Guide to the Mostly Harmless Fish Restaurant and Everything

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	• The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams Del Rey, 2002 - 832 pages average customer review:based on 114 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

One of the All Time Greats

I recently picked up a copy of "The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" after seeing trailers for the motion picture. I remember trying to read the first book years ago, but not getting very far. I'm so glad that I decided to try again. This book is unbelieveable in a few different ways:
1) It falls into the categories of Comedy as well as Science Fiction, which, as a tremendous fan of both genres, I thoroughly enjoyed.
2) Adams' literary style is unparalleled. Not only does he do justice to both of the above mentioned genres, but he actually writes well.

Wile I did enjoy the first three books most of all, I believe that they are all worthwhile reading for anyone who enjoys comedy, science fiction, or just a well written story.

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Very funny and much better than the movie

There's a lot more here than in the movie, so if you liked that, then you're gonna love the book.

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wonderful book

this is the greatest book i've ever read. its amazing how confusing it is when you read it the first time, but if you go over it a second time it makes perfect sense. the comedy is very strange and i don't think i could really describe it but it definatly works on me. its funnier then most other books i have read.so if you have time then start reading this book. but make sure you have time. you wont want to put it down.

Guide to the Mostly Harmless Fish Restaurant and Everything

This series, like so many book and movie serials today, has moments of brilliance as well as moments of tediousness. And, like so many things today, the first book in the series, `The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy', is still the best of them all. There are five books in this volume: besides the first, mentioned above, there's also `The Restaurant at the End of the Universe', `Life, the Universe and Everything', `So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish', and `Mostly Harmless' (there's also a short story, `Young Zaphod Plays it Safe', inserted between the fourth and fifth books). All the stories have as their protagonist Arthur Dent, an `Earthman' who finds himself taken off his planet moments before a Vogon demolition crew destroys Earth to make way for a `hyperspace bypass'. His misadventures over the books find him usually clueless about the larger universe around him; for example, he's more concerned with finding a real cup of tea than in his companions' quest for ancient civilizations. The humor in all the books is quintessentially English, with that mixture of intellectual humor and downright silliness. The sections allegedly taken from the `Guide' itself (which gradually disappear with every new volume in the series) could make a good book just on their own. All of the stories include philosophy and physics as well: in `Mostly Harmless', for example, Arthur is stranded on the planet Lamuella, where he encounters Old Thrashbarg, a village elder whose deity is `Bob', and who calls Arthur a `gift' from Bob when he introduces the concept of sandwich making to the planet. Thrashbarg also claims that his planet "had been found fully formed in the navel of a giant earwig at four-thirty on Vroonday afternoon...it was rather a waste of time trying to argue with Old Thrashbarg and there had never been much point in it before" (738). In terms of physics, the Heart of Gold, the spaceship that appears in most of the stories, functions with something called the `infinite improbability drive' (don't even try to get me to explain); throughout the books there's discussion of the concepts of space and time, including the possibility of multiple earths, some of which were not destroyed by the Vogons (well, not right away). There are some weaknesses: Fenchurch, who appears as Arthur's love interest in `So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish', is explained away at the beginning of `Mostly Harmless' in a feeble way. Of course, the introduction by Douglas Adams warns that there's no set pattern to the books or the chronology - don't go looking for tidy endings or well-made storylines. Having said that, the series is well worth reading, if only for the fact you will not know what's going to happen next.

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The Movie Does Source Material Little Justice

After seeing the humorous, yet flawed 'Hitchiker' movie, I was curious about the source material. I had heard praise about Adams' work during my earlier years from my grade school librarian. I picked up 'The Ultimate' guide, spanning all the books in the series as well as a new short story and forward from the author. All the praise is well deserved! The series is droll, ripe with the trademark English dry wit. However absurd the situation, the asides and dialouge are often laugh-out-loud funny. If you saw the movie and were not moved, know that there was SO MUCH left out for time's sake. Read this collection, it is excellent. It fleshes out the characters, their motivations, and the overall saga.
Be aware, however, that if you buy the hardcover edition (as I did) the book is huge! I don't know about the softcover's size, but the other version has some heft!

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, page 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19

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