The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Book Review

 

    A question that will linger in my mind from this day forward is, "Why did I never read this book earlier in my life?" Most of my friends had read the series, and many of my co-workers too. I heard their jokes multiple times, and therefore I was already aware that "42" was the answer to the ultimate question in the universe. And still, for some reason, I was never compelled to grab a copy of the novel and read through it. All of that changed this past summer when this classic became required reading for this course. As with some of the other required books for this course, I was dreading the time to start reading it, and that was a feeling that dissipated immediately within the first couple of chapters. 

    The story starts with Arthur Dent, a man that wakes up at his home to discover that the local government is about to demolish his home due to a bureaucratic mishap. In his calamity, he is convinced by his neighbor, Ford Prefect, to go on a walk to a local bar to have a beer where he reveals to Arthur that he is an alien and that planet Earth is about to be destroyed. Interestingly enough, and when the reader thinks things can't get any weirder, we learned that Earth is about to be destroyed by the alien race the Vogons due to an intergalactic government bureaucratic mishap. 

    Right before the Earth is destroyed, Arthur and Ford are rescued and from that moment on, our main characters travel through the galaxy from one incident to the next, and each one is more hilarious than the last. From Vogon's poetry as their preferred method of torture, to their miraculous rescue by Zaphod in his stolen vessel, and Arthur encounter with Zaphod and Trillian when he remembers their previous encounter, each stop they make is full of surprises and fun anecdotes.  

BBC Radio Show of HGTG

    After the success of Star Wars in 1977, we were flooded with Sci-Fi movies like Star Trek, Alien, Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers, etc. And a little series called The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was enjoying success and gaining a fanbase on BBC Radio.  The radio series was so successful, that when it was adapted to novels, it sold 250,000 copies by its second week of publication. Its cult following has allowed its continued success where sales have reached up to 15 million copies as of today of the first novel in the series alone.  

    What I learned from this book is to not be afraid to break away from breaking away from the established molds. At various times within the novel, the author breaks away from the main story to share these random tales that seem to go nowhere. A clear example is the entire story of the mice that build the most powerful computer Deep Thought so they could ask the answer to the most difficult question in the universe. After waiting 7.5 billion years for the answer they get their response, "42". and they realize that they never asked what was the question. These stories aside from being hilarious, do end up adding to the uniqueness of the novel and its appeal. 

    What I didn't like about the novel is that it ended on a cliffhanger. Personally, I'm not a big fan of series that end and leave the reader guessing. I like to see a completed novel and characters with an ending. There can be sequels but finish the story. I feel cliffhangers are a cheap way to cheat your readers. 

    As per the marketability of the work, this one really stands out since before it was adapted to a novel, It already was a successful radio series. Aside from it being successful on radio, it had been repeated multiple times, and famous personalities had volunteered to read it like Stephen Hawkins who was a huge fan. By the time the idea of converting the series to a novel started to come to fruition, the radio series had been reproduced in multiple countries, a TV series was already in production, and there were already discussions for movie production. So with such a large cult following and fan base, a novelization was a sure winner.