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Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 3:12 pm
Yep. This thread is for the discussion of the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and anything by Douglas Adams (He did work on Dr Who y'know)
I just thought that they kind of attract similar fans... (Mind you the new movie was a bit childish, but the book and BBC serial were awesome.)
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Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 5:15 pm
The new movie was ew if you try to compare it to the first H2G2 book. confused
However, the books themselves are amazing. biggrin I haven't seen any of Douglas Adams' Who episodes, but I did get to see what they did with the (probably famous) Shada clip in The Five Doctors. smile
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Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 5:20 pm
I loved the radio serial. I used to listen to it & tape record the episodes on NPR back when I was at university. It was so well done, it was easy to just close your eyes and imagine everything that was going on. And the BBC series was pretty good too. I mean, we got Peter Davison as the Dish of the Day at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe! whee
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Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2009 11:45 am
Now, now. Don't say the new movie IS bad compared to the book. If that's your opinion, fine, but don't state it as a fact. My dad's been a sci-fi nerd and fan of those books for probably longer than you've been alive (assuming you're of average Gaian age) and he loves the movie. I thought it was good, too, even though I haven't read the whole book (I was reading it, but then we moved and it got lost in the move...).
We both thought it could have been better, but it's not like they had all the time in the world to tell the story, so you have to be lenient. Over all, it was a very entertaining movie and that's more than you can say for many movies out these days.
Anyway, if you don't think the book was in the least bit childish, you're kidding yourself. All sci-fi is childish. That's it's nature and that's why I love it. When it starts to take itself too seriously is when it becomes incredibly tedious and just plain uninteresting, in my opinion.
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Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2009 2:44 pm
Eruravenne Now, now. Don't say the new movie IS bad compared to the book. If that's your opinion, fine, but don't state it as a fact. My dad's been a sci-fi nerd and fan of those books for probably longer than you've been alive (assuming you're of average Gaian age) and he loves the movie. I thought it was good, too, even though I haven't read the whole book (I was reading it, but then we moved and it got lost in the move...). We both thought it could have been better, but it's not like they had all the time in the world to tell the story, so you have to be lenient. Over all, it was a very entertaining movie and that's more than you can say for many movies out these days. Anyway, if you don't think the book was in the least bit childish, you're kidding yourself. All sci-fi is childish. That's it's nature and that's why I love it. When it starts to take itself too seriously is when it becomes incredibly tedious and just plain uninteresting, in my opinion. Some sci-fi is definitely not childish, but I guess a lot of them can kinda be considered to be, depending on how you look at it. I guess... if you take that view it really needs to be extended to cover a lot of other fiction genres. I would have more described H2G2 as 'random'. I didn't mind the movie so much, but I did think it was a little childish. The book was LOADS better tho, imo. Even with time restrictions and all that, the movie didn't actually follow the plotline very well, after the beginning. They kinda... changed it, to make it more popular for the target audience, families and stuff I'm guessing. They even made different 'movie' version of the book. I guess I was just a little disappointed because I'd rather that they did up the old tv series with some new effects and costumes. Because that followed the book almost exactly. 100% Douglas.
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Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2009 4:25 pm
Of course the plot was childish/silly/ridiculous! That's why I love it! xd It's one of the few sci-fi books that has me cracking up laughing! My dad likes wacky stuff and he's the one who got me into it. smile
It's just that the plot of the movie is more a conglomeration of different parts of all the series, so when people only think of it as "movie version of book 1", the overly-ridiculous nature of it can get them to think of the -whole thing- as really dumb, when H2G2 is one of the wittiest sci-fi books I know.
And I have witnesses here who know I can get really strange when movies take/add from the book so much that it gets all the non-readers confused. (see insane rant about Harry Potter 5 some pages back.)
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Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2009 3:07 pm
Well, like I said, I find sci-fi that tries to take itself super seriously (as in tries to come off as not childish) just ends up being boring. Pretentious, even. Maybe that's why I tend to read mostly childrens books. At least they know what they are.
By the way, I'm not saying you can't have seriousness in sci-fi. Not at all. You need some or else you just end up being overly silly. There has to be a good balance.
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Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2009 5:45 pm
Anybody read Terry Pratchett's Discworld series? The early books seem heavily influenced by Douglas Adams' writing style, especially with hilarious footnotes and bizarre details about the characters. One of my favorites of the early books was Mort, with that poor dwarf playwright who was getting inspiration beamed into his head from a zillion universes...so while he was trying valiantly to compose Shakespearean verse, it kept coming out as the most hysterically funny twistings of Shakespeare I've ever seen. mrgreen Mr. Pratchett doesn't write like that any more; he's found his own equally engaging but not so funny style. But I'm certain Douglas Adams was a major influence on him early on.
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Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2009 7:11 pm
Aaah, I really need to read Discworld. whee *puts on summer reading list*
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Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2009 11:51 pm
i like hitchhickers'. i read it recently. it was very funny i have read some discworld book but didnt like them so much the first chapter/prologue is good/funny but for me it just goes down hill from there
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Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 2:20 pm
I haven't read Discworld, but I want to. I have, however, read the book he cowrote with Neil Gaiman called Good Omens. That is one of the best books I've ever read.
And if we're recommending other book series, read the Myth-adventures/Myth INC books by Robert Asprin. Hilarious!
Anyway... I'll let you get back to your topic now. ninja
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Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 3:15 am
Heh, my reading list keeps growing faster than I can actually read the books. I haven't read discworld myself but lots of people say they're good, so I will end up reading them at some point.
H2G2 are my fave books by Douglas, but I love the others as well. Trying to get my hands on the Meaning of Liff at the moment... not so much a story as an interesting collection of words for all the feelings and circumstances that you really need words for. Strange!
I thought the end of H2G2 was really abrupt... almost like he got bored of writing and just decided to end it. I had to read it over about 4 times before it sunk in!
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Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 3:19 pm
I could be wrong but I think even Douglas Adams said H2G2 ended on a bleak note..
@ Euravenne: I've been wanting to read Good Omens for a LONG time. smile
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Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 4:36 pm
Well we don't know how bleak the new ending will be. Originally Douglas Adams was going to Write a 6th Book once he finished the book her was working on at the time. Because he wanted it to be 6 books. Although the 5th book ended Bleakly the 6th book was suppose to bring every one back and have one last adventure. But since he died he never got the chance but now the man who created and wrote Artemis Fowl has been asked by Douglas Adams Wife to write the final book. This new book will be called "And Another Thing." Which is due to be released in October of this year.
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Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 7:28 pm
Yeaaaah, I heard about Eoin Colfer writing another H2G2 sequel.. I'm not sure how I think about that yet.
And ION Network finally aired that four hour movie based on Discworld -- Sean Astin plays the main character. I've seen maybe 20 minutes so far, it looks interesting.
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