book is pointless.
I knew this book didn't have the greatest reputation, both as an ending to the 5-book Hitchhiker trilogy and just as a stand-alone book, as well as the fact Douglas Adams (RIP) was not in a good place mentally when writing. It shows.
It feels like this should be an author's exploration on how to "fit into a chaotic world", but ironically, it means the book itself does not fit into its own series, being significantly more dark and more miserable. None of the characters are having any fun in their own universe.
And the ending... the less said about it the better. Stavromuller Beta indeed.
Perhaps the tonal dissonance can be explained this way. The earlier books are whimsical, and absurdist, taking joy out of life's pointlessness. This book I see as nihilistic, wallowing miserably in life's pointlessness, and is utterly self-defeating because of that fact. If life is pointless, then this book is pointless.