I’m sure I’m not alone in my declaration that the late Douglas Adams and his 5-book trilogy The The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was easily the single greatest influence on my own writing and sense of humor. I remember reading it for the first time in jr. high school and wondering why no one else in my clique of friends knew why I was carrying a towel around and laughing in class whenever the teacher said the word “Belgium”. It turns out that there are great deals of people who have read the book, it’s just that I only had 2 people in my clique of friends and the odds were stacked against me.
I had the great privelege of meeting Mr. Adams 10 years ago in Charlotte (wow, has it been that long?). Back then he was discussing a new book he was working on (which, due to his untimely death, has never seen the light of day) and the screenplay for the film version of the Guide. I was so excited that a theatrical release was in the works. There was a BBC mini-series version that was produced back in the early 80s, but this was to be a big Hollywood flick with all the trimmings. I was giddy and ecstatic.
Cut to 10 years later. Mr. Adams is dead, but the film he began will be released next month.
To be honest, the trailer doesn’t seem to do justice to the intelligent humor of the book. We shall have to wait and see, I suppose. In the meantime, carry that towel, don’t panic, and watch out for invading microscopic space fleets.
I think the trailer actually looks pretty good. I wasn’t sure if they would be able to capture the strange sense of humor that the books have without making the movie cheesey, but it looks like they did. I have only read the first three books so far but I plan to read the other two soon, and I will go see the movie for sure.
I think most of this book is powered by the reader’s imagination, making a movie will most likely ruin the experience, just ask the super-intelligent shade of blue.
I read the entire collection/series of books over last summer. Easily one of the best reading experiences ever. Definately a classic. I’m cautiously looking forward to the movie, much similar to how I was LOTR before it came out. I was pleasantly surprised on the later. Hopefully I will be again.
Sideshow, I definately agree with your assessment of the books. Only Monty Python is in the same league as far as influencing my sense of humor. That’s pretty cool that you met Adams. I became a fan right around the time he died. I’m definately going to have to knock back some of that Ol’ Janx Spirit to celebrate the film’s release.
You ever read his Dirk Gently novels? Not quite as good, but there some great bits in there.
I have not read Dirk Gently or The Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul. They’ve been on my list for a while. Hopefully I’ll get around to those this summer.
It’s all about the Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster. I’ll be hitting a few of those if the Niners lose tomorrow.
[i]Originally posted by Sideshow[/i]@Mar 17 2005, 06:28 PM
[b] It's all about the Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster. I'll be hitting a few of those if the Niners lose tomorrow. [/b]
I might hit a couple reguardless of the outcome :)