So long, to a worn-out idea

Press, 23 March 1985, Page 22

So long, to a worn-out idea

So long, and Thanks for All the Fish. By Douglas Adams. Pan, 1984. 191 pp. $7.95 (paperback). (Reviewed by Rod Dew) Having read the book, and thinking back, I am not at all sure what it was all about. This is Douglas Adams’s fourth book in the Hitch-Hikers’ Guide to the Galaxy series, and it is very similar to those which have gone before. His ability to provide useless information in an amusing fashion, to emphasise the obvious, and to poke fun at the human way of life is right up to his previous standards. This time, however, the plot is confused and difficult to follow. If there was a climax or conclusion, the reader may miss it entirely. Arthur Dent, the reluctant hero of the original Hitch-Hiker book, returns to Earth where the ape-descended life

forms are still so amazingly primitive that they think digital watches are a pretty neat idea. He falls in love with a girl who has a problem. Her feet do not touch the ground. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that the Earth in a previous story had been demolished to make way for a hyper-space by-pass. Poor Arthur cannot figure out why the Earth is still where it should be, and those who have read all four HitchHiker books will probably feel much the same. “So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish” is really stretching a little too far a concept which began as a brilliant science fiction spoof highlighting human failings. There is no lack of the off-beat humour for which Adams has become recognised and, for the most part, the story is enjoyable enough. But the basic idea is now wearing a bit thin. So long, Douglas Adams, and thanks for all the laughs. But the time has come to use your considerable literary talents in another direction.