Review of So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish by Douglas Adams

This book review was written by Eugene Kernes   

Book can be found in: 

Genre = Novel, Science (Science Fiction)

Book Club Event = Book List (09/13/2025)

Series Collection = The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy

Intriguing Connections = 1) Want a Laugh?, 2) Some Type of Romance, 3) Adventures Of The Space Faring Kind, 4) Some Kind of Friendship, 5) Not Alone Out There After All? Alien Life Of Various Kinds, 

Watch Short Review

Excerpts

“He lay still and quiet.  He absorbed the enveloping darkness, slowly relaxed his limbs from end to end, eased and regulated his breathing, gradually cleared his mind of all thought, closed his eyes, and was completely incapable of getting to sleep.” – Douglas Adams, Chapter 7, Page 505

 

“He hadn’t realized that life speaks with a voice to you, a voice that brings you answers to the questions you continually ask of it, had never consciously detected it or recognized its tones until it now said something it had never said to him before, which was “yes”” – Douglas Adams, Chapter 18, Page 541

 

“”Yes but, Arthur, that’s ridiculous.  People think that if you just say ‘hallucinations’ it explains anything you want it to explain and eventually whatever it is you can’t understand will just go away.  It’s just a word, it doesn’t explain anything.  It doesn’t explain why the dolphins disappeared.”” – Douglas Adams, Chapter 20, Page 554

Review

Is This An Overview?

After hitchhiking across the galaxy, Arthur is no longer culturally shocked to what the universe thinks.  Arthur is completely bewildered by the fact that the Earth exists, therefore Arthur does not panic.  Apparently, there was a global hallucination of large yellow spaceships.  There appears to be only one other person, Fenchurch, who knows that the Earth has been destroyed, but those ideas make Fenchurch seem mentally unfit.  As Arthur can validate the ideas, Arthur falls in love, only to lose Fenchurch’s phone number.

 

While Arthur is not being puzzled by the existence of the Earth, Ford has been waiting for the next edition of The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy to update and remove years of Ford’s work on the Earth entry due to the nonexistence of the planet.  Ford is surprised by the update, as rather than removing the two words about the Earth, find that the entry has expanded.   As Ford is hitchhiking across the galaxy to inform Arthur that Earth exists, Arthur and Fenchurch seek to find what happened to the missing dolphins.  Apparently, the dolphins knew something about Earth. 

 

Caveats?

This book follows mostly Arthur’s adventures on Earth.  

Questions to Consider while Reading the Book

•What is the raison d’etre of the book?  For what purpose did the author write the book?  Why do people read this book?

•What are some limitations of the book?

•To whom would you suggest this book?

•Who is Rob McKenna?

•How did Ford Prefect want to pay for drinks at the Old Pink Dog Bar?

•How is The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy influence used?

•What did Ford expect to find in the entry for Earth, and what was found?

•Was the Earth destroyed?

•What are the reasons given about Vogons?

•What happened to Arthur’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy book?

•Why do the British eat sandwiches on Saturday?

•Who is Fenny, or rather, Fenchurch? 

•What happened every time that Arthur wanted to tell Fenchurch about what happened?

•What happened to the phone number that Fenchurch gave Arthur? 

•What did Arthur try to do to find the location of the cave that Arthur lived while on prehistoric Earth?

•How are hallucinations used?

•What happened to the dolphins?

•What is wrong with Fenchurch? 

•Who is Wonko the Sane?

•How did Ford Prefect arrived on Earth?

•Who did the Robot want to see?

•Why did Fenchurch want to hitchhike across the galaxy?

•What happened to Marvin?

•How old is Marvin?

•What happened to Trillian and Zaphod?

•Who is allows to use the little scooters in the Great Red Plain?

•What was the Message that was sought?

Book Details

Edition:                   First Ballantine Books Edition

Publisher:               Del Rey [The Random House Publishing Group]

Edition ISBN:         0345453743

Pages to read:          143

Publication:             2002

1st Edition:              1985

Format:                    Paperback

Ratings out of 5:

Readability    5

Content          4

Overall          4

Review of Life, the Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams

This book review was written by Eugene Kernes   

Book can be found in: 

Genre = Novel, Science (Science Fiction)

Book Club Event = Book List (09/13/2025)

Series Collection = The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy

Intriguing Connections = 1) Want a Laugh?, 2) Adventures Of The Space Faring Kind, 

3) Some Kind of Friendship, 4) Not Alone Out There After All? Alien Life Of Various Kinds, 

Watch Short Review

Excerpts

“”An S.E.P.,” he said, “is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem.  That’s what S.E.P. means.  Somebody Else’ Problem.  The brain just edits it out; it’s like a blind spot.  If you look at it directly you won’t see it unless you know precisely what it is.  Your only hope is to catch it by surprise out of the corner of your eye”” – Douglas Adams, Chapter 3 , Page 334

 

“”Get to the ship,” shouted Ford.  “I don’t want to know, just get to the ship.”  He started to run.  “I don’t want to know, I don’t want to see, I don’t want to hear,” he yelled as he ran, “this is not my planet, I didn’t choose to be here, I don’t want to get involved, just get me out of here, and get me to a party with people I can relate to!”” – Douglas Adams, Chapter 3, Page 337

 

“”My doctor says that I have a malformed public duty gland and a natural deficiency in moral fiber,” he muttered to himself, “and that I am therefore excused from saving Universes.”  |  Nevertheless, he stomped up the stairs behind them.” – Douglas Adams, Chapter 4, Page 343

Review

Is This An Overview?

What does Marvin’s leg, the Infinite Improbability Drive, a plastic scepter, an artistic award, and ashes from a trophy have to do with saving the universe?  Slartibartfast will have to tell Arthur that after Arthur finds a way to escape prehistoric Earth.  To help, Arthur would also need to escape a very angry alien, who is angry at Arthur.  Arthur has apparently been innocently and coincidentally murdering the same alien throughout Arthur’s hitchhiking across time and space. 

 

Arthur seems to be the only one who listens to what Slartibartfast has to say, because the others have their own preoccupations.  At the prospect of the end of the universe, all Ford wants is to spend the last days in bliss.  Zaphod is dealing with the trauma of having fulfilled one’s purpose in life.  Trillian could not stand Zaphod’s behavior, and left to a random location in the galaxy.  Marvin has been going around in circles.  A couch stalks the hitchhikers.  What is the cause of the end of the universe?

 

Caveats?

The comedy and the characters are consistent with the prior books in the series.  With minor character development.  What the reader thought of the comedy and characters before, is not likely to change.

Questions to Consider while Reading the Book

•What is the raison d’etre of the book?  For what purpose did the author write the book?  Why do people read this book?

•What are some limitations of the book?

•To whom would you suggest this book?

•Would you like to be stranded in time or place?

•Who is Arthur Dent?

•Where has Arthur been stranded?

•Who is Wowbagger and what does Wowbagger do?

•Why go mad?

•Who is Ford Prefect?

•How does it feel to talk to someone after not speaking to anyone for a very long time?

•How to fly?

•What happened to the Golgafrinchans?

•Does listening help with understanding?

•How does Arthur react at the cricket game?

•What is an S.E.P.?

•Who is Slartibartfast?

•What is the Bistromathic Drive?

•Do numbers at a restaurant make sense?

•Who is Marvin?

•Where was Marvin when talking to Zem and what was Marvin doing?

•What is the ancient threat to the universe that Slartibartfast is afraid of?

•What makes up the key to the threat to the universe?

•Who is Trillian?

•Who is Zaphod Beeblebrox?

•What is Zaphod’s problem?

•What does Trillian think of Zaphod?

•What is Krikkit? 

•What happened to the people of Krikkit?

•What happened to the time streams?

•How can someone understand time travel?  

•What are the Campaigners for Real Time?

•Where has Arthur been diverted?

•Who is Agrajag?

•How has lunch effected The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy?

•What is the correlation between obsession and play time of the Brockian Ultra Cricket? 

•What are the features of the longest and most destructive party even held?

•What does ‘Belgium’ mean?

•What is the Ultimate Weapon designed by Hactar?

•Who are the Silastic Armorfiends?

•What is the Wikkit Key?

•How did Zaphod survive the Krikkit robots?

•What do the Krikkit people want?

•Who is Hactar?

•Why did Hactar think the mission was completed?  

•Who is Prak?

•What effect does truth drug have?

•What is the Question to the ultimate Answer?

Book Details

Edition:                   First Ballantine Books Edition

Publisher:               Del Rey [The Random House Publishing Group]

Edition ISBN:         0345453743

Pages to read:          161

Publication:             2002

1st Edition:              1982

Format:                    Paperback

Ratings out of 5:

Readability    5

Content          4

Overall          5

Review of The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams

This book review was written by Eugene Kernes   

Book can be found in: 

Genre = Novel, Science (Science Fiction)

Book Club Event = Book List (09/13/2025)

Series Collection = The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy

Intriguing Connections = 1) Want a Laugh?, 2) Adventures Of The Space Faring Kind, 

3) Some Kind of Friendship, 4) Not Alone Out There After All? Alien Life Of Various Kinds,

Watch Short Review

Excerpts

“The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is an indispensable companion to all those who are keen to make sense of life in an infinitely complex and confusing Universe, for though it cannot hope to be useful or informative on all matters, it does at least make the reassuring claim, that where it is inaccurate it is at least definitively inaccurate.  In cases of major discrepancy it’s always reality that’s got it wrong.” – Douglas Adams, Chapter 6, Page 173

 

“”Well, I wish you’d just tell me rather than try to engage my enthusiasm,” said Marvin, “because I haven’t got one.”  |  He walked on up to the ship, touched it, and a hatchway swung open.  |  Ford and Zaphod stared at the opening.  |  “Don’t mention it,” said Marvin.  “Oh, you didn’t.”  He trudged away again.” – Douglas Adams, Chapter 18, Page 240

 

“To summarize: it is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it.  To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.  To summarize the summary of the summary: people are a problem.” – Douglas Adams, Chapter 28, Page 278

Review

Is This An Overview?

Don’t Panic, as the spaceship Heart of Gold is being attacked by Vogons and the hitchhikers cannot get the computer to think about escape options.  The computer has its bandwidth preoccupied with trying to figure out how to give Arthur the requested cup of tea, that actually tastes like tea.  All this excitement, and all Arthur, Ford, Zaphod, and Trillian wanted was to get food at The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.  As the computer is preoccupied, the escape plan was to have a séance.  A séance in which Zaphod learned the reason why Zaphod stole the Heart of Gold, to find the person who rules the universe.

 

Through some improbable situations, the hitchhikers actually find their way to The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.  So named because the restaurant exists, or is going to exist, or did exist in a time bubble and projected forward in time to the End of the Universe.  Guests enjoy meals while watching creation itself explode around them.

 

To avoid a series of improbable events, the hitchhikers steal another ship, and are sent on a journey of another series of improbable events.  Unbeknownst to most of the them, the ship is apparently bound by autopilot to sundive, as in dive into a sun.  While these events are happening, Arthur is reminded to figure out the question to the answer of 42.  And then there is the android Marvin, who everyone ignores because its Marvin.

 

Caveats?

Not all the comedy is for everyone.  Especially as human culture changed.

 

As the events can change locations quickly for purposeful improbable reasons, there is often early confusion as to where the characters are.

Questions to Consider while Reading the Book

•What is the raison d’etre of the book?  For what purpose did the author write the book?  Why do people read this book?

•What are some limitations of the book?

•To whom would you suggest this book?

•What is the Earth?

•What was preoccupying the ship computer when the Vogons attacked? 

•What is the chronology of the Beeblebrox family? 

•What did Zaphod do to Zaphod’s brain to get elected President?

•Why did Zaphod want to become President? 

•How did the Hitchhikers escape the Vogon attack? 

•Why did the Vogons attack the Heart of Gold? 

•What is the purpose of the Joo Janta 200 Super-Chromatic Peril Sensitive Sunglasses?

•How accurate is The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy?

•Who is Zarniwoop and why does Zaphod want to see Zarniwoop? 

•Why do elevators not want to go up? 

•How was Marvin supposed to stop the Frogstar tank? 

•Who is Roosta?  What king of towel does Roosta have?

•What happens in the Total Perspective Vortex?

•What happened when Zaphod went into the Total Perspective Vortex? 

•What is the Shoe Event Horizon? 

•What was happening to the passengers of the Transtellar Cruise Lines? 

•What are the problems of time travel? 

•What is The Restaurant at the End of the Universe?

•What is the Disaster Area?

•What king of year is Hotblack Desiato having? 

•What does it mean to meet the meat? 

•How did Marvin end up at The Restaurant at the End of the Universe?

•Why do the hitchhikers steal another ship rather than go back to the Heart of Gold?

•What ship did they steal?  What are the properties of the stolen ship? 

•How did The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy override the Galactic Copyright laws?

•What is Arthur’s purpose in life? 

•What happened to the Belcerebon people? 

•What do people think of a transference beams? 

•How did the Hitchhikers escape the stunt ship?

•What is the purpose of Ark B? 

•What happened to the Golgafrincham? 

•Who should be President?  Who should not be President?  

•What happened during the meeting with ruler of the Universe? 

•What is the secret to healthy hitchhiking? 

•What planet and time did Arthur and Ford end up on after the transference beam?

•Who are the occupants of the planet the Arthur and Ford ended up on? 

•How did the survivors of Ark B survive?

•How the Ark B survivors want to reduce inflation?

•Why did the Ark B survivors go to war? 

Book Details

Edition:                   First Ballantine Books Edition

Publisher:               Del Rey [The Random House Publishing Group]

Edition ISBN:         0345453743

Pages to read:          166

Publication:             2002

1st Edition:              1980

Format:                    Paperback

Ratings out of 5:

Readability    5

Content          4

Overall          4

Review of The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams

This book review was written by Eugene Kernes   

Book can be found in: 

Genre = Novel, Science (Science Fiction)

Book Club Event = Book List (09/13/2025)

Series Collection = The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy

Intriguing Connections = 1) Want a Laugh?, 2) War for Your Attention, 

3) Adventures Of The Space Faring Kind, 4) Some Kind of Friendship, 

5) Not Alone Out There After All? Alien Life Of Various Kinds,

Watch Short Review

Excerpts

“The President in particular is very much a figurehead – he wields no real power whatsoever.  He is apparently chosen by the government, but the qualities he is required to display are not those of leadership but those of finely judged outrage.  For this reason the President is always a controversial choice, always an infuriating but fascinating character.  His job is not to wield power but to draw attention away from it.  On those criteria Zaphod Beeblebrox is one of the most successful Presidents the Galaxy has ever had – he has already spent two of his ten presidential years in prison for fraud.” – Douglas Adams, Chapter 4, Page 28

 

“At first Ford had formed a theory to account for this strange behavior.  If human beings don’t keep exercising their lips, he thought, their mouths probably seize up.  After a few months’ consideration and observation he abandoned this theory in favor of a new one.  If they don’t keep on exercising their lips, he thought, their brains start working.  After a while he abandoned this one as well as being obstructively cynical and decided he quite like human beings after all, but he always remained desperately worried about the terrible number of things they didn’t know about.” – Douglas Adams, Chapter 5, Page 35

 

“”But what are you supposed to do with a manically depressed robot?” | “You think you’ve got problems,” said Marvin, as if he was addressing a newly occupied coffin, “what are you supposed to do if you are a manically depressed robot?  No, don’t bother to answer that, I’m fifty thousand times more intelligent than you and even I don’t know the answer.  It gives me a headache just trying to think down to your level.”” – Douglas Adams, Chapter 19, Page 92

Review

Is This An Overview?

Arthur Dent’s home is about to be demolished for a bypass because the planning council did not properly inform Arthur of their plans.  What the demolishing crew, Arthur, and the all the humans of Earth did not know, is that Earth was going to be demolished to make way for a hyperspatial express route as the galactic council did not properly inform anyone on Earth.

 

Fortunately for Arthur and unbeknownst to Arthur, Arthur’s friend Ford Prefect is not actually a human.  But an alien who has been stranded on Earth.  Ford saves Arthur by hitchhiking on a demolition spaceship.  A spaceship composed of a Vogon crew, who are not friendly to hitchhikers.  Resistance is futile. 

 

Somewhere else in the galaxy, the reveal of the new spaceship containing the Infinite Improbability Drive is being stolen by the President of the Galaxy Zaphod Beeblebrox, along with a companion, Trillian.  Zaphod is searching for the legendary planet of Magrathea, a planet that build custom-made luxury planets for the extremely rich during a former Galactic Empire.  Magrathea was so successful that the rest of the Galaxy became abjectly poor.  Against all improbability, Arthur, Ford, Zaphod, Trillian, and a manically depressed robot called Marvin, hitchhike across the galaxy.  Don’t Panic.

 

Caveats?

This book blends science fiction and comedy to create something improbable.  Sometimes prioritizing one or the other, to create a series of meaningless coincidences, but a meaningful adventure across the galaxy.  There are parts in the book that are inconsistent given the information provided before, which is acceptable given that the inconsistencies were meant to be there. 

 

Questions to Consider while Reading the Book

•What is the raison d’etre of the book?  For what purpose did the author write the book?  Why do people read this book?

•What are some limitations of the book?

•To whom would you suggest this book?

•What did humans think of evolutions?

•Who is Arthur Dent? 

•Why is Arthur Dent’s home being demolished?

•Who is Ford Prefect?

•What is Ford Prefect’s profession?

•How did Ford and Arthur escape Earth?

•hat is time?

•What is the purpose of a towel?

•What is the Heart of Gold?

•Who is Zaphod Beeblebrox?

•What happened to Zaphod’s brain(s)?

•How did Zaphod behave?

•ho is Trillian?

•Who is Marvin? 

•What power does the President of the Imperial Galactic Government have?

•Who are the Vogons?

•What did the Vogon’s think of evolution? 

•Who are the Dentrassis? 

•Why are there Dentrassis on a Vogon ship?

•What ideas about human speech did Ford have?

•What does The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy say about the Earth? 

•What makes poetry bad? 

•How did Arthur and Ford survive the Vogons? 

•How is the universe governed?

•What happened to the scientists who figured out the Infinite Improbability Drive? 

•What is Magrathea? 

•What happened to the missiles that were launched from Magrathea? 

•What is Deep Thought?

•What is the smartest species on Earth?

•What was the purpose of the Earth?

•What is the meaning to Life, The Universe, and Everything?

•Why 42?

•What is the question for the answer of 42?

•What is so important about Arthur’s brain?

•What did the crew of the Heart of Gold survive Magrathea?

Book Details

Edition:                   First Ballantine Books Edition

Publisher:               Del Rey [The Random House Publishing Group]

Edition ISBN:         0345453743

Pages to read:          144

Publication:             2002

1st Edition:              1979

Format:                    Paperback

Ratings out of 5:

Readability    5

Content          4

Overall          5

Review of 1789: The Threshold of the Modern Age by David Andress

This book review was written by Eugene Kernes   

Book can be found in: 

Genre = History

Intriguing Connections = 1) Get To Know The Peoples Of The World (France, United Kingdom, United States of America), 

2) The Persecuted and The Persecutors, 3) How Is Sovereignty Is Gained And Lost?, 

4) To Cooperate Or To Defect?, 5) Why Conflict Occurs And How To Resolve Them?, 

6) Why Do People Think Differently?, 7) What Defines A Culture? How To Belong To A Community?,

Watch Short Review

Excerpts

“The monarchy’s practice for centuries had been to reward status with privilege, and sometimes to sell that privilege for short-term income, compounding the longer-term problem.  For what privilege meant, beyond mere social cachet, was the right not to have to pay tax.  State office-holders, along with tens of thousands of nobles, the inhabitants of some entire provinces and anyone else with any real social status were effectively outside the regular system of taxation.” – David Andress, Chapter 1: ‘he snatched lightning from the heavens’, Page 22

 

“The individual states lived through the post-war years in circumstances of continual tension and dispute scarcely different from those of the Old World kingdoms their inhabitants had left behind.  Freed from the heavy hand of British imperial direction, the commercial interests of the various states had struck out in support of their own goals, dominating local legislature often chosen on narrow franchises of wealth, and using the real powers of the states to engross and monopolise the two routes to American prosperity: seaborne trade and landward expansion.” – David Andress, Chapter 2: ‘The best model the world has even produced’, Page 36-37

 

“Alongside the Sedition Act, Congress also passed three separate Alien Acts, restricting the rights of foreigners to be naturalised as Americans, and allowing citizens of hostile nations, and those merely suspected of antipathies ‘dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States,’ to be deported on presidential authority.” – David Andress, Conclusion, Page 382

Review

Is This An Overview?

Many social changes were happening to the United States, France, and British during the 1780s-1790s.  Obtaining independence from a monarchy, to defending sovereignty, to economics, to social rights.  Each were forced to reconsider what they thought of liberty and freedom.  Each considered the rights and treatment of slaves, along with the penal system.  Methods were used to protect free speech, to prevent persecution for disagreement with those in power.  The privileges of the elite, the nobles were challenged.  Exploitation by those in power were to be resisted.  As power shifted to private entities, to the market system, those in power had their own exploitation methods which were challenged.  Developing a need for workers’ rights.  Technological development changed infrastructure. 

 

Caveats?

The book covers a range of topics, and therefore there is limited information on each topic.  More research would be needed to understand each society and event.  The history is represented using contemporary values, of the early 21^st century.  Creating a narrative fallacy for what was right and wrong.

Questions to Consider while Reading the Book

•What is the raison d’etre of the book?  For what purpose did the author write the book?  Why do people read this book?

•What are some limitations of the book?

•To whom would you suggest this book?

•How did the U.S. change?

•Hod did France change?

•How did the British (U.K.) change?

•What were coffee-houses?  

•What were salons?

•What were the privileges of the elite? 

•How was power distributed? 

•What happened to the U.S. after independence?  

•How were patents used? 

•What were the articles that defended the Glorious Revolution? 

•What happened to slavery?

•How did business respond to their political situation? 

•How did the penal system change?

•What happed to the market system?

•What were worker rights?

•How did technology change? 

Book Details

Edition:                   First American Edition

Publisher:               Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Edition ISBN:         9780374100131

Pages to read:          398

Publication:             2009

1st Edition:              2008

Format:                    Hardcover 

Ratings out of 5:

Readability    3

Content          3

Overall          3