Book Review - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

[Kalgri Sicaria]

*This review was written as part of the Astonishing Adaptations event*

Title of the book: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Authors: Douglas Adams
Series: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Genres: Science Fiction, Humour
Short summary of the story:
Arthur Dent ends up travelling through space with his friend Ford Prefect after the Earth is destroyed to make room for an intergalactic highway.
Good points / bad points:
The first book in a trilogy of five, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is British absurdist humour at its best. Nothing in this book makes sense to the reader (or Arthur Dent) at first, but it is all familiar in some way. Adams does a great job of creating crazy characters and seemingly strange situations that always end up feeling relatable and comical to the reader. Many of the characters and quotes from this book have ended up becoming part of everyday language (certainly in the UK), showing how well-loved it is as a series. Although it is definitely 'soft' sci-fi, almost the entire book is set off Earth (as it's been destroyed), so I would not recommend it to anyone who is not a fan of science fiction. The original three books are definitely the most solid in the series, and book 4 is not suitable for younger readers.

Adaptation:
There have been several adaptations of this book series, including a famous BBC radio drama version. However, the adaptation I have chosen to look at for this review is the 2005 film of the same name. I think that the casting choices for this film were perfect, and even now a lot of the special effects and CGI still hold up. The film captures the light-hearted nature of the story - even though some parts should be a bit scary, as a viewer you never feel like the characters are in so much trouble that they won't find a way out. Some of the jokes may be a little raunchy, but the film received a PG rating in the UK, so is considered a family film (like the first three Harry Potter films). I really enjoyed this film as a child, and I still like to come back to it every so often when I need a good laugh.