The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Not every book needs to be a literary classic, extremely deep, think-piece type work. More often than not, reading about a couple of guys stowing away on a state-of-the-art spaceship that is piloted by a former President of the Galaxy and depressed robot is more entertaining.

This book is highly regarded almost everywhere you look. It’s thousands of people’s favorite book/series of all time, and after reading the first one, I see why. While not my favorite book ever, the writing is entertaining to just read, in the same way that Dorian Gray is entertaining to read. The story itself is fun, but the sentences themselves being entertaining is something that not every author can pull off. They also help convey the feeling of confusion and the whimsical nature of the universe it takes place in. If you go to any page, I’m sure you’ll find some sentence that will make you laugh, which is pretty hard to pull off, especially in a book.

There’s not too much plot, since this is really setting the table for the rest of the series. We’re introduced to the characters, then all of the characters are brought together, and then the main story hook is introduced as a cliffhanger for the 2nd book. I don’t really have any complaints about that though, because I had such a good time reading it. Some people may say that the plot has too many coincidences which is 100% true but that goes along with the goofy kind of story this book is. The same can be said for the ridiculous names of races or planets. Just don’t take it too seriously and you’ll have a good time.

I also listened to the audiobook version narrated by Stephen Fry, which I highly recommend because this book, at least to me, is filled with British humor, and he does a great job of conveying it through his narration.

To sum up: it’s a goofy space book that is a blast to read, and very, very British. Thomas Recommends. Read it and have a good time, don’t be lame. Imagine it’s like Shaq at any All-Star Game - just having a great time.