Thirty Years Later, “Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy” Is Still Funny—But Something’s Missing

“I mean what’s the use of our sitting up arguing that there may or may not be a God if this machine only goes and gives you his bleeding phone number the next morning?”

Somehow, I have made it through a significant portion of my life without ever reading Douglas Adams’s “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” which serves as a sort of cultural touchstone in many ways. It was well-envisioned, masterfully executed, ironic, clever, satirical, very funny … it was all these things -- and I still didn’t totally get the fascination with it.

First off, the opening two lines of the book earned it a place on a list of the top 10 Most Outrageous Opening Lines in Literature -- at 10th. As a reader, you’re immediately assaulted with a string of really funny lines (“Parts of the inside of her head screamed at other parts of the inside of her head.”), tremendous characters (Marvin the Paranoid Android was like C3PO on crystal meth), and many fascinating and nearly comprehensible turns of events that eventually lead to space beings addressing the eternal question of the meaning of life. So, what was the The Answer to the Great question of Life, the Universe and Everything?

“‘Forty-two,’ said Deep Thought, with infinite majesty and calm.”

I mean, you have to like an author who comes up with that and a book that lives it. Yet, I felt myself wanting more. Somewhere inside me, I felt like I needed to know Arthur Dent a little better (“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 wanted to know Trillian more, and the story of how she came to get mixed up with Zaphod Beeblebrox (“Trillian had come to suspect that the main reason why he had had such a wild and successful life was that he never really understood the significance of anything he did.”). I wished I had more to go on as it related to Ford (“Ford skidded down a beam of light and spun round trying to find a source for the voice but could see nothing he could seriously believe in.” )


Although I can appreciate the minimalist character development approach, I do think it can be problematic for those who enter into it with an intent to read the book as a standalone. Not everybody can commit to spending another portion of your life reading four more novels in the same vein.

It was certainly a wild, wacky ride, but I wasn’t quite ready to get off of it. The ending was sudden and jarring enough that you’re left wondering if you missed something, or if it jumps to another part of the book (I read a version that included a film tie-in with author and director commentary, which further confused me). Now, don’t get me wrong -- I enjoyed the book and I can see some of the appeal. But I I guess I didn’t quite “get it” as part of a larger cultural phenomenon that inspired a long series of books, a movie and countless references. Hell, it's considered a freaking "franchise."

It certainly could be just me. *shrug* Oh well. Radiohead’s Marvin-inspired“Paranoid Android” was a good song.