The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Prior to the release of the film adaptation of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, I had read the complete series of the Hitchhiker books. I loved the first book, and continued reading the series, much to my disappointment. I felt like as the series progressed the books became less and less structured. The conclusion of the final book (the abrupt destruction of earth without buildup or resolution), felt very tacked on, I got the impression that it was Douglas Adams means of sloppily tying together the series.

My gripes with the final installments of the series aside, I enjoyed the first Hitchhiker’s. The novel oozes with cynicism and sarcasm, a trait that I’m not entirely sure the film version successfully captured. The impression I felt when reading the book was that Douglas was trying to convey his frustration with humanity. We see throughout the book that the sole surviving human, Arthur Dent, is seen as the most ignorant and incompetent being in the universe. Earth itself, is seen as utterly insignificant, as The Guide to the Galaxy; the universe’s accepted encyclopedia on everything, pages Earth as “Mostly harmless”.

I found the relentless sarcasm really enjoying to read. The book’s main purpose it seems, is to poke fun of humans and to try to make its views realize the possible folly of our illusions on grandeur.

Aside from poking fun at humanity, to book devotes much of its effort to satirizing philosophy. Much of the book is centered on the question and answer of the meaning of life, and arguably human concept. We are introduced to a race of life that has developed the technology to find this answered, and to their dismay, they find that it is 42. The result is that they devote their attention to finding the question of the meaning of life. I find Adam’s usage of philosophy in this book cuts both ways; he seams to be both asking genuine philosophical questions, and at the same time criticizing the conventions of philosophy.

Aside from asking questions of philosophy and satirizing humanity, Adams also amuses his readers by presenting a multitude of new races, creatures, planets and objects, all with fantastical and funny elements.