Book 04 - So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish - Douglas Adams

I have to confess, I chose this last book during my end-of-the-year reading frenzy when I was looking for books that I could read fairly quickly.  I've had it for just over two months I think, and it absolutely has to go back to the library today (no more renewals), so I figured I better read it and write it up.  If anyone cares, I re-read the small portion of it that I read last year, so as to have read the whole thing in 2012.  I did this not so much out of a sense of honor as out of a sense of senility.

Book 04 - So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish - Douglas Adams

As the book covers so wittily notes, this is "The fourth in the increasingly inaccurately named Hitchhiker's Trilogy," which started with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and now encompasses six books I believe, the last of which was not even written by Douglas Adams.  The first three books deal with the adventures of Arthur Dent, who with the help of his friend Ford Prefect, escapes the imminent destruction of earth by a Vogon demolition crew that is clearing the way for an intergalactic highway, and winds up hitchhiking across the gallaxy with the aforementioned guidebook to help him along.

Now after eight years, Arthur Dent is back on earth, with nothing to show from his travels except an old towel, a shopping bag from a galactic duty-free store, and a Babelfish in his ear.  Wait.  Did you say Earth??  Wasn't it destroyed? Well, this is just as confusing to Arthur as it is to the reader.  He saw it happen, didn't he?  His first hitched ride was on one of the Vogon demolition ships!

Well apparently the earth was not destroyed, but something big happened.  The official explanation was that it was mass hallucinations due to the accidental release of an experimental psychotropic drug.  It's old news now. People don't really talk about it that much any more.  Heck, they don't even talk about the disappearance of the dolphins that much, either.

Wait.  Did you say the dolphins are gone??  Where did they go?  Arthur can't help but look for answers, especially after receiving the mysteriously magnificent fish bowl with "So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish" engraved into its side.  Fortunately, he finds a soulmate in Fenchurch, an odd but beautiful girl who is also looking for answers, the difference being that she doesn't even really know the questions.  Together, they seek out Wonko the Sane, who knows more about the dolphins and their disappearance than anyone.  They learn that God's Final Message is located on a distant planet, and with the help of Ford Prefect, once again Arthur hitches across the galaxy with Fenchurch in tow, looking for this great piece of cosmic wisdom.

I read the first three books many years and many brain cells ago, so my recollection of them is not perfect, but I remember them as much funnier than this.  For one thing, with Earth as the setting most of this book, there does not seem to be as much opportunity for new zaniness, and so many of the things that were so funny from the books - the Babelfish, the improbability drive, Marvin the depressed robot - are either missing, mentioned in passing, or simply seem played out.  Don't get me wrong.  There are still some very funny parts in this book.  The humor has a Monty Python style to it, which is not surprising, as Adams has connections to the British Comedy troop.  Adams has written at least one sketch for Python, and he has had cameos in others. Also, Terry Jones wrote Starship Titanic based on one of Adams' ideas.  If you haven't read any of Adams' work, though, you are much better off starting with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.