Sometimes I think that I am having a bad day. I find that nothing puts a stubbed toe and a pile of homework in perspective like a comparison to poor Arthur Dent, who has his house and his planet both bulldozed on the same day, before being ejected into space, among other bizarre and unpleasant experiences. Arthur, the protagonist of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, is launched into the hilarious series of utterly illogical events which make up Douglas Adams’ masterful science fiction work.
In The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Adams manages to make fun of almost everything, venturing into philosophy and science while still including social criticism. However, all of this is presented in such an amusing matter that the whole book gives the impression of being one very long joke.
Arthur Dent, a unremarkable Englishman, wakes up one day to find bulldozers outside his house, prepared to tear it down to make room for a highway bypass. However, just as Arthur’s argument with the demolition workers begins to make some headway, his eccentric friend, Ford Prefect, drags him off to a local bar and tells him that the Earth is scheduled to be bulldozed by brutish aliens to make way for a “hyperspatial express route.”
This is where the plot begins to get strange. Apparently Ford Prefect is actually an alien from Alpha Centauri who is conducting research for the prestigious Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The book quotes heavily and hilariously from this all-encompassing fictional reference work. Using Ford Prefect’s intergalactic hitchhiking knowledge, the pair manage to escape the planet before it is destroyed by catching a ride with the aliens responsible for the bulldozing, the repulsive Vogons.
The two protagonists are soon picked up by the President of Galaxy, who is on the run after stealing the ultimate spaceship. From here the plot degenerates wildly, conveying important ideas such as the meaning of life, the thought process of a falling sperm whale, the extreme intelligence of dolphins, among others.
This book is wildly amusing, yet it still raises some worthwhile ideas for consideration. Adams manages to mock the conventions of science fiction thoroughly while still crafting an interesting, if absurd, story. Despite the fact that The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is occasionally crude and mockingly nihilistic, it provokes both thought and laughter with remarkable dexterity.
For example, one of the narrator’s examples of the primitive condition of life on Earth was the obsession of Earthlings with little green pieces of paper, which provides a useful reminder of the silliness of materialism in the long run.The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy remains the funniest book I have ever read. From the beginning to the end, it is one huge mass of throbbing irony.
If you have never considered the extreme usefulness of a towel while hitchhiking or the possibility that humans might be the third most intelligent species on Earth, I suggest that you read this book immediately to widen your horizons. It is the first in a series of five books, followed by the equally ingenious Restaurant at the End of the Universe. Only about 200 pages long, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is available at local bookstores or on Amazon for about twelve dollars.
For more reviews, read the March 3 article, ‘Son of God’ lacks originality, saved by Christ story.
This writer can be reached via Twitter: @m00re_is_better. Follow The Feather via Twitter: @thefeather.
