Mostly Harmless
Written by Douglas Adams
Narrated by Martin Freeman
4/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
Hell takes a number of forms: there's the standard Ford Prefect version, in the shape of an all-new edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and a totally unexpected manifestation in the form of a teenage girl who startles Arthur Dent by being his daughter when he didn't even know he had one.
Can Arthur save the Earth from total multidimensional obliteration? Can he save the Guide from a hostile alien takeover? Can he save his daughter, Random, from herself? Of course not. He never works out exactly what is going on. Will you?
From the Trade Paperback edition.
Douglas Adams
Douglas Adams created all the various and contradictory manifestations of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: radio, novels, TV, computer game, stage adaptations, comic book and bath towel. He lectured and broadcast around the world and was a patron of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund and Save the Rhino International. Douglas Adams was born in Cambridge, UK and lived with his wife and daughter in Islington, London, before moving to Santa Barbara, California, where he died suddenly in 2001.
More audiobooks from Douglas Adams
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Live in Concert Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to Mostly Harmless
Related audiobooks
A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib and Japan (Unabridged) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGullible's Travels, Etc. Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Lightning Keeper Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Aran Islands Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA World on Edge: The End of the Great War and the Dawn of a New Age Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Napoleon of Notting Hill - Book 2 (Unabridged) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Strange Affair of Adelaide Harris Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOn Schooling and the Phases of Mr. Sandsome (Unabridged) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSudden Rain Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Importance of Being Earnest Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Adventure of the Speckled Band: Sherlock Holmes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTono-Bungay - Book the First: The Days Before Tono-Bungay Was Invented (Unabridged) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ambitious Guest Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5"There Are Things I Want You to Know" About Stieg Larsson and Me Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Highway of Diamonds: The Lost Bob Dylan Interviews Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5J.M. Barrie: The Short Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRainbow (Version 2) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJonathan Pie: Off the Record Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Attack Poodles and Other Media Mutants: The Looting of the News in a Time of Terror Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Republic of Dirt Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Whale Tooth Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAnd the Gods Laughed Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDear Oliver: An Unexpected Friendship with Oliver Sacks Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Prester John Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5That Sweet Little Old Lady Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Additional Dialogue: An Evening With Dalton Trumbo Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAn Open Boat Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhite Fang Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Personal Record Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGenerosity: An Enhancement Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Humor & Satire For You
The Soulmate Equation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Man Called Ove: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come: One Introvert's Year of Saying Yes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing the Guys Who Killed the Guy Who Killed Lincoln: A Nutty Story About Edwin Booth and Boston Corbett Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Love and Other Words Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anxious People: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How Y'all Doing?: Misadventures and Mischief from a Life Well Lived Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Big Swiss: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nothing to See Here Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Librarianist: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Stay Married Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mary Jane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shopgirl Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Britt-Marie Was Here: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary: Lessons in Chemistry: A Novel by Bonnie Garmus: Key Takeaways, Summary & Analysis Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tidy the F*ck Up: The American Art of Organizing Your Sh*t Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This Is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Young Doctor Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Harold Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sh*t My Dad Says Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Three Wishes: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Spoiler Alert: You're Gonna Die: Unveiling Death One Question at a Time Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Office BFFs: Tales of The Office from Two Best Friends Who Were There Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Really Good, Actually: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Is this Anything? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Mostly Harmless
2,810 ratings63 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The fifth (and thus far, last) installment in the Hitchhiker Trilogy, this book covers the Vogons continuing attempts to destroy Earth, a project they began in the first book. Like the other books, the plot is almost entirely beside the point, as Adams engages in the vicious and humorous satire of almost everything.Unfortunately, this book is much weaker than the others in the series. While the previous books had a light touch and managed to poke fun at things without seeming mean-spirited, this book seems almost devoid of any kind of joy or happiness. I have been told that Adams knew he was dying when he wrote this book, which may account for the depressing tone and nihilistic ending. This bit of understanding (if true) explains why the book is so dark and dreary, but it doesn't make it any more enjoyable to read.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Arguably Adams's best book.It's hard to decide whether the first or last book of the Hitchhiker's trilogy is the best, because they're so different. Simply put, when Douglas wrote The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, he didn't know how to write a book. He ended up producing a work that didn't fit any of the usual rules, and famously ended in the middle of nowhere when he hit his deadline. 99.999% of the time, this would have been a disaster. Instead, Hitchhiker's was the wildly (but not infinitely) improbable exception to the rule: everything worked in its favor. It was brilliant. It was a hit. It was irreproducible. (He came as close as one could with The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, which was essentially the second half of the book, but never managed it again.)So over the years, Adams learned how to write a book properly. And after a couple of flawed attempts at mastering the form, Mostly Harmless is the one in which he finally got it just right. It has a solid plot in which several threads satisfyingly come together at the end, providing closure for the series as a whole. It's the perfect ending for the trilogy. It may lack the manic inventiveness of the first book, but you can't have it both ways...
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I don't know how to rate this installment. On the one hand, the writing is excellent, as always. The narration is outstanding. However, there's a vein of bitterness pushing through the narrative. It's subtle, and for the most part I didn't notice it as I listened. I don't think I even realized what it was I noticed until the book was done. After my brain calmed down from shouting, "What?!!?!! That's IT!!! What?!!?!!" I couldn't help but wonder if Mr. Adam's real purpose was to keep people from badgering him to write more in the series. I haven't done any research on that question - I'm not sure if I want to know or not.
All else being equal, I wouldn't even consider reading the posthumous 6th book in this series. Frankly, on first hearing about it, I felt downright offended. Then I saw the author - Eoin Colfer. So, I'm going to read the next volume and see how it goes. I don't want to expect brilliance. Only a whacko nutcase could expect brilliance from a 6th book in a series after the author murdered the main characters and destroyed the planet central to the narrative in every possible universe. Apparently, I am that nutcase. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I have read a few of the guides and enjoyed them, but this one seemed very disjointed. Aurthor finds a daughter.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Would go 2.5 stars if I could (LibraryThing can do this, why can't GoodReads?) I think I agree with most people's sentiments I've read online, which is that they consider So Long and Thanks For All the Fish to be the real ending. This is bizarre, but not in the zany, fun way that the other 4 books are. It definitely felt like it was getting a little long in the tooth, and not necessary. Adams was a tremendous writer, so it's not like it was badly written, but I found myself relieved when the book was completed (not a great ending, but perhaps a fitting one?)I'm really glad I read the entire series, the 1st (Hitchiker) and 4th (Fish) are leagues above the other three, as I felt they combined the usual Adams zany, wacky, bonkers imagination with an actual narrative
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A sinister corporation takes over the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.Okay. It's a mess, and not nearly funny enough to justify being forced onto the end of a series that had already ended well several times.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5In 'Mostly Harmless' characters here seem to get their own chapters, starting with Trillian, as the characters all seem to be distant from each other. Mostly Harmless is much better than So Long (my least favorite in the series.) I love the bit with Ford jumping out the window - I can only imagine how cinematic that could have been.Overall, the Hitchhiker's books are never TOO science-fictiony - a sci-fi newbie can understand all of the science here. Which is all the more amazing that Adams can come up with so many fresh ideas yet be so understandable. These books are at the top of that sci-fi mountain. I also was surprised to NOT find more dated British slang - there isn't any. Almost like Adams knew the books would be universal classics that would withstand time. Thinking of why this is a classic: the setting is imaginatively otherworldly from the beginning, there are the perfect number of main characters (interesting characters as well), the plot is always speedy and amazing, the number of ideas that are seemingly only thought up by Adams, and the humorous perfect writing itself. All of the elements are there.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I really enjoyed reading this book despite the ending that seemed to not really be an ending and was rather confusing.
I was so excited to see Arthur living happily and then suddenly, that happiness in the form of the love of his life disappears as he finds himself on another adventure in space in search of the question to forty two and what it may have to do with everyone around him, particularly Fenny.
Eventually Arthur is able to find happiness on a planet similar to Earth while living a very simple life in the form of no technology and being known at The Sandwich Maker. Then out of the blue, Trillian appears with a little girl and he find out that the girl is named Random and she's his daughter. I laughed when I realized that out of his donations of sperm, his just happened to be mixed with Trillian to form a girl who is confused, angry at the world in general & wondering where she fits in.
This book also brings Ford back into the picture who also seems to mess up Arthur 's plans & yet there's a friendship of sorts.
There was insight into Trillian in a parallel universe who made different choices & had quite a different life.
This book certainly jumped around & came up with many suprised and left a lot of questions behind. This book was very random but I really didn't mind & found it entertaining.
I wasn't happy with how the book ended but I am still glad I read it. If Adams were able to give answers, I'd probably have questions a mile long.
Looking forward to the next book that wasn't fully written by Adams but is in the same series & hopefully answer a lot of the questions. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Another high.y amusing entry in the Hitchhicker's Guide Trilogy.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I have to say that this is not my least favourite Hitchhikers book. I think there is a general decline in the quality of the books as they go on but I still perfer this to the fourth. This is a horribly depressing book, but it is damn funny in places. Arthur looses Fenchurch, which is quite a blow to him, but he manages to finally find something approaching hapiness making sandwiches on a planet which hasn't intented space travel. This is all well and good until Trillian appears and leaves him with a daughter concieved from the sperm he sold to pay for his space travel, followed closely by a mysterious package from Ford Prefect. Soon Arthur finds himself pulled away from his quiet happy life into the baffling universe again to try and save his daughter. Of course, it doesn't end well. I have to say that this book appeals to me because of the way it doesn't all fall out in the end. It doesn't all just right itself magically. They stumble along trying to do their best and, as usual, things just happen reguardless of what they do. This is far from the best book though. It it a little too dark and far too contrived. The new guide is the biggest ploy to bring an end to something ever. Something that makes sure everything goes right just by existing, ok, whatever. The plot kind of kicks in half way through the book but the first part meanders. There are many things I'd change, but I still prefer it to the fourth book.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I have to admit, I'd forgotten just how depressing this book is. It doesn't feel like a "Hitchhiker's" book, and no matter that Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect are in it, it is so different in tone and theme that I can't really see it as part of the series."Mostly Harmless" is a depressing book. It lacks the good natured, easy humor of its four predecessors. It lacks the sparkling enthusiasm for life, the boundless sense of adventure and wonder at the universe. It also lacks the energy of the previous books, plodding along at a rather slow and convoluted pace. So what makes it so depressing, exactly?Well for starters, Arthur has lost Fenchurch, and not only that but he's lost the Earth as well. He wanders the universe, desperately trying to find his way back to the Earth he knows, but instead keeps hitting parallel Earths that are all grim and foul. While in the first three books Arthur's constant bafflement in his predicament as an Earthman stranded in space was hilarious, in this book everything is treated with a real sense of grief and loss.The "Hitchhiker's Guide" itself has been taken over by soulless corporate types (later revealed to be Vogons) who have removed all of the zany fun from the offices. Perhaps as a result of this, the Guide has ceased to function and does not give any advice, entertaining or otherwise.Trillian perhaps has the most depressing fate of all. The book begins with Tricia MacMillan of a parallel Earth who missed her chance to run off with Zaphod Beeblebrox. She since gave up her career in astrophysics and became a TV anchor woman because she can no longer stand to look at planets and stars. She spends all of her time wondering what her life would have been like if only she'd gone with Zaphod, feeling she missed her one big chance in life and feels dead inside. But the real blow comes when we find out that the Trillian of the previous books, the one who did go with Zaphod, feels exactly the same way. She's also restless and depressed and spends all her time wishing she'd stayed back on Earth because she believes her life would have been better there. There's something so despairing about this that it's always bothered me.Of course just because it's depressing doesn't make "Mostly Harmless" a bad book, it just doesn't feel like a "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" book, and it makes for difficult reading when one is used to a lighter, happier more life-affirming tone from Adams. Personally, this is not one of my favorite novels, although I did like the bit about the sandwiches, and it was nice to see what really happened to the King. 3/5 stars.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Great audiobook, didn't like the end very much,without the humor of other titles in series, but still good.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Finished and angry, betrayed by the author. I mean, Hitchhiker's Guide is probably the best book ever, so I can forgive him anything. But jeez, Doug!
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5That took a weird turn in the end...
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A return to form. Douglas Adams described it as a 'bleak' book, but that's where he started - earth didn't survive the first twenty pages in Hitchhiker's.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I enjoyed this much less this time around. I don't know if it was the casual tossing away of the wonderful romance we saw just one book before, or the almost rebooted characters, or the ending that seemed somewhat rushed and out of nowhere.
Not sure, but I really wish we could have seen where Adams would have taken this with one more book.
As it is, I'll have to settle for Eoin Colfer's take on the ending of the series. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Not as good as the other 4, but still entertaining.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5So I just realised that all my other editions of the series are the wrong editions. Oops. I'll fix that later.
ON WITH THE REVIEW.
This is an excellent edition, though. Martin Freeman's vocal work is on-point and he's the perfect man to recreate Adams' dry, laconic, insufferable British wit. This one had plenty of twists and turns, it wasn't my favourite but there were quite a few moments where I was definitely on the edge of my seat.
It was at times, completely bizarre and just straight-up confusing but I worked my way through it easily enough. I find, though, that like a lot of books in series, the books that aren't your complete and utter favourite (Looking at you, So Long and Thanks for all the Fish) tend to blend in with the rest of the series.
I don't really want to go into the plot too much because this book ties up a lot of the loose ends and plot holes that quite a few of the other books had. I was a little bit unsatisfied with how everything finished up but Adams is such a bizarre and wonderful writer, it's hard to stay mad at him.
4 stars from me. c: - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Either I have drifted away from the Hitchhiker series or this one is particularly difficult to read. It was very distracting to keep the timelines straight and some people's names changed. That made it even more difficult. I only have a little time each day for reading right now, so maybe the problem was that I couldn't get enough of the story in one read to follow it very well. In the end, I wasn't sure what the point was, but with so many timelines, perhaps the point was in the past and I have to read another book to find it. Otherwise, very typical Douglas Adams with lots of humor.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I did it. I finished a thing.
Arthur has had quite a weird little life. - Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Mostly boring. Did not finish.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Trillian leaves her grown daughter with Arthur, but Random Dent, a result of the merging of Trillian and Arthur's DNA, is not happy being abandoned and steals The Guide and a ship to go to alternate Earth and the team picks up the track. This installment is a little "off" compared to the first three, but it's still enjoyable for Adams' odd humor and side tracks. The audio reader is Martin Freeman, who does a really good job - especially Marvin's last scene is wonderful.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I think what makes the last two books of the series work for me is that they're tied back to the Guide. Mostly Harmless brings us back to the urgency and magic of the first book. A satisfying conclusion to the series.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I'm not sure what to make of this. When all of the characters are on their own, though, it doesn't really work. At least we know what happened to the King.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Perfectly Normal Beast sound delicious.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Meh. It still didn't grab me for the most part. Fairly funny and imaginative in spots, but overall a disappointment.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I was surprised about the low rated reviews here. I read the other four a while back so I have kind of forgotten them. However this book was enjoyable and funny, much funnier than say a Terry Pratchett novel. Similar humour but I click with Adams more I think.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Conclusion to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. I found this novel somewhat frustrating to read due to all the skipping around in space and particularly in time. I find myself, looking back on the series, very confused about the timeline associated with Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect, due to their many travels, both on and off the planet Earth. Nevertheless, Douglas Adams does make for a snappy, satirical and humorous read, a unique voice in the genre of science fiction.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5It has been a good number of years since I last read the earlier books in this series, so I was pleased that the humor and storytelling still held up so well. The material that made up the earlier books started out as a radio program, I believe, so they have a more freewheeling sense about them than the later ones. That's the benefit of having so many successive (and successful) drafts. Still, this final book of the series (leaving aside the Eoin Colfer-penned And Another Thing from 2009, which attempts to extend the "trilogy" from five books to six) brings back many of the series' key characters and themes, providing not a few laughs along the way. Like most other readers, I found the ending an abrupt surprise, but unlike many of those who seem to feel the series went on one book too long, I am willing to go along with the joke. The late author might suggest that it doesn't much matter if I go along or not--the joke is still there and it's still on us all--but that I'm likely to find things a bit cheerier if I do.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5More varying and extreme contradictions here in regards to previous books. Only Arthurt Dent and Ford Prefect remain themselves in the story, and with the exception of Ford's mad escape from The Hitchhiker's Guide offices, I was rather bored with the story. Most of what I loved about the rest of the books is gone. Combine that with the ending, and I just about hated it.