Dinesh and Bawa

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Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Douglas Adams

While studying for the 12th standard exams at a friends house, i came across a book with a very strange name: So Long, and thanks for all the fish...
of course i had to read it... I think i laughed almost without a break, from the first sentence to the last! Douglas Adams (who wrote it) had become my new hero! :)



He died some years ago... and so, there won't be any books from him anymore, and the planet is a sadder place without him... but if anyone would like to read something uproariously funny, set in a crazy sci-fi universe not too different that our own, well actually it is a bit different, earth gets destroyed in the first few pages... then they should not look any further than the absolutely fantastic Hitch hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a trilogy in 5 parts!

It starts thus:

In the beginning the universe was created, this was widely regarded as a very bad move!



Here are some more gems:

As he rounded the corner, the first thing that hit his eyes was a coffin. The next four hundred and ninety nine things that hit his eyes were also coffins!

"you are dumb"
"no, i am not!"
"yes you are!"
"am not"
"are"
"well, i will prove to you that you are dumb... think of a number"
"ok, i did..."
"So, tell me..."
"63"
"wrong! see i told you, you were dumb!"

The above is a conversation between a depressed robot and a mattress (don't ask!)

The qui'xbsgzxs from the star qely'ghtus have fifty arms and so are the only race in the entire galaxy who managed to invent the aeresol deodarant before the wheel!

This ship is powered by the improbability drive. You choose a destination and feed it into the ship's computer, since it is extremely improbable that the ship can go there, it will!

There is a page which lists the thoughts of a whale which has suddenly materialized a few kilometers above the earth's surface as it comes crashing down onto the planet which i think was perhaps one of the funniest pages i have had the pleasure to read! :)

The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a book compiled for the intrepid galactic adventurer. Description of Earth in the guide: Mostly Harmless

...

There is a lot more, but i will leave that for you to discover. He also wrote the Dirk gently and his holistic detective agency series of books which deal with Dirk Gently the detective and of course his Holistic Detective Agency



Starship Titanic was perhaps the only book that i didn't throughly enjoy...

He also wrote a superb book called last Chance to See. It's a very funny book, dealing with the very serious problem of environment degradation and the extinction of species of flora and fauna on our beautiful planet...

The Last Salmon of Doubt is an incomplete book. He died before he could finish it. For the sake of completeness of your collection, get it :) It has a few superb moments!

Finally, when you read these books you will get to know the answer to the Ultimate question about Life, the Universe and Everything!!  

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18 comments:

anup said...

Bau, i agree H2G2 is a must have for all. Its a Bible which one can refer to when life throws some uncomfortable questions. After all it has profound answers to how man can fly and outworldly concepts like Total Perspective Vortex

Dilkhush said...

Jai Gurudev :-)

I have heard about his books and have been also gifted one by my sister. Unfortunately, I did not read it yet... But, now for sure.

Thanks for sharing :-)

Guru Ang Sang,

Pooja said...

waah...(i started sayin it whr ever i can after reading abt it,really a magic)
u know i wonder..how come everything of this really SOUNDS INTERESTING..
(of course coz written in "bau's" style) ;)
i think this is something i shouldn't miss at all...thank u so much
Jai Gurudev
Love
Pooja

Trinaa said...

hahahahahaha..."In the beginning the universe was created,this was widely regarded as a very bad move.".. hahahaha...m goin to buy this book as soon as i can.. :))

Anonymous said...

No trip to Pune in your Itenary :(

Regards,
Simran

vishal said...

hi bawa and dinesh
tell u frankly i just fininshed " 3 mistakes of my life " and i was looking for a new book and today you suggested it .
thank you ,it really sounds interesting the way you have described.
bye
vishal

priyanka said...

jgd

wll surely read this book.

priyanka

Kaushik said...

Dear Bau, I was quite a voracious reader during school/college time when i could rarely afford to buy books. Now that i´m working, the non-spiritual books somehow dont seem to interest me anymore. ´The interest is now shifted towards spiritual oriented books by different masters and of course from Guruji also. And when i do pick up some non-spiritual fiction, i reread only the ones that i had read before.

Your posts on books really excites about the huge list of books that i´ve not read but i get bored as soon as i pick up something new. Hope to renkindle my reading habit soon.

JGD,
Kaushik

sonal said...

You forgot about the "Towel" - most important gear for a hitch hiker (& AOLF teacher) ;-)

Hope you are doing well Bawa! Just found this, awesome post on fav book! :-)

Things in Cincinnati are rocking, just getting ready to inaugurate our first center, the Univ's need some serious shake-up wake-up (Hint Hint) :-)

Hope to see you stateside soon. Joy GD! Sonal.

nasradu8 said...

Hehe... nice 1 Bau.... I have been reading a string of really serious novels (Atlas Shrugged being current 1). I think your list will help me next.

Anonymous said...

You might enjoy Godel Escher Bach too...tho it is not so funny as Hitchhiker
~Birjoo

Anonymous said...

42 :)

Unknown said...

I really loved the book Bau, it was amazingly funny. It just stretched my imagination beyond limits. I gifted myself this book on my Birthday. Thanx bau for suggesting...

Jai Gurudev
Love
Jeet

Amarja said...

Dear Bau

Thanks for the excerpts from his books, loved the one on dumbness. I used it on couple of people too! ;)

Vikrant Naik said...

Hi bawa,
was glad to read about my favorite author Douglas Noel Adams (DNA).

Have you read a book by him and John Lloyd?
Its called "The meaning of Liff"
Its basically a dictionary which has words that normally aren't there....
its available online...here

http://folk.uio.no/alied/TMoL.html

love
Vikrant

P.S:How come you didn't write about flying from H2G2?

Vikrant Naik said...

and bawa....how about a post on the inimitable P.G. Wodehouse? I know you read his books.

Vikrant

Abhay Karnataki said...

Bau, its really amazing:- the Hithhiker's guide to galaxy! having lot of fun reading it these days...
i bought the five novels in one volume, the ultimate guide... its great!

so nice of you to recommend!

Aditi said...

Hey Bawa..read hitchhiker's a while back..I've never laughed so hard and so much while reading a book..or reading anything for that matter!! Loved it!
Also, I was part of the Utsav that just happened..and wow..it was just TOOOO much fun..aol rocks! and both of you'll rock!!

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