SO LONG, AND THANKS FOR ALL THE FISH - Douglas Adams

Il quarto volume della trilogia di cinque.

Arthur Dent si ritrova sulla Terra. Che evidentemente non era stata distrutta dai Vogon. O forse invece sì.

Incontra il "Dio della Pioggia", che contribuisce a rendere famoso, ed una ragazza (Fenchurch) di cui si innamora e che condivide con lui importanti ricordi e qualche peculiarità.

Assieme vanno a trovare John Watson, alias Wonko the Sane,  il quale ha capito che il Mondo gira alla rovescia. E lo ha "chiuso fuori da sé stesso".

"... that's to do with the day I finally realized that the world had gone totally mad and built the Asylum to put it in, poor thing, and hoped it would get better"

 "... a scientist must also be absolutely like a child. [...] See first, think later, then test. But always see first. Otherwise you will only see what you were expecting. You can't possibly be a scientist if you mind people thinking that you are a fool" [...] So, the reason I call myself Wonko the Sane is so that people will think I'm a  fool. That allows me to say what I see when I see it.

Alla ricerca del messaggio del Creatore al Creato, lasciano nuovamente la Terra, con un ritrovato Ford Prefect reduce da altre avventure squinternate, e si riuniscono al mitico Marvin, sempre lamentoso e inevitabilmente depresso.

Il messaggio? Da scoprire, alla fine del libro.

LIFE, THE UNIVERSE AND EVERYTHING - Douglas Adams

Il terzo volume della trilogia di cinque. Proseguono le avventure di Ford Prefect ed Athur Dent, perduti nel tempo, su una Terra preistorica.

Si ritroveranno a salvare l'universo dalla distruzione, sempre alla ricerca della Risposta alla Domanda sulla Vita, l'Universo e Tutto Quanto.

Douglas Adams conferma il proprio genio. Il libro contiene alcune chicche umoristiche davvero irresistibili.

La trama? Da leggere.

An "SEP" he said, "is something that we can't see, or don't see, or our brain doesn't let us see, because we think that it's somebody's else's problem. That's what SEP means. Somebody's Else's Problem. The brain just edits it out, it's like a blind spot. If you look at it directly, you won't see it unless you know precisely what it is. Your only hope is to catch it by surprise out of the corner of your eye". 

This is because it relies on people's natural predisposition not to see anything they don't want to, werent expecting, or can't explain.

"The Guide says that there is an art to flying" said Ford "or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss".

He smiled weakly. He pointed at the knees of his trousers and held his arms up to show the elbows. They were all thorn through.

"I haven't done very well so far"

Il popolo di Krikkit ...

"They believe in peace, justice, morality, culture, sport, family life and the obliteration of all other life forms". 

"He hoped and prayed that there wasn't an afterlife. Then he realized there was a contradiction involved here and merely hoped that there wasn't an afterlife". 

E' un "cult".