By Allwin Tom, Batch of 2016
There seems to be no appropriate line left unwritten, no right word left unsaid about the novel ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’. This review is written not to praise or analyze it, but only to introduce you to this marvelous book. It’s a huge international bestseller and highly influential within its genre. Actually, it can be held as one of the earliest and yet the most successful comical science fiction book. The novel takes you on a breathtaking journey through the cosmic space with neverending twists.
This novel is an amazing read that will leave you yearning for more; to our great fortune, Adams indeed has left us more in the form of four subsequent books as the Hitchhiker’s guide. The writer, Douglas Adams draws his humor from death, recession, even philosophy, and of course science. His humor is almost impossible to describe – this novel must be read to be appreciated. Every character, whether human or alien can be related to. You pity the poor earthman, admire his alien friend ford, hate the vogons, empathize with the two-headed president of the galactic government and well, love all the other wonderful creatures. It seems like every single line holds a joke of some kind within it and the best part is, you ‘get’ it, all of it. But behold… it is much more; it even gives you the answer to the ultimate question of life… only if you know the question in the first place. Go figure! And read the book!
“It is an important and popular fact that things are not always what they seem. For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much – the wheel, New York, wars and so on – whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man for precisely the same reasons.” – Douglas Adams in ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy