Teaser

When Earth is destroyed to make way for a new interstellar highway, Arthur Dent finds himself the sole survivor. Luckily he has a trusty guide to keep him safe, alongside a worn copy of the galaxy’s most trusted book . . .

Review

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is a very famous book. It is often ranked among the very best of British science fiction, and also as one of the best examples of comedic science fiction. Given how depressing the rest of my British reading has been for this past month, that is an intriguing combination. It must be said, however, that I’ve never been a great fan of comedy in the written form. Certainly there are some juvenile reads that used to raise a giggle or too, but adult comedy simply isn’t my thing. I am possibly the only reader of genre fiction who doesn’t see any appeal in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, if you need an example of how deeply my curmudgeonly streak runs. Televised comedy is another matter entirely, but for whatever reason, prose comedy tends to fall flat when I’m around. It is in that spirit that I make the following heretical suggestion: If you want to have a laugh with The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, don’t read the book. Watch the film, listen to the radio play, or, if you really must have it in some book form, have Stephen Fry read it to you. Because this book wouldn’t have been anywhere near as enjoyable were it not for his wonderful performance.

Fry is a national treasure, and very minute of his narration is a joy. His clipped extracts of the in-universe Guide put me in mind of his role in Little Big Planet, simultaneously informative and enjoyable – exactly as the Guide aims to be. He’s also great at playing the indignant Arthur Dent, the confused whale, and the villainous mice. The only voicing of his I didn’t enjoy was Zaphod Beeblebrox, who voice is as insufferable as the man himself, so I suppose even that works to an extent.

This vocal talent is wonderful, especially as it’s often the only thing holding the book together. Douglas Adams is great at jokes, but significantly less good at plots. The story skips from location to location with nothing but coincidence to propel the characters onwards. And that’s without taking into consideration all the tangents. Now, the role of coincidence is folded into the plot thanks to a rather special spaceship, but making something deliberate doesn’t render it any more palatable. The tangents, while frequently amusing, add nothing of substance. That’s overall my impression of the book. There’s plenty of delicious meat, but there’s no bones keeping it upright.

Make no mistake, I enjoyed listening to Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I’m pretty sure I would not have enjoyed actually reading the book. The performance enriches the prose beyond belief. Thinking of Adams’ novel as a written work, I can’t say I understand it’s longevity. I suppose the humour is inoffensive enough to survive the passage of time, but the sheer cultural momentum this book has achieved is beyond my comprehension. It’s undeniably very fun, but that’s about the best I can say for it.

With that in mind, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy remains something of an oddity in my reading history. A book I thoroughly enjoyed, but without any inclination to pick up the sequels.

Audio Stats

• Narrated by Stephen Fry
• The Hitchhiker’s Trilogy (#1)
• First Published in 1979
• Runtime 5hrs 51mins