The Hitchhikers Guide To the Galaxy (Pretty much all the books listed in this week)
This was one of the most enjoyable weeks of the semester because it was an exploration of one of my favorite authors of all time, Douglas Adams. i read the complete works as far as the hitchhiker area goes, as well as having listened to the original broadcast, seen a far share of the old television show, and the film. i absolutely love how his works are able to transcend mediums.
one of my favorite aspects about Adams is of course his Wit and humor. there is something about the sheer randomness of this train of thought that is just magical to be apart of. but what amazes me even more was the low key predictions made in his novels about technology. think Marvin for example, who was an experiment in imputing personalities into robotics. the idea of such a thing would have seemed ridiculous, yet now robotic advancements are making incredible leaps and strides. another example would be the sighing doors, which in my mind seems rather close to our interactions with devises that have voices, such as siri on our phones.
another achievement of Adams in my opinion was his courage to attack/poke fun at religion, an extremely controversial area. (the rant about god disappearing in a poof of logic is pure gold). i feel that many authors avoid such things for fear of limiting the potential pool of readers and subsequently profits, but Adams did not and i regard him with a higher level of respect because of it. he goes deeper into this by exploring human origin in his later novel, hat would conflict with the religious Adam and eve version. instead he reasons that we were a useless and dull populace that was marooned on earth. and if that wasn't far enough, we were also responsible for the wipe out of what would have been our ape ancestors. (there is also a nice hat tip to supply and demand theory when the shipwrecked proceed to establish currency via leaves and reason that the should burn all the plant life to increase its value. truly nothing was out of bounds from Adams touch).
the works of Douglas Adams are truly timeless and astoundingly thought provocative. each time i revisit the material i am always finding things i missed or develop new ideas from his own. it was a great way to end off the semester; everyone should have the chance to enter the mind of this man.
This was one of the most enjoyable weeks of the semester because it was an exploration of one of my favorite authors of all time, Douglas Adams. i read the complete works as far as the hitchhiker area goes, as well as having listened to the original broadcast, seen a far share of the old television show, and the film. i absolutely love how his works are able to transcend mediums.
one of my favorite aspects about Adams is of course his Wit and humor. there is something about the sheer randomness of this train of thought that is just magical to be apart of. but what amazes me even more was the low key predictions made in his novels about technology. think Marvin for example, who was an experiment in imputing personalities into robotics. the idea of such a thing would have seemed ridiculous, yet now robotic advancements are making incredible leaps and strides. another example would be the sighing doors, which in my mind seems rather close to our interactions with devises that have voices, such as siri on our phones.
another achievement of Adams in my opinion was his courage to attack/poke fun at religion, an extremely controversial area. (the rant about god disappearing in a poof of logic is pure gold). i feel that many authors avoid such things for fear of limiting the potential pool of readers and subsequently profits, but Adams did not and i regard him with a higher level of respect because of it. he goes deeper into this by exploring human origin in his later novel, hat would conflict with the religious Adam and eve version. instead he reasons that we were a useless and dull populace that was marooned on earth. and if that wasn't far enough, we were also responsible for the wipe out of what would have been our ape ancestors. (there is also a nice hat tip to supply and demand theory when the shipwrecked proceed to establish currency via leaves and reason that the should burn all the plant life to increase its value. truly nothing was out of bounds from Adams touch).
the works of Douglas Adams are truly timeless and astoundingly thought provocative. each time i revisit the material i am always finding things i missed or develop new ideas from his own. it was a great way to end off the semester; everyone should have the chance to enter the mind of this man.
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