Talk:The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (novel)

Article Mirroring

Poiuytman raises a point - we should not necessarily refer to "Wikipedia" spelling Hitchhiker's as one word, one capital H, no hyphen, per Adams's 2000 instructions (since the article may appear elsewhere). However, just as the Pocket Reference: Hitchhiker's Guide and the 25th anniversary radio scripts book have disclaimers, I do feel we should have something coherent across all H2G2 articles. I think "all articles referring to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in all its adaptations" is a little long and unwieldy, it is tempting to go back to saying "Wikipedia is doing it this way, because DNA said so." Or do we put up an article that explicitly says that and link all H2G2 articles back to it? Forgive my rambling, I've not had any coffee yet :) --JohnDBuell 12:19, 1 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Has the US version been 'translated'?

The article states the spelling of the title is different in the US version, but has the actual book been 'translated' to American English? For instance, I saw a summary on Amazon USA that used the term "hyperspace freeway" instead of "hyperspace bypass". I wonder, because this is something that seems to happen a lot with novels (e.g. the Harry Potter series has separate American English editions). MrTroy 17:24, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

The only difference in text between British and American versions is in the third novel, Life, the Universe and Everything. Otherwise the only difference was in the phrasing of the title. --JohnDBuell 18:57, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

Ah, I see. Thanks for your answer. MrTroy 15:54, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

May I ask what is different in Life, The Universe, and Everything? As a devoted fan in the US, I am just wondering if we're missing something (I'm still upset I can't seem to get a hold of the British version of The Salmon of Doubt.) Thanks. Julieb42 21:22, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

As a US fan, you're not missing anything. In fact, you got extra text that wasn't in the British version of LtU&E. The American publishers objected to the word "Fuck" and had Adams replace it with "Belgium", adding a passage from the radio series explaining why "Belgium" is the worst swear wrod in the Galaxy. P Ingerson (talk) 17:48, 19 September 2007 (UTC)

Also, I heard they use the word kneebiter alot!nishantjr (talk) 20:50, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

Copyright Concerns?

I recently found that links to complete online texts of this book and its four sequels, that I placed, were removed due to "copyright concerns." Why has this been done? I have seen other articles with links to online texts.

The texts for all of Adams's novels are now under copyright held by his estate. It is illegal for the full texts to be posted on the Internet. Period. The legality of linking to such illegal postings is itself dubious. Links to other such sites have been posted on Hitchhiker's related pages before, and have been removed again shortly thereafter. Just because someone has violated international copyright law by posting said texts does not mean that Wikipedia articles (or their mirror sites) should link to them, as that frequently implies a complicity that should not exist. --JohnDBuell 00:00, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

To read over a prior discussion of this topic, please see Talk:The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy/Archive02#External Link to ebook. --JohnDBuell 00:21, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

Awards section

I went ahead and added an awards section, is that alright, or is there another place for awards? -Mbatman72 04:18, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Actually I was going to move the radio series ones to that article. Also, can you find how many weeks it was on the London and New York bestseller lists? And the sequels? Thanks! --JohnDBuell 00:46, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Was the Hitchhiker's Film based on the TV series? According to List of British sitcoms turned into films it was

I don't even consider Hitchhiker's to be a sitcom, but that aside, List of British sitcoms turned into films includes the movie as being a film version of the TV series, along with "classics" like On The Buses and Please Sir!

The film is clearly based on the book, so it doesn't fall into the same category as the other titles on that list. There's a discussion at the talk page and I'm surprised to see some people insisting that the film was based on the "sitcom".

I thought people here might be able to add their opinion over there. 172.213.253.155 05:54, 17 February 2007 (UTC)

A lot of "minor" editing

There are a lot of problems with this article, but not with the content. There are a lot of links to other articles for unrelated words like "demolished" and things of that nature. 75.74.187.60 14:26, 7 August 2007 (UTC)

Audiobook Adapdations: "The first was an abridged edition (ISBN 0-671-62964-6), recorded in the mid-1980s by Stephen Moore, best known for playing the voice of Marvin the Paranoid Android in the radio series"

the ISBN code here is wrong. That code belongs to the audiobook recorded with several members of the original cast and backing music, not the version recorded with Stephen Moore as the sole portrayer of all the characters. 24.83.201.146 (talk) 12:18, 10 March 2011 (UTC)

Title

Why is the title of this "Hitchhiker's" and not "Hitch Hiker's" as Douglas Adams himself spells it in the book? This has probably been asked countless times before in the archives but could somebody indulge me? Yeanold Viskersenn 00:24, 27 August 2007 (UTC)

Plot summary

The plot summary is quite in-universe, so I've added a cleanup template and I'll start editing bits here and there. Davidovic 04:54, 21 October 2007 (UTC)

The plot summary is a piss-poor result of somebody thinking that they are eloquent. -zbo —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.207.113.136 (talk) 06:14, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

Vandalism

Just dropped by here to report vandalism on the "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (book)"

On top of the cover image of the book, someone has written "The Hitchhiker's Guide to Porn". Someone should correct it to the proper book title

Keep up with the good work ;-) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 152.93.106.93 (talk) 11:27, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

The authors name is wrong on the side —Preceding unsigned comment added by Indie detective (talk • contribs) 04:12, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

Forty-two

What is up with the page "Forty-Two"? People keep on talking about The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Forty-Two, when they are on the page about the NUMBER Forty-Two. I'm still trying to clear it up. Ronald Hayes (talk) 18:09, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

Major Gaps in article

Ok, I know this article is about the book. My comments her may be out of place, considering all the articles on the Guide. But I am not sure any of the articles addresses the whole story of how the Hitchhiker's group came about, or how the stories interact with one another. Is there a generalized article covering the whole picture? Is it me, or are there major gaps in this article? One area I can think of is origins. How did the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy come about? What about the radio shows--I seem to remember that they came first, or were original, before the books. What about the events in Adam's live leading up to the radio shows--didn't Douglass Adams write for the Doctor Who show while he was beginning work on Hitchhikers? How about dealing with the myriad of spinoffs from the show. How about a section talking about ways the show was first--genuine people personalities in the book predating the Tom-Tom Go; or the actual Hitchhiker's Guide predating Wikipedia (with all the fights between editors and writers?). What about a section on the Hitchhiker's place in pop culture and in geek-culture? I can't tackle this one now, but maybe soon?Jacqke (talk) 03:19, 29 December 2011 (UTC)

---

in line " offer to buy Arthur's brain in the hope that it contains the answer, " on the first paragraph

... shouldnt it read instead :  " offer to buy Arthur's brain in the hope that it contains the QUESTION, "

cheers 95.208.211.66 (talk) 15:02, 3 July 2017 (UTC)

Apostrophe in Title?

You’ll notice that the scanned cover in the article says “The Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy” (no apostrophe). I’ve always assumed that this was the title of the book, even though an apostrophe would have been preferable. Felicity4711 (talk) 22:21, 25 May 2012 (UTC)

OK Computer

Is it worth mantioning that Radiohead got the title of their album OK Computer from this? Sophie means wisdom (talk) 13:28, 6 June 2017 (UTC)

see if this shorter summary of the plot works

"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" begins with the destruction of Earth by Vogons to make way for a hyperspace expressway. Arthur Dent, an Englishman, narrowly escapes with Ford Prefect, an alien researcher posing as a human. They hitch a ride on Zaphod Beeblebrox's stolen spaceship, the Heart of Gold, which has an Infinite Improbability Drive. The drive causes improbable events, including the rescue of Arthur and Ford. Zaphod takes them to Magrathea, a legendary planet known for custom-building planets. There, they discover the truth about Earth's purpose and the search for the "Ultimate Question to Life, the Universe, and Everything." The group faces challenges, including Zaphod's mysterious neural programming and encounters with the hyperintelligent mice who believe Arthur holds the key to the Ultimate Question. The story ends with the group leaving Magrathea, intending to visit The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. 2600:6C51:7FF0:9170:FBCE:3BB8:725C:1A00 (talk) 05:38, 5 March 2024 (UTC)