Don't Panic

In the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip the incredible spaceman, Spiff, crash lands on a hostile planet inhabited by space explorer eating aliens. In the opening scenes Spiff escapes from these creatures by hiding in a tree, safe from view above their heads. The last frame of the comic shows Calvin, perched in a tree, smiling over the heads of his parents, who are searching and calling for him to come in from playing in the snow.

Spaceman Spiff is funny. Ford Prefect is not.

I wanted to like this book – I really did. I know I am in the minority with my opinions about this book, but here goes nothing.

(Gritting teeth, prepared for the heckling) I didn’t like Douglas Adams' book, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is the first of five books telling the story of Ford Prefect, an alien who travels the universe revising the information book of the planets and residents of space – The Hitchhiker’s Guide. In his travels he becomes stranded on Earth and befriends Arthur Dent. Through this friendship Ford is able to warn Arthur about the upcoming destruction of the planet. He and Arthur escape and begin a series of random adventures that include poorly written Vogon poetry, traveling on a spaceship powered by an Infinite Improbably Drive, and a search for the meaning of life.

If you like Monty Python, you will love this book. Reviewers describe it as dry, witty, hilarious, quotable, “the acme of British sci fi humor”.

I guess I’m not enough of a nerd to understand. I get the jokes; they just aren’t funny. This story has no plot or character development. I do not care if the characters are tortured by strange, alien verses. The mystery inside Zaphod Beeblebrox’s brain does not interest me. The humor in this book is pretentious and highly overrated. As I read I felt Douglas Adams and all the fans of The Hitchhiker’s Guide smugly sit back and say, “Aren’t I witty? Let me bless you with superior intellect and clever banter.” 

Alright, maybe I am being too harsh. I am offering a challenge to fans of The Hitchhiker’s Guide: enlighten me on the charm of this book. If you have not read it, give it a try and let me know what you think. I would love to be convinced to join the party with so many fans of Douglas Adams’ work.

Until then, I’ll be snuggled up with a copy of the Calvin and Hobbes collection Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons. I know real humor when I read it.