Reading the 20th Century discussion

Welcome to our December 2024 group read of....



The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

by

Douglas Adams



All are welcome

Come and get involved

Greatly enjoyed my re-read (or rather, listen) to this. Surprised how much I could recall - those early books have really stayed with me in a way that later reads have not.

Susan wrote: "- those early books have really stayed with me in a way that later reads have not."

I've sometimes felt this and wonder why more recent books don't stick as much as ones we read when younger.

Is it us? Is it that as we get older we have so many other things competing for our attention? Is it fast internet culture that is destroying our concentration?

I recall having whole days of doing nothing but reading - which would be a luxury now and something that only really happens if I'm in bed with a cold/flu.

I also recall whole days of reading as a child. More time for sure, as my time is so limited now, plus I used to do a lot of re-reading. So, in the summer holidays I might re-read all the Famous Five books for example and I just knew those characters and plots so intimately.

Very true about re-reading - which, in my case, was also linked to just not having such easy access to cheap books as we do now with Kindle. I also read and re-read favourite books constantly.

I’ve never managed to get through Hitchhiker’s Guide. When I was in grad school The public radio station in Chicago used to play the first part of a recording of it on their late Saturday night folk music and variety show, and it was fun, but I consistently found that the printed text disappointed me. I’ve reserved the audiobook in Libby, and will give it another go. Perhaps reading along with others will help. Libby says it should be available for me in about 2 weeks.

I loved these books when I was young. I remember going and queuing up at Heffers Bookshop in Cambridge to get a signed copy of the second book, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe - he was talking to someone (possibly multi-tasking while doing an interview while signing!) about how he had written some episodes of Doctor Who.

Andy Miller, from Backlisted and author of The Year of Reading Dangerously, has some great stories about meeting Douglas Adams in his book. He mentioned taking a towel, thinking he was very original, and finding a queue of mostly young men clutching one!

Haha, that's great, Susan.

At uni (1980) I had an interview with the manager of the Salisbury branch of M&S. I had to resist the urge to ask him about towel sales. In today's social media society I would.

I have never read anything by Adams beyond Hitchhikers. Perhaps I need to try some of his other work. Could be time.

I always thought I liked this but now recall I never finished the original book, or indeed any of the follow ups. I had a friend who occasionally used to try to convert me.

This time round I've got a few chapters into the Stephen Fry narrated audiobook but it's not working for me. It's pleasant enough but I don't connect with the much lauded humour - not even a smile.

It's a DNF for this RTTC'er. Strange as the acclaim is almost universal. I never liked Red Dwarf either which is connected in my mind. Or indeed Terry Pratchett.

Ah well. We can't like everything

I enjoyed the first two books of the series and was planning to read the third to join with the group read, but not until later next month, when my library books are returned and I've finished my two Joyce Carol Oates novels. But I have my copies of the series and will join in the discussion.

Nigeyb wrote: "It's a DNF for this RTTC'er. Strange as the acclaim is almost universal. I never liked Red Dwarf either which is connected in my mind. Or indeed Terry Pratchett"

Interesting, as this has never appealed to me and I don't think it's my kind of humour from the 'look inside'. Sid always said my greatest failing was an inability to appreciate Terry Pratchett! So you're not alone, Nigeyb. We can sit on the sidelines and look forward to being back in PGW world soon 😄

PGW world 🙌🏻


There's nowhere quite like it

I loved the radio show, book and the first tv series. All this time later I confess I am skipping over the ‘science of space travel’ and descriptions of alien life. Only 40% in.

One thing that has stuck with me all this time is Marvin the depressed robot. I have a Siri machine and every day (living in the north of Scotland) I ask it ‘what is the temperature outside?’. I always imagine it replying ‘Here I am, brain the size of a planet and you ask the same question every day. Call that job satisfaction?’

Love Marvin, SueLucie. Reminds me somewhat of Orac in Blake's 7, if anyone remembers that?

I do! Enjoyed Blake’s 7 very much.

Only Orac was more sarcastic than depressed :)

I think I know this story too well, despite not having read it for 40 years. I still appreciate his clever ideas but nothing comes as a surprise and perhaps that was one of its attractions for me at the time. I tended to skim read this time around.

I also thought that, SueLucie. It was so familiar, which goes back to my comment about why and how we remember children's books so well.

I am very keen to read The Haunted Wood: A History of Childhood Reading

Can you remember the first time you fell in love with a book?

The stories we read as children matter. The best ones are indelible in our memories; reaching far beyond our childhoods, they are a window into our deepest hopes, joys and anxieties. They reveal our past – collective and individual, remembered and imagined – and invite us to dream up different futures.

In a pioneering history of the children’s literary canon, The Haunted Wood reveals the magic of childhood reading, from the ancient tales of Aesop, through the Victorian and Edwardian golden age to new classics. Excavating the complex lives of our most beloved writers, Sam Leith offers a humane portrait of a genre and celebrates the power of books to inspire and console entire generations.

I know Hitch-Hiker's is not necessarily a children's book, but I read it around that time, when I was a young tween and it has stuck with me.

The Haunted Wood looks good - sounds like it would be a good companion to the more anecdotal book about childhood books by Lucy Mangan that some of us read a few years ago.

It has had mixed reviews, but I have downloaded it and hope to read it at some time!

Did you go to the Waterstones evening yesterday, RC? It was crowded but not as dangerously so as Hatchards.

No, I ended up stuck at work drinks that went on longer than I'd expected - was it fun?

It was fun - my daughter wanted to see a couple of people. We got her books signed, picked up the new Marisha Pessl (exciting!) and then did some Christmas shopping in Fortnum's.

I was also meant to go to a company Christmas thing, but bailed out. I absolutely hate these things to be honest. Pub or bookshop? No contest!

Haha, pubs are impossible at this time of year especially in central London. I was sedately sipping sherry in beautiful surrounds so it was at least civilized. But would have preferred to be in a bookshop too. Another two weeks of socializing to go...

It is SO busy at this time of the year. I am going to the ballet this evening to see Cinderella, so that will be Christmassy. Hope we are all enjoying the festive season.

I'm fundamentally a Grinch so Christmas is a bit of a trial!

And now I've drawn someone I can't bear in work Secret Santa - typical. Ideas for subtly horrible presents gratefully received! 😈

I'm thinking of buying everyone else fancy honey or similar from Fortnums to get it all done in one sweep.

Have a lovely time tonight, Susan.

That is SO typical. Fortnum's do sell Christmas Coal...

https://www.fortnumandmason.com/chris...

Haha, that's hilarious! A bit over Secret Santa budget though.

Well, Fortnum's. Still, it does make a point!

I am sorry that this group seems to have dumped the HHGTG (Better known as H2G2) this fast. I loved the first books/Radio shows/TV series and sort of the movie.

I fully agree that there are at lest two too many to the 5 book trilogy and maybe book 3 was one to many, that said,

There is also the The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time. The edition I had included some of his last efforts to bring together the Hitchhiker books and his Dirk Gently books together, plus a sampling from his travel articles and basically scraps from his desk.
I liked the man that emerges from this bits and bobs collection.

His brand of humor is very closely tied to the same kinds of off center thinking made famous by the Monty Python team, for whom he may have been a writer, I am not sure.

Still , I can remember a major TV review at the height of Monty Pythons time, claiming that the British have no sense of humor. Clearly MP and DA are more a matter of taste than some other humorists,