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The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy: The Secondary Phase (2009)

by Douglas Adams(Favorite Author)

4.47 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1602835454 (ISBN13: 9781602835450)

languge

English

genre

Science Fiction

publisher

Audiogo

series

Hitchhiker's Guide: Radio Play

review 1: Wacky, poignant, not actually a bookOk, so they did publish the radio scripts as a book. This isn't the scripts, however. It's the actual original radio recordings, Season 2. (I'm still counting it as a book on Goodreads, largely as a means of padding my books-read list.) The original radio series is well worth a listen, deserving of a higher place in the sci-fi/humor canon than it has. It's got a certain youthful energy to it that I find appealing. Recurring and timeless themes include capitalism run amok and machines whose well-intentioned design has unintended consequences. Also, wacky character names like "Zarniwoop" that are fun to say.The poignant part is the interview with Douglas Adams, included at the end of the program. (NB: the edition I own may be different fro... morem the edition listed in Goodreads where I'm posting this review; the interview may not appear in all editions.) The interview had been recorded to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the original broadcast. In it, Adams talks about how he got started (including his experiences at Cambridge and with the Monty Python troupe); the ideas behind the radio show; and more personal topics about his life and beliefs, including an appreciation for the beauty and wonder in the universe. Adams died of a heart attack, not many years later. RIP.
review 2: Following on the original radio series, which started and ended perfectly, must have been a tall order. How could one possibly recreate that sense of random insanity which initially seems so fresh but which could all too easily go stale.Admittedly, series 2 is perhaps a notch behind its predecessor in terms of plotting and structure, since the digression on Brontitall with Lintilla does feel like a digression, but it's still clearly the work of an inspired, inform comic genius. The central focus of the series becomes Zaphod Beeblebrox rather than Arthur Dent and the unfolding story of his and Zarniwoop's attempt to discover who really runs the Universe is clever and amusing. Furthermore, some of my favourite incidents in the the show - such as the Total Perspective Vortex, or Marvin's face off with a battle droid - happen in this series and with the book's frequent hilarious, cynical asides and Zaphod's egomania I raced through this series like a man obsessed.It's fashionable to hit on the Secondary Phase. Maybe so many out there have a bit of a crush on Trillian and miss her, or maybe the novelty has already started to wear thin for too many people. Or maybe they don't see that the point behind series two is largely similar to series one to string together randomness, incoherence and science into a logical sensible/nonsensical whole both narratively and pseudo-scientifically to make the point that cynicism is positivity and that to constantly question the universe we live in is our only hope as a species. Maybe they just.don't.get.that? Or perhaps I'm just talking garbage. It's a funny show so enjoy this short but intense nugget of Adams at the very top of his game. less

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