A Book Review
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was originally published on October 12th, 1979 by Pan Books in the United Kingdom, and was later published in the United States in 1980 by the same publisher. Before Hitchhiker’s Guide was ever a book it was a 6 part BBC radio broadcast in 1978 which inspired Nick Webb, editor of Pan Books, to seek out Douglas Adams to write a novel, based on the fact Adams had made previous adaptations of radio broadcasts.
Hitchhiker’s Guide is about Arthur Dent and his companions’ adventures across the universe using the spaceship the Heart of Gold. Arthur, the last surviving human male in the universe, goes on these adventures because an alien species destroyed his planet (Earth) to make a universal superhighway.
The four main characters are Arthur Philip Dent, Ford Prefect, Zaphod Beeblebrox and Tricia Marie McMillan. Arthur was only barely saved when his planet was destroyed, by his friend Ford Prefect, who is soon revealed to be an alien and a transcriber for the Hitchhiker’s Guide. Zaphod Beeblebrox was formerly the president of the universe of which he only served as a figurehead to the real masters of the universe. The reason Zaphod ran for universal office in the first place was to steal the Heart of Gold. Tricia was an astrophysicist who met Arthur at a party 6 months before Earth was destroyed. She joined Zaphod on his journey in the Heart of Gold before the start of the story.
Without further adieu plot, details in the style of the actual book:
Arthur Dent was having a very bad day after all having your planet be destroyed is naturally a bad thing. On the other hand, being rescued by an alien friend of yours and being transported to a golden spaceship is more odd than bad. But at the end of the day, finding a mythical planet-making machine, while flying through the universe at infinite speeds, is always entertaining, so because it is filled with weird little details like the fact that mice are pan-dimensional.
Hitchhiker’s Guide is a cult classic, of which I can see why with its interesting, yet confused plots. It is perfect for any young Sci-fi fan. While I believe the book is good, I do not believe older audiences would enjoy it as much, seeing how confusing it is sometimes — well, unless like me you enjoy being confused.
