I’m pretty certain Sheckley is still in print (ISTR at least one book from NESFA Press with his material), and–if not-- I’ve seen a lot of Sheckley books in used book stores, so his material should be readily available.
You know what’s funny? While reading this thread, I’ve been drinking a beverage which is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea.
And, dammit, the tea joke was the one I was preparing to make. I’ve re-read the books so often (I have the giant compilation) that I can’t really separate them mentally. I do remember thinking So Long was my favorite at the time I read it. And I agree that the end of Mostly Harmless is depressing. Adams did too (he blamed it on having a really bad year). He was working on another book. Sigh.
Sigh.
“Ah, abuse.”
“There was an accident involving a contraceptive and a time machine. Now focus!”
Share and enjoy .
What blows my mind is how incredibly creative these books are. Adams writes five book (I’m tossing out the last two of the Trilogy and adding the Dirk Gently books) that make him a sci fi superstar with a cult following that puts many others to shame.
He just tosses off all these brilliant lines, inspired little stories (the ballpoint pen planet), and mind-bending concepts (the super-intelligent shades of blue). The Vogons are hilarious, the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster recipe is beautifully written, the plot twists are just plain cool. All the surreal concepts that satirize our own societies so well: Oolon Colluphid´s books, a president who’s job is to be entertaining, the steak-happy cow, dead for tax purposes, the competing philosophers (Majikthise and Vromfondel?), bulldozing and entire planet, a starship stranded for lack of napkins, et cetera.
I was truly stunned when I heard of his death, but I figure someone as unique as him was needed elsewhere.
I do like the last two books of the Trilogy, but he should have just written them around other characters in the HHGTTG universe, even if the publisher would have balked at it. Young Zaphod Plays it Safe (?) was odd, but entertaining. Maybe it was just my excitement at reading more of Adams’ work.
I apologize for misquotes or mispellings, my memory can be pretty faulty.
The Salmon of Doubt version of Young Zaphod includes an extra sentence or two that in my opinion cause the whole thing to make sense.
I’ve got the whole radio show, sans the “This robot can hum like Pink Floyd” bit, from when it was released as an audiobook. I can’t remember if my favorite line is from the books, the radio series, or the television series. Here it is – if I can remember it correctly:
“When I try to use one of these black controls, which are labeled black on a black background, a little black light lights up black to let me know that I’ve done it.” (From Zaphod, I think.)
And then there’s this:
Arthur: “Now this is more like it. Bright lights, control panels. I wonder what will happen if I push this switch --”
Ford: “I wouldn’t – what happened?”
Arthur: “A sign lit up saying, ‘Don’t push this switch again.’”
(I know that one’s wrong…)
I have got both my own off-air tapes and the released audio book and I have always wondered why that reference to Pink Floyd was deleted in the latter. Any Ideas?
Are they: “REAGAN! I’M MAKING A STATEMENT ABOUT REAGAN!!!”
–Cliffy
Lawyers. Why else?
Interestingly, Adams later became friends with David Gilmour and suggested the title of “The Division Bell” album
It may have also appeared in the radio show, but that line is definitely in “Restaurant” (the book).
–Cliffy
Close to that, yeah. If you’re too young to remember much about Ronnie’s term or aren’t that politically aware, it helps.
“a common mistake people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.”
i too enjoyed all 5 books in the trilogy. and i thorougly enjoyed the dirk gently books, though the first one a lot more than the second. the second was quite err discontinuous and the first one is among my favorite books ever. perhaps if i read the second again, i’ll gain a new appreciation of it. but “dirk gently’s holistic detective agency” is just filled with hilarious lines and clever ideas (though i think my favorite came from the second – whenever he got lost, dirk would just find someone who looked like they knew where they were going. he probably wouldn’t get to where he was planning on going, but he’d get to somewhere he needed to be, only didn’t realize it at the time).
as hhg goes, i think the idea bistromathics drive brings me the most joy.
In the three times I’ve read the Trilogy, I never could figure out the meaning of the “You ask a glass of water” line. Can somebody explain that one?
Think about why ‘being drunk’ would be unplesant to water. Don’t think of being drunk as something that happens after alcohol, but the past tense of ‘drink’. Glasses of water are always ‘drunk’ by someone.
Hope that helps.
I suspect that being poured down somebody else’s throat isn’t the most pleasurable sensation in the multiverse.