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Fun Stuff => ENJOY => Topic started by: Ying-Yang-Yong on 02 Feb 2008, 05:35

Title: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Ying-Yang-Yong on 02 Feb 2008, 05:35
So... A book by one of the strangest authors this side of Andromeda. Well, was. A moment of silence for the late great Douglas Adams.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is probably the only Science Fiction book (don't knock it yet) in which the Earth is destroyed...In the 1st chapter. Filled to the absolute brim with witty remarks and quantum physics.
  I only call it Science Fiction because it's set in space. It really doesn't fit into any genre. It is definitly one of the greatest works of engilsh literature ever to grace the hallowed halls of...Somewhere. Anyway, has anyone else read it?
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Nodaisho on 02 Feb 2008, 07:36
I would say that it is a good bet that most of us have read it, it is a very popular book. I also read the other four books in the trilogy.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Ying-Yang-Yong on 02 Feb 2008, 07:38
Really? Because most people I know have never heard of it, and if I get them to try and read it, all of the jokes go right over their head and one guy even tried to flush it down the toilet.
   ...Yes. You heard me. Toilet.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Nodaisho on 02 Feb 2008, 07:43
Stab him.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: KharBevNor on 02 Feb 2008, 07:45
We're all hip young things. We are sophisticated. We know the difference between black coffee and americano.

Everyone here has read it.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Ying-Yang-Yong on 02 Feb 2008, 07:45
Hmmm... That is a solution... BUT. I'd rather roast him over a slow flame 1st.
   Then stab him.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Ying-Yang-Yong on 02 Feb 2008, 07:47
Doesn't really fit, does it? A forum that was set up because of a webcomic full of sophisticated young people full of witty algorithms...  :| Not that I'm complaining. Most things I say go way over peoples heads.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: celticgeek on 02 Feb 2008, 08:20
I have read it, enjoyed it thoroughly, watched at least some of the film/video of it, and I wear my towel on Towel Day:

(http://g.virbcdn.com/cdnImages/noResize/Image-47710-500667-TowelDay2007.jpg)
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Nodaisho on 02 Feb 2008, 09:31
I don't know what americano is either, is it coffee from America? But... isn't most coffee from south America and/or Jamaica?
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: imapiratearg on 02 Feb 2008, 09:33
Yeah, I don't know what American is either, but this is a fantastic book.

Bistromathics.  Heh.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Ying-Yang-Yong on 02 Feb 2008, 09:39
Yeah, the book rules this Galaxy, but the movie really sucks ass. Didja ever notice that about movies made from books?
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: imapiratearg on 02 Feb 2008, 09:45
I saw the movie before ever reading the book, so I actually like both of them.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Ying-Yang-Yong on 02 Feb 2008, 09:53
Oh, well that's good. But if you were like me and read the books 1st, you really couldn't watch the movie without retching behind the couch. I can't stand the movie.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: jimbunny on 02 Feb 2008, 10:13
I read the book first. The movie was still pretty good.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Ying-Yang-Yong on 02 Feb 2008, 10:16
You really thought so? I was absolutely disgusted by the lack of faith towards the book. But each to his own, I won't hold it against you. Well, not after I hunt you down, murder you, remove your non-vital internal organs, roast said organs, force you to eat them and then chop up the rest, liquify it and feed it to a very hungry hobo.
   But that's just me.
I think I may need help.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Liz on 02 Feb 2008, 10:18
At this point I have only seen the movie, which I own and love. I plan on reading the book as soon as it is returned to my local library and I actually have the time to read fiction and not class materials.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Ying-Yang-Yong on 02 Feb 2008, 10:41
Well, it's not just the one book. There are five:

The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Life, the Universe and Everything
So Long, and Thanks for All The Fish
Mostly Harmless

http://www.douglasadams.com/creations/hhgg.html (http://www.douglasadams.com/creations/hhgg.html)
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Liz on 02 Feb 2008, 10:43
Well yes, I know, but I was saying that I will be reading "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" because that is the title of the book and the title of this thread. Context, my friend, context.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Storm Rider on 02 Feb 2008, 11:21
Americano is shots of espresso in hot water. Basically, diluted espresso to cut down on the bitterness but still get all the extra caffeine.

(http://hardwarelogic.com/articles/blogs/Website_Reviews_and_You/MoreYouKnow.jpg)

Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Jackie Blue on 02 Feb 2008, 11:45
I read the series around 20 years ago (aside from Mostly Harmless, obviously, which I read when it was released).

It's okay.  It's a lot better when you're 12 or 13.  I wouldn't say it's "filled to the brim" with witty remarks and "quantum physics".  You're giving it far too much credit.

Not only that, but Mostly Harmless was an absolutely dreadful, depressing piece of business.

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency is my favorite novel of his by a fair margin.

That said, I'll take one Terry Pratchett novel over everything Adams ever wrote.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: supersheep on 02 Feb 2008, 12:04
The last two books are not on a par with the first two. I think they're better than the Dirk Gently books though, which I found a little stuffy. Terry Pratchett is better though, especially his later books, and the whole Night Watch series.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Tom on 02 Feb 2008, 12:59
I'm really loving the Moist Von Lipwig series. I can't wait for Raising Taxes.

Back on topic, I'm rereading it for the 4th time for my English Class.

Anyone read Utopia by Thomas More?
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Alex C on 02 Feb 2008, 13:00
To be fair, the Guide series as presented in the books is tremendously difficult to faithfully carry over to movie form since he quite happily writes at length about things that are a lot easier to wrap your mind around if you avoid trying to visualize them at all costs, such as murderous birds and disembodied arms who tend bar and don't take credit cards. Pratchett's similar in the sense that he very often plays around with ideas, jokes and concepts that take full advantage of the medium he's using: Twoflower's insewerants job wouldn't carry over very well to radio or film. Not to mention that the books aren't even the first iteration of the Guide; Adams had already been involved in various adaptations from radio to television to stage productions to books and just about all of them are mutually contradictory.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Hat on 02 Feb 2008, 13:08
We know the difference between black coffee and americano.

Between Black Coffee and what?

I really don't read the Hitchhikers books that often nowadays, I'd much rather lose my self in Dirk Gentlys Holistic Detective Agency, or the Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul (which I thought was actually the better of the two), and I can tear through one of those books individually in a few hours without having to refer back to previous books to get subtle jokes.

Also I really need to read Salmon of Doubt. Dang it looks interesting.

Also if someone wants to start an entirely new thread about how fucking fantastic the Moist Von Lipvig discworld books are that would be totally alright with me
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Jackie Blue on 02 Feb 2008, 14:10
What I loved about Dirk Gently (and to a lesser extent the sequel) was that it had a real, definable plot and a sense of mystery, not just "random wacky shit out of nowhere!"  I mean, the Hitchhiker's series is like a polite version of /b/.

I had to re-read Dirk Gently's at least twice to fully understand the complexity of the story set-up.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Trillian on 02 Feb 2008, 14:29
Well that is actually what I preferred about the way Adams approached Hitchhiker's Guide.  It is  a bit wacky, but it is endearing and often does have a point.  I think that Adams just enjoyed laughing at what he found to be ridiculous, and I think he found life and people in general to be rather ridiculous.  I would tend to agree with him most of the time. 

I do love Terry Pratchett as well, but I don't think that I would compare the two as novelists.  I appreciate the two for entirely different reasons so depending on what I am looking for in a novel I will choose one author over the other. 

I also wanted to point out that the motion picture released in 2005 was only one of the many adaptations of those books--the books themselves are actually an adaptation of the original radio series.  Adams did write the majority of the screenplay, and it was then finished by Garth Jennings after his death.  So it might be safe to assume that the movie went in the general direction that Adams foresaw, though it would be impossible to know what Jennings changed.  I enjoyed the movie.  I don't think it really did the books justice, but it took the funny bits and smooshed them all together so that the general public could enjoy a wacky movie without having to read the novels.  Although I will say that the casting of Zaphod bothered me, and his heads were less awesome than I had hoped. 
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Jackie Blue on 02 Feb 2008, 15:08
I'm not saying I dislike the Hitchhiker's books - they were probably my favorite things in the world when I was 12-14 - I'm just saying that I don't really get a lot out of them, and always sort of roll my eyes any time someone older than 20 goes on about how genius they are.  I think it's a bit of rose-colored-glasses mentality.  Hell, even into my early 20s I would fondly remember the books.  Then I went back and re-read them, and I was kind of like... Oh.  Yeah, this is pretty good, I guess.  But by then I had moved on and was more interested in things that were either more funny (Pratchett), more serious (Irvine Welsh), or both at once (Pratchett again, or Stephenson, or Robert Anton Wilson).

In fact, RAW is a pretty good comparison in what I've perceived as fanbase and trajectory.  Adams seems to me to be held up and beloved by, for lack of a better term, geeks.  Not in a bad way, just... you look at the Illuminatus! trilogy, and there is a series of books which Hitchhiker's in many ways paralleled (Hagbard Celine and his golden submarine are almost directly analagous to Zaphod and the Heart of Gold, a main character who is clueless and ripped from "the normal world" into a completely zany and unbelievable adventure, etc. - no idea if Adams read the Illuminatus! or not, but the parallels are there).  But you look at the core fanbase, and from what I've seen, the core Douglas Adams fanbase are people who are slightly "wacky" but tend to be in bed by 11 and would have a nervous breakdown if they went to Burning Man, whereas the core RAW fanbase are people who take drugs and get into entirely outrageous situations on sheer whim and with frightening regularity, often with tragicomic results, but still.

Basically, correctly or not, I tend to think of adults who are die-hard Hitchhiker's fans as being a convention hall away from Trekkies, and usually when I meet such people I really think they ought to loosen up, go wild, really live the dream.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: tommydski on 02 Feb 2008, 15:39
Not only that, but Mostly Harmless was an absolutely dreadful, depressing piece of business.

I thought it was a really clever book. The way it pulls all the strands from all the other books together towards the end is quite impressive. I didn't find it depressing at all. I thought the humour was darker but still ever-present. I'm actually glad it ended how it did.

The film was dogshit. I couldn't believe fans would make something like this. They totally missed the point.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: muteKi on 02 Feb 2008, 15:55
I actually liked the film. Particularly because we already have a book and TV series. If it was too much of the same, I would have not liked it anywhere near as much. I thought a fair amount was clever, though I thought the POV Gun was a bit dull.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Jimmy the Squid on 02 Feb 2008, 16:11
The movie was alright, not amazing but it wasn't the worst thing I have ever seen. The BBC production was pretty fucking awesome, though it was very 80s. The books of course were really well done. Sure there are probably better books (I, for one, do not like Pratchett) but that doesn't lessen the quality of Adams' works. I suppose the books hold a special place in my memory as my dad used to read them to me as bed time stories when I was little.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: tania on 02 Feb 2008, 16:18
i really disliked mostly harmless too, to be honest. i mean i can't count how many times i've bought/read the hitchiker's guide to the galaxy series and still i could never bring myself to read the last book a second time.  even douglas adams admits in the salmon of doubt that it was written during a really hard time in his life and that he was disappointed with how dismal the end product turned out. it really doesn't feel the same at all as the other books in the series.

but yeah, the film was absolutely terrible.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Trillian on 02 Feb 2008, 16:37
words
Well I just think that it is generally a fallacy to generalize a group of people as such.  You don't enjoy the books as much as when you were younger, and that is fine.  I just don't think they are as pointless as you make them out to be.  Adams, at least in my opinion tends to do things in a more subtle manner.  What I think is generally written off as just idle silliness will often have an underlying point that lies within Adams' philosophy on life (the universe and everything...I couldn't resist).  I also think that to write them off as being just children's books is actually missing the point entirely. 

Because you find Pratchett to be more humorous than Adams does not mean that it is invariably so.  You have a difference in opinion and taste, that is valid, but it doesn't mean that everyone that thinks otherwise has to fit into a neat little category that you have designated for them.  I think Pratchett has a tendency, in some of his novels, to be rather "low-brow".  This does not mean, however, that I don't enjoy reading his novels.  I just think that Adams has a wider variety of character elements, and that despite how off the wall it is, he is cynical and he appears to be laughing at the folly of mankind.  It really is just a matter of preference, and neither preference is superior to the other.   

Also I don't believe that age must dictate when to "move-on" from something you once enjoyed.  If by becoming an adult I must write off things that I enjoyed previously as childish silliness, I will have none of that nonsense.  Frankly, I much prefer perspective.  So, I will continue to read and enjoy Adams at 21, and probably as I get older as well.

Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: tommydski on 02 Feb 2008, 16:55
I suppose I should say that the Radio shows were the best thing ever.

I used to listen to them every night. Incredible editing and sound effects, great scripts and voice acting. Just all round amazing.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Neskah on 02 Feb 2008, 17:58
Oh I wish i could get my hands on some of the original recordings.

I think where most new fans go wrong with the movie is that they think the movies should have been a visual interpretation of the books. Not so. Especially if you consider that the radio show came first and great changes have been made in every interpretation. Adams changed many things himself, taking the origional concept and growing it into something more.

I personally prefer the books, then the BBC series, then the movie. In that order. I always prefer books as a medium, the TV series had that fantastic british humour, and yes, things do get lost in translation when Americans try to remake things... though I will always love the song, So long and thanks for all the fish. I still enjoyed the movie. It won't be a cult favourite like the books or TV show, but it was entertaining in it's own way.

I'm surprised people are attempting to compare Adams and Pratchett. I love both authors dearly. There's no comparison. How could there be? The only thing these two have in common is they have the ability to make me laugh out loud (which can be embarrassing when riding public transport). Otherwise they are literally worlds apart. Why attempt to diminish one against the other by having a ranking system?
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Jackie Blue on 02 Feb 2008, 18:40
I wasn't comparing Pratchett directly to Adams.  Nor did I say that Hitchhiker's is a "children's series".  I said that it impressed me a lot more when I was a child who hadn't been exposed to much other writing.  And as far as adult die-hard Hitchhiker's fans (note the die-hard) I was just speaking from my experience.

Nor did I say that Pratchett is, as a matter of fact, funnier or more poignant than Adams.  I believe he is, but that's just my own experience.  See: my comments on the lack of objective reality in whatever thread that was in the Music forum.

I don't see how anyone can say the movie was "horrible" without applying a liberal dose of hyperbole.  Zaphod, Ford and Arthur were all well-played, Marvin was good, the entire segment with Slartibartfast was pure gold (Bill Nighy is just great in everything, though)... I've seen a lot of movies that were far, far worse.

Oh well, I'll stop now.  Despite being a fan of the books, I guess I'm not "enough" of one, or I don't "get it".  This is kinda what I meant by my Trekkie comment.  For some people, liking Douglas Adams is some kind of all-or-nothing proposition, which frankly I don't go in for, in literature or in any other area of life.  Kinda like talking to certain kinds of Christians:

Me: I think the things Jesus allegedly said in the Gospel of Matthew were pretty good, and interesting.
Christian: BUT DO YOU ACCEPT HIM AS YOUR LORD AND SAVIOR
Me: Er, well, not as such...
Christian: JESUS SAID I AM THE WAY AND THE LIFE YOU KNOW
Me: Well, really, we don't know what he said, since the Gospels were written so long after he was killed...
Christian: NO YOU'RE GOING TO HELL THE DEVIL IS CLOUDING YOUR MIND READ YOUR BIBLE
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Scarychips on 02 Feb 2008, 18:53
I developed a mild obsession to this serie 2 years ago, I read all the books non-stop, I saw the movie, and then, I tried to search for the radio and TV series. I still sometimes go at the library to get te books. I loved THHGTTG, it was particulary clever. I think I read them too quickly, and that's why I had to re-read them like 2 ways after that obsession.

I, personally, think the books were really good. It was one of the first series I really like from the first chpter to the last, I just didn't read what came out of Salmon of Doubt (they don't have it at the local library.)
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Tom on 02 Feb 2008, 19:01
I haven't seen the movie/trailer/series and have not heard the radio program so, do I pronounce it as Zap-Hod or Zaf-od?
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Neskah on 02 Feb 2008, 19:06
Quote
Despite being a fan of the books, I guess I'm not "enough" of one, or I don't "get it".

If you're a fan, you're a fan. Again people seem obsessed with ranking.

Truth be told I've re-read Pratchett more than Adams. I guess that could be interpretted as me liking Pratchett more.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Dimmukane on 02 Feb 2008, 19:36
I'm not saying I dislike the Hitchhiker's books - they were probably my favorite things in the world when I was 12-14 - I'm just saying that I don't really get a lot out of them, and always sort of roll my eyes any time someone older than 20 goes on about how genius they are.  I think it's a bit of rose-colored-glasses mentality.  Hell, even into my early 20s I would fondly remember the books.  Then I went back and re-read them, and I was kind of like... Oh.  Yeah, this is pretty good, I guess.  But by then I had moved on and was more interested in things that were either more funny (Pratchett), more serious (Irvine Welsh), or both at once (Pratchett again, or Stephenson, or Robert Anton Wilson).

In fact, RAW is a pretty good comparison in what I've perceived as fanbase and trajectory.  Adams seems to me to be held up and beloved by, for lack of a better term, geeks.  Not in a bad way, just... you look at the Illuminatus! trilogy, and there is a series of books which Hitchhiker's in many ways paralleled (Hagbard Celine and his golden submarine are almost directly analagous to Zaphod and the Heart of Gold, a main character who is clueless and ripped from "the normal world" into a completely zany and unbelievable adventure, etc. - no idea if Adams read the Illuminatus! or not, but the parallels are there).  But you look at the core fanbase, and from what I've seen, the core Douglas Adams fanbase are people who are slightly "wacky" but tend to be in bed by 11 and would have a nervous breakdown if they went to Burning Man, whereas the core RAW fanbase are people who take drugs and get into entirely outrageous situations on sheer whim and with frightening regularity, often with tragicomic results, but still.

Basically, correctly or not, I tend to think of adults who are die-hard Hitchhiker's fans as being a convention hall away from Trekkies, and usually when I meet such people I really think they ought to loosen up, go wild, really live the dream.


I should check that stuff out.  I'm the guy who drops 4 hits of acid and is in bed by 11.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Johnny C on 02 Feb 2008, 23:58
I thoroughly love the Hitchhiker's series, but Mostly Harmless was a great novel that wound up being part of a series it didn't really have a place in.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Trillian on 03 Feb 2008, 01:59
words

I wasn't stating that you aren't enough of a fan.  The comments that you made previously seemed rather abrasive so I was just stating that I didn't agree with your approach and that I do not agree with your sentiments on the matter.  Whatever misunderstanding happened within that process I guess is just unfortunate, but it really isn't all that important.  Sorry if I came across as being harsh.

I also don't agree with an all or nothing mentality in most instances, but I do believe in being diplomatic.  I suppose, this too, is just a matter of preference--in methods of communication as opposed to books/authors.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: De_El on 04 Feb 2008, 15:51
I thoroughly love the Hitchhiker's series, but Mostly Harmless was a great novel that wound up being part of a series it didn't really have a place in.
Truth.  I liked all of Douglas Adams' books when I read them, but I think The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul is still my favorite. And like zerodrone said, I would be kind of hesitant to re-read the Hitchhiker's Guide series again for fear of it losing its charm.  Maybe if I imagine Stephen Fry reading all the bits from the Guide, and Alan Rickman as Marvin it will retain some yum.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Scruffy on 07 Feb 2008, 06:53
I really loved the books and the movie was pretty good, but Douglas Adams once said that he wanted every Hitchhikers creation to be different, even if it's covering the same basic plot structure.  Your not going to find the same exact plot twice unless someone didn't get the memo.  Thats why when Trillian and Arthur hooked up in the movie, I wasn't exactly throwing a fit.

I know a few people who feel like the book has lost steam over time, claiming it's a childrens book.  But I think the real truth is that it's a great book at any age, but reading it a second time is tough.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: singeivoire on 07 Feb 2008, 13:44
I loved those books when I read them in high school - still go back to them if I'm needing giggles.

It strikes me that the movie was a bad idea in the first place. It's one thing to adapt that kind of absurdist source material into a British radio show, it's totally another to try and squish it into a 2-hour film that can be marketed in the US.

That said, I didn't hate the film - not at all, in fact. Parts of it are quite entertaining. The books just don't lend themselves to the movie format. To pull it off, they had to add a plot, a love story, resolution - all of which don't really gel with the original spirit of the books themselves.

I still haven't managed to read them straight through a second time. I wonder why that is.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Joybee on 11 Feb 2008, 17:18
I liked the book when I read it in grade 8, but I tried to read the next one in grade 11 and I just couldn't get back into it.

Also, the whole "meaning of life" thing being 42 seemed like a funny idea to me when i was reading the book but then after the movie came out it just got really annoying whenever someone mentioned it because everyone knows that the answer is 42 now, but noone knows why because they never bothered to read the book or pay attention to the movie.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: roadkillnecrophiliac on 13 Feb 2008, 14:41
Hah, I love HG2G. Read it all a thousand times, and saw the BBC series when I was little (littl-er). I was so disappointed when I saw the movie.

Now when I talk about the books, everyone here associates it with the movie (I've never ever ever seen an actual Dutch translation, although I know they exist. It's just not that popular here).  :-(
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Omnicontemplation on 18 Feb 2008, 14:44
Terry Pratchett is a cool dude, and Douglas Adams... is a legend, if you ask me... I loved the
five books, and the little story following those.  The Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul is
what I seem to remember being my favorite, but it's been a bit of time and a lot of books
since I read it and it's fellows.

If you like these two wonderfully comic fellows, and haven't picked up Good Omens...
You ought to.  It's a joint work between Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, the latter of which
I've been proud to call my favorite author for some time, though he's been much contested
by other things I've been getting into. 

Basically it's the general armageddon story, with some subtle and not-so-subtle twists... the most
pronounced of these being that the antichrist ends up being raised by a good family rather than
his intended parents, and grows up as a nice kid.

It's tame for Mr. Gaiman and what you'd generally expect of Terry Prachett, so... an awesome
book, on the whole.  My trite little synopsis can't really do it justice, so you'll have to look into it
on your own.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Shreazla on 18 Feb 2008, 14:55
I have only read the original book, but I liked it so much I adopted one of the phrases as my signature ;)


Shreazla - A Frood who knows where his towel is.

PS - I just read on here that there is a "towel day" - When is this day, if anyone knows?
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: celticgeek on 18 Feb 2008, 15:15
Towel Day:

http://www.towelday.kojv.net/ (http://www.towelday.kojv.net/)
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Skyrocket on 18 Feb 2008, 15:37
First read the books back when I was in junior high. I didn't really care for the the last one but it's still a fantastic series. I think they were my introduction to British humor.  :lol:
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: MusicScribbles on 18 Feb 2008, 15:49
Oh British humor. You are so different from American humor that we have given you your own genre of funny.

ME: So, did you like it?

HIM: Well, I guess I can understand how it would be funny in ENGLAND.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Muskrat121 on 20 Feb 2008, 09:58
I've read all the books and just finished listening to them (makes the work day go a little faster)

I guess the last book is my least favorite, as seems to be the case for a lot of other people.  It just seems so rushed.  The other books just seemed to take there time getting to the point...or lack of point  :-P  I liked the ease of which the other books told the story.  Taking just as much time as was necessary.  Not rushing, but not lagging either.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Ozymandias on 20 Feb 2008, 10:15
I am very tired of HHGTTG.

Everyone and their mother has to reference it on the internet and it is never clever.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Scruffy on 21 Feb 2008, 11:03
I've read all the books and just finished listening to them (makes the work day go a little faster)

I guess the last book is my least favorite, as seems to be the case for a lot of other people.  It just seems so rushed.  The other books just seemed to take there time getting to the point...or lack of point  :-P  I liked the ease of which the other books told the story.  Taking just as much time as was necessary.  Not rushing, but not lagging either.

I can see why people would not like 5, but I love it.  It has a more human experience.  I mean, loss, tragedy, excitement, with a relaxing pace at the begining.  Course, I've never met anyone who's thought the same as I do.  :lol:
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: JordyPordy on 22 Feb 2008, 22:47
the hitchhikers guide trilogy are 5 of the best books ive ever read.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Hat on 22 Feb 2008, 23:36
I love the 5th book just because of the level of detail describing the making of sandwiches in it.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Muskrat121 on 25 Feb 2008, 06:02
I love the 5th book just because of the level of detail describing the making of sandwiches in it.

Asside from any other issues I have with the fifth book, that part really, from where it starts to when they leave "The Land of the King" is one of my favorite parts of the series.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: improbability driver on 26 Feb 2008, 09:00
Everyone and their mother has to reference it on the internet and it is never clever.

Damn, there goes my username.

I've only read the first and second of the trilogy so far (not from lack of interest, but rather a sad lack of time to do so), but yeah I pretty obviously was in love from day one. I had mixed feelings about the movie, though - it was quirky and entertaining on its own, but I had to keep putting the books out of my mind in order to enjoy it, which isn't, you know, something the audience should have to be doing during a film adaptation of a book.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: elysium on 27 Feb 2008, 09:37
I would agree with that...if you take the movie alone and pretend that it is simply a movie and is not supposed to have anything to do with the series, it wasn't awful. The problem is that the books focused on the minute (as was said before about the detail of making sandwiches), but movies simply don't do that. They go in for big action and explosions etc., which is not what was most important in the books.
Overall though, regardless of age, I feel the series is worth reading. But I may be biased, I once dumped someone for hating the books (and all books in general)...
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Jackie Blue on 12 Apr 2008, 00:52
I just wanted to say that this thread is basically the entire reason Malorie is my girlfriend now.  Arguing that leads to love rocks!

Oh, but on topic: the radio series is so easily the best version of it.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Trillian on 12 Apr 2008, 01:07
We are cute and started talking because we were fighting over Douglas Adams.  Can you think of a better way to start a relationship?  because I can't!  <3

P.S.
The radio series is posted in the mediafire thread in case you stumble across this thread before that one. 
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Thaes on 12 Apr 2008, 01:12
I think the first three parts of the trilogy are great. The last two are... less than great.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: spluk on 12 Apr 2008, 14:35
heh, i guess that my profile pic explains my love for the trilogy.
I thought that they work really well together, but the last two seem kind of tacked on.
However, if you can sit down and read all 5 in one go (it was a long plane ride) they really work well together.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Surgoshan on 12 Apr 2008, 18:18
My take on Mostly Harmless:

Douglas Adams, sitting in a tiny, but tastefully furnished, London apartment.  "Maybe now they'll finally shut up about Arthur and Trillian!"

Or:

"If killing everyone is good enough for Shakespeare, it's good enough for me!"
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Parkent on 12 Apr 2008, 21:38
BEST 5 BOOK TRILOGY EVER!!! and yes indeed i do know where my towel is!
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: muteKi on 13 Apr 2008, 13:04
My take on Mostly Harmless:


I saw it as a humorous take on nihilism, myself.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Jackie Blue on 13 Apr 2008, 17:53
My take on Mostly Harmless:

I saw it as a humorous take on nihilism, myself.

Except that he forgot to put the humor in.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Nodaisho on 13 Apr 2008, 20:01
I heard that he had gotten really depressed while he was writing it, so he put in an everyone dies ending. Course, he could have been writing a sequel when he died, I remember hearing that it was either going to be the third Dirk Gently book or the sixth hitch hiker's guide book.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Surgoshan on 13 Apr 2008, 20:39
I think the end of the series was actually true to what it started as.  The Ends of the Earth, a radio program that ended every episode with the Earth being destroyed in a different way.  The BBC didn't go for it, and Marvin the Paranoid Android was among the very few things to survive to the following incarnation.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: muteKi on 13 Apr 2008, 23:54
   THAT'S IT! EVERYBODY DIES!
      /
 :-D


I kinda' liked it, though I will admit the first few books were a fair bit better. I just kept going all, "wait what" through most of it.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Jimmy the Squid on 14 Apr 2008, 05:14
I heard that he had gotten really depressed while he was writing it, so he put in an everyone dies ending. Course, he could have been writing a sequel when he died, I remember hearing that it was either going to be the third Dirk Gently book or the sixth hitch hiker's guide book.

It was the third Dirk Gently book, The Salmon of Doubt that he was writing when he died. The first three chapters of it have been published along with a whole bunch of his essays and general scribblings in what is more or less a biography also called The Salmon of Doubt. It's worth reading actually, very funny stuff.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Statik on 14 Apr 2008, 22:02
To all the people who hated the movie, you guys do know that Mr. Adams wrote it?  And that he has said in numerous places that he never intended each "piece" of the guide series to neccessarily have the others in mind?

The radio play is different from the books is different from the movie is different from the TV show is different from the LPs.

They are all meant to be different takes on the same general idea.

I, for one, thought the movie was excellent, no, it wasnt the book(s), but, based on what Ive read, it was never intended to be.

Also, Mos Def was fantastic as Ford.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Dimmukane on 15 Apr 2008, 13:52
I liked the movie a lot too.  It doesn't hold a candle to the books, but it's really hard to translate the mental processes of a character to a screen.  It was still pretty funny, and I don't think they could've cast it much better than it was.  Mos Def was indeed awesome.  I want to see Be Kind Rewind because of how he was in this.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Surgoshan on 15 Apr 2008, 14:48
I thought it was a good movie.  Just not good enough to buy.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Jimmy the Squid on 15 Apr 2008, 16:39
I didn't really like Mos Def as Ford actually. Or rather I didn't like how he played him. Mainly because I always saw Ford as being a little bit smarter than how Mos Def made him out to be. So far the most enjoyable Ford (i.e. the one who I think really nailed it) was the guy who was on the BBC tv series.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Dimmukane on 15 Apr 2008, 17:57
Well, to be fair, the first book didn't have him shown as being all that clever.   It just had him sort of forcing his way through things.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Jimmy the Squid on 15 Apr 2008, 18:02
Maybe I should replace "a bit smarter" with "less silly?" I don't know what it was but something about how Mos Def did the role was just a little bit off. I mean, he did it well and if I step away from how I always saw the character his performance was fine but it just didn't quite hit the mark for me.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Jackie Blue on 15 Apr 2008, 18:33
The combination of "Ford Prefect" and "less silly" is making my head hurt.

The only problem I had with Mos Def is that in the books, Ford is portrayed as being this incredibly "cool" guy, second only to Zaphod.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Surgoshan on 15 Apr 2008, 20:41
Remember that the original trilogy was written for the market of the late 70s/early 80s.  Adams pretty much rewrote Ford/Zaphod for the 21st century.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Jackie Blue on 15 Apr 2008, 22:48
Yeah, but in the movie, Zaphod was still incredibly "cool" yet Ford... wasn't.  He didn't come off as having the confidence that the character in the books always projected.

He still did a great job, it just seemed odd to keep all the characters' essential personalities the same but have Ford's sort of "toned down".
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Surgoshan on 15 Apr 2008, 22:54
I didn't see Zaphod as cool.  I saw him as an insouciant hedonistic frat boy.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: RobbieOC on 15 Apr 2008, 23:07
I always thought Zaphod was the kind of cool, that isn't really all that cool, but a lot of people like him and thing he's cool anyway.

Yep.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Jackie Blue on 15 Apr 2008, 23:32
Well yeah.  Zaphod is an obnoxious aimless drunkard buffoon, but he's "cool" enough to get elected President of the Galaxy.  He's supposed to have a sort of nameless, naive charm.
Title: Re: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Post by: Scruffy on 17 Apr 2008, 06:27
I'll chime in here to say that Zaphod was a pretty cool character in the books, but in the movie, they really didn't play that up too much.  Instead they really played up the silliness, which was okay, although a little too close for home. bush