I finished the Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy a week ago (this was a book I was just read for fun), and I really liked it. I’m currently reading the second book in the series, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe. This book is about Arthur Dent, who lives, sorry, lived on Earth.
Arthur is dealing with some bulldozers in front of his house, trying to stop them from destroying his home to build a new highway. As Arthur argues with the bulldozer drivers, his friend Ford Prefect tells him, completely out of the blue, that the world is about to end. They head to a bar to talk, and Ford tells everyone in the bar that the world is ending. Everyone laughs at him, and carry on drinking. Suddenly, giant ships fill the skies, and a voice plays out everywhere in the world, stating that they are Vogons, and that they are here to destroy the Earth to build a new Inter-Galactic Highway.
Right before the Earth is destroyed, Ford beams him and Arthur up to the Vogon’s ship. This may seem like bad narrating, but it does really happen fast…. Ford and Arthur, who is very surprised and scared, get captured by the Vogons. The Vogons shoot the two out into the infinite void of space….. Only to be rescued by a ship, containing an Improbability Drive; they were rescued only because the improbability was so big…. They meet Zaphod Beeblebrox, the President of the Galaxy, and Trillian, his friend, who are piloting the ship, named the Heart of Gold.
Zaphod turns out to be Ford’s cousin, and they are good friends. They travel the galaxy, on an quest to find a mysterious planet. They find it, the mythical planet of Magrathea. There, underground, they meet a computer named Deep Thought. Deep Thought tells them of his creation, his makers, and the question they asked, “What is the meaning of life?”. Deep Thought says it will take some time, and when his creators asked, he answered “Five Million Years”. 5 million years later, when it was time, the entire planet gathered to hear the answer. Deep Thought says “The meaning of life is… 42.”. Everyone was very confused, and then asked Deep Thought “What is the question you’re answering?”. Deep Thought, in reply, says he will make a computer smarter than him, a computer so great, it can answer the question. He called it “Earth”. He said in another few million years, the program will be complete. 5 minutes before the program was completed, Earth was destroyed. Some mice that Trillian had, were revealed to be working on the humans on Earth, and they reveal that the program is in Arthur’s brain, him being from earth and all. They offer to buy Arthur’s brain from him, but Arthur declines. The mice say he dosen’t have a choice, and right before they cut his brain open, Zaphod comes in and saves the day. He rescues Arthur and they leave, aboard the Heart of Gold. They decide to stop off for lunch at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe…..
So yeah, pretty good book, a lot happened that I couldn’t say, the book was a very fast-paced book. I’m enjoying the second book, all the books have that humor that I love, and I think that’s why I like it.