Comments on: Douglas Adams’ “Mostly Harmless”

By: Dave O'Gorman

Dave O'Gorman — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 04:22:09 +0000

Thank you for your comments about this book. I listened to it on a recent drive between my home in Florida and my cabin in North Carolina and *literally* cried at the end — not because Adams had done a maestro job of plucking that particular string in me, but rather for just the opposite reason. It was as though he couldn’t figure out any other way to free himself from these characters, and, as you’ve put it so eloquently, in the very, very, very end, he seems to have had them learn nothing, he seems to have learned nothing from them, and the universe seems not to have been transformed one iota by their fleeting presence, in it. The cardinal rule of good fiction is that someone has to be ready to be transformed, and someone has to be transformed, both of which seemed to happen consistently in books I-IV. …Which made the fact that this isn’t just *a* book in the series, but the *last* book in the series, all the more painful to consider. I only hope that Adams didn’t hate himself as much as he seems to have hated what he hath wrought, in the last few years before he died. As an aspiring writer, that would make me very, very sad.

By: Katrina

Katrina — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 22:39:31 +0000

Hello again. Okay, so I started reading So Long and Thanks for the Fish. I think it would be a better story if I had read the other 3 books first. I am lost and confused most of the time, but am finding it interesting. I have gone back and pulled up summaries of the other 3 books, so I am hoping that will help me understand a little more. The next part of our assignment is to come with an idea for “the next book in the series.” I know it has been a while since you read the books, but no one else has responded to my blogs. Do you have any incite as to some things you liked most about the series?

By: David Louis Edelman

David Louis Edelman — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 03:38:49 +0000

Of the three remaining Hitchhiker's books, I'd say So Long and Thanks for All the Fish is the best.

By: Katrina

Katrina — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 02:16:09 +0000

Someone else is reading Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and another person is reading Restaurant Guide to the Galaxy. Which of the other 3 that you remember, would you recommend? I am looking for one that is fun and easy to read. We have 5 other novels to read as well as this project. Thanks for the help you are providing. Blogging is part of our project.

By: David Louis Edelman

David Louis Edelman — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 01:35:44 +0000

I should point out that it’s been, oh, 15 years or so since I’ve read Mostly Harmless. So I don’t think I’m going to be much help. If I remember correctly, it was not a particularly good book. I’d recommend you pick any one of the other four instead.

By: Katrina

Katrina — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 21:35:26 +0000

I am in a group from my Science Fiction literature class and we have chosen to read the Hitchhiker’s series as our class project. There are 3 of us and we each have to read one book in the series. We are to compare the books and try to come up with a concept for the ‘next’ book in the series. One person is reading the first and another is reading the second. I assumed that I should read the last book in order to come up with the idea of what should come next. Since you have read the series, do you think this is the correct way to go about this? I have started the 5th book and it started off pretty strange and dull. Does it get better?