April 2021 Book Discussion - The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy

[Baxder]

The April 2021 RPGX Book Club Selection is...

Dice Roll:

d2

2

Accepted Nominations

#	Title*	Author	Nominator
1	On Writing	Stephen King	Bothers
2	The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy	Douglas Adams	Baxder

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The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy by Douglas Adams, nominated by Baxder!

You can support RPGX by picking up a copy of The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy from the linked image above, or here for the Kindle version, or get it from your favorite vendor at Goodreads.

Thanks to Bothers for the competition, and don't forget your towel!

Nomination and Discussion Questions 208 pages Satirical Science Fiction Synopsis: The Hitchhiker's guide chronicles one of the last surviving human's adventures after the Earth is destroyed to make way for a galactic highway. It's a ridiculous and hilarious romp through a cosmos of translating fish, "improbability drive" hyperspace travel, a clinically depressed robot, and nihilistic galactic leadership. Why this book: I just turned 42. And if anyone, anywhere, hasn't read this then they are simply missing out on one of the greatest works ever written. Discussion questions: 1 - Hitchhiker's Guide makes fun of a lot of things, but are there any things that this book takes seriously? Are any of the characters treated seriously? Are any institutions (like businesses, governments, or churches) treated seriously? Or is everything made fun of here? 2 - Who do you think is the most important character in this book? Is there a hero/heroine here? Is there a character that you care about more than the others? Are there any villains? Another way to ask this question is: "Is there a conflict in this book and if so, between whom?" 3 - Adams flippantly depicts the destruction of the planet Earth as a casual, everyday sort of occurrence. Why do you think he does this? What impact does it have on the emotional development of the narrative, specifically on Arthur Dent? 4 - What might Adams' message be about science in this novel? 5 - There is a tremendous amount of seemingly random/arbitrary destruction and upheaval in The Hitchhiker's Guide, yet Adams' perspective seems optimistic. Is the latter in spite of the former? Or does Adams find a way to harmonize the two? Are there any points where the two seem irreconcilable? I did read The Guide once, probably 20 or so years ago. I remember enough to be able to explain all the popular references but that's about all.

[Baxder]

Please post all comments regarding the text of the book in spoilers, labeled with the chapter you have read up to.

[bothers]

I love this book. I don't re-read books often, but this will be my third time with THHGTTG. I'm looking forward to getting started.

Happy belated birthday, Baxder!

[Baxder]

Why thank you! I don't quite feel like the answer to life, the universe, and everything, but I have the year to ...doubtfullyget there

[bothers]

 

It's interesting coming to this one after I've made some effort to learn more about the craft of writing. Adams has quite an affected style that I'd not really noticed before. Self-consciously comedic, but occasionally he takes this surprising evocative turn ("He banked sharply, shooting a wild wall of water at the sun", "Ford and Arthur popped out into space like corks from a toy gun").

I'd forgotten the extent to which Adams hates bureaucrats, they really get a kicking from him more than anyone else at the first 10 chapters.

The facetious handling of the complete destruction of earth is interesting. I'd kind of forgotten that the earth even got destroyed in the first place between now and my last reading of the book, and this is the third time I've read it! But it doesn't seem to stick in my memory, even though it's obviously a major plot point.

I think ultimately Adams objects to self-importance - whether that's the self-importance of the bureaucrat or the self-importance of humans who think their planet and their place in the world is significant in any way. I suppose it's a slightly bleak way of looking at the world, but then the ragbag collection of characters that he does allow to survive aren't special either. Hang on a minute, have I just tricked myself into reading another book about existentialism?!

There's a simulator of the 1984 Infocom H2G2 game on the BBC website. I'm too young to have played it at the time. I find it rage-inducing, lol.