What's so great about The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy?

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Today, I'm guiding you through Douglas Adams' wacky scifi hit, the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy! What's so cool about it? Is life really meaningless? Why 42?
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[@Jess_of_the_Shire]

Go to mondly.app/jessoftheshire to get 96% off of lifetime access to 41 languages and start learning today!

[@halfsourlizard9319]

ffs, couldn't they have added a 42nd language for the sake of this vid? Esperanto or some other useless thing that nobody would even fact check / learn anyhow!?

[@johnnyjet3.1412]

It is a re-write of the hunting of the snark, you want proof? 42

[@davidsaville5239]

I love your eyeliner and lipstick 💄!! I also really enjoy your videos too !!!

[@rikhuravidansker]

@1nvisibleAcropolis I have assumed the benefit of the doubt, and that it was a consensual relationship: it would be inappropriate (given the power dynamics), and adulterous, but not illegal.

[@rikhuravidansker]

Have you considered doing something about rats in popular culture, as a tribute to your deceased pets and reflecting the importance of plagues in Tolkien's works?

[@JustLikeTheSimulations]

“In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very upset & has widely been regarded as a bad move.” I still love that book.

[@Jess_of_the_Shire]

A classic line

[@sebastianevangelista4921]

@@Jess_of_the_Shire 100%

[@mrhed0nist]

“Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.” This quote comes to mind whenever I see a politician or anyone else in a position of power. More often than not its narcissism that got them there. Those that crave power should not be the ones given it.

[@InhabitantOfOddworld]

​@@mrhed0nist *Kamala crazy laugh intensifies*

[@markp8214]

@@mrhed0nist absolute power corrupts absolutely

[@JohnWebster-n3f]

First time I think I ever giggled out loud at something I’d read: The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't.

[@Jess_of_the_Shire]

It's such a perfectly concise line

[@jsbrads1]

There are so many books that had me LoL. Brandon’s Bike scene in Librarian is one of the easiest to recall.

[@ErrrorWayz]

Marvin's battle with the military droid made me belly laugh... what a depressingly stupid robot

[@EvilDMMk3]

A perfectly stupid asimile

[@stephensylvarwolf7940]

"For a brick, he flew pretty good." - SgtMaj Avery Johnson, Halo 2

[@DeliveryMcGee]

The fun thing is, "throw yourself at the ground and miss" is pretty much the base-level explanation of orbital mechanics.

[@alansmith8893]

Was coming here to say this. I'm convinced Adams did that deliberately. Speaking of things that are crazy and make no sense. Where else can you speed up twice and wind up going slower than when you started?

[@shanewallace2564]

Just have to make sure the ground has gotten out of the way by the time you get to it

[@JonathanRossRogers]

I'd say it's more like throwing yourself past the ground so fast that it gets out of the way.

[@DeliveryMcGee]

​@@JonathanRossRogers That's the in-depth explanation of HOW you miss.

[@JonathanRossRogers]

@@DeliveryMcGee Thanks Obi-Wan. Now, try it in Kerbal Space Program.

[@SMccrate01]

Adams used to drive his agent and publisher crazy, he once said something to the effect of "I love deadlines, I enjoy the whooshing sound when they go past" LOL

[@Jess_of_the_Shire]

That sounds about right haha

[@SlipdeGarcondeJour]

He wrote some of the scripts to the original radio episodes in a taxi to the recording studio, I believe.

[@sebastianevangelista4921]

@@Jess_of_the_Shire He called up Terry Jones of Monty Python on short notice to write the novelization of his Starship Titanic game because he wasn't getting anywhere with it.

[@jon-paulfilkins7820]

Oh he didn't say that, once, he said that at just about every convention he spoke at. And it was always a hit. Once he said that his publisher was so frustrated that he was locked into a hotel. Terry Pratchett was there and quipped "Yes, my publisher keeps locking me in hotels as well, but I keep breaking out and writing another book".

[@Quadr44t]

Hahaha, based! Can't rush art! He was such a smartass, but for him I think that's justified. I have seen one talk with the man. And from the books I had a feeling that guy was a smart man. The talk really confirmed that idea. Too bad he had to go relatively young (under 50 I think). Can't say a lot about the character since I didn't meet him (though I am pretty sure I'd like the guy), but for sure his creative output will be missed!

[@stephenbenner4353]

When the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy movie came out, I grabbed a towel and went to see it, but the showing was about an hour and a half after I bought the ticket. So I went to a coffee shop near the movie theater where I ran into a beautiful girl who was waiting for the same showing, and she had also brought her towel. So we decided to go see the movie together. It turns out she hated the film, and I loved it, and we never saw each other again.

[@jsbrads1]

Did she leave with an unusual chap? 😅

[@5ilver42]

she apparently had better taste than you

[@bob_the_bomb4508]

Did she realise while she was sitting in the coffee shop how it would be if everyone was just nice to each other for a change?

[@Beery1962]

To be fair, for those of us who loved the radio series, it's a terrible movie.

[@jmalmsten]

Now that is a story for the ages. :)

[@manyeyedcrow9391]

The babelfish breaking down communication barriers between people and, as a consequence, causing more and bloodier wars than anything in history is the best (and most prophetic) metaphor for the internet I have ever heard.

[@BanazirGalpsi1968]

But that's one of the crazy things about it, IT WAS NOT a metaphor for the internet, for the simple reason the internet did not exist yet! It was a prediction based on human nature which turned out to be true!

[@manyeyedcrow9391]

@@BanazirGalpsi1968yes, exactly. Extrapolating the unintended side effects of communication breakthroughs on human history, he surmised the negative impact that universal understanding would have, and also foreshadowed the negative aspects of the internet. This making humor out of the way that innovation gives with one hand and takes with another is one of the remarkably deep qualities of the series.

[@Jess_of_the_Shire]

Yes! There are so many fundamental truths that he breaks down in such a strikingly accurate way

[@sebastianevangelista4921]

@@Jess_of_the_Shire The internet has made us all depressed!

[@michaelsommers2356]

@@BanazirGalpsi1968 The internet certainly existed then. The first four nodes in the Arpanet went live in 1969. The name of the Arpanet was eventually changed to the Internet, but it's the same net.

[@richardthomas9597]

One evening, back in 1980, having listened to an episode of HGTTG on the radio, I went out for a walk. It was clear, cool, starry night, and as I walked along I stopped to look in the window of an antique shop. There, on the wall, were a couple of digits carved from tree branches - the number "42". I was gobsmacked. I went cold. Eventually, I managed to pull myself together and continued my walk. The next shop along was number 40, then 38........

[@Jess_of_the_Shire]

Haha that's awesome

[@TheMysteryDriver]

@@Jess_of_the_Shirethat's a known joke :)

[@biovmr]

And believe it or not I just clicked the thumbs up for your 42nd like on this comment.😅

[@richardthomas9597]

@@biovmr Many thanks from all the diodes down my left side!

[@lars-hendrikschilling3531]

The engraving in our wedding rings reads "DON'T PANIC!" in large and friendly letters.

[@JaniceinOR]

In lieu of changing the number of thumbs up from 42, I add this response to say how great I think that choice was.

[@IanM-id8or]

You need another set of rings that says, "Panic Now"

[@lars-hendrikschilling3531]

@@IanM-id8or one of us will get such a ring after the other has died. Life as a widower seems like a good reason to panic to me.

[@kenbrown2540]

Anytime I didn't know the answer on a math test I would write 41. Sooner or later the instructor would notice and ask, and I'd say "Well, I almost had the answer. And that's almost the answer." Only one of them ever got it.

[@jsbrads1]

A math prof once asked, “Is this the answer or is this the answer?” To which I replied “This.” She didn’t catch on, nor did anyone else. I used it a few times thereafter.

[@surfinbird1238]

42. the number from the book was 42, not 41.

[@Elora445]

@@surfinbird1238 ...that is the point of the original comment. They "almost had the answer", the keyword here being almost. Hence, the right answer is 42.

[@kenbrown2540]

@@surfinbird1238 Well, yeah. Hence 41 ALMOST being the answer.

[@gordonbrinkmann]

​@@surfinbird1238 As Ken said in his comment, "only one of them ever got it." That one certainly wasn't you.

[@TheDelinear]

I love this series so much. One of my favourite jokes is a very simple and silly inversion of expectations quite early in the book, when Ford is describing to Arthur the process of being teleported, "It's unpleasantly like being drunk." "What's so unpleasant about being drunk?" "You ask a glass of water." This kind of sets the tone for every time Arthur thinks he's starting to get a handle on things, the universe flips on him.

[@ktrimbach5771]

Great observation!

[@Moeller750]

It's really hard to describe the love I have for Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. On the one hand, it is everything my analytical over schooled mind would normally criticize: meandering plot, sloppy world building, characters with no growth. Yet, it is also everything I need to be moved: funny and recognizable. I'm not a person who rereads books, but I can't count how many times I have reread Hitchhiker's. Wherever Adams is, I hope he is enjoying a massive pan galactic gargle blaster, and cheering himself for making so many people happy

[@Beery1962]

Eccentrica Gallumbits has to be the least-developed character ever, apart from Paula Nancy Millstone Jennings of course.

[@sourisvoleur4854]

He was writing the radio show on the fly; he'd write one week's show after the previous one aired. At one point he had written himself into a hole: he had Arthur and Ford ejected into space without suits, and had no idea how to rescue them. He had a week to come up with it. Everything he thought of, he rejected because it was infinitely improbable. He just needed something to generate infinite improbability. And a genius idea was born.

[@daffyscribbler]

Jess of the Shire is one hoopy frood whom always knows where her towel is. Stay mostly harmless, cheers.

[@hughfisher9820]

A hoopy hobbit?

[@rikhuravidansker]

What is a hoopy frood?

[@hughfisher9820]

@@rikhuravidansker From the book. Praise for one of the lead characters "Hey, you sass that hoopy Ford Prefect? There's a frood who really knows where his towel is."

[@rikhuravidansker]

@@hughfisher9820 So "froopy" and "hood?"

[@cally77777]

@@rikhuravidansker sigh. as the book explains, a frood is 'a really amazingly together guy' and 'sass' means alternatively to know or have sex with, but its not necessary that you know this. its hippy shit talk. the book is all about not caring very much about anything. except fjords.

[@brianhanna3128]

I'm with you on the favourite joke - I am a clumsy fellow and when I was 20, I was cycling to work when a pick-up truck pulled out in front of me (I was in the US) and I came off the bike for the 2nd time that week (swerved to avoid a very wide-turning car and found myself upside down on the steep bank of a pond the first time around - I have funny accidents) & as I flew through the air I had one of those bizarrely peaceful moments as I thought "oh no, not again" & was genuinely distracted by remembering the bowl of petunias. Still hit the ground though, all good in the end but it adds a little extra flavour to the original joke now.

[@Jess_of_the_Shire]

I'm so sorry about the accident but wow! What a moment!

[@venomdrenched]

Aha, I see you have your towel with you.

[@Jess_of_the_Shire]

I always have it. Very useful in a tricky spot, that

[@PeteOtton]

@@Jess_of_the_Shire You hoopty frood!

[@thethegreenmachine]

I noticed that too :)

[@voiceofthevoid2284]

I always know where my towel is.

[@Simian-bz7zo]

Well you never know when you might run into a Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal

[@dryfus423]

On my first reading of the series, my favorite chapter by far was where you find out the reason for that "Oh no, not again"

[@Jess_of_the_Shire]

Yes! This moment made me actually scream

[@fordexyzable1597]

That reveal was next level of crazy

[@sebastianevangelista4921]

@@Jess_of_the_Shire Same here.

[@dryfus423]

And you covered it.

[@hewasfuzzywuzzy3583]

Poor and unfortunate Agrajag. LOL

[@MrAlsachti]

Thank God I can stop thinking for 1 hour 10 minutes 13 seconds about the existential questions that assail me about life and the universe, relax, and enjoy an insightful video narrated by a charming and witty hostess.

[@bob_the_bomb4508]

It really should have been edited down to 42 minutes… :)

[@mackdog3270]

The man was a great author, it's a shame he died so young. I particularly liked the Dirk Gently series. I even used his holistic direction finding method once when my gps died somewhere in Los Angeles. I found someone who looked like they knew where they were going and followed them. It worked! It wouldn't be such a big deal if I were driving a car, but I was in a semi truck, and let me tell you, being lost is no joke in that situation.

I've used that method too, although not with a semi 😅

[@thethegreenmachine]

No one on the radio was helpful?

[@NefariousKoel]

I always got paranoid when I noticed people following me. Obviously I had nothing to worry about. They were just lost.

[@mackdog3270]

@@thethegreenmachine Nope, no CB. Besides, I didn't even know what city I was in. I'm convinced if that truck driver I followed hadn't come along, I'd still be in LA, 10 years later 😁

[@thethegreenmachine]

@@mackdog3270 Nah, you'd have found a McDonald's or other place that gets truck deliveries and followed the next guy :P I thought all trucks had those radios.

[@alexcrouzen1130]

In a very direct sense, Douglas Adams - and THHGTTG in particular - Is responsible for my life as it is right now. As a teenager in The Netherlands, I was bored with Dutch literature and THHGTTG must have been the first English book I read of my own volition. It sparked my passion for British humor and eventually had me move to the UK to marry my (very British) wife. To celebrate this, for our wedding, my wife had a pocket watch engraved with "Time is an illusion, lunchtime doubly so." which I wore walking down the nave. (I've even become the pedant that knows it's not the aisle you walk down on your wedding...)

[@Dowlphin]

I could imagine a supermarket wedding.

[@acewickhamyoshi8330]

Yes, as Australian/with Scandinavian /ukrainian origin ,, i too grew up on the ~gateway show~monty python ., the goodies ,2 ronies ,,, & drwho.. so naturally,,realised that douglas addams was a 1980 bloger too. i used to fil up my university computer with so many entries , for past 42 years i finally gave up.. ah mostly cos my alien blog living amoubng humans is regarded as disinformation..,,

[@arahman137]

Marvin the depressed robot is a seriously under-appreciated character, especially the movie version. Alan Rickman was so good ...

[@chrissmith7091]

My favorite joke was the explanation of the band Disaster Area. Where they come from, how loud they are, how their lead singer is dead for tax purposes, and their accountant proving that space-time isn't merely curved but in fact totally bent! I use to have the whole bit memorized because i loved it so much.

[@MOSMASTERING]

I love the line in the BBC series.. The buttons on disaster areas's shop are labelled black on a black background that light up black to let you know they're pressed.

[@Catalyst1234]

I liked the AI trying to figure out what happened on the monitoring spaceship in the intro to Mostly Harmless myself. Either that or the ship that used bad news as propulsion.

[@grahamhaller8181]

More controversial than the trilogy of block busters, "Where God went wrong", "Some more of Gods greatest mistakes" and "Who is this God person anyway."

[@ninjalectualx]

Nowadays it would be listicles. "God's top 10 mistakes, #4 killed 30 trillion beings!"

[@skylinefever]

But the babelfish is a dead giveaway, isn't it?

[@seanryan3020]

Followed up by "Well, That about Wraps It Up for God"

[@GravesRWFiA]

Douglas Adams was the script manager for a series of Dr Who and you could see him influence. At one point the Doctor was pinned and waiting for rescue and takes out a book to read to pass the time- Oofon Kalofid 's (sp?) beginning of the universe- leading the doctor to declare 'he got it wrong on the first page, he should have asked someone who was there. David Tennant's doctor, first appearing in a bathrobe commented he had sort of an arthur dent image going "It's unpleasantly like being drunk." "What's unpleasant about that?" "you ask a glass of water." in just that exchange he shows exactly how his mind was too off beat.

[@Jess_of_the_Shire]

Yes! So many moments in the later books feel like an episode of Who. And I had forgotten about the 10th doctor bathrobe moment. That's excellent

[@stephengray1344]

@@Jess_of_the_Shire The third book was actually Adams reusing an unused Doctor Who script. As were both of his non-H2G2 novels featuring Dirk Gently (though one of those two novels was abandoned halfway through shooting due to a strike).

[@petersvillage7447]

@@Jess_of_the_Shire That third book was even developed from an unmade DW script Adams had written (as was the first Dirk Gently novel). Incidentally... have you ever considered covering Watership Down on your channel? I basically ask because I used to have the animated film of that, and the animated Lord of the RIngs, on the same video tape as a kid and it wasn't long before I noticed that Aragorn and Boromir were voiced by the same actors as Hazel and Bigwig... and kind of seemed to have the same relationship, too...

[@josephfisher426]

I recall reading in a Doctor Who history (of the first seven Doctors) that a lot of the staff and possibly fans were annoyed with Adams because everything was jokey and disconnected. But it definitely worked for the first two or three Hitchhiker books, and I think it worked even better for the Dirk Gently novel I've read (Teatime). Surrealism is helped by having *some* rules.

[@NemoThorx]

@@stephengray1344 pedantically, only the first Dirk Gently novel was based on Doctor Who (it combined elements of both Shada (the one left unfinished due to a strike) and City of Death). The second Dirk Gently novel was a wholly original story.

[@amberadams9310]

“Arthur Dent and Bilbo Baggins; the British Everyman” So the Everyman is Martin Freeman?

[@bob_the_bomb4508]

Also his character in the UK version of The Office…

[@roerd]

I guess Dr. Watson does also fit in that row.

[@seanryan3020]

It all adds up.

[@Foxbat320]

Douglas Adams said that each that each iteration (Radio play, Novels T.V. and films) are different .As an observer we see the universe changed ,because in every iteration because of the use total improbability changes the universe we observer . Or words to that effect.

[@1amazeme]

I’ve called the writing style “non-sensicle logic”. I loved every minute of it.

[@GreyPilgrim_Mithrandir]

When they all get to The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe by time travel and discover that Marvin had to wait millennia for them is just a diamond moment. Q. What are you doing in the car park Marvin? A. Parking cars, sigh. Marvin is another hero without a cape.

[@ZephyrOptional]

Paranoid android is truly his anthem

[@Lukesmithbrfc]

*SPIOLERS FOR 'LIFE, THE UNIVERSE AND EVERYTHING'* The fact that he gets left again and has been on a planet were mattresses have grown sentient so he's just been talking to mattresses for 12 million years 🤣🤣🤣

[@BrodieVickers-tk9sd]

Arthur: What's he doing in a car park? Zaphod: Parking cars what else dumb-dumb😄

[@sulljoh1]

"the first million years were the worst" "Oh, well, um..." "The second million, they were the worst, too"

[@Limerick98]

@@sulljoh1 "The third million I didn't enjoy at all. After that I went into a bit of a decline."

[@quesohusker]

That’s one frood who really knows where his towel is.

[@barbaraandrews7615]

A Hoopy Frood!

[@pwmiles56]

Hitchhikers lives on. May I tell a personal anecdote? About 10 years ago, I went on my first assignment as a social care worker. It was a respite visit, to take a man with learning difficulties away from his (by now rather elderly) parents for a few hours. I pretty much fluffed the assignment, through compete inexperience I got no more work for a few weeks, then mysteriously I was called back. I visited and got to know this family for several more years. The father (originally a farm worker from Norfolk) would say to me: "Don't panic"

[@pwmiles56]

To reply to myself, "Don't panic" was a catchphrase from the earlier TV series "Dad's Army". Said by Corporal Jones if I recall

[@Jess_of_the_Shire]

Haha that's great

[@davidbooth9142]

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is the best trilogy of 6 books I ever read. The dolphins, Oh! the dolphins. The Vogon poetry sessions, learning how to fly by throwing yourself at the ground and accidentally missing the ground and "WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE INCONVENIENCE" God's last message to the the universe guarded by the Lajestic Vantrashell of Lob.

[@Qenton]

So my friend who introduced me to this book found it by deciding to read the very first book in the Science Fiction section at the local library, Douglas Adams. This was in about 1980/1981 or so. Got to hear the radio series 2 years later. Note this was an Achievement in it's own right since it was California and no internet and well clunky tape recorders, but friends and I managed to get them on tape (via recording live from the radio) except for the 10th episode which I never heard it until was able to buy the tapes of the radio series, years later. I only mentioned this because the radio series is so good. It made a lasting impression and effected my whole life. So yea, important.

[@johnhigson8952]

'Affected'...

[@mikerichards9196]

I was first introduced to h2g2 in the summer or autumn of 1978 when I was bedridden for a couple of days with food poisoning. One of my flatmates had recorded the radio series earlier that year, and i listened to it in one go, in stereo, through headphones. It was groundbreaking in so many ways: the enormous soundscape that we'd never before encountered, the fourth wall-breaking, greek chorus that was "The Book" the amazing universe Douglas conjured up, I can honestly say it affected my whole life (don't talk to me about life)!

[@CrushedFemur]

When I read the entire series in middle school, it radically changed my outlook on life. Until I became an angst teen. But it was rereading the books that pulled me out of the depression that came from lacking meaning. Marvin's reaction to God's message always brings a smile to my face and a chuckle to my throat

[@TobiasFangorIsntCis]

Yeah, that was really sweet :)

[@MickTee2k]

The only thing better than discovering Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy in the modern era is discovering the radio plays when they were new and different.

[@RobertTempleton64]

I did contract work for "The Lord of the Rings Musical" involving software to import/export the dynamic set's motion controls. Never had a chance to see the show. Now I see why.

[@rbweston]

No glass of wine this week, so poured myself a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster to drink. :D

[@Jess_of_the_Shire]

Be careful! I hear that thing hits like a solid gold brick wrapped in a wedge of lemon

[@sebastianevangelista4921]

@@Jess_of_the_Shire You know your stuff, Jess!

[@Skraeling1000]

Back in the day, my friend and I were very into the first book, and one night down the pub he decided to mix one of those things. Start with a pint of Jennings beer split between two pint glasses. Add a shot each of vodka, martini, possibly some white wine, some other stuff I forget after all these years, then drink. Carefully. Tasted like shit but before we'd finished them we were rat-arsed. A memorable night that I can't remember most of !

[@DavidSmith-jj7ll]

Gotta say that a big chunk what Adams did was find jokes in just subverting English grammar and language overall. He just turns it into a plaything that he could only play with it by loving it so much. The whole “there is a problem… to summarize the summary of the summary…” passage is grammatically correct but so tortured that the torture is half the joke. I learned so much about writing and language from Adams.

[@emrek99205]

It was very much the British humor of the time. Monty Python did a lot of wordplay jokes as well.

[@DneilB007]

“Pelutho-a South American ball game in which the balls are whacked against a brick wall until the prisoner confesses” [the Meaning of Liff]

[@tapiolautavaara9532]

"We are getting dangerously close to Vogon poetry here, boss." (not quite) Raul Tejada

[@Incoming1983]

Every good story starts with a really good cup of tea. Sometimes it's wired into a finite improbability generator.

[@GepardenK]

Easy for you to say. But then they examine your taste buds, do a spectroscopic analysis of your metabolism, send experimental signals down the neural pathways to your brains taste centres, and after all that they still produce for you a beverage that is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea. Sorry, there I went again on another tangent about Hollywood storytelling.

[@empurress77]

"Time is an illusion." "Lunchtime doubly so". I also like the encounter between Marvin and the tank. Marvin when they defeat the tank by depressing it: "Stupid robot".

[@pattardn]

Along with Terry Pratchett and Robert Rankin, Douglas Adams is probably my favourite writer. Thank you for covering his output; I enjoyed it thoroughly. There is a relentless painful evil in life, yes, but within these pages you can find comfort. There is absurdity, but it is so deep, so the meaninglessness of all may possibly (or probably) drive us to use it as a diversion, and pondering upon it becomes the meaning of life itself. Progress is turning short commas into longer fullstops, in the puncuation of life's natural state of affairs. Smart guy, that Mr. Adams! My favourite scene is probably the rain god/driver trope. It's tragic but, in a way, kind. If he knew why he was loved by clouds he'd probably snuff it, not keep trying to escape them.

[@billberndtson]

I remember reading this for the 1st time and laughing so hard that the tears obscured my vision and I had to keep rereading it. Took me more than a day to get through the 1st 100 pages. 🤣🤣🤣 Funniest book I've ever read - funniest ANYTHING I've ever read.

[@Jess_of_the_Shire]

That's totally respectable. It got numerous actual laugh out loud moments from me.

[@galinor7]

I remember driving while listening to the radio plays and nearly crashed. I laughed so hard. I had to pull over in a lay by. I stopped listening to them in the car, in order to not die after that.

[@jaredwonnacott9732]

My older sister read me tHGttG when I was in middle school, then I read all four books in the trilogy as an older teen, and read everything just a few years ago as an adult. I don't think I could pick out a favorite joke, but I 100% fell in love with the franchise the first time I heard the Vogon ships described as hanging in the air "in much the same way a brick doesn't.". It was so incredibly perfect to capture a clear image of impossibility in such an absurd way that it made me laugh and get the exact image at the same time. That's top tier writing.

[@EilonwyWanderer]

This was absolutely delightful, and I'm grateful to have been suggested it by the Almighty Algorithm! (I typed that moments before you referenced it in the same way... huh!) Favorite bit from the series -- it's been too long since I reread the books, but I still remember the creeping dread I felt as Arthur read the name on a matchbook. (If you know, you know. Don't want to be any more explicit...) Really loved "Last Chance To See" and the Dirk Gently novels, too! Some folks hear about a sofa being moved and think of Seinfeld's "PIVOT!" ...but my mind goes instead to a certain staircase and I start humming a little bit of classical music. Especially grateful for your deliberate connection between Camus and Adams' approach to absurdity; it's an apt comparison and an important lesson that I suspect could benefit a lot of folks. ❤

[@yllejord]

I know that dreaming of flying is common and everybody does it, but when I fly in my dreams I always do it specifically using Adams' method. It works perfectly every time and it makes so much sense and it feels very real, like, I'm thinking "no no no no, this is no dream."

[@andyrint]

One of the most lasting memories of the book series I have is Arthur's love interest - Fenchurch from 'So long and thanks for all the fish'. If I remember correctly she was the product of the computation of the ultimate question (the answer to which is 42) and there was something very special about her that no one ever noticed - her feet didn't reach the ground! Really going to have to read those books again they are so good.

[@GepardenK]

The bit where Fenchurch shows Arthur that her feet never touches the ground is surprisingly intimate and strangely erotic. The fact that So Long and Thanks for all the Fish manages to be a genuinely effective and moving romance novel is downright confusing considering the absurd premise of this series.

[@andyrint]

@@GepardenK Oh yeah, now I remember. she gets him to examine her very closely to try and figure out her secret. It was quite horney!

[@BluePhx17]

The salmon of doubt has a story about a couple of dogs that is very funny and charming and that is still one of my favorites You are missed Adams, so long and thank you for all the fish

[@JimBob4233]

So, it doesn't work on the small scale, but 'throwing yourself at the ground and missing' is a pretty good summary of how an orbit works, one which goes right back to Newton

[@phangkuanhoong7967]

This series is one of my all-time favourite things. I have a very well-loved compendium of all the books. Thank u very much for this!

[@Peugeot-uq9vy]

The radio play is, in my opinion, the absolute top tier of Adam's work. No matter how often I listen to it is never not funny. I will go out on a limb and say the book and UK TV show are equal in awesome. And I would rather forget the "movie" exists...

[@MarceldeJong]

“Time is an illusion, lunchtime doubly so” I love that quote

[@billmcdonough3950]

Favorite Jokes (both from _Life, the Universe, and Everything_ I should note): Ford: "I spent some time in Africa being cruel to animals. I won't disturb you with the details because they would." Arthurt: "Would what?" Ford: "Disturb you. Suffice it to say I am singularly responsible for the evolved shape of the creature you come to know as the giraffe." and: Ford: "You'll drive yourself crazy trying to stay sane. Why not... go mad? Save your sanity for later."

[@ryangreen6255]

Ford was the bane of Arthur's existence.

[@msyoungau]

Ford:"Time is an illusion. Lunchtime, doubly so!"

[@emrek99205]

Ford: "It's unpleasantly like being drunk." Arthur: "What's so unpleasant about being drunk?" Ford: "Ask a glass of water."

[@iandickson7699]

As a teen this program rolled out onto BBC Radio 4 at 11pm one evening, and I heard the first episode the time it was broadcast. Brilliant. My Mum was on a BBC panel at the time and the BBC only gave it a second series because, "most people didn't like it much, BUT the minority that liked it, LOVED it". This gem was so close to being a one series wonder it's scary.

[@CraigFlowersMusic]

That scene in the movie where they zoom out to all the ships around the planet, and then it vaporizes and a lone banjo starts playing . . . Not many moments out there that move me more.

[@thethegreenmachine]

I just wish the ships were yellow, but I know they'd have been too hard to see in the zoom out.

[@eleventy7]

Someone would need to verify, cause I'm too lazy to hunt down the movie clip. But, hearing banjo, I think they used the song "Journey of the Sorceror" by the Eagles. This was previously used as the Hitchhiker's theme in other media.

[@thethegreenmachine]

@@eleventy7 Yeah the Hitcher's Guide song is the Eagles song. When I recognized it in the movie, I decided to watch the credits to be sure. I don't remember the guy's name, but he's an Eagle.

[@claytonberg721]

Jess has a wonderful voice to listen to. Audible should hire her.

[@useeee616]

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is one of the greatest movies ever made. There is simply no words. I’ve watched it thousands of times as a teen. I still watch it. It is such a brilliant classic and the Maestro of film diversion. No comedy or scifi categorically is near it. Maybe, maybe Starship Troopers is the only near contender or Galaxy Quest. Such a legendary film. So unbelievable. Life long entertainment.

[@Christobanistan]

"The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is one of the greatest movies ever made." Said no sane person, ever. It's absolute trash. WTFFFFFFuckkkk.

[@Jess_of_the_Shire]

It's such a fun film!

[@brianhanna3128]

Well, that just goes to show, different strokes for different folks - I liked the radio play, know the books so well I could speak in tandem with huge chunks of Jess' script & really enjoyed the TV show when I was a kid. I'm not a fan of the film at all, but I'm glad you get so much from it.

[@Christobanistan]

@@brianhanna3128 Same here, practically everything I've read or read HGTTG has been amazing, particularly the BBC TC show. But as I was leaving the movie theater, I, my friends and everyone else around us was saying stuff like "what the heck was THAT?" I think it was not something that Hollywood was equipped to make, especially in a 90 minute movie.

[@thethegreenmachine]

The movie's great, but I think Galaxy Quest is better. Starship Troopers is so good that it's better than the book, which is something that I rarely say about a movie (or a book).

[@sethoflagos2880]

I was lucky enough to catch the magic of the original Radio 4 series on a college friend's recommendation. The best-remembered jokes are the early one's: 'Beware of the Leopard' and 'Unpleasantly like being Drunk (ask a glass of water)'.

[@dlxmarks]

I listened to the radio series as a kid on my local public station long before I read the books so that version is my favorite. I was so happy when the Tertiary Phase, Quandary Phase, and Quintessential Phase came out in the 2003 and 2004 after Adams' death to adapt the remaining novels. They featured most of the surviving cast members including Jonathan Pryce whose professional standing was much higher than it was in 1980.

[@BanazirGalpsi1968]

Me too. We got to listen to an episode ofthe NPR Star wars before an episode of hitchhikers every sat morning in the 80s. So much fun!

[@dlxmarks]

@@BanazirGalpsi1968 That was back when NPR still believed in broadcasting radio drama. _HHGTTG, Star Wars,_ a credible version (well the BBC one, not the NPR one) of _The Lord of the Rings_ plus a lot of smaller adaptations and original works. Those days are long gone.

[@markp8214]

I remember as a child watching the tv series from the BCC when I grew up in Canada

[@dlxmarks]

@@markp8214 I watched the series in the early 90s I think. The budget and effects were sadly insufficient to do the story justice.

[@markp8214]

@@dlxmarks just like the original Doctor Who which I used to watch with my father

[@jweaverhome]

Thank you for such a loving re-investigation of one of my favorite authors of all time. Douglas was a genius for his spectacular failures and his human understanding and connection tied to his way of communicating. I teared up thinking about how much his collective works have influenced my life, my thoughts, my personality and even the smallest parts of my sense of humor. I would say this, to you an to anyone else who reads this: if you enjoy HHGTTG, you would be doing yourself a disservice not to read last chance to see. It was something he was more passionate about than any other works, and has as much humor with grounded real life issues of animal conservation. Douglas said in an interview that it was his most proud pieces, so please everyone read it. I know where my towel is, and I hope you all do as well.

[@danfocke]

I don't remember word for word, but "hanging the air exactly as bricks don't". To me it just sums it all up.

[@britishrocklovingyank3491]

My brother took me to see the movie the day I was released from a hospital's koo koo bananas ward. I didn't like them movie but in the state I was in being in the world of Douglas Adams was a wonderful warm blanket so while I think the movie is not good I had a wonderful time right when I needed it most.

[@IanStreet]

“The Vogon fleet hung in the sky like bricks don’t”. (Probably not exact line from the book). The opening parts of Hitchhiker’s is so great. One of the best of all time. Thank you for this video & the reminder of why I should dip into THGTTG again being in a period of feeling the pointlessness of it all just now. At least I’m not alone.

[@davidsaville5239]

I like how the crew chief for the demolition crew is related to Genghis Khan!!!

[@davidsaville5239]

The people destroying Arthur Dent's home!!!!

[@mattanthony2277]

The spaceship hung there much in the same way as a brick doesn't. It's my favourite piece of writing.

[@melangellatc1718]

Wow! I watched an hour+ long KZbin video. Read Hitchhikers Guide (all!) many years ago and as the new ones emerged! Thank you, Jess!

[@frenchpressfinance]

To me, the original BBC radio plays were the best version. I bought them on CD years ago, ripped them, and they've been on my ipods/phones ever since. I usually listen to them a couple of times a year when on road trips by myself

[@Jess_of_the_Shire]

They're such a great use of the format

[@GeoffAdams-pj3ec]

Yup. I listened to them live as they came out week by week on BBC radio 4. Loved the theme the very first time I heard it

[@chrisschurke4151]

I love this video. I first found the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy when my family was staying in a shelter for abuse victims, so my childhood was at a pretty tumultuous point, and the nonsense world of Douglas Adams really drew me in and got me into books.

[@ktrimbach5771]

I’m sure experiencing the ultimate absurdity of life helped in dealing with your own personal crises!

[@HoneyMike]

I love that trilogy of books, all 5 of them. Agrajag is one of my favorite characters

[@PeteOtton]

Disavowing the one written after his death by the lesser author?

[@HoneyMike]

@@PeteOtton i read all of them up to and including Mostly Harmless. Haven't heard of any other book in the trilogy

[@allisongliot]

I love how what resonated with you about taking joy in ordinariness of little things in Douglas’s world (sandwich making to bring others joy) is also a super hobbity trait.

[@digitalcareline]

Comedic philosophy - The idea that money is a shared illusion. If money were to disappear then humanity would be in trouble but if humanity was gone then Money would be irrelevant. So when leaves are declared as currency, there is instant hyperinflation, cured by burning all the trees. Starship Titanic was also fun - a whole PC game and then a book that sprang from a one line gag. The PC game was beautifully rendered (for the time) but madly infuriating to get through.

[@samtaholo]

Money isn't an illusion as long as you live in a civilisation that accepts the Flanian Pobble Bead as currency. (I'm also two-thirds of the way to owning a Triganic Pu, but I don't want to brag.)

[@digitalcareline]

@@samtaholo So Close! - almost had a conversation about made up currencies on the web of all places. It's State backed illusion for me today but if you'd like to invest in my procrastination tokens....

[@0NlRAPTOR]

I am enamored by the HHGttG in all it's forms. I have managed to collect it in all of it's iterations. I even played the game when I was at uni. My favorite bit was in, I believe, the 3rd book, when Marvin starts up a conversation with a sentient tank. The 1st time I read it I nearly fell out of my chair. I had to read it 3 to 5 times before I could do so without laughing so much that I lost the thread of the story. Douglas Addams was so gifted at righting vignettes and then string them together into a story.

[@ktrimbach5771]

2nd book at the publishing house of the HHGTTG where they were taking Zaphod to the Frogstar - the most totally evil place in the galaxy. Where he destroyed the Total Perspective Vortex, by eating the piece of fairy cake!

[@danielwatson2701]

When I first read this, I was 14 years old. I started to realise how bullshit and wrong everything was with the world. It made me think “why would I want to live in, where I don’t matter?” I learned that, we are all going to die soon, people try to deal with the absurdity of life with even more absurd beliefs, violence is a part of our intrinsic nature, we won’t ever be satisfied with answers for our place in the universe and we can mathematically prove we don’t exist. But I am currently having a really lovely cup of tea, I have a job that allows me to live comfortably and I’m watching one of my favourite KZbinrs talk about my favourite book. That’s why Hitchhiker’s is so popular

[@ashedarke]

That was no mere 10 out of 10, that was the only one his teacher ever gave out for his weekly writing assignments. What made him such an authority I don't know, but that 10 was very special.

[@thomaskalinowski8851]

Jess, you'd make a good Trillian.

[@OrKkTeKk]

I've read the books covet to cover once, I then realized I could open it to any random page and have a good time. No idea how many times I've probably actually reread the whole books that way. Weird side note, S.E.P. field... It's complicated but our brain essentially photoshops what we think we see based on our own biases. So, our own S.E.P. fields

[@popeguss]

My favorite joke from the series is: "We haven't invented fire yet, but we do have a committee meeting to discuss fire..."

[@marcforeman471]

Brilliant report, Jess - thank you for making me remember just how much I enjoyed that trilogy. Definitely worth living twice the entire age of the universe with all parts replaced except those diodes down the left side for.

[@Rubbly]

Whoa! Another great trilogy to cover!! edit: oh, right, you make that joke a minute in as well 😅

[@richardshalla]

Your video was just what I needed. I don't often thank the almighty algorithm but today it was just what I was hoping for. I so thoroughly enjoyed your take on the series which I haven't ever read but I am hoping it is as enjoyable as your philosophical take on it. I subscribed right after the video finished. looking forward to more journeys.

[@andrewbutler7681]

I fondly remember the final of the BBC's Big Read in 2003 where we Tolkien Society members and those from ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha (with some people belonging to both) supported each other and drew negative attention from the Jane Austen people for daring to have fun! We didn't mind "Pride and Prejudice" coming 2nd to "The Lord of the Rings", but it was a shame that HHGTTG got pushed into 4th by Philip Pullman...

[@isaacparis2260]

Thank you for this great video essay and summary toon. I didn’t know the stage show was a flop, I wonder why? I’ve loved these books since I was a kid and I hosted readings of the radio show scripts with sound effects.

[@salmatosjr5285]

I read the HG2TU in 1980 and hated it. I was a Sci-fi junkie and it just didn't resonate with me. Well, here I am now a man of 60 years, retired, married, and a father of a grown man and I just realized that I embraced the main idea of the novel and made it a core of my personality. Everyone always asked why so few things, which would drive others into a panic, never seemed to cause me no more concern than any other minor problem? I never knew the answer to that question. I chaulked it up to easy going parents. Boy, was I wrong.

[@patemblen3644]

Our year 11 chemistry teacher (one real hoopy frood man) loaned us the cassettes be had of the original series. It's been a lifetime love affair since then.

[@PeteOtton]

Her full name is Random Frequent Flier Dent. Arthur had realized that genetic material would get him space ship tickets.

[@scottneil1187]

Man, I love Adams work, it led me to seek out other irreverantly weird authors, my favourite being Robert Rankin. His books make me laugh so much.

[@FreviriousQuigby]

i was always convinced that there was some kind of significance to the explanation of the babel fish being on page 42

[@MartijnHover]

If you liked Douglas Adams, I can recommend Terry Pratchett, especially his Discworld novels, of which he wrote 41. (Didn't quite make it to 42, unfortunately.) The books in the series get better as it progresses, which is actually quite uncommon. The books are both funny and profound. They are fantasy, but they very much reflect the real world. Pratchett was often compared to Douglas Adams, but I think he was actually a better writer, especially when it comes to stories, characters and plots.

[@Jess_of_the_Shire]

I adore Terry Pratchett! In terms of actual quality of book I think he blows Adams out of the water. Definitely a full video on him coming someday (when I have enough time to invest in it)

[@sebastianevangelista4921]

@@Jess_of_the_Shire Would it be fair to say that Pratchett's humor was more dry than Adams'? Hitchhiker's had me giggling and laughing out loud, whereas the Discworld books that I've read have occasionally made me chuckle.

[@senatuspopulusqueromanus2082]

seems like it, I liked Adams's humour better​@@sebastianevangelista4921

[@scollyb]

​@sebastianevangelista4921 I think it's less about being dry as grounded. Adams would happily stop the entire flow of a book for a joke, but Pratchett after the first two books at least, focused on story first and then weaved in the jokes. That said Pratchett gets more from rereading. There's layers of jokes which you only get from a second or third reading

[@sebastianevangelista4921]

@@scollyb That checks out, thanks for the insight!

[@reidatherton7743]

Was touched by this thoughtful commentary far more than i would've guessed. I found this book series at the library as a teen (the cover strange green circle with a tongue hanging out is attention grabbing...). KZbin algo, send this video zipping across the site like an infinite improbability drive!

[@Happyheretic2308]

42, or bust.

[@DavePigott2000]

There are so many reasons I’m now following you. You’re deep understanding of Douglas Adams, my daughter’s love of his work, and she was born in the US. Brilliant.

[@jgallo7335]

It's just a children's book for adults.

[@dresdyn100]

I remember sitting on a bus on my way to work when Life, the Universe, and Everything was first released and reading the Agrajag sequence with tears of laughter streaming down my face. Some of the other passengers were giving me odd looks so I just showed them the cover. At that point some of them smiled and nodded knowingly. Arthur Dent and The Big Lebowski (prior to the chaos in the movie) are two examples on how to live life that I strive to follow. Mixed results of course 😀

[@GreyPilgrim_Mithrandir]

DON'T PANIC!

[@Jamie_E_Pritchard]

I think one of my favourite Douglas Adams quotes is "I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.” My life operates in a very similar manner, lol.

[@SirBoggins]

Last time I was this early, the Death Star was still a thing...😂

[@fulguratingbean9489]

That book really helped me come up to terms with the meaningless nature of the universe. I took a few inspirations for it to work on a sci fi universe of my own. Absurdity is just fun anyway.

[@Mr.PeabodyTheSkeptic]

In 1984 I was 14. In Catholic school. That year read LOTR, The Silmarillion, 2001, 1984 and Hitchhiker's then said, 'goodbye' to the gods.

[@sulljoh1]

JRR should have used more jokes 😂

[@iandawson6461]

dude, I totally agree with the sandwich segment. a level of peace I've never known is found in the perfection of being the master sandwich maker.

[@darkhalf75]

NO!!!!! the script for the American movie was Dumbed Down for American Audences That Slapstic bullshit was not adams

[@davidpyott3710]

Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's but that's just peanuts to space Cool video I've just subbed and liked etc

[@BananaWasTaken]

42nd

[@anachimir9140]

That part where it says,,nobody has a home ", made me think on how humans are always having this shadow feeling of being ultimately alone, like they don't belong, or that they are still strangers, even next to those they love, even closest to the most familiar things and people, nobody has a true only safe place, and even if we don't feel like that all the time, we can't escape that feeling in our lifetime, and getting closer to death we need to accept that we will leave in a way, where to? We don't know, maybe nowhere, but is another thing that makes us feel not at home, not belonging, our stay here is fleeting.