Many people have heard of the number 42 as a common joke answer to the question of the meaning of life, a term coined by Douglas Adams in his 1979 satire novel “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” It is for this joke that many know this novel, though it exhibits much more than simple jokes; it is regarded by readers and critics as great for its brilliant satire, important truths, and enjoyable comedy.

This novel begins at the house of one Arthur Dent, a simple man that is woken up with the stunning sight of a man in a bulldozer driving towards his house with the intent to demolish it without Arthur’s knowledge. Heading outside, Arthur lies in front of the bulldozer to prevent its destruction of his house, when he is confronted by Ford Prefect, an odd friend of his, who comes with a pack of beer to invite Arthur to the bar. Questioning his decision, Arthur explains that he wishes to stay in his position to prevent his house from being demolished, though Ford explains to him that there are more important matters for him to assess. Leaving with Arthur towards the bar, Ford reveals that planet Earth is being momentarily demolished by otherworldly beings in order to, oddly, be replaced by an outer space bypass. In shock, Arthur follows Ford as they hitchhike onto a nearby spaceship that is flying above the planet as the planet demolishes in a mere instant. Following this break from normal reality, Ford reveals that he is really an otherworldly being, coming to Earth merely to document what he describes as Earth’s “mostly harmless” features in his book, “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”. What follows begins Arthur and Ford’s adventures through the vast universe unknown to Arthur, meeting many others along the way, from unevolved aliens to fish that enter your ears.

With a very sudden introduction, Adams shocks the reader into otherworldly dimensions outside of the comfortable Earth setting, which creates a gap for contrast and allows many of the novel’s brilliant features to show. Through the contrast of Arthur’s regularity to the outer galaxy’s oddness and different traditions, Adams can bring to light the opinion that other aliens hold of Arthur and his earthly tradition. Many times, Arthur is criticised in this novel for having redundant actions and is shown that there is much more in the universe than his planet’s simple ideas and traditions. This setup allows for brilliant satire to show, and is often used as a tool to bring about much of Adams’ philosophy on humans and society, giving this novel depth in terms of truth and entertainment.

In particular, I enjoy this novel’s truthful identity; many topics and ideas of the human tradition that are brought to question in this novel are important to consider. This book can serve as a great way to realize that there is more to life than that in our range of views, a point that Adams does well to feature. This book also shines in its entertaining use of satire, rendering it as not only a philosophical novel but a very humorous and enjoyable one. Overall, this is a book I very much enjoy and one that should be read and pondered by others.