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So Long and Thanks for All the Words: A Toast to Douglas Adams

multiverseemployeehandbook.com

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Re: So Long and Thanks for All the Words: A Toast to Douglas Adams

#21

Post by Aeolun »

cjs_ac wrote: post #15
stevage wrote: post #10

I always kind of wish HHGttG was as good as the geekdom's fondness of it suggests. I read it, I enjoyed it, but really, it is such a depressing series. And there is very little that's particularly funny or interesting after the first book and a half. So many dull and drawn out scenes of characters in miserable situations. And that whole tortured Krikkit gag trying to explain the origins of cricket. Sigh.

I think it's a lot like a lot of the Monty Python stuff: a lot of it is reflecting on a social order that was particular to Britain and no longer exists in quite the same way, so a lot of the satire doesn't land any more. The offbeat quirkiness has also become mainstream in British comedy, and so has also lost its edge. I think the fandom remains stronger in the US because American comedy still feels industrially mas…

I don’t think you need to be familiar with that specific social order to appreciate the jokes?

Re: So Long and Thanks for All the Words: A Toast to Douglas Adams

#22

Post by [deleted] »

cjs_ac wrote: post #15
stevage wrote: post #10

I always kind of wish HHGttG was as good as the geekdom's fondness of it suggests. I read it, I enjoyed it, but really, it is such a depressing series. And there is very little that's particularly funny or interesting after the first book and a half. So many dull and drawn out scenes of characters in miserable situations. And that whole tortured Krikkit gag trying to explain the origins of cricket. Sigh.

I think it's a lot like a lot of the Monty Python stuff: a lot of it is reflecting on a social order that was particular to Britain and no longer exists in quite the same way, so a lot of the satire doesn't land any more. The offbeat quirkiness has also become mainstream in British comedy, and so has also lost its edge. I think the fandom remains stronger in the US because American comedy still feels industrially mas…

[deleted]

Re: So Long and Thanks for All the Words: A Toast to Douglas Adams

#23

Post by keepamovin »

6forward wrote: post #18
keepamovin wrote: post #7

Multiverse Employee Handbook is like something from the Time Variance Authority , the Adjustment Bureau , or Everything Everywhere All at Once - with a few shades of Severance I like these themes about the seeming absurdness and banal transcendence of capitalist systems and work today. Fight Club also echoes.

The TVA comparison is spot-on, bureaucracy across realities is universally soul-crushing. Severance's work/life divide feels like our quantum break room that exists in multiple states (you never know what you’ll find in the fridge). And yes, Everything Everywhere captures that cosmic-meets-mundane vibe I'm after. Corporate structures and cosmic physics share an absurd truth: both function through rules nobody fully u…

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed the riff and associations. Have you see TAB ? Do you feel there's any Fight Club connection? If you haven't seen either (for a while) they are definitely worth a rewatch!

Re: So Long and Thanks for All the Words: A Toast to Douglas Adams

#24

Post by mykowebhn »

In my senior year of high school, it was midterms and I had to study. I had a horrible problem with procrastination. So there I was in the library about to start studying when I happened upon the first book of his "trilogy". I finished it without stopping to study. And then I found the next two books in the trilogy and devoured those too. I loved those books and luckily I passed my exams. It was stressful at the time knowing I had to study, but today I remember that time fondly.

Re: So Long and Thanks for All the Words: A Toast to Douglas Adams

#26

Post by t-3 »

stevage wrote: post #10

I always kind of wish HHGttG was as good as the geekdom's fondness of it suggests. I read it, I enjoyed it, but really, it is such a depressing series. And there is very little that's particularly funny or interesting after the first book and a half. So many dull and drawn out scenes of characters in miserable situations. And that whole tortured Krikkit gag trying to explain the origins of cricket. Sigh.

It's a great middle school book, but it doesn't really hold up all that well afterwards. I've tried to reread the series a few times as an adult and couldn't even get through the first book.

Re: So Long and Thanks for All the Words: A Toast to Douglas Adams

#27

Post by wrboyce »

mykowebhn wrote: post #24

In my senior year of high school, it was midterms and I had to study. I had a horrible problem with procrastination. So there I was in the library about to start studying when I happened upon the first book of his "trilogy". I finished it without stopping to study. And then I found the next two books in the trilogy and devoured those too. I loved those books and luckily I passed my exams. It was stressful at the time…

In case you are unaware, the hhgttg “trilogy” is actually 5 (or 6, depending on your view) books long. “So Long, and Thanks For All The Fish” and “Mostly Harmless” are definitely worth a read!

Re: So Long and Thanks for All the Words: A Toast to Douglas Adams

#28

Post by atq2119 »

stevage wrote: post #16
RGX9 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I completely agree, it's one of those works where the pop culture lens filters a lot of things. I think Adam Douglas himself mentions in an interview that the later HHGttG books reflect his personal depression, and the enormous time pressure they were written in. Probably the whole series should have been one book, but it also makes it feel a bit human - here's this really smart guy with a lot of brilliant ideas, he…

Ah, they were written under time pressure? That actually explains a lot.

I believe it's more that Douglas Adams was a huge procrastinator.

Re: So Long and Thanks for All the Words: A Toast to Douglas Adams

#29

Post by zabzonk »

BLKNSLVR wrote: post #19
CPLX wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He did. The parallels between Trump and Zaphod are not subtle.

Someone fetch Trump a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster post haste! Oh, someone already did a few decades ago.

Better still, fetch him a Bugblatter Beast of Traal, and let the two of them duke it out.

Re: So Long and Thanks for All the Words: A Toast to Douglas Adams

#30

Post by rikroots »

cjs_ac wrote: post #15
stevage wrote: post #10

I always kind of wish HHGttG was as good as the geekdom's fondness of it suggests. I read it, I enjoyed it, but really, it is such a depressing series. And there is very little that's particularly funny or interesting after the first book and a half. So many dull and drawn out scenes of characters in miserable situations. And that whole tortured Krikkit gag trying to explain the origins of cricket. Sigh.

I think it's a lot like a lot of the Monty Python stuff: a lot of it is reflecting on a social order that was particular to Britain and no longer exists in quite the same way, so a lot of the satire doesn't land any more. The offbeat quirkiness has also become mainstream in British comedy, and so has also lost its edge. I think the fandom remains stronger in the US because American comedy still feels industrially mas…

I really like Stephen Fry's take on the difference between American and British comedy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8k2AbqTBxao (YouTube)
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