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Hitchhiker's Guide Discussion

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  • last reply by delt0r March 20, 2019
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    Founding Director
    March 7, 2019, 2:21 p.m.
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    Since we're doing the whole series of 5 (arguably 6) books this month, I figured a general appreciation thread was best. I'd be curious if folks started with the books, the radio shows, or one of the film adaptations. For me, it was actually the books which were both my first non-TV/film sci-fi experience (always read non-fic before that) and my first audiobook, old cassette version read by the author. Adam's was a great narrator, also what I liked about Roger Zelazny, my third fiction book series, the authors often read their own works then and you always knew the pronunciations and emphasis were right, and they enjoyed the material.

    Favorite Character: Ford Prefect

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    Moderator
    March 8, 2019, 12:01 p.m.
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    Favorite Character: Marvin the Criminally Depressed Robot/Paranoid Android. 'Cuz I feel like him when faced with humanity.

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    Founding Director
    March 10, 2019, 8:32 a.m.
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    I thought he was one of the more interesting if sad characters though I never thought of him as a main one, that always seemed to just be Arthur, Ford, and Zaphod

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    Moderator
    March 12, 2019, 8:18 a.m.
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    He is absolutely a support character, and probably the best one in this context. I always thought he served to drive home the ultimate futility of existence in this universe to the main characters - whether or not that viewpoint is justified ;).

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    Members
    March 20, 2019, 6:51 a.m.
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    THHGTTG is one of my favourite series. But I don't see it as science fiction. I think it's a philosophy book set in a comic, cosmic adventure.
    The topic is right there in the first paragraph:
    "Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western spiral arm of the galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. Orbiting this, at a distance of roughly ninety million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet, whose ape descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea. This planet has, or had, a problem, which was this. Most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small, green pieces of paper, which is odd, because on the whole, it wasn't the small, green pieces of paper which were unhappy. And so the problem remained, and lots of the people were mean, and most of them were miserable, even the ones with digital watches."
    It's about the human condition and how to improve it. And Adams makes it clear that he doesn't think it will be a technical (material) solution.

    And even so it isn't science fiction, it is philosophy fiction and deals with questions usually treated poorly in futurism.

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    Members
    March 20, 2019, 9:02 p.m.
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    The first few books are great and i loved em. But things get a bit too strange and random by about book 3. Marvin has a special leg which kinda makes him fairly important later on as is the heart of gold.

    My first experience was with the BBC TV show. love it. I do like the latest movie version. Zaphod is my favourite character by far.

    Best quote of the series concerning all versions. "Are you wearing my underwear? Because I'm wearing yours and it an't doing the trick" Zaphod.

    Oh and the best idea ever! Get all the telephone cleaners etc on that generation ship stat!