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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Losing grip on reality
Anyone who has read and enjoyed the sublime Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and The Restaurant at the End of the Universe is sure to welcome the third book of the series with open arms. At the same time however, they may quite rightly be concerned as to whether the high standard of the earlier books can be matched by Adams' third effort. If at all possible, 'Life, the...
Published on 17 Jun 2004 by Victoria Craven
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2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Pointless
The third instalment of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series but this one disappointed me. I thought it would be as good as the other books but I didn't enjoy it at all. It dragged on too much and I got so bored with reading it, it took me ages to read it. I do not see the point of the Krikkit wars or anything to do with in that book.
Read it as part of the...
Published on 11 Jun 2007 by M. Burton
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Losing grip on reality, 17 Jun 2004
Anyone who has read and enjoyed the sublime Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and The Restaurant at the End of the Universe is sure to welcome the third book of the series with open arms. At the same time however, they may quite rightly be concerned as to whether the high standard of the earlier books can be matched by Adams' third effort. If at all possible, 'Life, the Universe and Everything' is even more far-fetched than its predecessors. Not that that's a bad thing, of course: "Arthur felt happy. He was terribly pleased that the day was for once working out so much according to plan. Only twenty minutes ago he had decided he would go mad, and now here he was already chasing a Chesterfield sofa across the fields of prehistoric Earth." As far as the characters are concerned, Arthur - despite having spent five years living as a caveman since we last saw him - remains a blundering fool in a dressing gown. The only difference perhaps is the appearance of a beard, decorated with a rabbit's bone (this, surprisingly, holds some significance as the story progresses). Thrilled to find himself propelled back in time, Arthur has the dubious pleasure of witnessing a cricket match at Lords, and is partly responsibly for the mass-hysteria that ensues. Slartibartfast takes on a larger role in this story, as he leads the intergalactic group around the universe and attempts to thrust his authority upon anyone who will listen. One of my favourite parts of the book is that describing the alien with a chip on his shoulder: Bitter about the treatment he has received from his fellow space creatures, he makes it his mission to personally insult every living organism in the universe. Arthur's reaction in particular is very amusing. I also liked the description of the party that had quite literally taken on a life of its own. The original guests, all too stubborn to leave, found themselves spending their lives in the alcohol-strewn room, and as they began spawning children, the phrase 'survival of the fittest' aptly describes the consequences. The strongest party-goer genes were passed on to the next generation, and so the decades of partying continued. I was disappointed that the evil Vogons failed to make an appearance this time around. Vindictive they may have been, but hugely entertaining nonetheless. Instead, Adams opted to introduce a race of killer white robots. They are far less intereting unfortunately, but Marvin the paranoid android goes some way in readdressing the balance as far as entertainment goes. All in all, Life, the Universe and Everything os a fantastic book. Short, yes, but I favour quality over quantity any day. It's an enjoyable way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon, and fans of Douglas Adams won't be disappointed.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Strained but enjoyable sequel, 31 May 2005
With the publication of The Restaurant at the End of the Universe Douglas Adams had completed his novelisations of the two Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy radio series, and the story had effectively reached it's natural conclusion, with the wrapping up of all the major plot-threads concerning the quest for the Ultimate Question, the destruction of planet Earth, and Zaphod's theft of the Heart of Gold. The series popularity though resulted in Adams bringing out a third Hitchhiker's book, with the main storyline being recycled from an unused Doctor Who storyline he had written called Doctor Who And The Krikkitmen. As such this novel feels a little strained at times in bringing all the original Hitchhiker's cast back for a third outing, with Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect's idyllic prehistoric life at the end of The Restaurant at the End of the Universe transformed into a nightmare they can be rescued from, and Marvin having his death in the previous book undone. By far the biggest change though is Slartifartbast, who has changed from an eccentric planet designer into the main plot-driver of the book, essentially taking over the Doctor's role as would be saviour of the universe and guardian of the timelines, with his new background in the Campaign For Real Time replacing the role of Doctor Who's Time Lords. However, the odd strained moments are more than offset but the typically brilliant concepts on display - including the Hitchhiker's art of flying by throwing oneself at the ground and missing, Slartifartbast's Bistromathematical spaceship, and the re-acquaintance of the sentient bowl of petunias from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy that results in Arthur Dent glimpsing his own future. Not quite up to the standard of the first two books in the series, Life, the Universe and Everything is nevertheless clever enough and funny enough to be essential for fans of the earlier novels.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
The Hitchhiker's trilogy loses some of its focus, 16 Dec 2002
Life, the Universe, and Everything is rather different from the preceding two books in the Hitchhiker’s Trilogy. It’s quite funny, particularly in a few rather memorable sections, but it is not consistently funny from beginning to end. Parts of it were so unspectacular that I barely remembered what I had just read, and one aspect of the concluding scenario is still rather incomprehensible to me, a case of deus ex machina I just can’t place in the context of the whole story. All of our favorite characters are back: Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, Zaphod Beeblebrox, Trillian, Marvin the woefully depressed android, and even Slartibartfast; unfortunately, they are rarely together, and I sometimes lost track of Zaphod in particular after reading a number of chapters that ignored him entirely. Much of the action is also rather contrived, such as the sudden appearance of a couch on prehistoric earth upon which Arthur and Ford travel forward in time to the last two days of earth’s existence. On several occasions, characters seemed to zap to another place and time by no discernible means. The game of cricket is particularly important here, to the point that I really wish I understood what the sport is all about, but I admit it was a clever plot device to tie the sport to a particularly nasty, universe-threatening planet ten billion years in the past. The planet of Krikkit, you see, set out to destroy the rest of the universe because its people basically just wanted to be left alone. Throughout the novel white Krikkit robots appear out of nowhere to seize special items needed to unlock their planet from the Slo-Time envelope established around it at the end of the Krikkit Wars. This is a bad thing because the people of Krikkit still want nothing more than to destroy the entire universe. In a rather murky way, Arthur Dent is called upon to save the universe, and that is also not a particularly good thing.There are a few highlights to the story. The subplot involving Agrajag is particularly good. In the course of Arthur Dent’s journeys through space and time, he has been responsible for the deaths of a great number of creatures—insects, flies, at least one rabbit, etc. Quite coincidently, as Arthur tries to argue, every single one of these creatures was Agrajag in his multiple reincarnated forms. Naturally, a body develops a hatred for the brute who keeps killing it time and time again, but Agrajag has gone so far as to build a veritable shrine to the entity he hates most in the cosmos, complete with a gigantic statue of Arthur Dent simultaneously killing him in a great number of his past life forms. I also particularly enjoy Adams’ take on learning to fly; it takes a special knack, one which consists basically of throwing yourself to the ground and missing—the easily distracted Arthur Dent is a natural at it. Overall, the plot just meanders too much to suit me. Transitions of characters from one time and place to another make very little sense, major characters are abandoned for too long at a time, and the plot is not laid out neatly enough for it all to make sense to me. On the whole, much less seems to happen in this book than often happened over the course of a few chapters in the first two books of the trilogy. This is still an entertaining read, but even the comedy lacks some of the satirical and witty zest that typified Adams’ earlier successes.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Cricket and bistros – Douglas Adams at his very best, 10 Dec 2003
Before reading this review and book, make sure you have read the first two books in the Douglas Adams series of Hitchhiker Guides, without which very little will make much sense. The third in the Hitchhikers series, this story starts with Arthur Dent finding himself in prehistoric Islington – yes, a cave in what would become Islington. The story finds Arthur and his so-called friend Ford Prefect saving the universe from its imminent destruction from the Krikkit race (with remarkable links to the sport of er.. cricket). At a push, I would have to say this is my favourite book in the series, primarily because it is so downright ridiculous and yet incredibly entertaining. Any writer who can write a story comprising a cave in Islington, a cricket match being interrupted by a sofa appearing at the crease and a race who worship something that looks very much like a set of cricket stumps must be (a) slightly mad, (b) incredibly clever, (c) very very English. Aside from coming up with the idea of the Hitchhiker series, I think this book is Douglas Adams at his very best – the notion of bistromathics (eating in a bistro allowing you to travel vast distances) was quite hilarious. One of my favourite aspects of Adams’s writing is his ability to provide the science before his claims, with bistromathics being the best example. I would have to say though that if you’re not a fan of British humour you may struggle to find any amusement in this book at all. If you’re thinking of buying this book, also check out the ultimate hitchhiker’s guide which contains all the main books from the hitchhiker series.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Funny, but not quite as good as the previous ones., 13 Sep 2003
THE STORY:
Arthur Dent is reunited with Ford Prefect and together they, reluctantly, try to prevent cricket (or rather Krikkit) from destroying the universe.WHAT'S GOOD:
Arthur Dent, for starters. The single most misunderstood and unfortunate character in science fiction. We also get to see the return of our other favourite space bums; apathetic Ford Prefect, foolishly clever Zaphod, down-to-earth Trillian and the heroic (not) Marvin the robot (who depresses an evil robot army to death). The idea that cricket is mankind's only memory of an intergalactic war tickled me especially. WHAT'S BAD:
Whilst inventive, the Bistromathics (in which calculations are made by eating at an Italian bistro) proved to be a bit too tedious for my tastes. Also I felt the book ended in a bit of an anti-climax. Not essential reading as the first two are, but good nonetheless.
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
Sore thumbs, 13 Mar 2005
This is my third hitchhiking trip, and although my thumb is getting sore, I have no choice but to keep on truckin'. Coming from the larger part of the world, where "krikkit" is a national obsession, I found this one particularly clever, even though the aficionados will shudder at the abuse of the hallowed ashes. Always willing to throw a stinging barb here and there, I also loved the immortal Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged, who is on a quest to personally insult every individual being in the Universe - in alphabetical order. Add in the flying lessons, the many-times-reincarnated Agrajag (not an Arthur Dent fan by any means), and of course my favorite robot Marvin, and you have an easy reading fun hike across the galaxy, with less of the sci-fi stuff, and more of the humor. There's less Zaphod Beeblebrox than usual, but as he spends most of this story in a drunken stupor while Trillian flirts with the God of Thunder, we won't bother him at this particular time. Sticking my sore thumb out now for the next adventure in hitchhiking - see you there! Amanda Richards
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Flying : How to Throw Yourself at the Ground and Miss, 21 Oct 2006
Written by Douglas Adams, "Life, the Universe and Everything" was first published in 1982 and is the third instalment of his legendary five-part "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" trilogy. It opens around five years after "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe" finished, but follows up on what has happened in the previous books - as a result, it's the wrong place to start !! The series started life as a radio show, before becoming a book, a television series, a play and a bath towel. Douglas Adams was born in Cambridge in 1952 and died in May 2001.
Recent years haven't been kind to Arthur Dent. Having seen his home flattened by bulldozers, he barely escaped with his life when the Earth was demolished by the Vogons - officially to make way for a hyperspace bypass. Arthur was rescued by Ford Prefect, a roving reporter for "The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy". The pair were later picked up by an old school-friend of Fords, Zaphod Beeblebrox - the two-headed, three-armed, renegade ex-President of the Galaxy and owner of the most powerful and unpredictable ship in the universe. Having met Slartibartfast, the man who designed Norway, and eaten at the restaurant at the end of the universe, an unprogrammed teleport sees Arthur and Ford landing on...a prehistoric Earth.
As the book opens, Arthur has been living alone in a cold, damp, smelly cave for five years. Living alone in what would become Islington roughly two million years later, he hasn't had any company since the surviving Golgafrinchans went on holiday about three years previously. Ford, having spent the last three years in prehistoric Africa, is now responsible for the giraffe and returns just in time to save Arthur from madness. He has detected eddies in the space - time continuum, which he suspects may provide the pair with an escape route. His suspicions are proved correct : the pair catch an over-active Chesterfield sofa which carries them forward through time and deposits them at Lords Cricket Ground - just two days before the Vogons are due to demolish Earth. The arrive just in time to see England defeat Australia in a very important cricket match, a spaceship containing robotic 'cricketers' arriving to kill people and steal the Ashes (the 'trophy' being played for) and Slartibartfast trying to stop them. Slartibartfast kindly agrees to give the duo a lift, meaning they won't have to hitch a ride with the Vogons again. However, he seems to expect them to help him save the universe - a task that involves them discovering that cricket is actually derived from Krikket and that robotic cricketers are generally best avoided. Ford, on the other hand, aims to be exceedingly drunk and would rather visit Eccentrica Gallumbits - a very capable lady of negotiable affections.
This is an extremely silly and very easily read book - though it probably does assume a certain awareness of cricket. Hugely enjoyable and definitely recommended - though only after having read the previous two instalments !
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Completely contradictory, 5 Aug 2001
By A Customer
During the Guide's radio series, after Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect were stranded on prehistoric Earth, an accident involving a fossilized towel signalled the Heart of Gold and Zaphod came to pick them up. They then went on to get nearly killed by the Vogons, and they ended up on the planet Brontitorl (as that was never written down I don't know how to spell it), and after that they met the man who rules the universe, and that was that. Life, the Universe and Everything conveniently ignores all of that and starts with Arthur on prehistoric Earth. And after all of that preamble, I'll say that this book, out of all five, is probably the one whose plot makes the most sense. It's very good, very, very funny, and the best bits surround a dissatisfied alien called Wowbagger the Infintely Prolonged, who makes several appearances, and for reasons that will become apparent, is probably still making them.
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2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Pointless, 11 Jun 2007
The third instalment of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series but this one disappointed me. I thought it would be as good as the other books but I didn't enjoy it at all. It dragged on too much and I got so bored with reading it, it took me ages to read it. I do not see the point of the Krikkit wars or anything to do with in that book.
Read it as part of the series but don't expect too much
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1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
One simple word, AMAZING!, 14 Jul 2000
By A Customer
I found this installment of the series the most amusing, plot driven, stunning one of the lot! All i can say is thanx, Douglas Adams for the great read! P.S. read the first two books first though.
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