So I am interested in checking out Douglas Adam's classic, but not sure what is the best incarnation.

According to Wikipedia...
Hitchhiker's guide began life as a radio series in 1978.
Was a series of books from 1979 to 1992
Was a tv series in 1981
and became a feature film in 2005.

So if I really wanted to appreciate Hitchhiker's guide, where would I start? The books? The tv series? lay it on me.

2/21/2011 10:16:32 AM

Read the book. I did enjoy the movie though. Zooey Deschanel

2/21/2011 10:19:06 AM

We've got this at home:


Definitely the books. All of them were really good except Mostly Harmless. Mostly Harmless was (IMO) the weakest of the series.

The '81 TV series was entertaining for what it was... if that makes sense. I liked that series better than the movie at any rate, but I've seen the movie since I've seen the TV series, so it could very well be that I'm remembering liking the TV show better that I liked the movie. Round about way of saying there's no telling what I'd think of the TV series after all these years, but I liked it when I was younger.

I never heard the radio series.

[Edited on February 21, 2011 at 10:35 AM. Reason : -]

[Edited on February 21, 2011 at 10:36 AM. Reason : -]

2/21/2011 10:34:16 AM

cool. guess i'll shoot for the book.

2/21/2011 12:45:54 PM

Definitely the books...

But the video game is awesome too http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hitchhiker's_Guide_to_the_Galaxy_(computer_game)]

[Edited on February 21, 2011 at 1:01 PM. Reason : link]

2/21/2011 1:00:36 PM

What? Is this really a fucking question worth asking? The TV series and movie aren't worth watching unless you've read the book, and even then that would be the case if the movie wasn't fucking awful trash rage rage rage.



But yeah, read the books. And don't buy them individually, christ no, they have the all-in-one compendium. It's great.

2/21/2011 1:29:13 PM

I would choose the books as well, however, that being said, you should certainly seek out the original BBC radio series. It is wonderful and obviously spawned the books.

2/21/2011 1:57:33 PM

The radio series is fantastic. The books are a smidge better, but the radio series is light years ahead of any of the filmed adaptations.

2/21/2011 3:42:07 PM

I enjoyed the radio series a lot. It was great to listen to at work when i wasn't doing something else that required reading. I haven't read the books yet so I can't compare.

2/21/2011 5:10:36 PM

Books!

2/21/2011 6:03:02 PM

My recommended order.

1. Read the books first (there are five in the trilogy).
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
- Restaurant at the End of the Universe
- Life, the Universe and Everything
- So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish
- Mostly Harmless
Compendiums are nice (and probably cheaper overall), but I like having each book in a separate paperback, so if I want to dive into the middle of one for a laugh I don't have to drag the entire trilogy around.

2. Listen to the radio dramas, especially the first two phases.
- Primary phase
- Secondary phase
- Tertiary phase
- Quandary phase
- Quintessential phase

3. Watch the Disney movie. (Personally I thought it wasn't bad. Adams himself wrote most of the changes, and the Guide hasn't always followed strict canon anyways.)

4. Watch the BBC tv show. (It's been awhile, but I remember them as being somewhat painfully cheesy and low budget, offering little more than the radio series. Really disliked Trillian's casting in this one.)

5. If you still want more Guide:
- Read And Another Thing... by Eoin Colfer. It gives the book trilogy a more suitable ending than Mostly Harmless. I wouldn't say it's amazing, but I enjoyed it.
- Read the short story "Young Zaphod Plays it Safe". I think it's included in some of the compendiums as well as The Salmon of Doubt. Not super funny, it was more of a political commentary.
- "The Private Life of Genghis Kahn" is another short story in The Salmon of Doubt that is Guide-related.

2/23/2011 4:04:50 PM

^ what he said, though I would switch 3 and 4. The BBC TV version is of the quality of old Dr. Who episodes. Not exactly a high budget, but stays closer to the source story than the Disney film. BBC TV version basically goes through the first two books.

2/23/2011 5:33:31 PM

Watch the TV show first so you can catch a few of the little nods to it in the movie. Plus the vast differences in technology and production values make the TV show kind of grating to watch after watching the movie (particularly the sound quality).

On the bright side, the TV show is streaming on Netflix so it's easy to get.

3/2/2011 9:25:54 AM

i read it back in high school and thought it sucked.

I think it's one of those things that are deemed cool by nerds so that nerds have something to talk about.

3/2/2011 10:11:16 AM

Possibly, but I thought it was genuinely funny. It might be that you already have to be a sci-fi nerd (or a little kid, as in my brother-in-law's case since he wasn't interested in books until his mom read it to him around age 4) to think it's funny.

It probably falls into the category of Lovecraft, Star Trek, Tolkien where you have to be somewhat predisposed to the genre before you can become a big fan.

3/2/2011 10:13:43 AM

i'm just being a dick. i'm a huge nerd, too.




but hitchhiker's guide never did much for me.

3/2/2011 10:20:16 AM