Thursday, December 10, 2009

December Blog #1: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams, Published 1979

Oh, how the tides have changed.

What began as a chuckle-filled sci-fi romp quickly deteriorated into a mess of fart jokes. I understand that The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is considered a classic, but I suppose the humor's just not for me.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy this style of humor, usually. But something about this novel kind of grinds my gears. Is it the incessantly pompous humor? I sometimes get the feeling that Douglas Adams thinks he's quite a bit cleverer than he should. Not to say that he's not a clever guy, because quite a few of the jokes are pretty funny. But there can only be so clever, and Adams comes across as thinking he has crossed that boundary.

I hate to be a negative and overly critical person, but I humbly have to put down the Hitchhiker's Guide. I haven't even passed the halfway mark. I hate it too, because my Dad loves it, and everyone I know lauds heaps of praise on it (tautology, anyone? Lauds praise?).

I'll end it with this. I get the idea, and the appeal. Just not for me.

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