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/lit/ - Literature

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11017234 No.11017234 [Reply] [Original]

These are legitimately good books.

>> No.11017240
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11017240

>>11017234
>t. r/books

>> No.11017380

Just got through reading Dirk Gently the other day. I need more time to mull it over, but I think it's legitimately one of my favorite books.

>> No.11017464

>>11017234
I agree, really enjoyed them

>> No.11017508
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11017508

>>11017240
>

>> No.11018347

>>11017508
If you don't get this fairly simple book, the story or the jokes, well then there is nothing I can say really. It's a good book.

>> No.11018359

>>11017234
I liked the first book but the second one isn't as great I think

>> No.11018364

>>11018359
The second is universally recognized as the best one.

>> No.11018373

I read the first one a couple of months ago and it was fairly entertaining.

>> No.11018858

>>11017234
They're entertaining enough, but it was a mistake to read them all in a row. The jokes kind of blend into each-other, given how similarly they follow their own formula.

The series' main issue is that it has two punchlines ('Oh so English' and 'Man, the universe sure is uncaring', though the latter slides into pure wacky hijinks over the series), but keeps enough variety in execution that it can remain funny to a reasonable degree. It starts off strong with a clear cynicism that tempers the silliness of most of the plot, but the series gets weaker as Adams grows more emotionally invested, culminating in the fourth book existing purely to give Arthur Dent a happy ending. That said, the series does redeem itself with an ending that shows he had the good old bitterness at the universe in the back of his mind all along. High point is the restaurant at the end of the universe (the actual restaurant), low point is the torturous romance in the fourth book.

As far as funny sci-fi against the backdrop of a universe that doesn't care goes, I still prefer Sirens of Titan. Say what you will about Vonnegut (people on here certainly do), but he has a talent for writing bleak comedy.

>> No.11018948

>>11017234
The really surprising thing is how few people have noticed Donald Trump's similarity to Zaphod Beeblebrox.

>> No.11018965

>>11018858
>but it was a mistake to read them all in a row
why?
great analysis anyhow though.
have you read the last books?

>> No.11018967

>>11018948
Zaphod is a benevolent if egotistical goof not a silly inheritance babby douche. He got into politics as a joke.

>> No.11018968

>>11017234
My favorite books when I was 10.

>> No.11019016

>>11018965
It was a mistake because reading them in order (and getting 600 pages of it at once instead of 120) makes it much easier to see what's going on behind the jokes. Once you start guessing the punchline before the joke is finished it loses something important. It might be why I enjoy the fifth book as much as the earlier ones, I genuinely didn't expect an ending that hit the characters with what felt like real malice (though done so over-the-top it was funny).

By the last books do you mean the ones not written by Adams? I've only read the ones he wrote (Hitchikers guide to Mostly Harmless), and have deliberately avoided And Another Thing because I very much liked the ending where it was. Is it as good as the originals?

>> No.11019079

>>11019016
I haven't read the last ones by Adam either, but I was just asking so that I might read them since you have a pretty good understanding of the books.

>> No.11019358

>>11018948
please don't, Zaphod was my favorite character