Life, the Universe and EverythingHitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Book 3
Author: Douglas Adams
Genre: science fiction, humor
Pages: 240
Douglas Adams is an example of someone who achieved something so wholly awesome with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy that its really hard for anything he does afterward to be quite as good. The second book was not too bad, but I must pronounce myself quite disappointed in the third installment. While it still had some of the characteristic humor, which makes Douglas Adams so fabulous, the really good jokes were a bit further and farther between.
The plot, such as there was, seemed incredibly slapdash and weak. And often didn't make sense, even unto itself. I kept having to force myself not to skim read, as many of the sections were so boredom-inducing as to make this tempting. How sad is that? Many of the chapters seemed not to connect to the main plot at all. The last chapter especially.
Nevertheless, this book does have a really great line, one that I stumbled across years ago in my search for wonderful quotes: "He hoped and prayed that there wasn't an afterlife. Then he realized there was a contradiction involved here and merely hoped that there wasn't an afterlife." That quote is made of so much win. Also delightful are a couple of recurring gags, like Arthur's mysteriously misappearing and reappearing bags. Or his unintentional repeated murders of one reincarnated soul. Or his courageous defeat of Thor. Seriously, the god Thor. Way to go, Arthur.
To conclude, lyrics from the title song, in honor of that spiteful immortal with nothing better to do than insult folk.
"All the people on the street, I hate you all
And the people that I meet, I hate you all
And the people that I know, I hate you all
And the people that I don't, I hate you all
Oh, I hate you all"
And the people that I meet, I hate you all
And the people that I know, I hate you all
And the people that I don't, I hate you all
Oh, I hate you all"
I haven't read anything by Adams because I'm not such a huge sci-fi fan - too bad you didn't like this one:(
ReplyDeleteDon't let that stop you from Hitchhiker's Guide if you do go for sci fi at some point. It's one of my very favorite books ever!
DeleteI had the hitchiker's 'trilogy in five parts' book bought for me for my birthday about 14 years ago and I still haven't finished it!
ReplyDeleteI think the problem is like you were saying - it starts to get a bit boring in places. I'm nit sure which book it's from but my favourite gag is this one:
Gods final message to his creation, in 50 foot high, flaming letters - 'Sorry for the Inconvenience'
Love it!
I have that same edition, I think. I'm trying to get through it, but it's been going pretty steadily downhill. :(
DeleteI do like that gag!
I've read only Hitchhiker's Guide, and I didn't like it much. Maybe I didn't get the humor, but it wasn't funny to me. It seems from your review that Life and Everything is similar.
ReplyDeleteWell, I actually loved Hitchhiker's Guide. That type of humor definitely appeals to me, but I don't think Adams was able to sustain it through the series.
DeleteNo judgment though because there are so many things other people think are hilarious that just don't tickle my funny bone. Ex. Family Guy, South Park.