THE HITCH-HIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY: A BOOK REVIEW
My version of a perfect book is incredibly complex. I’d like there to be lots of action, engrossing characters preferably with a terribly complicated and sensitive life history, a plot that keeps you on your toes, complete with twists and turns that leave you wondering whether the last 50 pages you read were even part of this book. This description may sound awfully cliché, but it roots back to the books that I read and have read- Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, The Throne of Glass. All these books satisfy all above requirements. Or, is it better to say, the requirement satisfy them.
My taste was shaped by what I read. Then why is that the story of Arthur Dent, a London commoner whose outlook on life you expect to be as boring as it gets, fascinates me so much? You could say it’s because of Marvin, who, for people who haven’t read the books, is indisputably the life of the party. You could say it’s because of Ford Prefect, who has nothing he can’t do with his towel and some fancy footwear. But in reality, it’s because of Douglas Adams- a great, great author. It’s not every day you meet a man who can fashion a legendary epic out of a British dude, a guy from Betelgeuse, ugly aliens, their psycho therapists and a paranoid robot.
“The first ten million years were the worst,” said Marvin, “and the second ten million years, they were the worst too. The third ten million years I didn’t enjoy at all. After that I went into a bit of a decline.”
— — SPOILER ALERT BEGINS — — (skip to later)
At the beginning of the end, Arthur is whipped off the planet, just as it’s blown up to make way for a new space bypass, and onto a Vogon ship, which, coincidentally, was also the one that destroyed the earth. After that, it’s just a bit of hitchhiking until time comes to save the world, which our protagonists do in a very resisting manner and only at the promise of a huge party afterwards. They also discover the answer to Life, The Universe and Everything- 42. Upon finding this out, they realize they don’t actually know the question. Further travel and investigation reveals it to be ‘What do you get if you multiply 6 by 9?’
Upon reaching the middle of the end, after a series of astonishing events, our characters attempt to find peace and happiness in their lives, only to be whipped away all over again. This time, they find harmony within themselves upon reading the message left for them from the creators of the Universe- ‘We apologize for the inconvenience.’
Edging towards the end of the end, Arthur is revealed to have a mysterious daughter previously hitchhiking through space with her mother. (spoiler- it’s Trillian) She gets hold of a new and quintessential Guide that can control dimensions, time and probability scales, going back in time to make sure what you want has already happened in the past. Using it, she finds earth, where both her parents are from, seeking acceptance, seeing as hitchhiking from one solar system to another throughout your life can’t be very good for your embracing yourself.
There, she finds Tricia McMillan, her mother’s counterpart on the Earth in another probability axis. Some havoc ensues, after which the earth is violently and suddenly destroyed in all possible dimensions and probability scenarios, through a wild procession of fireworks, watery sausages, and no television.
— — SPOILER ALERT ENDS — —
Even after this entire ordeal, it would be wrong to say that the series has a plot. In fact, it was probably only the last book where the protagonists actually hitch-hike with the aim of getting somewhere.
But, it would also be wrong to say that it doesn’t have a plot. The entire story was wonderfully shaped, coming together like puzzle pieces, something I very much admire in all such books. But, it was actually the inexplicably unexpected events that blew my mind and kept me going. It is in the very the nature of the books to jump unsuspecting readers with more and more bizarre occurrences every page. There was nothing ominous about the entire deal- despite the fact that the readers, as well as the characters, usually know next to nothing about what the heck is actually going on. The entire flow of the plot was off-handed, almost comedic- as if it was reprising accountability for itself.
“Would it save you a lot of time if I just gave up and went mad now?”
And ah, the humor. The humor, the humor. Where should I begin?
There are different types of humor- there is contextual humor, the most common we see in novels and stories, there is bad humor, the kind that we laugh at with friends, and then there is classic humor. This type of humor is rarely seen in any situation these days, and its usage is rapidly declining. It is the simple usage of dry savagery, along with an edge of sheer dumbness to brush it up. The dumbness has to be genuine, mind you, or all effect will be lost.
And it is at this humor that Adams excels, making every single dialogue, every single phrase on the page seamlessly hilarious. The dumbness stems mostly from Arthur’s clueless remarks, Ford’s usage of words and their sheer inability to understand each other and everything around them. After that, you just need some clever people, like Trillian and Marvin, as well as our sneaky author himself, to give you the perfect humor combo.
The Hitch-hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is incredible in its descriptions of the situation, and of states of mind. One thing I really like about the book is that it doesn’t assume anything about the reader’s level of knowledge on the things being done. Due to this, several (un)helpful and (un)surprisingly funny excerpts have been contained from the Guide itself, regarding hard topics that need explanations, such as Parallel Universes, how herring sandwiches were used to discover various emotions, mattresses, Multiple Dimensions, etc. These (don’t) clear up all the reader’s doubts. When that’s not there, you can always count on Arthur to express his ignorance and cause Ford to enlighten us with his knowledge.
I enjoyed the entire ride, and I feared reaching the last page of the final book, because I knew I wouldn’t come across something as amazing as this for a long time, if ever. The last few pages were, unsurprisingly surprising. I was blown out of my mind all over again. It caused me to wonder if all this blowing out of my mind was healthy for me, or for the mind in question. But I digress.
At any rate, the ending was not what I expected, and at the same time exactly what I expected. If nothing else, I’m content at the way things turned out, if only because I know that’s the way they did. One thing I can definitely say about this book, that I can’t say about most other books, is that NO ONE who reads it, NO ONE AT ALL, will be disappointed by it. Believe me when I say this, because I wasn’t either.
“Life? Don’t talk to me about life.”
~Marvin
