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Every Reason Why You Shouldn't Read the 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' Series

And Then Some...

By Elijah JamesPublished 6 years ago 4 min read
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The famous words inscribed on the cover of the aforementioned book. 

Who hasn't heard of the book Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams? Or at least the movie of the same name?

For those who raised their hands, the first book and the movie follow Arthur Dent (portrayed by Martin Freeman in the 2005 movie) and his lackluster group of...friends may not be the right word...companions? There's Ford Prefect, Zaphod Beeblebrox (the President of the Galaxy), Tricia McMillan, AKA Trillian, and a downright depressing robot named Marvin. Now, the plot of the film and book differ slightly and I don't want to make this too confusing for either of us, but both involve the end of life as we know it, the question of the universe, the answer to that question, and mice being the second smartest organisms on Earth (only because aliens don't understand that cars aren't organisms).

Now that we have the gist of it, here's why you shouldn't read the books:

Douglas Adams knows how to confuse his audience.

In fact, he's the only author I know who cannot just misdirect or evade topics to keep a mystery alive and well, nor does he confuse the audience to the point that attention is lost, but Mr. Adams is a brilliant writer who can confuse you while you're still perfectly imagining everything he says. He can discombobulate you ten pages in a row but then on the eleventh page make everything pleasingly—if not ecstatically—clear. To some, this isn't a turn off, so if that's you, then congrats. I have no reason that you shouldn't read these books. However, to anyone hesitant: try reading the books, and if you get stuck, just remember that all five books are exactly the same in this respect (Pro tip: if you like overworking your brain to figure out what he's saying, then that's all good, but the book is ten times funnier when you share the suspension of disbelief, that is to say, don't think too hard, just let it be confusing and let the author clear it up for you). I have to admit, some confusion is never cleared up, even if the author breaks the fourth wall to say he'll come back to that, he doesn't often do that, yet I have a feeling it's still intentional.

The humor is too much.

For science fiction books, there's not much science, but plenty of humor. I've branded this series as the funniest books I've ever read. I couldn't read them in public because I'd have stitches in my side at the slightest joke. I love to laugh, I love to be fooled, I love stupid jokes, and this book can appeal to humorists of all kinds. There are the occasional strange coincidences, characters recalling funny stories, dramatic irony; in fact, if you don't have a sense of humor then these books will appeal to you a lot because you'll be overjoyed at the feeling that you're above the nonsense spewed throughout the series.

The characters only barely get along.

Ultimately, ragtag was one of the best words I could have used to describe these main characters because there are times they are fed up with each other, probably hate one another, and even consider strangling someone in the group. It's almost as if people don't automatically become best friends just because they're forced into situations with each other. In fact, Arthur Dent has a rocky relationship with Ford Prefect, there are times when they're best friends, and times when you wonder why Ford ever helped Arthur. In a universe lacking humans, Adams really puts humanity into these books. All of the terrible, frustrated, and stressed human traits put more knowledge into the relationships between the characters than you'll find in the movie.

Moreover, individually, these characters have an overabundance of dimension.

They all have completely different personalities. They don't follow any sort of cliché I know of. You really have to continue reading to get to know them, and it's just a bunch of work to do that. I mean, who is Douglas Adams to actually put effort into his characters?

Overall, the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series has five books that you absolutely shouldn't read if you can't accept great writing, humor, and character development.

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About the Creator

Elijah James

Hi, I enjoy learning about sustainability and environmental issues. I also really love watching TV and movies, old or new. I think capitalism sucks and I write a lot of LGBT+ articles.

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