The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Douglas Adams
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
MacMillan Children's Books
184 pages
8.3 (Best Book)

Blurb
Don't panic! Too late...

Arthur Dent is already having a really bad day, even before Earth gets demolished to make way for a new hyperspace bypass. After that things get much worse. 

With just a towel, a small yellow fish and a book, he has to navigate through a very hostile universe in the company of a gang of unreliable alien oddballs. Luckily the fish is quite good at languages. And the book is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy...

Douglas Adam's mega-selling cult classic sends logic into orbit, plays havoc with physics and twists time, but most importantly it's very, very funny.

Review
Sometimes the answer to all question in this world is hidden in conspicuous place which we tend to overlook: in the middle of license agreement or in second page of Google search or hidden in a jocular science-fiction book that anyone rarely takes seriously called The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Douglas Adams' "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" (which later will be known as H2G2 in short) is first a comedy radio series which aired in BBC in the end of the 1970s. It is so successful that Adams decides to rewrite it in another form, including novel, which is published in 1979, the first of "trilogy" of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. When Adams says trilogy, as eccentric as he is, it actually consists of five books (while the sixth installment is written by Eoin Colfer

The reason why H2G2 is so palmy back then is mainly because 1970s is known as decade when people are awed by the vastness of firmament above. It is decade when space opera movies are abundantly produced and sci-fi novels about outer space are written. Let's say: Alien, the renowned trilogy of Star WarsClose Encounters of the Third Kind. Outer space is always fascinating. Not only for people from 1970s, but also for modern people. Outer space is not ephemeral, it never fails to awe human being, making us realize how atomic human being in the universe. 

That's why H2G2 is still relevant until today. When you read it, you will always forget that it's written in 1979. Adams' sophistication amazes us as he writes beyond his era with the high-tech and modern equipment that he creates still seem futuristic today. The only small thing that makes you realize that this is an old-school book is when Adams says that digital watch is something cool. Other than that, H2G2 may be written from the future. Adams' quirky and insane imagination which he pours in this book somehow explodes my head. It is complex and absurd, but its absurdity is what makes H2G2 H2G2. It's fun to read as well, although it's completely understandable if people hate it, because the way Adams writes seems like drug-tripping guy. It has no sense, and the bouncy makes it hard to grasp the whole idea. But, for me, reading H2G2 is fun. His obscure jokes work and they make me smile, even if they don't make me ROFL, but H2G2 has fulfilled its main function as a narration: to entertain. 

No wonder that H2G2 becomes the Holy Bible for all hitchhikers out there in the galaxy. It is important book, the one book that becomes the ultimate guidance for people who seek for the meaning of life. Hint: it's 42.

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AUTHOR
19 Mei 2016 pukul 13.13 delete

Hai daaan :) ternyata lo punya blog buku juga selain blog musik. Hehehehe

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AUTHOR
19 Mei 2016 pukul 22.42 delete

hehehe iyaaa yang ini buat gabung ke blogger buku indonesia soalnya :D

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