The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Review

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: A Review

By Sean Glynn

Have you ever heard of the wonderful and wacky antics of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy? This amazingly zany and wild book is so popular it has been made into a movie, as well as a TV series. Down to its core, this story is a trip through an unfamiliar section of space, but it leads to so much more.

The story begins with the introduction of a main character, Arthur Dent. Arthur is a normal guy, and he is having a great day until the unthinkable happens: his house is being bulldozed! This is, of course, alarming to him, so he goes and sits in front of his house until the bulldozers leave. To help get rid of all that stress, Arthur goes to the bar where our second main character is introduced: Ford Prefect.

At first, Ford seems normal, although he is kind of weird. But in the middle of a good drink, a device in his pocket starts beeping, and Ford starts to freak out. After grabbing a confused Arthur, Ford runs out of the bar and tells Arthur to get ready to leave the planet. Arthur is confused, but then he looks up, and sees dozens of bright yellow spaceships filling the sky. Realizing there isn’t much time left, Ford tells Arthur what is happening: Earth is being destroyed. 

After destroying Arthur’s view of reality, Ford uses his device to teleport both of them up to one of the spaceships. Once on board, Ford reveals he is, in fact, an alien. To help Arthur cope, Ford shows him his copy of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. This little marvel is a “book” that holds millions of pages of information about most things in the universe. Ford is actually a writer for the Guide, and was stranded on Earth a decade ago, and was only able to finally leave once Earth was destroyed by the alien ships. Soon after arriving, the aliens find Ford and Arthur, and then the story really starts picking up. 

This book is a very good read for a few reasons. First of all, it’s written funnily and endearingly, and has a new joke at every turn. While it might seem daunting at first, besides some made-up science, the book is easy to understand and fun to read. The story of the book is very interesting, with plot twists at every corner. The story will lead you to the end of the universe and back, and leave you wanting more. 

Overall, this book is a solid 9 out of 10 on my scale. It is a great read, and has an interesting story. Another great part is the book doesn’t drag on like some other books. The best part is, if you like this book there are four others in the series. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes science fiction, or just a good book in general.