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beagley 's review for:
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
by Douglas Adams
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.