[Author’s note: When I first discovered “The Hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy” or “The Guide”, I found a science fiction novel that did not follow a rigid format or that was totally serious or had a sombre tone as so many science fiction novels had in the past. The novel reads like what it is supposed to be, a comedy of errors. The characters are not heroic, larger than life paragons of virtue but comical everyman characters that the readers can relate to. From that point on I realized that science fiction did not have to follow some rigid formula or be stiff and formulaic. Science Fiction could be fun. As always spoilers from here after so stop reading now if you don’t want to know.]
I’ve always enjoyed a good farce. Something about seeing characters stuck in a ridiculous situation makes me realize that even the most capable and prepared of individuals can have a bad day and are then obliged to make the best of a bad situation.
Travel can make even the most prepared of us look foolish. One little thing goes wrong and your well thought out travel plans can go out the door. I know that I’ve had that happen to me on several occasions.
Hitchhikers have to learn how to deal with this on a continual basis. Douglas Adams was inspired by his own hitchhiking adventures in the early 1970s and drawing from his association with the Cambridge University acting group, The Footlights, he began writing this satirical story of a human forced to hitchhike around the galaxy with his alien best friend and getting into all sorts of misadventures.
The story itself went through several incarnations including being first performed as a radio novel on BBC radio. Later it would go on to become a made for TV series, a computer game, and finally a movie. The original story was expanded out into five novels. Adams was rumored to be working on a sixth sequel before his untimely death in 2001 and that novel was picked up and written by another writer.
The plot of the original story is that the main character, Arthur Dent, is being evicted from his home as it is about to be demolished to make way for a highway bypass. At the same time no one on Earth is aware that the same fate will be meted out to them as a fleet of alien ships prepares to blow up the planet for a similar purpose.
Arthur however escapes this doom. His friend, Ford Prefect, turns out to be an alien and a professional hitchhiker. The two of them stow away on the alien ship but are discovered. As they are jettisoned into open space they are unexpectedly rescued by Ford’s distant cousin, Zaphod Beeblebrox, the fugitive president of the galaxy, aboard the ship he stole, The Heart of Gold.
Also aboard is a former girlfriend of Arthur, Trillian, and a manically depressed robot called Marvin.
Ford himself is a freelance writer for the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Something of a cross between wikipedia, a travel guide, and road map. The Guide itself is something like a modern-day tablet that is updated by some sort of intergalactic wi-fi system. Ford came to Earth to do some research for the Guide but got stuck on the planet for several years.
Interspersed throughout the novel, Adams includes several sections from the Guide on a variety of topics ranging from the creation of the universe (many people were upset about it) to advice about appreciating Vogon poetry (don’t).
Arthur and Ford learn that Zaphod is part of a cabal trying to stop a group of interdimensional aliens from learning the “ultimate question to life, the universe, and everything else”. As it turns out the Earth was really a giant computer trying to learn the ultimate question for the ultimate answer which turns out to be “42”. The Earth was 5 minutes from its final computation when it was blown up.
The group travels to the planet Magrathea where the Earth was custom-built in order to contact the aliens that commissioned the planet in the first place. The aliens realize that the question may lie within Arthur’s brain and offer to buy his brain and when Arthur rejects the offer they try to take it by force.
A brief battle ensues before the group escapes and they decide to go to the Restaurant at the end of the Universe, which leads to the next novel.
By the 1970s the sci-fi genre had matured and had begun to branch out in a variety of sub-genres. Although some comedic science fiction books had been printed before, The Guide was really the book responsible for spawning a whole new genre of novels and short stories that focused on the lighter elements of science fiction.
Book series like the Discworld series or MYTH Adventures novels can both trace their roots to this book.
The main takeaway I got from this book was that even though space technology can seem daunting, alien, and even frightening at first that basically it’s still the same situation that we live in day-to-day. Bureaucrats are bureaucrats no matter where you go, everyone needs money no matter who you are, and you need to figure out a way to live no matter where you are. The setting may have changed but everyone face the same challenges whether they be suburban Londonites or strange green aliens. The humor element in the story brings this out brilliantly and makes these strange folk almost relatable in their foibles and faults.
If you ever find yourself looking for a lighthearted read and can get past the premise of life in outer space you will find a thoroughly enjoyable novel.
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