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I'll probably be burned at the stake for this. I'm about 3/4 of the way through the entire Hitchhikers Guide series, and I'm just not enjoying it at all. I unde

I'll probably be burned at the stake for this. I'm about 3/4 of the way through the entire Hitchhikers Guide series, and I'm just not enjoying it at all. I understand it is supposed to be humorous, and full of satire. But the scatterbrained events, nonsensical plot, and one dimensional characters, just ruin it for me. I don't get the appeal, and I watch a fair amount of British comedies, and movies.

Kurtz79 10y ago
Just my two cents, as humor is as personal as any other topic, and just as dependent of the audience than as the author. I mostly had the same reaction when reading the books some 15 years ago. I won't go as far as saying that I didn't find it enjoyable, but it wasn't the "laugh out loud" experience I was expecting given its fame and popularity, especially in my/our (as in nerdy/techy) circle. Eventually that kind of humor (also later discovering Monthy Python and Terry Pratchett) grew on me, and more than anything I is meant to provoke is a smile, more than a laugh (although it certainly can) and now I remember the characters and situations fondly. Also, I find it has a sort of meme-like quality, making it "funnier" as people (and you) keep referencing to it and you understand the reference.
studentrob 10y ago
Where do you live? Maybe it has something to do with the numbers and letters in your house address. They have to line up just right. Let us know and we can figure it out for you.
RankingMember 10y ago
I went into reading it without any expectations and found it enjoyable. I think if it had been beaten into my head that it was great I would've enjoyed it a whole lot less, because I'd be searching for flaws the whole time.
leephillips 10y ago
I guess it depends on your frame of mind. When I first read it as a young man I just found it mildly amusing, and wondered what all the fuss was about. Didn't bother reading beyond the first book. But years later I read it out loud to my 11-year olds, and we were all in hysterics - they demanded the whole series.
- overcast 10y ago
  I guess it makes sense that it would appeal to a younger age group, as they tend to enjoy nonsensical things. In my 30's, I expect at least connected events in a story. The infinite probability engine makes it pretty convenient for the author not to be responsible for explaining anything.
  - studentrob 10y ago
    > The infinite probability engine makes it pretty convenient for the author not to be responsible for explaining anything. It's satire.. The idea is to make fun of logic. Especially, logical logic
scarecrowbob 10y ago
Well, if it's not your thing, it's not your thing. I read it when I was maybe 12 or 13 and could still really enjoy Monty Python. I read it a year or two ago and liked it a lot, but probably at least partially out of a sense of nostalgia. But it's treatment of abstract ideas was, to me at the time, both entertaining and interesting. The book (among many others) setup a young "me" to appreciate some of the more serious philosophy that I read later in my early teens and 20s.
oneloop 10y ago
Seconded, I think it's massively overrated. This seems to be a rule with absurd humour. The good bits are golden, the average is quite mediocre, and then in popular culture old the good bits are remembered so that the thing end up being overall overrated. Same with Monty Python
- studentrob 10y ago
  > the thing end up being overall overrated I imagine Adams would be thrilled to hear you think his work is absurd. He makes fun of things that are overrated
  - oneloop 10y ago
    I'm not sure you got my point. Everyone, the author included, agrees that his work is absurd. What I am adding is that additionally it's done in a way that's unfunny.
    - studentrob 10y ago
      Trust me I got it. I was trying to be funny. Failed.
maxaf 10y ago
My personal impression is that a reader steeped in soul-crushing dysfunction in his or her daily life will enjoy The Guide with gusto not achievable by those whose lives resemble nirvana.
- RUG3Y 10y ago
  haha...that's a funny comment with some truth to it.
- overcast 10y ago
  Excuse me if I'm missing interweb sarcasm. But how are young children, who are more of the latter, enjoying it more than adults? I'd rather just watch Brazil for that!
  - studentrob 10y ago
    Children's lives are entirely run by adults. They love to envision a world where that isn't true, as do the rest of us
    - ArkyBeagle 10y ago
      I keep waiting for the adults, and they never show up.
      - studentrob 10y ago
        Yes, we're all children. Don't let the adults know or they'll stop working so hard
  - maxaf 10y ago
    My childhood was anything but nirvana. I'll spare you the sob story about growing up in 1990s Russia because it's unoriginal and water under the bridge. It's also irrelevant to this thread because I read The Guide as an adult while working for a very "difficult" startup that took every dysfunction prize imaginable and then invented some of its own. The Guide pretty much saved me from insanity, and for that I'm thankful.
BinaryIdiot 10y ago
I completely agree with you. I can't find any software developer who hates Hitchhikers; it's always the inverse and they're always appalled that I don't like it. I'm sorry but I saw the movie and I tried reading through it and I just didn't find any of it entertaining or funny.
- studentrob 10y ago
  DA would probably love you the most for being among a minority who hates his book
jdblair 10y ago
It doesn't touch everyone. When I was 11 years old (in 1984) they were a revelation to me. Like someone finally wrote something just for me. My son is a voracious reader, and I encouraged him to read them, but he just said "this is weird" and put it down after 5 pages. Thinking back on it, I was introduced to the radio show first (I had a 2nd generation bootleg, on cassette). Maybe that made me ready for the characters?
- avian 10y ago
  I remember attempting to read the Guide sometime in highschool and found it nonsensical and not fun at all. When I picked it up again several years later I enjoyed it immensely and read the entire series. I guess you need have a job and first-hand experience with neighborhood plans publicly displayed behind figurative "Beware of the leopard" signs to appreciate the humor.
- jrgifford 10y ago
  The audiobook read by Stephen Fry is fantastic. Reading it is so-so. Audio definitely brings the characters alive.
  - overcast 10y ago
    Funny you say that, that's what I started with. Stephen Fry is the only thing that kept me going through this far.
- dmalvarado 10y ago
  I can second that the audio book is very entertaining. Lively character voices.
  - stsp 10y ago
    There's also an audio version of the book read by Adams himself, called "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (read by Douglas Adams)" Try to track it down. I found it very enjoyable to listen to.
zer00eyz 10y ago
It is a style of writing, and you may not enjoy it (your entitled). I would be curious to know how you feel about Fear and Loathing, and anything by Hemingway.
- overcast 10y ago
  Fear and Loathing I think may have been more enjoyable, because I loved the movie, so I related a lot of what I saw, to the events in the book. Certainly had more of the elements I listed, than Hitchhikers did.
cowpewter 10y ago
It might be hard to get into if it's been hyped up for you. I first read it entirely on accident. I was maybe 12ish, and technically "on vacation" visiting my father and his mother (neither of whom I was close with), and got dragged along very early one morning to go garage shopping. One of the sales had this HUGE purple hardbound book for only $1. It was the version that had all 4 novels and the Zaphod Plays it Safe short story (this was long before Mostly Harmless was released). I figured for $1, any chance of mental escape from being forced to awkwardly hang out with relatives I didn't have anything in common with was worth a chance. Plus the book was huge. I went in with zero expectations and fell in love with it pretty much instantly.
jahnu 10y ago
Maybe try the original radio series? It's how I got into it.
- overcast 10y ago
  I did!
salgernon 10y ago
As a rabid fan, I can actually understand that. But if you're an Anglophile (Python, early dr who, etc) then you owe it to yourself to give the original radio series a listen. The book is an adaptation of that, and while it captures the vision of the series it lacks the enthusiasm that the radio plays capture.
- overcast 10y ago
  I did listen to the original radio series, and I did enjoy it much more than the books. I even started the books, with the audio version by Stephen Fry. He's basically the most enjoyable part of it.
glenntzke 10y ago
I'm 91% through a full series read (kindle stat) and while I find some parts to be funny it's more arduous a task than an entertaining read. You're not alone. I like a good dose of silly but sometimes I just roll my eyes at the Guide. 9% left...
- overcast 10y ago
  Agreed, the books needs to be condensed into one book. You could have just as much clever humor, but with more focus.
maus42 10y ago
Yeah, I can see where you're coming from. I might be critical as well, if I hadn't read it until adult and could compare it to other kind of humour. (Say, Monty Python.) Thing is, the Guide (the local translation of the radio play and then the book) was about my 4th or 5th science fiction thing ever (after some Star Wars and Star Trek I had seen in TV, and some occasional book, probably Heinlein), and for a ~12 year old, it was a formative experience. Not a single Monty Python or Dr Who contact prior to that.
- addled 10y ago
  I once turned on the radio right in the middle of an NPR interview with some older sci-fi writer. Unfortunately I couldn't catch the name, which saddens me to this day, but he said something very interesting. The author had been reading and writing sci-fi for decades, and he was asked what he considered to be the "golden-age" of science fiction, whether it was the material he first read in the 30s or 40s, or later. I can't remember the exact reply, but it was along the lines of: "The golden age of science fiction is ... 13. At 13 you are just becoming aware of the world around you enough to really comprehend the ideas in the story, but your personal experience is limited enough that it is all still new, and your mind is blown. Therefore the golden age of sci-fi is whatever sci-fi you were reading at 13."
  - shimn 10y ago
    "The Golden Age of Fiction is Twelve" Possibly Peter Graham, looks like that's to whom Hartwell attributes it too.: https://books.google.com/books?id=uYs2NbD-d4oC&pg=PA81&lpg=PA81 https://books.google.com/books?id=uYs2NbD-d4oC&pg=PA81&lpg=P...
    - addled 10y ago
      Thank you so very much for that! I didn't think I was ever going to find the source.
SonicSoul 10y ago
I read it over a decade ago and given my impressionable mind and lack of other such "ridiculous" stimuli in my immediate environment i found it hilarious at the time. I also found things such as improbability engine ingenious. Vogon poetry, depressed robot, doors programmed to be cheery, building a computer to figure out what the first computer said. All that was non-linear and mind opening to people back in the 80-90's-ages. Reading it today I could understand that it's not as mind bending since such humor is abundant. I loved star wars growing up but don't think it would blow my mind as much if i watched it today for the first time either. Adams made a great contribution at the time and that's why all the nerds still appreciate him for it.
- overcast 10y ago
  I agree, it has some fantastic situations, imagination, and probably a product of the times. I just think there is too many examples of it strung together in a completely haphazard way. A condensed version, I think would have been much more enjoyable, and less tiring.
  - HCIdivision17 10y ago
    To follow up and mix in a few other sentiments noted elsewhere with my own experience, I'll partially agree. For me, it's a bit like Monty Python's Holy Grail. I saw it alone as a young teenager and I just didn't really get what the fuss was about. But there were a few things that struck me as brilliant, like the glimpse of the guards just about to throw a cocunut attached to a pigeon just to settle once and for all the movie immersion-breaking issue of how that coconut got there (we don't see if it works). On further watchings the Holy Grail seems more brilliant than I expected, and I've gotten more out of it, but it's... well, hype is hype. The HGttG style is also a bit unique, often inverting and twisting ideas in a way uncommonly stated. Needlessly so, often. And it just absolutely revels in it. A word of caution about the series: it starts off with a silly apocalypse and really eventually gets dark. Like you, I may also be placed in the Total Perspective Vortex for this, but I really recommend slogging it through to the sixth book. It's only half Adams or so, but it's certainly a necessary palate clenser after the fifth book and I think it revives the spirit of the first. (By the way, I am absolutely certain both the Question and Answer show up in context with each other, but you've really got to get to the end of Mostly Harmless, and that story is anything but.) Keep in mind too that nothing about the Hitchhiker's Guide is canonical. It always changes when adapted to TV or radio or movie, and it has a damn hard time being consistent with itself. Which is also part of the fun.
stsp 10y ago
3/4? There's 5 books in the series. Are you in book 4? I had to crawl my way through book 4 a bit, but once you get to book 5 it is well worth it.
vshan 10y ago
Check out Hyperion Cantos. I think you might like it.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
kjdal2001 10y ago
If you don't like the series, why are you still reading it? If you don't like the first 3/4 of the series then I think you can be pretty confident that you aren't going to like the final 1/4.
komali2 10y ago
Oh well. I feel the same way about all the Monty Python movies. To each their own and whatnot.
tamana 10y ago
It's a childish book, aimed at the young adult mentality. It is a product of world that wasn't bursting with absurdity like the modern YouTube and Onion filled world, and before supercomouters and AI and spaceships were a common place realworld thing. You might have missed your window.
askldfhjkasfhd 10y ago
De gustibus non est disputandum.
- codezero 10y ago
  PKD fan?
  - askldfhjkasfhd 10y ago
    Philip K Dick? I am def a fan of his, but that's not usually what I associate the quotation with. Can you explain how he connects to it?
    - codezero 10y ago
      It probably just stuck with me personally as a quote from Flow My Tears. What do you usually associate the quotation with? :)
JoeDaDude 10y ago
FWIW, I found the books dull as dirt. However, I really enjoyed the BBC TV mini-series, so maybe choice of media matters in this case.
beloch 10y ago
Adams was a real word-smith. A lot of the humor in his writing comes from the sound of the words and phrases he chooses. This is one of the reason's why the 2005 hollywood movie isn't that funny. After Adams' death, it was put through a rewrite by someone who had no appreciation of Adams' use of language. If you're reading for content and not stopping to appreciate the words, you might be missing the point. Reading Adams is a bit like reading poetry in this respect. Consider slowing down or, if this doesn't work, listening to the radio play. HHGTTG was originally written for radio after all. You might also consider watching the BBC TV series from the 80's. Unlike the movie, it's actually pretty funny. Hopefully, you'll come to appreciate that Douglas Adams was a man who really knew where his towel was.
e12e 10y ago
I enjoyed the books, but I enjoyed the original radio play[1] more. When it comes to books, I think Adams' best book is "Last Chance To See", which is apparently finally (well 2013) out in a new edition, so it's actually possible to get hold of): https://www.amazon.com/Last-Chance-See-Douglas-Adams-ebook/dp/B00EALIO5I/ https://www.amazon.com/Last-Chance-See-Douglas-Adams-ebook/d... [1] http://www.amazon.com/Hitchhikers-Guide-Galaxy-Primary-Dramatised/dp/B001LFBNIG/ http://www.amazon.com/Hitchhikers-Guide-Galaxy-Primary-Drama...
adamsea 10y ago
I think the books towards the end of the series, or if you prefer to start fresh, the Dirk Gently detective books, have more depth to them. I think they have quite a bit of pathos and there's some real reflective sadness which fills out some of the things you mentioned (which on their own can be somewhat shallow).
kruhft 10y ago
It's on of the only books I've read that actually made me LOL IRL. I consider it a great book in many ways, but it's not for everyone.
jschulenklopper 10y ago
I can understand where you're coming from. You might want to check out "Last Chance to See" or "The Salmon of Doubt". Entirely different books, but amusing and providing another peek into DNA's thinking. "The Salmon of Doubt" was collected after he died, and contains a variety of things they found on his computer that was not published earlier.

Kurtz79 10y ago

Just my two cents, as humor is as personal as any other topic, and just as dependent of the audience than as the author. I mostly had the same reaction when reading the books some 15 years ago. I won't go as far as saying that I didn't find it enjoyable, but it wasn't the "laugh out loud" experience I was expecting given its fame and popularity, especially in my/our (as in nerdy/techy) circle. Eventually that kind of humor (also later discovering Monthy Python and Terry Pratchett) grew on me, and more than anything I is meant to provoke is a smile, more than a laugh (although it certainly can) and now I remember the characters and situations fondly. Also, I find it has a sort of meme-like quality, making it "funnier" as people (and you) keep referencing to it and you understand the reference.

studentrob 10y ago

Where do you live? Maybe it has something to do with the numbers and letters in your house address. They have to line up just right. Let us know and we can figure it out for you.

RankingMember 10y ago

I went into reading it without any expectations and found it enjoyable. I think if it had been beaten into my head that it was great I would've enjoyed it a whole lot less, because I'd be searching for flaws the whole time.

leephillips 10y ago

I guess it depends on your frame of mind. When I first read it as a young man I just found it mildly amusing, and wondered what all the fuss was about. Didn't bother reading beyond the first book. But years later I read it out loud to my 11-year olds, and we were all in hysterics - they demanded the whole series.

overcast 10y ago
I guess it makes sense that it would appeal to a younger age group, as they tend to enjoy nonsensical things. In my 30's, I expect at least connected events in a story. The infinite probability engine makes it pretty convenient for the author not to be responsible for explaining anything.
- studentrob 10y ago
  > The infinite probability engine makes it pretty convenient for the author not to be responsible for explaining anything. It's satire.. The idea is to make fun of logic. Especially, logical logic

scarecrowbob 10y ago

Well, if it's not your thing, it's not your thing. I read it when I was maybe 12 or 13 and could still really enjoy Monty Python. I read it a year or two ago and liked it a lot, but probably at least partially out of a sense of nostalgia. But it's treatment of abstract ideas was, to me at the time, both entertaining and interesting. The book (among many others) setup a young "me" to appreciate some of the more serious philosophy that I read later in my early teens and 20s.

oneloop 10y ago

Seconded, I think it's massively overrated. This seems to be a rule with absurd humour. The good bits are golden, the average is quite mediocre, and then in popular culture old the good bits are remembered so that the thing end up being overall overrated. Same with Monty Python

studentrob 10y ago
> the thing end up being overall overrated I imagine Adams would be thrilled to hear you think his work is absurd. He makes fun of things that are overrated
- oneloop 10y ago
  I'm not sure you got my point. Everyone, the author included, agrees that his work is absurd. What I am adding is that additionally it's done in a way that's unfunny.
  - studentrob 10y ago
    Trust me I got it. I was trying to be funny. Failed.

maxaf 10y ago

My personal impression is that a reader steeped in soul-crushing dysfunction in his or her daily life will enjoy The Guide with gusto not achievable by those whose lives resemble nirvana.

RUG3Y 10y ago
haha...that's a funny comment with some truth to it.
overcast 10y ago
Excuse me if I'm missing interweb sarcasm. But how are young children, who are more of the latter, enjoying it more than adults? I'd rather just watch Brazil for that!
- studentrob 10y ago
  Children's lives are entirely run by adults. They love to envision a world where that isn't true, as do the rest of us
  - ArkyBeagle 10y ago
    I keep waiting for the adults, and they never show up.
    - studentrob 10y ago
      Yes, we're all children. Don't let the adults know or they'll stop working so hard
- maxaf 10y ago
  My childhood was anything but nirvana. I'll spare you the sob story about growing up in 1990s Russia because it's unoriginal and water under the bridge. It's also irrelevant to this thread because I read The Guide as an adult while working for a very "difficult" startup that took every dysfunction prize imaginable and then invented some of its own. The Guide pretty much saved me from insanity, and for that I'm thankful.

BinaryIdiot 10y ago

I completely agree with you. I can't find any software developer who hates Hitchhikers; it's always the inverse and they're always appalled that I don't like it. I'm sorry but I saw the movie and I tried reading through it and I just didn't find any of it entertaining or funny.

studentrob 10y ago
DA would probably love you the most for being among a minority who hates his book

jdblair 10y ago

It doesn't touch everyone. When I was 11 years old (in 1984) they were a revelation to me. Like someone finally wrote something just for me. My son is a voracious reader, and I encouraged him to read them, but he just said "this is weird" and put it down after 5 pages. Thinking back on it, I was introduced to the radio show first (I had a 2nd generation bootleg, on cassette). Maybe that made me ready for the characters?

avian 10y ago
I remember attempting to read the Guide sometime in highschool and found it nonsensical and not fun at all. When I picked it up again several years later I enjoyed it immensely and read the entire series. I guess you need have a job and first-hand experience with neighborhood plans publicly displayed behind figurative "Beware of the leopard" signs to appreciate the humor.
jrgifford 10y ago
The audiobook read by Stephen Fry is fantastic. Reading it is so-so. Audio definitely brings the characters alive.
- overcast 10y ago
  Funny you say that, that's what I started with. Stephen Fry is the only thing that kept me going through this far.
dmalvarado 10y ago
I can second that the audio book is very entertaining. Lively character voices.
- stsp 10y ago
  There's also an audio version of the book read by Adams himself, called "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (read by Douglas Adams)" Try to track it down. I found it very enjoyable to listen to.

zer00eyz 10y ago

It is a style of writing, and you may not enjoy it (your entitled). I would be curious to know how you feel about Fear and Loathing, and anything by Hemingway.

overcast 10y ago
Fear and Loathing I think may have been more enjoyable, because I loved the movie, so I related a lot of what I saw, to the events in the book. Certainly had more of the elements I listed, than Hitchhikers did.

cowpewter 10y ago

It might be hard to get into if it's been hyped up for you. I first read it entirely on accident. I was maybe 12ish, and technically "on vacation" visiting my father and his mother (neither of whom I was close with), and got dragged along very early one morning to go garage shopping. One of the sales had this HUGE purple hardbound book for only $1. It was the version that had all 4 novels and the Zaphod Plays it Safe short story (this was long before Mostly Harmless was released). I figured for $1, any chance of mental escape from being forced to awkwardly hang out with relatives I didn't have anything in common with was worth a chance. Plus the book was huge. I went in with zero expectations and fell in love with it pretty much instantly.

jahnu 10y ago

Maybe try the original radio series? It's how I got into it.

overcast 10y ago
I did!

salgernon 10y ago

As a rabid fan, I can actually understand that. But if you're an Anglophile (Python, early dr who, etc) then you owe it to yourself to give the original radio series a listen. The book is an adaptation of that, and while it captures the vision of the series it lacks the enthusiasm that the radio plays capture.

overcast 10y ago
I did listen to the original radio series, and I did enjoy it much more than the books. I even started the books, with the audio version by Stephen Fry. He's basically the most enjoyable part of it.

glenntzke 10y ago

I'm 91% through a full series read (kindle stat) and while I find some parts to be funny it's more arduous a task than an entertaining read. You're not alone. I like a good dose of silly but sometimes I just roll my eyes at the Guide. 9% left...

overcast 10y ago
Agreed, the books needs to be condensed into one book. You could have just as much clever humor, but with more focus.

maus42 10y ago

Yeah, I can see where you're coming from. I might be critical as well, if I hadn't read it until adult and could compare it to other kind of humour. (Say, Monty Python.) Thing is, the Guide (the local translation of the radio play and then the book) was about my 4th or 5th science fiction thing ever (after some Star Wars and Star Trek I had seen in TV, and some occasional book, probably Heinlein), and for a ~12 year old, it was a formative experience. Not a single Monty Python or Dr Who contact prior to that.

addled 10y ago
I once turned on the radio right in the middle of an NPR interview with some older sci-fi writer. Unfortunately I couldn't catch the name, which saddens me to this day, but he said something very interesting. The author had been reading and writing sci-fi for decades, and he was asked what he considered to be the "golden-age" of science fiction, whether it was the material he first read in the 30s or 40s, or later. I can't remember the exact reply, but it was along the lines of: "The golden age of science fiction is ... 13. At 13 you are just becoming aware of the world around you enough to really comprehend the ideas in the story, but your personal experience is limited enough that it is all still new, and your mind is blown. Therefore the golden age of sci-fi is whatever sci-fi you were reading at 13."
- shimn 10y ago
  "The Golden Age of Fiction is Twelve" Possibly Peter Graham, looks like that's to whom Hartwell attributes it too.: https://books.google.com/books?id=uYs2NbD-d4oC&pg=PA81&lpg=PA81 https://books.google.com/books?id=uYs2NbD-d4oC&pg=PA81&lpg=P...
  - addled 10y ago
    Thank you so very much for that! I didn't think I was ever going to find the source.

SonicSoul 10y ago

I read it over a decade ago and given my impressionable mind and lack of other such "ridiculous" stimuli in my immediate environment i found it hilarious at the time. I also found things such as improbability engine ingenious. Vogon poetry, depressed robot, doors programmed to be cheery, building a computer to figure out what the first computer said. All that was non-linear and mind opening to people back in the 80-90's-ages. Reading it today I could understand that it's not as mind bending since such humor is abundant. I loved star wars growing up but don't think it would blow my mind as much if i watched it today for the first time either. Adams made a great contribution at the time and that's why all the nerds still appreciate him for it.

overcast 10y ago
I agree, it has some fantastic situations, imagination, and probably a product of the times. I just think there is too many examples of it strung together in a completely haphazard way. A condensed version, I think would have been much more enjoyable, and less tiring.
- HCIdivision17 10y ago
  To follow up and mix in a few other sentiments noted elsewhere with my own experience, I'll partially agree. For me, it's a bit like Monty Python's Holy Grail. I saw it alone as a young teenager and I just didn't really get what the fuss was about. But there were a few things that struck me as brilliant, like the glimpse of the guards just about to throw a cocunut attached to a pigeon just to settle once and for all the movie immersion-breaking issue of how that coconut got there (we don't see if it works). On further watchings the Holy Grail seems more brilliant than I expected, and I've gotten more out of it, but it's... well, hype is hype. The HGttG style is also a bit unique, often inverting and twisting ideas in a way uncommonly stated. Needlessly so, often. And it just absolutely revels in it. A word of caution about the series: it starts off with a silly apocalypse and really eventually gets dark. Like you, I may also be placed in the Total Perspective Vortex for this, but I really recommend slogging it through to the sixth book. It's only half Adams or so, but it's certainly a necessary palate clenser after the fifth book and I think it revives the spirit of the first. (By the way, I am absolutely certain both the Question and Answer show up in context with each other, but you've really got to get to the end of Mostly Harmless, and that story is anything but.) Keep in mind too that nothing about the Hitchhiker's Guide is canonical. It always changes when adapted to TV or radio or movie, and it has a damn hard time being consistent with itself. Which is also part of the fun.

stsp 10y ago

3/4? There's 5 books in the series. Are you in book 4? I had to crawl my way through book 4 a bit, but once you get to book 5 it is well worth it.

vshan 10y ago

Check out Hyperion Cantos. I think you might like it.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

kjdal2001 10y ago

If you don't like the series, why are you still reading it? If you don't like the first 3/4 of the series then I think you can be pretty confident that you aren't going to like the final 1/4.

komali2 10y ago

Oh well. I feel the same way about all the Monty Python movies. To each their own and whatnot.

tamana 10y ago

It's a childish book, aimed at the young adult mentality. It is a product of world that wasn't bursting with absurdity like the modern YouTube and Onion filled world, and before supercomouters and AI and spaceships were a common place realworld thing. You might have missed your window.

askldfhjkasfhd 10y ago

De gustibus non est disputandum.

codezero 10y ago
PKD fan?
- askldfhjkasfhd 10y ago
  Philip K Dick? I am def a fan of his, but that's not usually what I associate the quotation with. Can you explain how he connects to it?
  - codezero 10y ago
    It probably just stuck with me personally as a quote from Flow My Tears. What do you usually associate the quotation with? :)

JoeDaDude 10y ago

FWIW, I found the books dull as dirt. However, I really enjoyed the BBC TV mini-series, so maybe choice of media matters in this case.

beloch 10y ago

Adams was a real word-smith. A lot of the humor in his writing comes from the sound of the words and phrases he chooses. This is one of the reason's why the 2005 hollywood movie isn't that funny. After Adams' death, it was put through a rewrite by someone who had no appreciation of Adams' use of language. If you're reading for content and not stopping to appreciate the words, you might be missing the point. Reading Adams is a bit like reading poetry in this respect. Consider slowing down or, if this doesn't work, listening to the radio play. HHGTTG was originally written for radio after all. You might also consider watching the BBC TV series from the 80's. Unlike the movie, it's actually pretty funny. Hopefully, you'll come to appreciate that Douglas Adams was a man who really knew where his towel was.

e12e 10y ago

I enjoyed the books, but I enjoyed the original radio play[1] more. When it comes to books, I think Adams' best book is "Last Chance To See", which is apparently finally (well 2013) out in a new edition, so it's actually possible to get hold of): https://www.amazon.com/Last-Chance-See-Douglas-Adams-ebook/dp/B00EALIO5I/ https://www.amazon.com/Last-Chance-See-Douglas-Adams-ebook/d... [1] http://www.amazon.com/Hitchhikers-Guide-Galaxy-Primary-Dramatised/dp/B001LFBNIG/ http://www.amazon.com/Hitchhikers-Guide-Galaxy-Primary-Drama...

adamsea 10y ago

I think the books towards the end of the series, or if you prefer to start fresh, the Dirk Gently detective books, have more depth to them. I think they have quite a bit of pathos and there's some real reflective sadness which fills out some of the things you mentioned (which on their own can be somewhat shallow).

kruhft 10y ago

It's on of the only books I've read that actually made me LOL IRL. I consider it a great book in many ways, but it's not for everyone.

jschulenklopper 10y ago

I can understand where you're coming from. You might want to check out "Last Chance to See" or "The Salmon of Doubt". Entirely different books, but amusing and providing another peek into DNA's thinking. "The Salmon of Doubt" was collected after he died, and contains a variety of things they found on his computer that was not published earlier.