BookTalk.org

THE HITCHHIKERS GUIDE TO THE GALAXY
Douglas Adams

Final Thoughts

I had never read this book in school and not one i would have normally chosen so thank you booktalk! I thoroughly enjoyed it. My edition has an afterward that explained the difficulty and time it took to get the movie made, and also interviews with the actors and screen writer. i am very much looking forward to the movie which will arrive from netflix on monday.

One final thought i have, is how DAs writing seemed so steeped in theological concepts as i read from other contributors on booktalk and my own research on the man revealed him to be a staunch athiest. The conundrum was soon resolved when i read on wikipedia DAs own quote "I love to keep poking and prodding at it [religion]. I've thought about it so much over the years that that fascination is bound to spill over into my writing".

The movie was fun to watch. It was like a disney version of montey python. I could really see the athiesm much more in the movie. It was a brilliant adaptation from the book incorporating more of a whackey comic romance theme that worked well in film. I understood the "achieving normalcy" from watching the movie. Anyway, highly recommended. Next, radio series....lol

At a recent poster session where I work, my poster was in slot #42. I thought of Douglas Adams and smiled.

tbarron wrote:At a recent poster session where I work, my poster was in slot #42. I thought of Douglas Adams and smiled.

DA had a way of making the ordinary extraordinary and I think his popularization of the number 42 is a good example.

jjames76 wrote:I had never read this book in school and not one i would have normally chosen so thank you booktalk! I thoroughly enjoyed it. My edition has an afterward that explained the difficulty and time it took to get the movie made, and also interviews with the actors and screen writer. i am very much looking forward to the movie which will arrive from netflix on monday.

One final thought i have, is how DAs writing seemed so steeped in theological concepts as i read from other contributors on booktalk and my own research on the man revealed him to be a staunch athiest. The conundrum was soon resolved when i read on wikipedia DAs own quote "I love to keep poking and prodding at it [religion]. I've thought about it so much over the years that that fascination is bound to spill over into my writing".

Thanks for this, I think 'poking and prodding' is a good description of DA's satire, whether his target is religion or local government officials or poets!!

At first I had a lot of trouble getting into this book but when I got to the end I didn't want it to be over. I will definitely be reading the rest of the series. Sorry I didn't participate much in the discussion but honestly you guys had such great thoughts and insights that I didn't have much to add. Lol.

You've made a great contribution Olivia, please hang about and comment as you read the later books. I'm reading Mostly Harmless and I don't think we have to stick religiously to this first book, if you want to comment on one of the later books in the series, go for it.

I read this one about a year ago and it led me to gather them all from the library and listen thru them. Good clean fun is what they are. Anybody wanting a good laugh should try his stories.

Hey WCW, nice to see you here and thanks for your thoughts. I think Douglas Adams would have liked your description "good clean fun". I like his writing and his satirical reflections on serious subjects (is atheism serious?) but mainly I enjoy some good laughs when I read his work .. I think DA gives meaning to the famous text short form ... LOL.