It feels good to laugh at the absurd, which is why it's such a wonderful book. Much more therapeutic than being angry.

Don’t Panic! I have so many stories related to HH Guide but when my daughters were small and their dad travelled on business I had a LOT of anxiety. One of them made me an ipad cover with the helpful words in big letters on the back. She would prop it up on my computer so I see it first

Superficially, it’s just a funny book. Read closer, and it’s filled with biting commentary about the human condition and our primate ancestry. Love it!

My husband and I would listen to it about 40 years ago. Very special memories of laughter and wonder.

“Life! Don't talk to me about life!”

We are living in a world dominated by middle management, and he was spot on.

I have a vivid memory of reading #TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy in 8th grade on the school bus and actually laughing out loud, which caught me by surprise. The fact that I couldn't keep my laughter in was so novel and fun.

Strange, but fun!

The fact that I remember so many random snippets. The cow who humanely killed himself in the restaurant at the end of the universe, the jinnan tonnyx, the telephone sanitisers crashing on earth, Adams' theory that we began life here as middle management rejects from Golgafrincham. He might be right.

I remember as a schoolboy, looking at the Radio Times to see if there was anything good on the 10:30 Radio4 Slot that night. And so caught the very first broadcast of Fit the First.

I would urge fans of the book to track down Adams' first go at the material, the BBC radio series the books and TV series and everything else came from. It's on CD and I cherish every second of it. rogersmovienation.com/2016/06/10/t...

First heard it, hitchhiking in France in 1978 (I think) on the BBC World Service, while a student. Had to have a portable radio with longwave which wasn't common.

Ma ootan Bowerick Wowbaggerit, et ta jõuaks minuni oma eesmärgiga solvata kõiki universumi olendeid isiklikult tähestiku järjekorras.

I listened to the radio version, got the book and started quoting the entire “proves black is white gets killed on the next zebra crossing “ bit on the bus to school

Mr Adams is the reason I've spent several decades remembering to bring a towel when traveling and the answer is 42.

Always know where your towel is.

I loved it. So long and thanks for all the fish. 😉

I'll start with something simple. The idea of "DON'T PANIC" being the beginning of the guide did so much for me. I mean, yeah, start with that, don't panic and so much more is available to you. And in the story, it did just that for the main characters😊

#BannedBookSkyClub discussion of #TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy by Douglas Adams #BookSky Is there anything else you’d like to share about the novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams?

I'm trying to come up with something silly and meaningless, but it's too early. I'm with Ruth... why does there have to be an answer or a question? Enjoy what you've got while you've got it

I had not really considered the many uses of towels (and it had been such a long time since I have originally read the book I had forgotten)! What the novel does so well is point out the hypocrises of people when placed in a position they often place others. And the reverence we hold for power.

Not really an epiphany, but it was new to think of extraterrestrials having a tourism industry and employing travelogue writers. At least the Earth entry wasn’t “Lock the doors and floor it.”

I listened to the radio series long before Adams put them into novel form. I can hear the original voices when I read the books.

I can't do or read baby talk or its equivalent in pet posts.

#BannedBookSkyClub discussion of #TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy by Douglas Adams #BookSky Did you have any epiphanies or realizations while reading the novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy?

I think above all else, this book is about keeping your sense of humour, no matter how bad/crazy things get. It treats the end of the world with the same deadpan tone as a parking ticket and that’s the trick. The universe doesn’t care about us, and Adams turns that into comedy instead of tragedy.🎭

It feels a bit like how a child might build an imaginary world based on their observation of reality. A bit like 'born yesterday' in it's observations, but with a flare for description and detail that makes you recognize the brilliance of Adams.

Personally, that’s stuck with me, no matter how bad things get, paving over a house, a prairie or a planet, your sense of humour might be the thing that keeps you sane.

This book does not treat “serious” topics (the destruction of Earth, the meaning of life, death, bureaucracy, religion, the universe itself) with the solemnity you’d expect. Instead it pokes fun at them, undercuts them/treats them as jokes. Maybe that’s why some people felt they needed to ban it.

I don't know if I would try to explain it, except to say it will make you laugh out loud. Everyone reacts to books differently and I've found peace with enjoying a book for myself rather than hoping others will enjoy it with me.

I read all of them years ago, except the most recent Eoin Colfer continuation. I just didn't trust anyone else to be able to write a Hitchhiker's Guide novel with Adams' wit. I might be open to reading it now if it's included in the book club! Would happily re-read the others for sure.

Read all the Adams books. Don't reread much but they're a good salve for weary times. 👍

What is 6 times 7?

Actually, I’m with Adams. Why does there have to be “deep meaning”? Relax, take the universe “as is,” and enjoy the absurdities! Maybe take the time to disappear God in a puff of logic, though.

43

Oh wait I answered this before my first coffee and hadn’t properly read the assignment. The question is how many vogons does it take to change a lightbulb with the answer of course being 42. The follow up is 1 to do the work and 41 to do the requisite paperwork.

I have read all of them multiple times, I go back to Adams when I feel myself getting bogged down with reality and need a bit of perspective. Not total perspective, of course

The book uses a sense of galactic perspective to highlight the absurdity of the human condition, without denying the pathos of the search for meaning in an infinite universe

It questions long held beliefs of the origin of the universe and earth, and humans' relevance. It turns so many things on their head and makes you laugh while doing so - which is exactly the way.

#BannedBookSkyClub discussion of #TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy by Douglas Adams #BookSky If you had to come up with the “Question to the Ultimate Answer," what would it be?

I would advise them to read it so they can be in on all of the Hitchhiker's inside jokes that I like to randomly mutter.

#BannedBookSkyClub discussion of #TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy by Douglas Adams #BookSky Have you read or do you plan to read more books in the Hitchhiker’s series? (full disclosure, we’ll likely read more of them for book club)

depending on the version, Zaphod has two heads. This is contrary to God’s plan for the universe and so must be rejected.

42. That's what I remember.

I would say it's a great novel meant to poke fun at the human condition and to have us view things in a not so serious light as, in the grand scheme of things, there is little that is truly that serious.

I have read this book so many times I don’t remember. But I did give birth on Towel Day, so there’s that

It has to be the concept of infinite probability. Trying to understand finite probability sends censors into paroxysms of ailurophobia and dismay at the sight of boxes.

Like so much of the book it's absurd fantastical stuff. Nothing is really shocking especially after Arthur and Ford get rescued in the middle of space by a stolen spaceship that is piloted by Ford's semi- cousin a mere second before they would have perished. Of course there's a planet making factory

It's a very free flowing style. One sort of rushes from one calamity to the next as the story slowly unveils the plot line twists.

When my kids were in primary school I volunteered to lead them to compete in the #Let’sTalkScience competition. I trained them to answer “42” every time they were stumped.