Anyone read the new HHGTG?

For me, the Series peaked with So Long and Thanks for All the Fish. Mostly Harmless was a pretty decent note to go out on. I couldn't bring myself to read Salmon of Doubt, and this new one, however good the author, feels like FanFic. I kinda glanced through it, and there didn't even seem to be an explanation as to if Adams would approve f it, or why the guy was selected.

Yeah, that's a weird thing. Not even an endorsement from his estate or family or anything. I've been reading it, and hearing echoes of Adam's style, but to me it's just not funny. I was wondering if I'd just grown out of the series or whether this new guy was simply trying too hard....

I've just never seen the appeal to this stuff that everyone else sees.

I've read it numerous times. The real deal that is. What is this new thing about, anyway? Everyone died?

well, the dying thing is pretty easy to circumvent in the hitchhikers universe I guess, they did it in almost every book, think the whole story even started that way too, with the whole earth being demolished.

Into the third chap now, but realize I'm reading it more out of sheer disbelief than actual enjoyment... The constant name dropping is getting incredibly irritating though, as the (some weird name>)of (other weird name)beast would say....

One of my friends is big into this series (I've only read the original book) and he told me that the Guide really does exist - it's Wikipedia. Wikipedia is available on cell phones, computers, netbooks, tablet pcs - so the format is basically the same, and anyone can contribute to it. Wikipedia is also the largest conglomerate of human knowledge, it covers everything from the trivial to the essential. So, in a way, Adams was a visionary. Other than that the book didn't really impress me much. It was fairly humorous, but I think it's overrated.

Actually that's a pretty good analogy. Although Wikipedia may be too accurate in comparison

Adams was definitely a visionary - with perceptive ideas on everything from communication technology to the evolution of computer games.

As for this latest HHGTTG...

Eoin Colfer was asked by Adams' widow to write the book for the 30th anniversary of the original's publication. He wasn't expected to totally mimic the Adams style, just create something around the Hitchhiker universe. Colfer seems like a good guy, though he's more of a kid's author really.

Monkey - you should pick up Salmon of Doubt. It's mainly essays and thoughts, with a smattering of unfinished Dirk Gently at the end. It's just interesting to skip through a few snippets from a fascinating mind.

I quite liked the salmon, actually. It's all stuff Adams wrote without trying to be funny or fit it into a story. It's funny in the way that last chance to see is funny; unforced, honest, surprising.

Agreed. And I'm pretty sure it's got one of my favourite ever Adams passages. Nothing about time travel or god or Apple. Just a hilarious little story about stealing cookies on a commuter train.

that cookie story had me thinking a long time. It appears in one of the gently novels. And I saw it in at least two short films. I've always wondered what the exact origin was, if it was Adams' originally, and other people adapted it....

I also suspect this didn't start out as a story but actually happened to someone, maybe adams himself?

Well - that's what it is in the Salmon - a little story reported by Adams about what happened to him on a train.

I mean, I'm sure it's been used in different guises many times, but I just love the subtle way he tells a pretty mundane little tale. Sometimes he's just a brilliant comedic writer.

Which is exactly, i now realize, the thing that I miss in the new HHG. It's not an inherently funny story told in a subtle way. It's more like a boring story with as many almost-jokes crammed into it as the author could possibly think of.

Hmm... I think you've solved part of the mystery for me:))