Douglas Adams reportedly hit on
the idea of the Hitchhiker’s Guide (hereafter referred to as H2G2) whilst lying
in a field in Austria on a camping trip. His only source of information was a
battered copy of “A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Europe” and, whilst lying on his back
looking at the stars, the concept of a galaxy-wide version popped into his
head.
I first came across this seminal
work many years in its original incarnation, as a BBC Radio 4 programme. Since
then the concept has appeared many times across numerous different media; including a (mediocre)
feature-length movie, a series of five novels (well, six if you count the
additional book Eoin Colfer was asked to create a few years ago) and a BBC TV
programme.
True to Adams’ irreverent (and
slightly tangential) style, every incarnation differs in plot and
characterisation in some way. In my opinion, the series is actually best
enjoyed in its original form of radio – particularly the first two series from
which the first two novels were created (as an interesting aside, and in a
typically Adamsesque reversal of causality, series 3,4 and 5 were actually
created from the final three novels).
The Adams-authored part of the
series consists of five novels and I’ve decided to review them as one. I find
them to be inextricably linked together and feel they belong as a whole, rather
than trying to break them apart and treat them separately.
And it is a masterpiece; of
storytelling, of characterisation, of the beauty of randomness and of humour.
The main over-arching plot is
relatively simple, and in all fairness it doesn’t really go anywhere by the end
of five books. Usually five books in with nothing really resolved would be a
cause for great, if not alarm then at least disappointment. But Adams is
quintessentially British, and don’t forget we Brits routinely play a game that
lasts for five days and ends in a draw!
I guess the main narrative, if
there is one at all, is Arthur’s story. He starts by seeing his planet
destroyed and discovering the galaxy is teeming with life, then slowly works
his way through a bunch of (mostly mis-)adventures before finally coming to
terms with his place in the universe. The sense of never quite feeling he has
got a handle on things is one I think we can all relate to, and one which Adams
drives through the heart of things. Basically he is saying, “don’t try too hard
to work everything out because when you do it’ll simply just change again”!
For me though, it is the
side-streams, the diversions and the lack of a compelling approach towards an
obvious end-game that works the best. Custom-built
luxury planets, a restaurant at the end (chronologically speaking) of the
universe, God’s final message to his creation and a spaceship powered by the
mathematics of bistros are all par for the course here. It is definitely more
about the journey than the destination. And I’ve found that every time I read
it, the journey changes ever so slightly.
It all combines wonderfully and
we are left with (to use Adams’s own phrase), “a profound and vivid insight into….whatever
it was about”. It’s a fascinating look into the mind of Adams, a notoriously
disorganised and “off-the-cuff” personality.
His characterisations are
fantastic; right from the hapless dressing gown wearing Englishman who likes
his tea and home comforts, to the academically brilliant astrophysicist with a
weakness for biceps and the manically depressed super-intelligent robot. Throw
in a reckless two-headed adventurer who happens to be President of the Galaxy,
a seasoned H2G2 field researcher who accidentally got stuck on the earth for
longer than planned and a planet designer with a penchant for fjords and you
have a brilliant mix of personalities ideals and morals.
H2G2 is brilliant from start to
finish. Even now, nearly forty years later it still retains its relevance and
its importance in the pantheon British fantasy. It’s not epic in the way a Lord
of the Rings or Wheel of Time is, and the main cast is limited to less than two
handfuls of individuals. But this, for a lot of people, is where it started
when it comes to fantasy and “off-world” adventures.
If you haven’t read it, go do so.
If you have read it, revisit it.
Verdict: 5 stars out of 5
Till next time,
DT
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