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The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy #5
Mostly Harmless
It’s easy to get disheartened when your planet has been blown up, the woman you love has vanished in a misunderstanding about space/time, the spaceship you are on crashes on a remote and Bob-fearing planet, and all you have to fall back on is a few simple sandwich-making skills. However, instead of being disheartened, Arthur Dent makes the terrible mistake of starting to enjoy life a bit and, immediately, all hell breaks loose.
Hell takes a number of forms: there’s the usual Ford Prefect form of hell, fresh hell in the form of an all-new version of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and a totally unexpected hell in the form of a teenage girl who startles Arthur Dent by being his daughter when he didn’t even know he had one.
Can Arthur save the Earth from total multidimensional obliteration? Can he save the Guide from a hostile alien takeover? Can he save his daughter, Random, from herself?
Of course not. He never works out what is going on, exactly. Will you?
Hell takes a number of forms: there’s the usual Ford Prefect form of hell, fresh hell in the form of an all-new version of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and a totally unexpected hell in the form of a teenage girl who startles Arthur Dent by being his daughter when he didn’t even know he had one.
Can Arthur save the Earth from total multidimensional obliteration? Can he save the Guide from a hostile alien takeover? Can he save his daughter, Random, from herself?
Of course not. He never works out what is going on, exactly. Will you?
240 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 12, 1992
About the author
Douglas Adams
87 books22.6k followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Douglas Noel Adams was an English author, humourist, and screenwriter, best known for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (HHGTTG). Originally a 1978 BBC radio comedy, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy developed into a "trilogy" of five books that sold more than 15 million copies in his lifetime. It was further developed into a television series, several stage plays, comics, a video game, and a 2005 feature film. Adams's contribution to UK radio is commemorated in The Radio Academy's Hall of Fame.
Adams also wrote Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (1987) and The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul (1988), and co-wrote The Meaning of Liff (1983), The Deeper Meaning of Liff (1990) and Last Chance to See (1990). He wrote two stories for the television series Doctor Who, co-wrote City of Death (1979), and served as script editor for its seventeenth season. He co-wrote the sketch "Patient Abuse" for the final episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus. A posthumous collection of his selected works, including the first publication of his final (unfinished) novel, was published as The Salmon of Doubt in 2002.
Adams was a self-proclaimed "radical atheist", an advocate for environmentalism and conservation, and a lover of fast cars, technological innovation, and the Apple Macintosh.
Douglas Noel Adams was an English author, humourist, and screenwriter, best known for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (HHGTTG). Originally a 1978 BBC radio comedy, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy developed into a "trilogy" of five books that sold more than 15 million copies in his lifetime. It was further developed into a television series, several stage plays, comics, a video game, and a 2005 feature film. Adams's contribution to UK radio is commemorated in The Radio Academy's Hall of Fame.
Adams also wrote Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (1987) and The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul (1988), and co-wrote The Meaning of Liff (1983), The Deeper Meaning of Liff (1990) and Last Chance to See (1990). He wrote two stories for the television series Doctor Who, co-wrote City of Death (1979), and served as script editor for its seventeenth season. He co-wrote the sketch "Patient Abuse" for the final episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus. A posthumous collection of his selected works, including the first publication of his final (unfinished) novel, was published as The Salmon of Doubt in 2002.
Adams was a self-proclaimed "radical atheist", an advocate for environmentalism and conservation, and a lover of fast cars, technological innovation, and the Apple Macintosh.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 3,668 reviews
February 15, 2024
PLEASE DON’T!
To anyone reading this, I'm going to tell you something I wish someone had told me before going forward. STOP HERE, don't read #5, you'll regret it for the rest of your life. #4 is a nice HEA ending for the series. This one isn't. Please! Don’t do this to yourself!
But if you must... then here it goes.
Arthur Dent crashes on remote planet Lamuella. Fenchurch lost to some weird space time inconsistency. Stranded, alone, he decides to rebuild his life becoming the local Sandwich Maker. Life seems quiet again for a time, until Trillian arrives with a mysterious teenage child. Random, Arthur’s secret daughter. Things are about to get complicated again.
I HATED THIS WITH ALL MY HEART. I’ll never forgive what Adams did to Fenchurch. But that’s not enough is it? Let’s not forget what he already did to Marvin. I read this so long ago I don’t remember how I felt about Random. And Trillian, well… who? Ford was there for a time, so that’s good, I guess. Zaphod was not, thank god. And a special mention for Agrajag, my heart goes for that unlucky villain.
And regarding the ending. Gosh! THAT ENDING! Who does that? Seriously Adams. WTF!
-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE : It should be noted that apparently Douglas Adams was suffering from severe depression at the time of writing this. But still... dude!
[1992] [288p] [Humor] [EXTREMELY Not Recommendable]
-----------------------------------------------
★★☆☆☆ 0.5. Young Zaphod Plays It Safe [1.5]
★★★★★ 1. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
★★☆☆☆ 2. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe [2.5]
★★★☆☆ 3. Life, the Universe and Everything
★★★★☆ 4. So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
★☆☆☆☆ 5. Mostly Harmless
★★★☆☆ 1-5. The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
★★★☆☆ 6. And Another Thing... [2.5]
-----------------------------------------------
¡POR FAVOR NO!
Para cualquiera leyendo esto, te voy a decir algo que desearía alguien me hubiera dicho a mí antes de seguir adelante. PARA ACA, no leas #5, lo vas a lamentar el resto de tu vida. #4 es un lindo Feliz Para Siempre paara la serie. Este libro no lo es. ¡Por favor! ¡No te hagas esto!
Pero si tenés que continuar... entonces ahí va.
Arthur Dent se estrella en el remoto planeta Lamuella. Fenchurch perdida en una extraña inconsistencia espacio-temporal. Varado, solo, decide reconstruir su vida convirtiéndose en el Preparador de Sandwiches local. La vida parece tranquila por un tiempo, hasta que Trillian llega con una misteriosa niña adolescente. Random, la hija secreta de Arthur. Las cosas están por complicarse otra vez.
ODIE ESTO CON TODO MI CORAZON. Nunca voy a perdonar lo que Adams le hizo a Fenchurch. ¿Pero eso no es suficiente no? No hay que olvidarse lo que ya le hizo a Marvin. Leí esto hace tanto que no recuerdo cómo me siento respecto a Random. Y Trillian, bueno… ¿Quién? Ford estuvo ahí por un tiempo, así que eso es bueno, supongo. Zaphod no, gracias a Dios. Y una mención especial para Agrajag, mi corazón siente por ese desgraciado villano.
Y respecto al final… ¡Dios! ¡ESE FINAL! ¿Quien hace eso? En serio Adams ¡QUE DEMONIOS!
-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL : Es de notarse que aparentemente Douglas Adams estaba sufriendo de depresión severa al momento de escribir esto. Pero igual… ¡hombre!
[1992] [288p] [Humor] [EXTREMADAMENTE No Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------
To anyone reading this, I'm going to tell you something I wish someone had told me before going forward. STOP HERE, don't read #5, you'll regret it for the rest of your life. #4 is a nice HEA ending for the series. This one isn't. Please! Don’t do this to yourself!
But if you must... then here it goes.
Arthur Dent crashes on remote planet Lamuella. Fenchurch lost to some weird space time inconsistency. Stranded, alone, he decides to rebuild his life becoming the local Sandwich Maker. Life seems quiet again for a time, until Trillian arrives with a mysterious teenage child. Random, Arthur’s secret daughter. Things are about to get complicated again.
I HATED THIS WITH ALL MY HEART. I’ll never forgive what Adams did to Fenchurch. But that’s not enough is it? Let’s not forget what he already did to Marvin. I read this so long ago I don’t remember how I felt about Random. And Trillian, well… who? Ford was there for a time, so that’s good, I guess. Zaphod was not, thank god. And a special mention for Agrajag, my heart goes for that unlucky villain.
And regarding the ending. Gosh! THAT ENDING! Who does that? Seriously Adams. WTF!
-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE : It should be noted that apparently Douglas Adams was suffering from severe depression at the time of writing this. But still... dude!
[1992] [288p] [Humor] [EXTREMELY Not Recommendable]
-----------------------------------------------
★★☆☆☆ 0.5. Young Zaphod Plays It Safe [1.5]
★★★★★ 1. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
★★☆☆☆ 2. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe [2.5]
★★★☆☆ 3. Life, the Universe and Everything
★★★★☆ 4. So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
★☆☆☆☆ 5. Mostly Harmless
★★★☆☆ 1-5. The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
★★★☆☆ 6. And Another Thing... [2.5]
-----------------------------------------------
¡POR FAVOR NO!
Para cualquiera leyendo esto, te voy a decir algo que desearía alguien me hubiera dicho a mí antes de seguir adelante. PARA ACA, no leas #5, lo vas a lamentar el resto de tu vida. #4 es un lindo Feliz Para Siempre paara la serie. Este libro no lo es. ¡Por favor! ¡No te hagas esto!
Pero si tenés que continuar... entonces ahí va.
Arthur Dent se estrella en el remoto planeta Lamuella. Fenchurch perdida en una extraña inconsistencia espacio-temporal. Varado, solo, decide reconstruir su vida convirtiéndose en el Preparador de Sandwiches local. La vida parece tranquila por un tiempo, hasta que Trillian llega con una misteriosa niña adolescente. Random, la hija secreta de Arthur. Las cosas están por complicarse otra vez.
ODIE ESTO CON TODO MI CORAZON. Nunca voy a perdonar lo que Adams le hizo a Fenchurch. ¿Pero eso no es suficiente no? No hay que olvidarse lo que ya le hizo a Marvin. Leí esto hace tanto que no recuerdo cómo me siento respecto a Random. Y Trillian, bueno… ¿Quién? Ford estuvo ahí por un tiempo, así que eso es bueno, supongo. Zaphod no, gracias a Dios. Y una mención especial para Agrajag, mi corazón siente por ese desgraciado villano.
Y respecto al final… ¡Dios! ¡ESE FINAL! ¿Quien hace eso? En serio Adams ¡QUE DEMONIOS!
-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL : Es de notarse que aparentemente Douglas Adams estaba sufriendo de depresión severa al momento de escribir esto. Pero igual… ¡hombre!
[1992] [288p] [Humor] [EXTREMADAMENTE No Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------
April 11, 2013
(mild spoilers ahead)
It's terribly amusing that the majority of reviewers have tossed this fifth part to the trilogy aside, banished it from their mental schemata of the series so as to acknowledge only that which ends well. I think it says a lot about the readership that they took in the entirety of the first four books without picking up on the melancholy and nihilistic subtext to Adams' writing. I mean, the first book ends with the discovery that the meaning of life is 42.... how much clearer does it need to be in order convey the ultimately meaningless adventure that Adams saw life in this universe to be? More importantly, at what point did that fact ever stop him from telling a spectacular story?
It is the journey, more than the end, that defines us and the worlds we live in. I think Arthur's encounter with the man on the pole in Hawalius can be taken as a pre-emptive response to those who would invariably decry the novel to be "too bleak": humans seek to be protected from knowing the things we don't want to know about, and it leads us to miss a great deal of understanding, experience, and acceptance, sometimes with dire psychological consequences. A reader may not want to know how the story of Arthur and his companions ultimately ends, or how any story that goes on long enough must end, but it's a blind and willful ignorance that serves no purpose but to save us seeing reality, in all its complicated and multidimensional depth of cause and effect and pure probability.
Personally, I found this book to be a brilliant and thought-provoking conclusion to a sharp, touching, and gloriously honest series. The ending of the novel, with Arthur at peace and Ford laughing wildly, is the most honest part yet. I pity any reader who doesn't get that.
It's terribly amusing that the majority of reviewers have tossed this fifth part to the trilogy aside, banished it from their mental schemata of the series so as to acknowledge only that which ends well. I think it says a lot about the readership that they took in the entirety of the first four books without picking up on the melancholy and nihilistic subtext to Adams' writing. I mean, the first book ends with the discovery that the meaning of life is 42.... how much clearer does it need to be in order convey the ultimately meaningless adventure that Adams saw life in this universe to be? More importantly, at what point did that fact ever stop him from telling a spectacular story?
It is the journey, more than the end, that defines us and the worlds we live in. I think Arthur's encounter with the man on the pole in Hawalius can be taken as a pre-emptive response to those who would invariably decry the novel to be "too bleak": humans seek to be protected from knowing the things we don't want to know about, and it leads us to miss a great deal of understanding, experience, and acceptance, sometimes with dire psychological consequences. A reader may not want to know how the story of Arthur and his companions ultimately ends, or how any story that goes on long enough must end, but it's a blind and willful ignorance that serves no purpose but to save us seeing reality, in all its complicated and multidimensional depth of cause and effect and pure probability.
Personally, I found this book to be a brilliant and thought-provoking conclusion to a sharp, touching, and gloriously honest series. The ending of the novel, with Arthur at peace and Ford laughing wildly, is the most honest part yet. I pity any reader who doesn't get that.
July 2, 2023
The original trilogy would definitively have been enough
Arthur Dents´ journey forcefully continues, including making fun of topics like
Astrology
It´s funny the first time but has no potential for more and deeper gags, because ridiculing it is so widespread.
New management
That´s a better one, especially because it´s including The Hitchhikers Guide to the galaxy. A nice comment on capitalism and economy in general too.
Primitivism
Making fun of back to the roots is always easy but, similar to astrology, not really the freshest comedy trope.
Combined with some other ideas, old and new characters, and quite a depressing undertone, Adams created another average part of the series after the already weaker fourth one. It´s kind of as with Frank Herberts´ Dune, it just doesn´t get better. And in both cases, the problem is that the series expanded after its initial success without the author having planned for it like in a big sci fi or fantasy series. These are so great and getting better with each part because the writers accelerate towards an end that has been prepared in years of hard work. In Adams and Herberts cases it´s more as if an already rusty old car gets a big tuning. That may first look good but finally can´t hide the fact that the original quality and driving fun have long been gone.
Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
Arthur Dents´ journey forcefully continues, including making fun of topics like
Astrology
It´s funny the first time but has no potential for more and deeper gags, because ridiculing it is so widespread.
New management
That´s a better one, especially because it´s including The Hitchhikers Guide to the galaxy. A nice comment on capitalism and economy in general too.
Primitivism
Making fun of back to the roots is always easy but, similar to astrology, not really the freshest comedy trope.
Combined with some other ideas, old and new characters, and quite a depressing undertone, Adams created another average part of the series after the already weaker fourth one. It´s kind of as with Frank Herberts´ Dune, it just doesn´t get better. And in both cases, the problem is that the series expanded after its initial success without the author having planned for it like in a big sci fi or fantasy series. These are so great and getting better with each part because the writers accelerate towards an end that has been prepared in years of hard work. In Adams and Herberts cases it´s more as if an already rusty old car gets a big tuning. That may first look good but finally can´t hide the fact that the original quality and driving fun have long been gone.
Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
June 29, 2007
Mostly Harmless was, for many people, a disappointing end to a fantastic series. Adams admitted that he was having a "bad year" when he wrote this book, and it shows: the usual humor and manic pacing are largely gone, replaced by long tracts about actual theoretical science (as opposed to the lunatic-inspired science that created, say, the starship Bistromath), and the tone overall is far darker and more depressive. There are still glimpses of Adams' comedic genius, but the book as a whole is a definite cog or two down the scale from the first four. While Mostly Harmless does provide a firm and definite conclusion to the Hitchhiker's Trilogy, it can, in many ways, be left off the reading list for anyone who is not a die-hard Adams fan; the average reader will get enough conclusion from So Long..., if not from Life....
May 28, 2021
The Milky Way Galaxy is in a state of confusion the dozen Universes, ( you didn't know there are more than one?) have collided into each other. Nothing is as it was, no wonder historians quit, what's the point, everything keeps on changing since history is so fluid. Tricia McMillan (Trillian , in another existence) is not happy, the British television anchor is back in England after an unsuccessful job interview, in New York City at ten times more money ! Dead tired from the overnight flight, she can barely walk to her house but the odd gardener, Eric Bartlett points out strange marks on Tricia's lawn, space aliens undoubtedly and being polite, pretends to care and listen . This interesting conversation must end soon or she'll keel over, at last the bed. Next day, Tricia can figure out what to do with the rest of her life, then the aliens land in the back yard....Three thin, green figures come down from their small craft, Grebulons on a reconnaissance mission, would she like to visit them on Rupert (Persephone) ? Let me think ... the elusive Planet X, in the solar system which astronomers have sought for many years, the tenth planet counted in this world, mighty little Pluto... restored to its proper place in the cosmos . Before departing the unexpected guests deny kidnapping Elvis, they like him ... The greatest story of all time, slowly falls apart like everything else, these creatures can't remember who they are, what they're supposed to do , where the invaders came from not even their own names, eons have gone by during this epic voyage since the ship developed computer problems. On the frozen bizarre planet, Rupert, ( the distant Sun, is just another remote, cold, weak light, in the dark sky) with structures in a cave, which look like a set from a cheap science -fiction film. The Grebulons, ( a name unknown, to these space travelers) like watching television persistently from Earth, copying all. Tricia's camera, shall produce fuzzy pictures back home, she will be laughed at if the video is seen by anyone...Ford Prefect, also has no luck, the Guide is under a different management the new editor wants Mr.Prefect to write a restaurant column, how degrading. He quickly jumps out a window of the Guide's building, on one of the top floors, having noticed the bosses, are evil Vogons. He'll think of something going down to save his hide, Ford sincerely hopes. Passing the 17th level his life too goes by, in his jumbled mind, a happy robot this time prevents the descending man from a bad, very sudden stop ....Meanwhile Mr. Arthur Dent's spaceliner, crashes on a primitive planet Lamuela, yet he's still alive. The only survivor takes up a new profession, would you believe, Sandwich Maker... Adored by the natives, a gift from the gods, such skill with his hands , nobody here could think of putting meat from Perfectly Normal Beasts, (don't ask) and whatever else, between two pieces of bread ... Arthur is finally content, a job that he is good at ... But this universe cannot let people be content, Trillian/Tricia arrives, hands him his unknown daughter Random she says, and hastily leaves, a product of his. Thus Arthur's need for monetary funds, depositing much in institutions around the galaxy, and paid quite well... for his good seed. Random hates Mr.Dent of course, the same emotion prevails towards her mother, and is not that crazy either with all the other universes, a typical teenage daughter. Mr. Arthur Dent, will now fully experience the essence of what being a father entails, may God have mercy on his soul...A lesser Hitchhiker's Guide book...however who can resist..not I.
July 22, 2023
It’s been a while since I read hitchhikers guide to the galaxy so it was nice to read about the universe where everything can and does happen. Had some laughs here, and that’s always appreciated!
April 15, 2022
ظاهراً آدامز موقع نوشتن این جلد حال روحی خوبی نداشته و دپرس بوده و بعدها از تیرگی پایانش پشیمون شده و میخواسته یه جلد ششم بنویسه که فرصتش رو پیدا نکرد و فوت شد و نویسندهی آرتمیس فاول جلد ششمش رو نوشت که اکثراً حسابش نمیکنن و همین جلد رو به عنوان پایان پذیرفتن
آره.. کل مجموعه یه پوچیِ فان و بامزه داشت ولی پایانش دیگه زیاد بامزه نبود و فقط اون پوچی رو منتقل میکرد و با این حال من راضی بودم و با سلیقهام سازگار بود
در ضمن، حتی با استاندارهای راهنمای کهکشان هم باز این جلد تا وسطها خیلی گنگتر و خر تو خره. در جریان باشید
آره.. کل مجموعه یه پوچیِ فان و بامزه داشت ولی پایانش دیگه زیاد بامزه نبود و فقط اون پوچی رو منتقل میکرد و با این حال من راضی بودم و با سلیقهام سازگار بود
در ضمن، حتی با استاندارهای راهنمای کهکشان هم باز این جلد تا وسطها خیلی گنگتر و خر تو خره. در جریان باشید
March 5, 2021
Mostly Harmless (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #5), Douglas Adams
Finally, in Mostly Harmless (published in 1992), Vogons take over The Hitchhiker's Guide (under the name of InfiniDim Enterprises), to finish, once and for all, the task of obliterating the Earth.
After abruptly losing Fenchurch and travelling around the galaxy despondently, Arthur's spaceship crashes on the planet Lamuella, where he settles in happily as the official sandwich-maker for a small village of simple, peaceful people.
Meanwhile, Ford Prefect breaks into The Guide's offices, gets himself an infinite expense account from the computer system, and then meets The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Mark II, an artificially intelligent, multi-dimensional guide with vast power and a hidden purpose.
After he declines this dangerously powerful machine's aid (which he receives anyway), he sends it to Arthur Dent for safety ("Oh yes, whose?"—Arthur).
Trillian uses DNA that Arthur donated for travelling money to have a daughter, and when she goes to cover a war, she leaves her daughter Random Frequent Flyer Dent with Arthur.
Random, a more than typically troubled teenager, steals The Guide Mark II and uses it to get to Earth. Arthur, Ford, Trillian, and Tricia McMillan (Trillian in this alternate universe) follow her to a crowded club, where an anguished Random becomes startled by a noise and inadvertently fires her gun at Arthur.
The shot misses Arthur and kills a man (the ever-unfortunate Agrajag). Immediately afterwards, The Guide Mark II causes the removal of all possible Earths from probability.
All of the main characters, save Zaphod, were on Earth at the time and are apparently killed, bringing a good deal of satisfaction to the Vogons. ...
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز دوم ماه اکتبر سال 2018میلادی
عنوان: بیشترش چیز خاصی نیست؛ نویسنده: داگلاس آدامز؛ مترجم آرش سرکوهی؛ تهران: نشر چشمه، 1399؛ در 232ص؛ شابک9786220107064؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان انگلیسی تبار آمریکایی - سده 21م
عنوان سری و نام کتاب نخست از این سری «راهنمای کهکشان؛ برای اتو استاپ زنها» است، که ماجراهای آن خارج از جو زمین میگذرد؛ با توجه به اینکه از این سری یک نمایش، یک سریال تلویزیونی، یک بازی كامپیوتری، سه جلد کتاب کامیک استریپ و یک فیلم سینمایی تاکنون اقتباس شده و از سوی دیگر به بیش از سی زبان گوناگون ترجمه و چاپ شده، بی شک یكی از شاخصترین آثار ادبیات علمی ـ تخیلی نیز به شمار میآید؛ کتاب دوم سری با عنوان «رستوران آخر دنیا»؛ و کتاب سوم با عنوان: «زندگی، دنیا و همه چیز»، و کتاب چهارم «خداحافظ و ممنون از اون همه ماهی» و کتاب پنجم «بیشترش چیز خاصی نیست»، که همین کتاب نخستین بار در سال 1992میلادی منتشر شد؛
در کتاب پایانی سری سفینه فضایی آرتور پس از مسافرت ناامیدانه در اطراف کهکشان، بر روی سیاره لاموئلا سقوط میکند، جاییکه او با خوشحالی در یک دهکده کوچک با مردمان ساده و آرام زندگی میکند....؛
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 15/12/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
Finally, in Mostly Harmless (published in 1992), Vogons take over The Hitchhiker's Guide (under the name of InfiniDim Enterprises), to finish, once and for all, the task of obliterating the Earth.
After abruptly losing Fenchurch and travelling around the galaxy despondently, Arthur's spaceship crashes on the planet Lamuella, where he settles in happily as the official sandwich-maker for a small village of simple, peaceful people.
Meanwhile, Ford Prefect breaks into The Guide's offices, gets himself an infinite expense account from the computer system, and then meets The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Mark II, an artificially intelligent, multi-dimensional guide with vast power and a hidden purpose.
After he declines this dangerously powerful machine's aid (which he receives anyway), he sends it to Arthur Dent for safety ("Oh yes, whose?"—Arthur).
Trillian uses DNA that Arthur donated for travelling money to have a daughter, and when she goes to cover a war, she leaves her daughter Random Frequent Flyer Dent with Arthur.
Random, a more than typically troubled teenager, steals The Guide Mark II and uses it to get to Earth. Arthur, Ford, Trillian, and Tricia McMillan (Trillian in this alternate universe) follow her to a crowded club, where an anguished Random becomes startled by a noise and inadvertently fires her gun at Arthur.
The shot misses Arthur and kills a man (the ever-unfortunate Agrajag). Immediately afterwards, The Guide Mark II causes the removal of all possible Earths from probability.
All of the main characters, save Zaphod, were on Earth at the time and are apparently killed, bringing a good deal of satisfaction to the Vogons. ...
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز دوم ماه اکتبر سال 2018میلادی
عنوان: بیشترش چیز خاصی نیست؛ نویسنده: داگلاس آدامز؛ مترجم آرش سرکوهی؛ تهران: نشر چشمه، 1399؛ در 232ص؛ شابک9786220107064؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان انگلیسی تبار آمریکایی - سده 21م
عنوان سری و نام کتاب نخست از این سری «راهنمای کهکشان؛ برای اتو استاپ زنها» است، که ماجراهای آن خارج از جو زمین میگذرد؛ با توجه به اینکه از این سری یک نمایش، یک سریال تلویزیونی، یک بازی كامپیوتری، سه جلد کتاب کامیک استریپ و یک فیلم سینمایی تاکنون اقتباس شده و از سوی دیگر به بیش از سی زبان گوناگون ترجمه و چاپ شده، بی شک یكی از شاخصترین آثار ادبیات علمی ـ تخیلی نیز به شمار میآید؛ کتاب دوم سری با عنوان «رستوران آخر دنیا»؛ و کتاب سوم با عنوان: «زندگی، دنیا و همه چیز»، و کتاب چهارم «خداحافظ و ممنون از اون همه ماهی» و کتاب پنجم «بیشترش چیز خاصی نیست»، که همین کتاب نخستین بار در سال 1992میلادی منتشر شد؛
در کتاب پایانی سری سفینه فضایی آرتور پس از مسافرت ناامیدانه در اطراف کهکشان، بر روی سیاره لاموئلا سقوط میکند، جاییکه او با خوشحالی در یک دهکده کوچک با مردمان ساده و آرام زندگی میکند....؛
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 15/12/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
May 19, 2020
Out of all the Hitchhiker's Gude to the Galaxy books, I think I must digress and say that 'Mostly Harmless' does not, in fact, refer to the Earth, but to itself.
The book is mostly harmless except when it isn't.
In fact, it isn't mostly harmless at all.
There are many humorous passages and lots of quirky zingers and a sensation of the penultimate plotless surreality of life, the universe, and everything, but like LIFE, itself, it just feels like an accumulation of STUFF THAT HAPPENS.
Trying to find out the great question to the answer to the universe has mostly derailed in service to living a bit of life and trying to get a little enjoyment out of it before we die... which sounds, suspiciously, like what we all do.
COME ON! WHO WANTS TO READ ABOUT THAT???
But then, seeing where an alternate universe Trillian winds up and watching Ford confront the corporate mega-annoyance of the publishing industry around The Guide does have it's bright points... but let's face it... Arthur's daughter is a REAL PAIN IN THE RANDOM.
Seriously, the whole book goes just south of a Vogon Poetry Reading after that point. It's almost like we're reading a tragedy but we don't really want to admit to it. We'll order room service and buy New Zealand but that's just a funny bit to cover up for the fact that LIFE HAS IT IN FOR US.
If this book wasn't so accurate in its hilarity, I might want to take a boot to its posterior.
Mostly Harmless my ***.
The book is mostly harmless except when it isn't.
In fact, it isn't mostly harmless at all.
There are many humorous passages and lots of quirky zingers and a sensation of the penultimate plotless surreality of life, the universe, and everything, but like LIFE, itself, it just feels like an accumulation of STUFF THAT HAPPENS.
Trying to find out the great question to the answer to the universe has mostly derailed in service to living a bit of life and trying to get a little enjoyment out of it before we die... which sounds, suspiciously, like what we all do.
COME ON! WHO WANTS TO READ ABOUT THAT???
But then, seeing where an alternate universe Trillian winds up and watching Ford confront the corporate mega-annoyance of the publishing industry around The Guide does have it's bright points... but let's face it... Arthur's daughter is a REAL PAIN IN THE RANDOM.
Seriously, the whole book goes just south of a Vogon Poetry Reading after that point. It's almost like we're reading a tragedy but we don't really want to admit to it. We'll order room service and buy New Zealand but that's just a funny bit to cover up for the fact that LIFE HAS IT IN FOR US.
If this book wasn't so accurate in its hilarity, I might want to take a boot to its posterior.
Mostly Harmless my ***.
February 14, 2020
The Encyclopedia Galactica, that venerable compendium, has a lot to say about the works of Douglas Adams. In particular, the first four books of his 'Hitchhiker's' series have over 7 million words dedicated to them. This includes synopses, critical analyses, research projects, philosophical treatises, and Babel-fish fan-fiction.
But the fifth book in the series has not enjoyed this level of attention. Until recently, the Galactica article regarding this novel comprised a single word; 'pointless.'
A sub-set of literature fans didn't appreciate this and launched an extensive campaign to rectify the situation. They argued that Mostly Harmless wasn't a lazy cash-grab or evidence that Adams simply wanted to put the series to bed... or at least that it was more than just those things.
So while most agreed that Mostly Harmless paled when compared to its predecessors, they still felt that it had several funny bits and featured a distinctly sad perspective. They wrote impassioned essays about the book's themes; waxing eloquent about the search for purpose and the inevitability of fate. One particularly poignant contribution discussed how much of the novel felt like the beginning of a brand new adventure, a brand new series, which made the sudden finality of the ending feel especially soul-crushing.
And after many years of protest and tasteless #harmlesslivesmatter jokes they finally convinced the Galactica editors to expand the article. From thence on, the book on Mostly Harmless reads 'Mostly pointless.'
Edited 2/14/2020
But the fifth book in the series has not enjoyed this level of attention. Until recently, the Galactica article regarding this novel comprised a single word; 'pointless.'
A sub-set of literature fans didn't appreciate this and launched an extensive campaign to rectify the situation. They argued that Mostly Harmless wasn't a lazy cash-grab or evidence that Adams simply wanted to put the series to bed... or at least that it was more than just those things.
So while most agreed that Mostly Harmless paled when compared to its predecessors, they still felt that it had several funny bits and featured a distinctly sad perspective. They wrote impassioned essays about the book's themes; waxing eloquent about the search for purpose and the inevitability of fate. One particularly poignant contribution discussed how much of the novel felt like the beginning of a brand new adventure, a brand new series, which made the sudden finality of the ending feel especially soul-crushing.
And after many years of protest and tasteless #harmlesslivesmatter jokes they finally convinced the Galactica editors to expand the article. From thence on, the book on Mostly Harmless reads 'Mostly pointless.'
Edited 2/14/2020
November 16, 2012
The fifth and final installment in the Hitchhiker “trilogy” is generally regarded as the weakest in the series (it’s the lowest rated on this site, for example). The story is focused on Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect. Poor Arthur, who finally found happiness at the end of book four, has the love of his life whisked away from him senselessly and is back to wandering the galaxy alone. He finally settles down to a life that many would find mind-numbingly dull but that suits Arthur just fine. Just as he begins to grow accustomed to his new role in the universe, Trillian and then Ford show up to pull Arthur back into their chaotic adventures. Ford has discovered a plot that puts not just the Guide, but the universe itself at risk and, once again, a reluctant Arthur is pulled along for the ride.
The book has two problems. The first is that it simply isn’t as laugh-out-loud funny as the first three Hitchhiker books. Series staples like Zaphod Beeblebrox and Marvin the Paranoid Android are nowhere to be found, and Trillian plays a relatively minor (if complicated) role. I think that part of what makes the first two books so hysterical is the interplay between all of these larger than life characters (including Ford) and the bewildered Arthur. Like a sitcom with a great cast, it’s at it’s best when all the key players are together. The comedy slips a bit in book three when the characters begin to drift apart, and by the fourth entry some of the regulars are beginning to disappear entirely. But in book four, Adams shifts the story from intergalactic mayhem to a (relatively) conventional love story. Unexpectedly sweet, the fourth book is able to alleviate the pain of losing the Zaphods of the galaxy by telling a different kind of tale.
But very little is sweet about this book, which brings us to problem number two. Mostly Harmless is kind of a downer. Adams was apparently going through some personal problems when he wrote this, and described it as “a rather bleak book.” He expressed interest in writing a sixth novel to finish the series on a more upbeat note, but died before he had the opportunity. We are left with a somewhat sad ending to a great series, particularly . While I begrudgingly accept that comedy is subjective and not everybody’s funnybone is tickled the same way, it’s hard for me to imagine somebody not liking the first two books in this series (even though I know these readers exist). But this one…let’s just say I can see how a reader would find Mostly Harmless to be mostly bleh.
That said, it’s still Douglas Adams and I still liked the book. There are some really funny bits interspersed through all the melancholy: Colin the Android, Ford’s heroic crusade against the Guide’s expense accountants, and virtually every exchange between Ford and Arthur. It’s not the same caliber as the first two books in the series, but if you enjoyed the third and fourth books you’ll probably like this one. Readers who like happy endings may want to call it a day after book four, however. 3 stars.
The book has two problems. The first is that it simply isn’t as laugh-out-loud funny as the first three Hitchhiker books. Series staples like Zaphod Beeblebrox and Marvin the Paranoid Android are nowhere to be found, and Trillian plays a relatively minor (if complicated) role. I think that part of what makes the first two books so hysterical is the interplay between all of these larger than life characters (including Ford) and the bewildered Arthur. Like a sitcom with a great cast, it’s at it’s best when all the key players are together. The comedy slips a bit in book three when the characters begin to drift apart, and by the fourth entry some of the regulars are beginning to disappear entirely. But in book four, Adams shifts the story from intergalactic mayhem to a (relatively) conventional love story. Unexpectedly sweet, the fourth book is able to alleviate the pain of losing the Zaphods of the galaxy by telling a different kind of tale.
But very little is sweet about this book, which brings us to problem number two. Mostly Harmless is kind of a downer. Adams was apparently going through some personal problems when he wrote this, and described it as “a rather bleak book.” He expressed interest in writing a sixth novel to finish the series on a more upbeat note, but died before he had the opportunity. We are left with a somewhat sad ending to a great series, particularly . While I begrudgingly accept that comedy is subjective and not everybody’s funnybone is tickled the same way, it’s hard for me to imagine somebody not liking the first two books in this series (even though I know these readers exist). But this one…let’s just say I can see how a reader would find Mostly Harmless to be mostly bleh.
That said, it’s still Douglas Adams and I still liked the book. There are some really funny bits interspersed through all the melancholy: Colin the Android, Ford’s heroic crusade against the Guide’s expense accountants, and virtually every exchange between Ford and Arthur. It’s not the same caliber as the first two books in the series, but if you enjoyed the third and fourth books you’ll probably like this one. Readers who like happy endings may want to call it a day after book four, however. 3 stars.
January 30, 2020
Brilliant! I don’t know if I was just into the right mood or what, but this last book of The Hitchhiker’s Guide series made me laugh so much. It was hilarious!
The ending was perhaps too abrupt for me, and I’m still not sure if I liked it or not, so I was about to give 4 stars. But all the funny dialogues and situations throughout the book made definitely the 5 stars worth.
I’m sure I will reread the whole series sometime, they just put me in such a good mood. I love the so British, witty humor of Douglas, the science, the simple and at the same time twisted situations, the craziness of everything but rooted in the most logical reasonings. If you’re into any of these, please grab all five books and begin with The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and enjoy.
The ending was perhaps too abrupt for me, and I’m still not sure if I liked it or not, so I was about to give 4 stars. But all the funny dialogues and situations throughout the book made definitely the 5 stars worth.
I’m sure I will reread the whole series sometime, they just put me in such a good mood. I love the so British, witty humor of Douglas, the science, the simple and at the same time twisted situations, the craziness of everything but rooted in the most logical reasonings. If you’re into any of these, please grab all five books and begin with The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and enjoy.
February 10, 2017
Hitchhiker's, volume 5.
There are some good lines in this, but I can't help feeling it would have been better if Adams had left it unwritten, or at least unpublished. It is very disjointed, with Ford, Arthur and Trillian mostly in separate stories.
It starts in what would be a parallel universe - if such things existed, which they don't, because "it makes as much sense as the sea being parallel".
"If there was one thing life had taught her it was that there are times when you do not go back for your bag and other times when you do. It had yet to teach her to distinguish between the two types of occasion".
"The messages that one part of her brain was busy sending to another were not necessarily arriving on time or the right way up".
"For something she hadn't expected... it wasn't going the way she expected".
Maximegalon Institute of Slowly and Pointlessly Working out the Surprisingly Obvious.
The future is "just the same old stuff in faster cars and smellier air".
"It occupied the same co-ordinates in space time [as Earth:]. What co-ordinates it occupied in probability was anyone's guess".
"The sun was quite bright but the day was hazy and vague".
"A common mistake... when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools".
"Her mood swings were very unpredictable but so far they'd all been between different types of bad ones... She had been sent as a test of his faith, if not his patience".
AmEx "gave cards exclusively to just about anybody".
"about three other customers... it was not the kind of place that you felt like being that specific in".
"The possible continually interfered with the probable".
Brief summary and favourite quotes from the other four of the five books, as follows:
Hitchhiker's Guide (vol 1): http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Restaurant at the End of Universe (vol 2): http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Life, the Universe and Everything (vol 3):
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish (vol 4): http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
And Another Thing...(vol 6), by Eoin Colfer : https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
There are some good lines in this, but I can't help feeling it would have been better if Adams had left it unwritten, or at least unpublished. It is very disjointed, with Ford, Arthur and Trillian mostly in separate stories.
It starts in what would be a parallel universe - if such things existed, which they don't, because "it makes as much sense as the sea being parallel".
"If there was one thing life had taught her it was that there are times when you do not go back for your bag and other times when you do. It had yet to teach her to distinguish between the two types of occasion".
"The messages that one part of her brain was busy sending to another were not necessarily arriving on time or the right way up".
"For something she hadn't expected... it wasn't going the way she expected".
Maximegalon Institute of Slowly and Pointlessly Working out the Surprisingly Obvious.
The future is "just the same old stuff in faster cars and smellier air".
"It occupied the same co-ordinates in space time [as Earth:]. What co-ordinates it occupied in probability was anyone's guess".
"The sun was quite bright but the day was hazy and vague".
"A common mistake... when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools".
"Her mood swings were very unpredictable but so far they'd all been between different types of bad ones... She had been sent as a test of his faith, if not his patience".
AmEx "gave cards exclusively to just about anybody".
"about three other customers... it was not the kind of place that you felt like being that specific in".
"The possible continually interfered with the probable".
Brief summary and favourite quotes from the other four of the five books, as follows:
Hitchhiker's Guide (vol 1): http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Restaurant at the End of Universe (vol 2): http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Life, the Universe and Everything (vol 3):
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish (vol 4): http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
And Another Thing...(vol 6), by Eoin Colfer : https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
February 8, 2008
Blechh! Worst. Ending. Ever! I've heard that Douglas Adams wrote this book during a bad time in his life (hey, we all have 'em), but this book more or less stinks. I have chosen to forget that this book was ever written, and that the series ended on a definite high note with "So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish". Those of you who have not had your minds poisoned with this bit of tripe would do well to skip it altogether.
April 15, 2021
بالاخره بعد از مدتها انتظار جلد پنجم محبوبترین مجموعهام رو هم خوندم... واقعا نمیتونم در مورد حسی که نسبت به این مجموعه دارم صحبت بکنم. متفاوتترین و جذابترین مجموعه برای من، همین مجموعهست و لاغیر... خب، خلاصهای که نمیشه نوشت چون اگر جلدهای قبلی رو نخونده باشید قطعا همه چیز براتون اسپویل میشه. پس خلاصهای نمینویسم اما در مورد موضوعات و تفاوتهاش میگم براتون. برخلاف کتب قبلی، توی این کتاب با موضوع جهانهای موازی هم روبهرو میشیم و آدامز به بهترین شکل ممکن همراه با طنز پنهانی که استفاده کرده مطالب رو به هم ربط میده. اینم بگم که "طنز تلخ" بزرگترین عنصر در جلدهای اول تا چهارم بود اما توی جلد پنجم در حد زیادی جاشو داده بود به "طنز پنهان" و داستان به صورت جدیتر پیش میرفت. آرتور همچنان به عنوان موجود زمینیِ باقیمانده خیلی حرف برای گفتن داشت و اینقدر مفهوم پشت رفتار و حرفهاش بود که کلی درس به ما انسانهای زمینی میداد.
شروع این جلد هم متفاوت بود. (در کل همه چیز در جلد پنجم تفاوت داشت)... شروعی جذاب و کمی گنگ که باید برای فهمش تا پایان صبر کرد. و اما بگم در مورد پایان، داگلاس آدامز بعد از نوشتن این کتاب متاسفانه فوت میکنه اما خوشبختانه یا بدبختانه پایان این جلد به نوعیه که میشه به عنوات پایان تمام ماجراها در نظرش گرفت. در حقیقت نویسنده به اون نقطه عطفی که میخواسته رسیده و پایانی پر از فهم و درک برای خوانندهش گذاشته ولی بعد از مرگش، نویسندهی دیگهای با اجازهی رسمی همسر آدامز جلد ششمی هم برای این مجموعه نوشت و به گفتهی خودش پایانی که مستحق این مجموعهست رو براش رقم زده. حالا من نمیدونم جلد ششم هم ترجمه میشه یا نه اما باتوجه به پشت جلد که نوشته شده "جلد پنجم و نهایی"، فکر نکنم نشر چشمه قصد چاپ کتاب ششم رو هم داشته باشه که من تقاضای چاپش رو دارم 😍🙏💙
خلاصه اینکه این مجموعه در قلب اینجانب جای دارد و به همه توصیه میکنم بخونیدش تا ببینید چجور یک نویسنده موارد پراکنده و کاملا بیربط رو باهم جمع کرده و یک اثر ماندگار و پرمفهوم رو به یادگار گذاشته❤
شروع این جلد هم متفاوت بود. (در کل همه چیز در جلد پنجم تفاوت داشت)... شروعی جذاب و کمی گنگ که باید برای فهمش تا پایان صبر کرد. و اما بگم در مورد پایان، داگلاس آدامز بعد از نوشتن این کتاب متاسفانه فوت میکنه اما خوشبختانه یا بدبختانه پایان این جلد به نوعیه که میشه به عنوات پایان تمام ماجراها در نظرش گرفت. در حقیقت نویسنده به اون نقطه عطفی که میخواسته رسیده و پایانی پر از فهم و درک برای خوانندهش گذاشته ولی بعد از مرگش، نویسندهی دیگهای با اجازهی رسمی همسر آدامز جلد ششمی هم برای این مجموعه نوشت و به گفتهی خودش پایانی که مستحق این مجموعهست رو براش رقم زده. حالا من نمیدونم جلد ششم هم ترجمه میشه یا نه اما باتوجه به پشت جلد که نوشته شده "جلد پنجم و نهایی"، فکر نکنم نشر چشمه قصد چاپ کتاب ششم رو هم داشته باشه که من تقاضای چاپش رو دارم 😍🙏💙
خلاصه اینکه این مجموعه در قلب اینجانب جای دارد و به همه توصیه میکنم بخونیدش تا ببینید چجور یک نویسنده موارد پراکنده و کاملا بیربط رو باهم جمع کرده و یک اثر ماندگار و پرمفهوم رو به یادگار گذاشته❤
May 27, 2013
Randal: Which did you like better? Jedi or The Empire Strikes Back?
Dante: Empire.
Randal: Blasphemy!
Dante: Empire had the better ending. I mean, Luke gets his hand cut off, finds out Vader's his father, Han gets frozen and taken away by Boba Fett. It ends on such a down note. I mean, that's what life is, a series of down endings. All Jedi had was a bunch of Muppets.
August 25, 2021
A great end, though I'm sad it's over.
July 23, 2014
Sadly, the five-part Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy “trilogy” ends not with a bang, but a whimper. With four storylines — displaced earthman Arthur Dent, reckless Hitchhiker’s Guide correspondent Ford Prefect; Trillian, the earth woman once named Tricia McMillan who dumped Arthur at a party to go into space with Zaphod Beeblebrox, and Tricia McMillan in a parallel universe where she stayed on earth — Mostly Harmless reads like a frenzied ride on the bumper cars, with storylines beginning and starting almost at random.
In addition, Arthur Dent returns to his whiny and mostly dazed persona that made him insufferable in Life, the Universe and Everything, and while all four storylines eventually converge, the denouement simply isn’t that satisfying. Take my advice: Stop after the fourth book, So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, and end on a high note.
In addition, Arthur Dent returns to his whiny and mostly dazed persona that made him insufferable in Life, the Universe and Everything, and while all four storylines eventually converge, the denouement simply isn’t that satisfying. Take my advice: Stop after the fourth book, So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, and end on a high note.
August 7, 2019
“Let the past hold on to itself and let the present move forward into the future.”
This was not the ending I was hoping for.
But since we have parallel universes; is this truly the end?
I finally read them all! I read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy when I was younger but never read more than the first book.
I enjoy the humor and sarcasm and the unexpectedly outrages things that can happen quite out of the blue. The wacky relationship between Arthur and Ford is also one of the reasons that kept me reading on.
This was an epic journey and I will readily go on it again, and again, and again.
This was not the ending I was hoping for.
But since we have parallel universes; is this truly the end?
I finally read them all! I read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy when I was younger but never read more than the first book.
I enjoy the humor and sarcasm and the unexpectedly outrages things that can happen quite out of the blue. The wacky relationship between Arthur and Ford is also one of the reasons that kept me reading on.
This was an epic journey and I will readily go on it again, and again, and again.
February 9, 2020
2005 will always be the year in which, personally I recognised that Douglas Adams was not only not my cup of tea, he wasn't my digestive biscuit, sugar lump or afternoon nap. His infantile rudimentary mid 20th century humour just doesn't work for me on any level... I have no doubt he strikes a chord with many readers around the world, but alas not I.
.
My one good deed, is that I stuck with the series and gave it a chance to melt my cold dark heart.. which it obviously didn't. 3 out of 12.
.
My one good deed, is that I stuck with the series and gave it a chance to melt my cold dark heart.. which it obviously didn't. 3 out of 12.
March 10, 2018
Douglas Adams has always had such a massive influence on my writing. I don’t think there’s any other author out there who does madcap, irreverent and downright silly as well as he does.
This book, the fifth in the series, continues the craziness of Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect and Trillion, but with the usual unexpected twists and turns, ranging from random daughters (literally called Random) to multi-universes and holy sandwich makers. Blissfully bonkers stuff.
This book, the fifth in the series, continues the craziness of Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect and Trillion, but with the usual unexpected twists and turns, ranging from random daughters (literally called Random) to multi-universes and holy sandwich makers. Blissfully bonkers stuff.
November 6, 2021
"Where do I fit?"Content warning: mental illness.
In the midst of episodes of depression, an essential sense of isolation and desolation hits me. Nihilism roots itself in my brain and will not be dislodged. There's a loneliness that, perhaps ironically, can't be palliated by the presence of other people. Certainly not strangers, who are unworthy of trust and are motivated by nothing but petty self-interest and dominance displays.
This kind of thinking pervades a huge chunk of this book, and as someone whose view of the rest of humanity hasn't exactly been improved by life starting in about 2016, and continuing through a year and a half's (and ongoing) actual isolation from it, it was not easy to read a lot of the time. In a sense it's good to know that there was somebody out there, once, who seems to have felt the same way as I often feel now.
At times things in Mostly Harmless get straight-up nasty and viscerally unpleasant to read. Animals try to communicate with humans, and are rebuffed, and in one case, brutally killed. Arthur looks for advice from a sage, which he eventually gets, but not until we go through an extended gross scene where he ends up vomiting. Every character in the book is isolated in some way, with the possible exception of Ford. Arthur stumbles numbly through the entire book, and has a number of reunions and a meeting with a relative he was previously unaware of, and no one is happy to see each other, whether because of the circumstances or because Adams decided to depict them in a grinchy way.
The overt nastiness thankfully settles down maybe halfway through the book, and we spend the rest of the time assembling the pieces that will lead to the conclusion, which . Adams' wild imagination feels more in control and steady here than in earlier books, and I think this novel is better structured than any of the rest*. The new Guide is fascinating (despite its being created by an evil corporation), and one of the better things about the book.
* True, Life, the Universe, and Everything had a structure, too: "boring fetch quest."
As one might be able to guess, a reader who's looking for the hectic energy of the first couple of Hitchhiker's books is bound to be disappointed. I was all set to reject this one, myself--not solely because it was like living in my own stupid brain with somebody else's imagination for a few hours--but in the end, I thought it was excellent. This 40-ish Adams might have been having a tough time mentally while writing this book, for sure. But he was also brilliant. This one's certainly worth a reread at some point, but I think it'll have to be during a time that is quite different from this one. That isn't true of the first couple of books, which I can reread at any time without descending into despondent rambling...
January 19, 2023
حس تمام کردن مجموعهها خیلی خوبه، مجموعه ناتمام واقعاً به آدم حس بدی میده، راهنمای کهکشان هم با تمام پستی و بلندیها تمام شد، در ابتدا اثری منحصربفرد بود، هیچ تکراری نداشت و شوخیهای جذابی داشت، در هر صورت نتونست روند خوب جلد اولو ادامه بده منتها به صورت کلی یکی از درخشانترین طنزهای پست مدرنی بود که به عمرم خونده بودم، جلد پنجم هم مقداری خوب بود و یادآور خاطرات خوب جلد اول و دوم شد.
March 24, 2019
I can't highlight all the passages that I like in this book because I would end up highlighting the entire book. I enjoy slipping things in that are quotes from any of the Hitchhikker's guide books into conversations with people just because it makes me smile.
There is just so much wit to choose from.
A couple good ones from Mostly Harmless:
“A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.”
“Nothing travels faster than the speed of light, with the possible exception of bad news, which obeys its own special laws.”
There is just so much wit to choose from.
A couple good ones from Mostly Harmless:
“A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.”
“Nothing travels faster than the speed of light, with the possible exception of bad news, which obeys its own special laws.”
August 2, 2019
I love this series and the intrepid Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, and Trillian. Arthur finds himself on a planet called Now What (found by settlers that didn't know what to do) in a city called Oh Well. Douglas Adams wit is so good.
October 22, 2022
Great finish to an original sci-fi classic series.
May 28, 2009
The universe is a joke.
Even before I was shown the meaning of life in a dream at 17 (then promptly forgot it because I thought I smelled pancakes), I knew this to be true--and yet, I have always felt a need to search for the truth, that nebulous, ill-treated creature. Adams has always been, to me, to be a welcome companion in that journey.
Between the search for meaning and the recognition that it's all a joke in poor taste lies Douglas Adams, and, luckily for us, he doesn't seem to mind if you lie there with him. He's a tall guy, but he'll make room.
For all his crazed unpredictability, Adams is a powerful rationalist. His humor comes from his attempts to really think through all the things we take for granted. It turns out it takes little more than a moment's questioning to burst our preconceptions at the seams, yet rarely does this stop us from treating the most ludicrous things as if they were perfectly reasonable.
It is no surprise that famed atheist Richard Dawkins found a friend and ally in Adams. What is surprising is that people often fail to see the rather consistent and reasonable philosophy laid out by Adams' quips and absurdities. His approach is much more personable (and less embittered) than Dawkins', which is why I think of Adams as a better face for rational materialism (which is a polite was of saying 'atheism').
Reading his books, it's not hard to see that Dawkins is tired of arguing with uninformed idiots who can't even recognize when a point has actually been made. Adams' humanism, however, stretched much further than the contention between those who believe, and those who don't.
We see it from his protagonists, who are not elitist intellectuals--they're not even especially bright--but damn it, they're trying. By showing a universe that makes no sense and having his characters constantly question it, Adams is subtly hinting that this is the natural human state, and the fact that we laugh and sympathize shows that it must be true.
It's all a joke, it's all ridiculous. The absurdists might find this depressing, but they're just a bunch of narcissists, anyhow. Demnading the world make sense and give you purpose is rather self centered when it already contains toasted paninis, attractive people in bathing suits, and Euler's Identity. I say let's sit down at the bar with the rabbi, the priest, and the frog and try to get a song going. Or at least recognize that it's okay to laugh at ourselves now and again. It's not the end of the world.
It's just is a joke, but some of us are in on it.
Even before I was shown the meaning of life in a dream at 17 (then promptly forgot it because I thought I smelled pancakes), I knew this to be true--and yet, I have always felt a need to search for the truth, that nebulous, ill-treated creature. Adams has always been, to me, to be a welcome companion in that journey.
Between the search for meaning and the recognition that it's all a joke in poor taste lies Douglas Adams, and, luckily for us, he doesn't seem to mind if you lie there with him. He's a tall guy, but he'll make room.
For all his crazed unpredictability, Adams is a powerful rationalist. His humor comes from his attempts to really think through all the things we take for granted. It turns out it takes little more than a moment's questioning to burst our preconceptions at the seams, yet rarely does this stop us from treating the most ludicrous things as if they were perfectly reasonable.
It is no surprise that famed atheist Richard Dawkins found a friend and ally in Adams. What is surprising is that people often fail to see the rather consistent and reasonable philosophy laid out by Adams' quips and absurdities. His approach is much more personable (and less embittered) than Dawkins', which is why I think of Adams as a better face for rational materialism (which is a polite was of saying 'atheism').
Reading his books, it's not hard to see that Dawkins is tired of arguing with uninformed idiots who can't even recognize when a point has actually been made. Adams' humanism, however, stretched much further than the contention between those who believe, and those who don't.
We see it from his protagonists, who are not elitist intellectuals--they're not even especially bright--but damn it, they're trying. By showing a universe that makes no sense and having his characters constantly question it, Adams is subtly hinting that this is the natural human state, and the fact that we laugh and sympathize shows that it must be true.
It's all a joke, it's all ridiculous. The absurdists might find this depressing, but they're just a bunch of narcissists, anyhow. Demnading the world make sense and give you purpose is rather self centered when it already contains toasted paninis, attractive people in bathing suits, and Euler's Identity. I say let's sit down at the bar with the rabbi, the priest, and the frog and try to get a song going. Or at least recognize that it's okay to laugh at ourselves now and again. It's not the end of the world.
It's just is a joke, but some of us are in on it.
May 19, 2020
Arthur goes space hermit.
Arthur Dent has been misplaced both in time and space. Now, he also gets displaced in an alternate universe somehow. And that's NOT the weirdest part here. Sadly, the group split up generally. Thus, we also follow Trillian's journalistic career, Ford's attempt at surviving the HHGs corporate structures and Arthur's stint as the sandwich maker - until he suddenly meets his daughter.
"Mostly Harmless" is the the HHG's definition/description of humans. Which is a weird thing to choose as a title considering how few humans are in this book. Just as weird as the apparently random chain of events that has our friends go through all kinds of situations that didn't tell us much of anything.
If you think about it, it might have been a brilliant comment by the author about how life happens while you're busy making plans or hoping this or that would happen. How life is "just one damned thing after another".
Nevertheless, this lacked the sharpness of books 1 and 3. In fact, this installment was downright pointless and lacked the usual hilarity that even book 2 had in places. Yes, I chuckled at Ford's adventure in the corporate world and the description thereof; I also liked the daughter’s fascination with Arthur’s watch; but that was about it. All the other bits were ... just there. There wasn’t any actual substance to anything here. It was all just so random - apparently the point the author was trying to make, in fact, because that is Arthur’s daughter’s name (). There was no real point to any of it.
No idea what happened, it just makes me sad - and I’m glad I listened to the advice of people who already know the series and read this as #4 because if this had been the finale to the "trilogy", I'd have been thoroughly disappointed. It would also not really have been much of an ending.
2.5 stars rounded up because ... well, it's DNA. I wonder what happened. Too bad we can't ask the author anymore.
Arthur Dent has been misplaced both in time and space. Now, he also gets displaced in an alternate universe somehow. And that's NOT the weirdest part here. Sadly, the group split up generally. Thus, we also follow Trillian's journalistic career, Ford's attempt at surviving the HHGs corporate structures and Arthur's stint as the sandwich maker - until he suddenly meets his daughter.
"Mostly Harmless" is the the HHG's definition/description of humans. Which is a weird thing to choose as a title considering how few humans are in this book. Just as weird as the apparently random chain of events that has our friends go through all kinds of situations that didn't tell us much of anything.
If you think about it, it might have been a brilliant comment by the author about how life happens while you're busy making plans or hoping this or that would happen. How life is "just one damned thing after another".
Nevertheless, this lacked the sharpness of books 1 and 3. In fact, this installment was downright pointless and lacked the usual hilarity that even book 2 had in places. Yes, I chuckled at Ford's adventure in the corporate world and the description thereof; I also liked the daughter’s fascination with Arthur’s watch; but that was about it. All the other bits were ... just there. There wasn’t any actual substance to anything here. It was all just so random - apparently the point the author was trying to make, in fact, because that is Arthur’s daughter’s name (). There was no real point to any of it.
No idea what happened, it just makes me sad - and I’m glad I listened to the advice of people who already know the series and read this as #4 because if this had been the finale to the "trilogy", I'd have been thoroughly disappointed. It would also not really have been much of an ending.
2.5 stars rounded up because ... well, it's DNA. I wonder what happened. Too bad we can't ask the author anymore.
May 6, 2015
Its years since I read the first four volumes of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and really enjoyed it. Perhaps my taste has changed or I can't get into the 'mood' but I really didn't enjoy this book. It just seemed to be a 'clever' messa round with words and the sort of adolescent fantasies of the universe that kids who were stoned and listening to Pink Floyd tended to come up with. Like a lot of things, it was more fun to have lived it than to read about it.
There were a couple of good sentences that made me pause and think and that boosted up the rating, but only to a two-star.
There were a couple of good sentences that made me pause and think and that boosted up the rating, but only to a two-star.
April 23, 2021
This book took me monthssss to finish and I'm not proud of it.😅😅 Compared to the previous ones this does seem a little weak in various aspects. It was less humorous than usual but fun nonetheless. I saw people complaining about how it ended but.. honestly.... I liked it.
No Complaints.
And now I can brag about having read the hitchhiker's series so yeah....🥳🥳🥳.
No Complaints.
And now I can brag about having read the hitchhiker's series so yeah....🥳🥳🥳.
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