Published by Harmony on 12 Oct 1979
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Seconds before the Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of the The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last fifteen years, has been posing as an out of work actor.
Together this dynamic pair begin their journey through space aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker's Guide -- "A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have" -- and a galaxy-full of fellow travellers: Zaphod Beeblebrox, the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out to lunch president of the galaxy; Trillian, Zaphod's girlfriend (formally Tricia McMillan), whom Arthur tried to pick up at a cocktail party once upon a time zone; Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant and chronically depressed robot; Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student who is obsessed with the disappearance of all the ball-point pens he has bought over the years.
I've read a few reviews for this book and it seems that people either loved it or didn't get it. Unfortunately, I fell with the group that didn't get it. I picked this book up because I wanted to know the meaning of life and why it was 42, but I left the book feeling more confused.
...the entire multidimensional infinity of the Universe is almost certainly being run by a bunch of maniacs.
I appreciated the humour and the fact that it's the source of many cultural references, but the story felt a bit too absurd and erratic for me to follow. It was oddly specific at points, a characteristic that I usually find charmingly quirky, but without knowing the greater point, I got lost in the details. My experience of exploring the galaxy through this book was simply coming across things without any main goal or adventure.
He felt that his whole life was some kind of dream and he sometimes wondered whose it was and whether they were enjoying it.
I think this book might be more fun to read aloud with elementary/middle school kids to appreciate the silliness and space adventure, or even with older audiences to appreciate the clever one-liners and philosophical aspects.
