Second Quarter Outside Reading Book Essay

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams. The Random House Publishing Group. (THGTTG) 1979, (TRTETU 1980). Genre: Comedy/Science Fiction.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is Douglas Adam’s, a British Comedy Writer, brilliant brainchild. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy takes place in Magrathea, a dead planet that once built planets for galactic billionaires. Arthur Dent and his Betelguesian friend Ford Prefect, hitches a ride off of Planet Earth as it is about to be destroyed by a Vogon constructor Fleet. They hitch a ride with Ford’s cousin, Zaphond Beeblebrox (the galactic president) on the ship “The Heart of Gold”. Zaphod takes Ford, Arthur and his girlfriend, Trillian, to the world of Magrathea to discover the Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything and also to get a large amount of money. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe is the sequel to Adam’s first book. The main character is again Arthur Dent, one of two of the last humans alive. As the crew are leaving the planet of Magrathea, they are attacked by another Vogon Ship. Zaphod’s ancestor then saves them from annihilation. They then show up at Milliways (the namesake of the book) and find a stunt ship that they cannot seem to get out of. Marvin then finds a teleporter and everyone passes through it.
“With droll wit, a keen eye for detail and heavy doses of insight…Adams makes us laugh until we cry” – San Diego Union/Tribune
This book series is uncomparable to any book published. The author, Douglas Adams, has a unique writing style unlike any other author. He fits sarcasm into his prose as if you were actually talking to someone. The book is a mixture of Saturday Night Live and Monty Python’s Flying Circus. The series never ceases to please with its ridiculous humor such as Marvin, the manically depressed robot, or the Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything.
“Another thing that got forgotten was the fact that against all probability a sperm whale had suddenly been called into existence several miles above the surface of an alien planet.” (90)…”Curiously enough, the only thing that went through the mind of the bowl of petunias as if fell was Oh no, not again. Many people have speculated that if we knew exactly why the bowl of petunias had thought that we would know a lot more about the nature of the universe than we do now” (91).
Douglas Adams is definitely one of my favorite authors of all time because he has a great way of writing in a comical way. This book affected me by opening my mind up to different genres of books, I had no idea that an author could express so much humor in writing like this.This book made me realize that writing doesn’t have to be boring and can be as comical as you can make it be.