The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

⛰ What It’s About

The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy follows Arthur Dent, a perfectly normal, average man living in England, who suddenly finds his home being bulldozed one morning. Apparently, his home must be destroyed since there’s a bypass that needs to be built. As Arthur lays in the mud in front of the bulldozers to stop them, his friend approaches to tell him they must get off of the planet immediately. The Vogons, an alien species that hates poetry, have come to destroy the Earth to create an intergalactic bypass. Having barely escaped before the Earth and humanity were vapourised, Arthur travels with strange but friendly companions, engaging in a hilarious romp across the galaxy.

🔍 How I Discovered It

A couple of friends in middle school were reading the book, I was intrigued by it, and all these years later I’m still in love with the series.

🧠 Thoughts

There’s a reason why I’ve read and re-read this book as many times as I have. The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy has a little bit of everything. While drawing a lot upon science fiction, the book is also very humourous and has elements of adventure and moments of philosophical insight. With all of these ingredients, Douglas Adams’ does a fantastic job of continuing a plot throughout five installations.

And then, there’s the level of detail and world-building, or should I say universe-building. I can’t even begin to imagine how Adams created all of the names for things, various space religions, and practical uses for a bath towel. Sure you could wear a towel, but would you ever think to use it to protect yourself from a Ravenous Bug-blatter Beast of Trall? It’s small things like these that add to the immersion and hilarity within the Guide.

For its time, a futuristic science fiction novel with a humourous or even satirical spin wasn’t very common. Other media from the time like 1984, Fahrenheit 451, and Blade Runner paint sad, dystopian futures, but Adams was looking to make people laugh and have fun. I think this quality adds to why I’ve liked it so much for so long.

What I Liked About It

Everything. The comedy, the adventure, the technology, the characters, the imagery. All of it. It’s not perfect, but I love it.

What I Didn’t Like About It 

The only gripe I could think of is that some of the excerpts from the “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” (the book within the book) got a bit too absurd or technical, and became confusing at times.

🥰 Who Would Like It?

If you enjoy science fiction or want a humorous tale set in the future, I’d highly recommend The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The style of humour may not be everyone’s taste, but I think most would enjoy it.

📚 Related Books

Neil Gaiman wrote a companion book to the Guide called Don’t Panic, and Douglas Adams wrote another novel called Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency that is a science fiction mystery story. I would also recommend Dune by Frank Herbert as it has similar levels of adventure and world-building.