Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Linnunradan käsikirja liftareille by Douglas Adams

8 reviews

haileyhardcover's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Doctor Who. Torchwood. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. No one does sci-fi comedy better the British. 

Having been a massive fan of the movie since its release in 2005, I’ve had Hitchhiker’s on my TBR for far too long. I knew that Adams had co-written the screenplay for the film, so I had high hopes that I would love the book as much, but I was very pleasantly surprised to find that much of the movie was taken word-for-word from the text; and it is just as funny, bizarre, and absurd. If you, too, love the movie, do yourself a favor and read the book.

And, hey, this is a scary time we’re living in right now, folks. If this is the end of the world…
Don’t Panic
and always carry a towel 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

jm_brister's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny informative inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Overview
Okay, I will have to say that this review is going to be A LOT biased because I really, really love Douglas Adams.  This was the book that really launched that love.  I mean, this book has everything that a Sci-Fi lover would want, plus it's written with the awesome humor that is Douglas Adams.

The story follows a man named Arthur Dent and what happens on a morning where everything goes wrong.  You see, his house is about to be demolished to make room for a bypass.  But things get even worse for Arthur when he meets up with an old friend, Ford Prefect, and learns that the Earth is going to be demolished as well.  Of course, Ford is not really a human either.  He's a writer for an encyclopedia called The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and he's been stranded on for years.  Throughout the book, Arthur learns the essentials of hitchhiking the galaxy and how to manage the craziness that is the universe.  And the reader is delighted with Adams' quirky writing and sometimes odd plot (okay, well I was delighted...).   

The series is full of interesting and sometimes quite odd characters.  Arthur, Ford, Zaphod, and Trillian are unique and fun characters.  Arthur is kind of pathetic in a lovable way.  Ford seems like one of the more reasonable characters, but he still has his own quirks.  Zaphod is crazy and self-centered, but that somehow makes him more lovable.  Trillian is that person that you want to be.  I mean, who wouldn't want to get whisked away to outer space and go on an adventure?  Okay, well maybe I would want that...

This book may be fun and quirky, but it actually has a lot going on with it.  Besides being a strong satirical novel, this book actually broke ground with humor and Science Fiction (I don't know if we would have had shows like Red Dwarf without this book).   A lot of this book may seem "silly" on first glance, but it really highlights the absurdity of life.  And the writing style is amazing.  It is short and succinct when needed for a punchy delivery but complex in content.

Yay!  This is a great book.  HOWEVER, it is not my favorite Hitchhiker's book.  Oh, no.  As much as I like The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe is my favorite of the series (and one of my favorite books of all time).  But you'll have to wait for my review on that one.  My verdict for this book?  Five stars.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

nerdkitten's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging funny fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

bookmark3brodi's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

1.25


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

xandra_'s review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

rory_john14's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

youreawizardjerry's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

skudiklier's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

I really liked this movie when I was younger, and always wanted to read the book because I heard it was a lot better. And though I can see how people who read it first would think that, and to be fair I haven't seen the movie in a while, I'm really not sure I would have liked it much if I didn't have the context of the movie. It was funny and entertaining, for sure, but it was also was extremely Written By A Man (i.e. somewhat sexist and with no real female characters?) and like, idk, I just would have found it pretty chaotic and hard to follow if I hadn't seen the movie first. I'm probably not going to read the rest of the series but I don't at all regret reading this one. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings