• Welcome to BookAndReader!

    We LOVE books and hope you'll join us in sharing your favorites and experiences along with your love of reading with our community. Registering for our site is free and easy, just CLICK HERE!

    Already a member and forgot your password? Click here.

Douglas Adams: The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy

W

Wabbit

New Member
Have you read The Hitch Hickers Guide to the Galaxy? If not, they why not??? It's damn great and it's damn funny!

You can read it for free here Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy GO!!! It's only the first book, i think, so now you know its really great you can go out and buy ALL OF IT!! :)

Regards
SillyWabbit
 
Litany said:
How come it's free? He's not been dead long enough for that.
Click to expand...
Seems Globusz has a copyright. Copied this from their site:
"Globusz Publishing has copyright in the HTML versions of the texts which are in the public domain. They may not be used for any commercial purpose, or republished in any form without our prior permission. Globusz Publishing will take legal action worldwide to protect its rights."
Click to expand...

Agree with Wabbit about this one. It's a funny, quirky, wierd, and wonderful book. Actually the whole series is good.

Recently got a single volume edition of the "Trilogy in Four Parts" from my son - bless his heart! :) Now, just have to find time to re-read it.

Ell
 
Ell said:
Agree with Wabbit about this one. It's a funny, quirky, wierd, and wonderful book. Actually the whole series is good.
Click to expand...

That's not quite true. The fifth book is dire. The first three are fantastic though. The fourth one was a little lack lustre I felt, but still worth the read, just not up to his usual standard. :)

The Dirk Gently books are also fantastic, just a shame there weren't more of them.
 
Don't get me started on Douglas Adams; the man was a true genius!

The Hitchhiker's Guide is (one of) my all time favourite book(s), I have read it a couple of times now, and it keeps making me laugh.

It's utterly fantastic, as are the Dirk Gently novels.

Cheers, Martin :cool:
 
Yeah, very weird :)

I like the one best with the Norse Gods in it. Can't remember much more coz read it long ago. It's on my shelf though :) The other one was great ( the one with time travel ) but I lent it out and the bugger never gave it back :mad:

Regards
SillyWabbit
 
Peer Pressure made me read the Hitchhiker (way back) and I enjoyed it propbably more the second time I read it (When I talk about the HHGTTG I only talk about the original Trilogy in 4 Parts. Mostly Harmless does not count).

My gripe with it was (and still is) that it absolutely, positively wants to be funny without always being it by pure merit of the story.
I think the quality deteriorates with ervery book in the trilogy (the first being the best, the fourth being the "lamest").

Still I consider THHGTTG essential reading for every reader of SciFi and every Reader of humourus/comic novels. Further on for all Fans of Douglas Adams (not that he wrote THAT much more besides the Hitchhiker)

Jan
 
I love HHGTTG, but I agree the humor decreases with novels. Especially with the fourth and most definitely with the fifth.


I've yet to read Dirk Gentry, but there is the first one sitting in my TBR pile. No time to read at the moment...too much studying (I didn't even have time to visit here yesterday :( )
 
i've been meaning to read it forever, but i never have because i never see it when i go to the bookstore. maybe i'll read it next, i'll have to hunt it down...
 
I think the humour is less and less with each book but I would not say it's getting worse. I think it's getting different. The focus becomes more on the story and what he want's to say as a writer. They are all great books! Having said that, I do prefer the first ones :)

Regards
SillyWabbit
 
Okay, now I've GOT to re-read these!

I read them such a long time ago (i.e. when they were first published), that I don't recall them getting worse as the series went on. :( I only remember enjoying the lot of them and finding them very funny!

Ell
 
Martin said:
Yes it does. Of course it does. Why wouldn't it?
Click to expand...
It was written ages after the other books, contains none of their spirit or wit, the plot is dreadful and the jokes are evil enough to make angels weep tears of blood. It is not a good book. It is a bad book.
 
I read only The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. My most vivid impression from this book is that it is not funny. At least not as much as I (being prepared after all affirmative praises from this forum) expected it to be. Only two moments - definition of a highway and an explanation why dolphins are smarter than people - made me smile (notice: smile, not laugh), while other - like a falling whale - where definitely not funny at all. If I were to indicate something positive...wittily written, unexpected ideas, and its action unfolds according to Hitchcocks' rules: first you have an earthquake, and then the tension goes up.
 
Because it sucks.
Click to expand...
I didn't think so, I enjoyed it immensely.



It was written ages after the other books, contains none of their spirit or wit, the plot is dreadful and the jokes are evil enough to make angels weep tears of blood. It is not a good book. It is a bad book.
Click to expand...
Whether you think it was bad or not doesn't really matter - the author (you know, the guy who made up the entire shebang) says it's the fifth installment of THHGTTG.

It counts - case closed.



I read them such a long time ago (i.e. when they were first published), that I don't recall them getting worse as the series went on. I only remember enjoying the lot of them and finding them very funny!
Click to expand...
Ell! My kinda gal! :p

Cheers, Martin :cool:
 
Martin said:
Yes it does. Of course it does. Why wouldn't it?
Click to expand...

Why it doesn't count? It was published waaaaay after the original "Trilogy in four Parts", has nothing more to do than the title with DA's original BBC radio series and was made only for one reason (well, 2): Money and pleasing the sort of fans demanding "more".
It's the exact equal of an unnecessary sequel to a successful Hollywood production that HAD been concluded but was not left in peace because of greed (not necessarily DA's) .

Consider them making a 4th installment of "Back to the future" and telling us afterwards "Yes, there was always a four-movie-deal planned"...

Silly...

[edit: just read the other responses above echoing mine. anyway. case reopened ;)]

Jan
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top