Science Fiction or just Silly Fiction?
The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
- Thread starter JeffinOakland
- Start date
It's always shelved in the Sci-Fi section, which is a bit misleading. It's more silly than anything else. Perhaps the humor section would be more fitting.
Of course they can...as long as they're humorous sci-fi. The Hitchhiker books are just....silly.
3 billion people were murdered in the first 15 pages.
What sort of compassionless monster are you?
What sort of compassionless monster are you?
A rather comfy compassionless monster with my cat, my tea and my towel, tyvm.
Comfortableness is next to godlessness.
The Krikket Wars in the audio version is ####ing weird.
The Krikket can't stop singing in four part harmonies while they are butchering civilization, after civilization.
The Krikket Wars in the audio version is ####ing weird.
The Krikket can't stop singing in four part harmonies while they are butchering civilization, after civilization.
I found that book mostly stoopid. The 1st is the best. Restaurant has its charms. Fish is kinda fun.
I don't know what's hotter.
Being named after a Railway Station, or being named after a square on the Monopoly board.
Sexy as hell.
Being named after a Railway Station, or being named after a square on the Monopoly board.
Sexy as hell.
Of course it's sci-fi. So are Futurama, Spaceballs, Alf, and 3rd Rock From the Sun. (Mork and Mindy? That might be stretching it.)
Dr. Who can be tremendously silly, but would you say it's not sci-fi?
Dr. Who can be tremendously silly, but would you say it's not sci-fi?
Of course, it's sci-fi. It's also clever and funny as hell.
Depends on which board. Your side of the Pond has different names than my side.
Your side, my side, your side my side!
So it's silly, how does that make it NOT sci-fi?
Careful, there. You could insult most of my family and I'd be dramatically less offended than I am to see you say that about that book or would be to see insult to its author. The man almost certainly saved my life through his writings - and my mantra through one of the worst times in my life was a passage from the very book you're disparaging.
Back to your OP, though, I think I do understand why you ask the question. A lot of sci-fi works from a, well, science fiction premise, and then works outward from there to fill in details. Douglas's works functioned differently, in that he had specific stories he wanted people to read, jokes he wanted to tell, and points he wanted to make. He would build a story around these smaller things, and sometimes he would write whole passages and even afterward he wasn't sure whether they would end up polished and integrated into a Hitchhiker's story, a Dirk Gently story, or something else altogether. As others have rightly pointed out, this doesn't negate it being science fiction, though, because there is plenty of scientific content - I learned a ton from the books and from research I was inspired to do by his books, personally. But like I said, I get the question, and given that Douglas was deeply inspired by the writings of P.G. Wodehouse, who had a similar wit but would never have been accused (I don't think) of writing sci-fi, I believe he would have understood what you're driving at, as well.
I would ask, though, that if you've thought of them as "silly", you might give the books a reread. Douglas was OFTEN *very* silly, but almost never without a point - often a very DEEP point.
That too.
Cool. I work in bookstores, too.
I'm happy for you that you got so much out of his writing.
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