DON'T PANIC

"In many of the more relaxed civilizations on the Outer Eastern Rim of the Galaxy, the Hitchhiker's Guide [to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams] has already supplanted the great Encyclopedia Galactica as the standard repository of all knowledge and wisdom, for though it has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least wildly inaccurate, it scores over the older, more pedestrian work in two important respects. First, it is slightly cheaper; and second, it has the words DON'T PANIC inscribed in large friendly letters on its cover."

Much like the way Norton Juster (author of The Phantom Tollbooth) writes, the brilliant Adams takes literalness to a whole new level. In the story of the Hitchhiker's Guide, you think about things that you had never really thought about before. And the things that you thought about before, you look at in a whole new way. I have to admit, I didn't quite understand what was going on in this book in the first few chapters. I was extremely tempted to close the book and put it back in my jam-packed bookcase. I noticed that the way that the story is written is in a very different style of writing. There are a lot of awkward moments, confusing sentences you might have to reread, and paragraphs stuffed with information about "life, the universe, and everything".

This story sucks you in immediately and you soon find yourself  wanting to find some way to get on the heart of gold. You want to venture off to places unknown and maybe get chased down by the galactic government. I know that's how I felt when i read this book. I finished it a while ago, but now I'm reading the sequel, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

I think that even though this book is hilarious, it still has some parts that aren't necessarily serious, but make you think about the bigger aspects of life. This story is really funny and eye-opening, so I suggest that anyone who likes a  good laugh every once in a while (and has enough patience to try and understand these confusing concepts) should read this book. In fact, you should read the whole series!

Until the next post!
--> Janee B.