Roll on October 1st!!

Just putting this post in the hope that I'll get an email prompt to remind me to join in.

Will the radio series and the movie be part of the discussion or not?

John Sliz: Will the radio series and the movie be part of the discussion or not?

I expect the film and the radio will be on the periphery..... I thoroughly enjoyed both of them....but they don't have the depth of the books......

Humorous books are usually a little superficial....but not these ones.

Ok, I'm back and ready to dive into the Hitchhiker's Guide. Glad to see a few people on board and I'm sure we'll pick up a few more once the threads are active. And Penny, hopefully this post triggers an email message for you!

And we will discover in due course the significance of the number '42', it is surprisingly significant ... to most of us I doubt it stands out as a special number, so all the more reason to read the Hitchhikers Guide ..

I see the discussion as focused mostly on the book but I'm certainly interested in comments/comparison with the movie or radio series. This may prompt me to watch the movie.

I thought the radio series was superb because you need to read this book in a 'certain tone of voice' or it isn't so funny, but one can visualise Zaphod with his two heads. I always find the depictions of him a little disappointing on the screen. The TV series was amazing otherwise. The film of course combined five books into one story, if I remember correctly. Hitchhikers is a trilogy of five books. Douglas Adams said so!

Having read the book before, many years ago, I was delighted to note that, in the introduction, the lady in the cafe was in Rickmansworth. My son and his partner and my grandson live there. We visit fairly regularly. It is a very posh and civilised suburb of outer London, which makes the lady's enlightenment all the more funny. I didn't know about Rickmansworth when I read the book first time.

It is a book that remains with one though, always in the psyche. One day, a few years ago, some workmen were digging in the field right opposite our house and, as is my wont, I went out to ask what they were doing and why. They said they were erecting a mobile phone mast. That was my Arthur Dent moment. It's not there now though.

Interesting that in the Foreword there is mention of the Hitchhikers guide as a very cool book that young people could identify with back in the day. I gues that's when many of us read it the first time. Good background on Rickmansworth .. but the question is ... have you been to Guildford, Ford Prefect's 'adopted' home? I like your reference to an Arthur Dent moment. Arthur is an unlikely hero but a hero just the same. Did you have to throw yourself in front of earth moving equipment to stop them building the phone mast?

Giselle:
Did you have to throw yourself in front of earth moving equipment to stop them building the phone mast?

Metaphorically. I did fly into a tizzy though.....Our local newspaper got behind me and printed my photo looking suitably perplexed and with a write up saying that the mobile phone companies just seemed to go-ahead and place masts willy-nilly. I know we must have mobile phone masts, but there is a great big open field across the road. They didn't need to put it directly opposite my parlour window, except that it made access easy for themselves. Anyway, they promised that it would only be there for a month or so whilst the electric pylon they used had maintenance work. When that was done they moved them back as promised. But they could have informed us of that fact first. I really got my knickers in a twist about that!!!

This is only relevant to demonstrate the antics of big businesses, when they are not monitored. There was probably planning permission for the mast, in a locked bottom drawer at the council offices, a la Arthur Dent.

Penny, just wait until the Vogons show up....

Penelope wrote:
This is only relevant to demonstrate the antics of big businesses, when they are not monitored. There was probably planning permission for the mast, in a locked bottom drawer at the council offices, a la Arthur Dent.

Yah, and I bet there would be a sign on the door saying "Beware of the Leopard"!! I like that line and I've used it a few times over the years to comical effect because not EVERYONE has read HHG so I've got some funny looks. And yes I think Adams is lampooning big business and the council, I love the way he describes the little man from the council with his Mongol warrior ancestry.

Thanks for joining the discussion Cattleman. I'm sure if the Vogons show up at Penny's place that would be big news for the local paper!

I don't have an Improbability Drive so I can't be everywhere in the Universe at once .... so my next post will be on the first Chapter thread. (how's that for a segue ... ?)

I wonder if Douglas based the whole house demo/bypass on an experience he saw someone go through? Anyhow, one of my favourite moments in the whole book is Mr. L Prosser who has visions of Genghis Khan and a `predilection for little fur hats.' Brilliant! It still makes me laugh years...no, decades later.