I remember the first time I read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was for a ninth grade book report. I wish I still had a copy of that paper so I could just use that instead... Then at some point, probably in college, I reread the first book in the series with the intention of reading the whole series but only succeeded in reading the first book once again. Then finally, probably at least ten years ago, I got through all five books. So obviously this is a book I really love. The name of my video game "rock band" is even inspired by the book... though how we ended up spelling Slartibartfast so so incorrectly is a mystery.The story follows Arthur Dent, a pretty regular guy, and his friend and secret space alien Fort Prefect as they escape Earth moments before it is destroyed and wind up on a crazy adventure where they find out that Earth was created by aliens in order to figure out what the Ultimate Question of Life is... not the Answer of Life though, since they already know that it is 42.
The whole book is pretty ridiculous and funny the whole way through. It is very British and very absurd and also insightful. I like when I find a passage in a science fiction book that accurately predicts something that has happened...such as this-
"For years radios have been operated by means of pressing buttons and turning dials; then as technology became more sophisticated the controls were made touch-sensitive- you merely had to brush the panels with your fingers; now all you had to do was wave your hand in the general direction of the components and hope. It saved a lot of muscular expenditure, of course, but meant that you had to sit infuriatingly still if you wanted to keep listening to the same program"
I'd recommend the book to just about anyone. Don't let the big budget movie version sway you away from reading the book. The book stays in my top 50 and gets an A.
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