Very sorry you felt that way about the HHGG series. I personally felt that "Restaurant at the End of the Universe" and "So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish" were just as good, if not better, than "Hitchhiker's Guide". And all five books (six, counting the short "Young Zaphod...") make up one of the most original and brilliant works of science fiction (slash philosophy, slash theology, slash anthropology, etc. etc.) to date.
I'm not sure if it's possible to use the words 'milked' and 'Douglas Adams' in the same sentence, but somehow you've managed. Face it, the man wrote a handful of books in over twenty years time. That's about 1/60th of what... oh, just to pull a name out of a hat, Stephen King has managed to mill out in his time. The difference is that every book Adams put out had character and depth. And you can find King's greatest hits at a supermarket near you.
Sorry if that sounds a bit defensive, but Douglas and I had one great thing in common: I greatly dislike people who like to talk about things they know nothing about, and he felt the same. And there's an awful lot of that going on in this thread. Douglas stopped writing Hitchhiker's books because he had nothing else to say; in fact, read "Mostly Harmless" and you'll see how he was feeling about the subject. He went on to write the Dirk Gently books, which are brilliant, and "Last Chance to See", on the subject of wildlife conservation, is probably my favorite... it was his. The "Meaning of Liff" books are indescribably funny.
Anyway, to sum up, I'm glad you enjoyed the first of his books but I honestly feel that his work got better, not worse, through the years.
10: What do you get if you multiply six by nine? (and other notes on 42)
Well, 54, of course. It can be argued that in base 13 you get 42. Those of us who have followed this group for some time have seen the revelations of those who have newly discovered this. (Some of us have even been there ourselves.) It's an extremely tired discussion, though. The joke, when Douglas wrote it, was simply that it was the wrong question for the answer (or the wrong answer for the question, if you prefer.) He has said himself "Nobody writes jokes in base 13."
42 is just a number. It has no significance in relation to any other previous uses of the number 42, as least as far as DNA always insisted.
It's good to see that many on here "got" it (or didn't "get" it too much, as the case may be), but it's always amusing to see what the newly initiated have to say on the subject. I think it's agreeable for everyone to leave it at, "Base 13 is very, very unfunny".;-)
I hate to harp when others have said it, but please read his books if you haven't. What an incredibly brilliant and wity man... he is terribly missed. So long, Douglas.
Slashdot Mirror
One more...
Very sorry you felt that way about the HHGG series. I personally felt that "Restaurant at the End of the Universe" and "So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish" were just as good, if not better, than "Hitchhiker's Guide". And all five books (six, counting the short "Young Zaphod...") make up one of the most original and brilliant works of science fiction (slash philosophy, slash theology, slash anthropology, etc. etc.) to date.
I'm not sure if it's possible to use the words 'milked' and 'Douglas Adams' in the same sentence, but somehow you've managed. Face it, the man wrote a handful of books in over twenty years time. That's about 1/60th of what... oh, just to pull a name out of a hat, Stephen King has managed to mill out in his time. The difference is that every book Adams put out had character and depth. And you can find King's greatest hits at a supermarket near you.
Sorry if that sounds a bit defensive, but Douglas and I had one great thing in common: I greatly dislike people who like to talk about things they know nothing about, and he felt the same. And there's an awful lot of that going on in this thread. Douglas stopped writing Hitchhiker's books because he had nothing else to say; in fact, read "Mostly Harmless" and you'll see how he was feeling about the subject. He went on to write the Dirk Gently books, which are brilliant, and "Last Chance to See", on the subject of wildlife conservation, is probably my favorite... it was his. The "Meaning of Liff" books are indescribably funny.
Anyway, to sum up, I'm glad you enjoyed the first of his books but I honestly feel that his work got better, not worse, through the years.
There you go, lysander. :-) I was waiting for someone to say it...
From the Douglas Adams' MFAQ:
It's good to see that many on here "got" it (or didn't "get" it too much, as the case may be), but it's always amusing to see what the newly initiated have to say on the subject. I think it's agreeable for everyone to leave it at, "Base 13 is very, very unfunny". ;-)
I hate to harp when others have said it, but please read his books if you haven't. What an incredibly brilliant and wity man... he is terribly missed. So long, Douglas.