This is my first review on a weird book(consisting of five books by Douglas Adams) which was given to me by my weird elder brother. When I first saw the cover(an eyeless alien lolling out its tongue along with a suitcase), I groaned as I knew it was not the type of books which I used to read which are novels and classics. I started reading the book just to please my brother but at the end of it I was more than pleased and had to admit that it was a classic in itself.
The first book was The Hitchhiker's Guide to Galaxy. It is the beginning of the journey of a man named Arthur Dent through the Galaxy with his friend Ford Prefect because the Earth is going to be destroyed(weird, isn't it?!). It was an amazing book because it was full of wit-filled comedy. Even when they encounter life -threatening situations, they never lose their sense of humour and this is what is seen in all the upcoming books.
The second book was The Restaurant at the End of Universe. This book was better than the first book. Facing annihilation at the hands of warmongers is a curious time to crave tea. This can only happen to the cosmically displaced Arthur Dent. This situation is the beginning of the book and the rest is a roller coaster ride for Arthur Dent and his companions to save themselves from death and to find a suitable place to eat. The ending of the book which shows Arthur and Ford in the midst of dumb people in prehistoric is really humorous.
The third book was Life, The Universe and Everything. The unhappy inhabitants of planet Krikkit are sick of looking at the night sky and so they plan to destroy it. Only Arthur Dent and his companions can save the Universe. The entire book was full of humour and in the midst of all that there was the thought-provoking idea that just because powerful people don't like anything they want to destroy it(George Bush didn't like Iraq and so destroyed it). Don't miss the incident which leads to Arthur learning to fly.
The fourth book was So Long and Thanks for the Fish was not as impressive as the first three books. The wit was there but the comedy was missing and that was put me down. Back on Earth , when Arthur thinks that the past eight years were just imagination a gift wrapped fish bowl with a cryptic inscription brings him back to reality. It is a love story between Arthur and a lady named Fenchurch in which Ford suddenly comes even though he is not needed and elongates the story. *Yawn* The story itself made me sleep and so the book was a kind of blur. Basically, I thought that this story was not needed to be written at all and the book should not have been included in the collection.
The fifth book which is Mostly Harmless was better and it concluded the four book series in a full-of-action ending. Just when Arthur Dent makes the mistake of enjoying life, all hell breaks loose. This time he has to save the Hitchhiker's Guide as well as his daughter. Though the starting is boring, from the time Ford Prefect comes(i.e. in the middle of the book) the whole book becomes interesting as the comedy which made the first three books a must-read returns back and help you with the awful lot of Galaxy gibberish which you have to understand. You have to read the third book to get some sense of the ending which is action-filled.
On the whole I liked the book as it was full of comedy and made me laugh until I cried. Except for the fourth book, the entire collection was full of action and roller-coaster rides through space and time. So I would rate this collection as a must read and give it 4.25/5.
Gender:
Points: 1706
Reviews: 10