My 10 year old is reading Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

[GoddessOfGuinness]

on his own. It's so cute...He's reading parts of it aloud, and giving each of the characters a different voice. :)

Looks like all those books we read to him are paying off.

[fNord]

1. Marvolus....

10 is a wonderful age to learn about 42

[GoddessOfGuinness]

5. ...even if it is a mistake.

:rofl:

[JitterbugPerfume]

35. ----

fnord

[InvisibleTouch]

2. One of the few books I just somehow could never get through.

Tried several times, and I have a compulsion to finish any book I start, even if it's awful - and "Hitchhiker's Guide" wasn't awful, but for some reason I just couldn't get into it. Even being a huge sci-fi fan, I couldn't do it. Though I did love the TV series when it ran late at night many years ago. That's where the characters came to life for me and I could relate to them.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

3. I think the TV series is what inspired him to read it.

Did you ever read any of Doug Adams' other books? Maybe you just don't relate to his style of writing.

[InvisibleTouch]

12. No, after failing at "Hitchhiker," I never tried any of his others.

Though maybe if I'd seen the TV series first, I'd have made it through the book. :) I enjoy reading the novelizations of movies that I especially liked, but I prefer to see the movie first, and then use the novel to re-live the movie and fill in details.

[JitterbugPerfume]

33. Try "Last Time To See"

Adams said it was his favorite. He traveled the world to see endangered species ,and it is a fascinating book.

[fNord]

7. I have the same problem with the movie 2001.....

I've started it 100 times, and can' for the life of me ever make it through. I always fall asleep as there jogging in a circle upside-down.

[realisticphish]

4. Some of the funniest prose ever written

The radio plays are great as well

[GoddessOfGuinness]

6. Radio plays?

I've not heard of these. Are they on cd?

[Aristus]

9. Yeah. The whole Hitchhiker's shebang started out as a radio series for the BBC.

It's available on any audio format you can name. The series is pretty good, but my favorite incarnation (of the radio series, the TV series, the video game, the stage play, the musical play, and the movie) are the books. That's how I first came to know about Hitchhiker's. They're the best, as far as I'm concerned. I wish I could hear your son read them aloud. I love listening to my eight year-old grandson read aloud...

[GoddessOfGuinness]

11. I'll have to see if I can find them...

He'd love that!

[Aristus]

13. The radio series has a number of elements that didn't make it into the books.

There's this one alien species that evolves every few seconds, instead of over billions of years. If one of them needs to reach across the table for something, and it's too far, it simply evolves, right then and there, into a species with longer arms! The whole concept is a scream. :-)

[GoddessOfGuinness]

19. Sounds cool!

I'll definitely look for them!

[targetpractice]

24. Ooh..my favorite Marvin line from the radio series was...

"I'll suppose you'll want to be rescued now."

He was rescuing Arthur and a character played by Rula Lenska (Allitnil or Lintilla maybe?).

As far as I remember, that line/scene was not in the books. However, it's been so many years.

The best thing about the radio versions were the excerpts from The Guide itself (music, narration, sound effects, etc.).

I had the plays on vinyl which are long gone... I off to find them on the web... Wish me luck! :-)

[realisticphish]

18. they're great

however, one other thing I would suggest. Find a version of the HHGTG books as an audio book, with Adams reading them himself. It's incredible.

[Common Sense Party]

16. The radio shows were hilarious. I found them on the internets once.

[Orrex]

8. The movie was much better

:hide:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

10. ...

:popcorn:

[Common Sense Party]

17. Yes, it was much better

than a forced hydrochloric acid enema

[GoddessOfGuinness]

20. Ouch.

:rofl:

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

14. Yeah, but does he know where his towel is?

It's important.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

21. At all times.

:beer:

[deepthought42]

15. Ah, well, he has great taste in literature!

I wholeheartedly approve! :evilgrin:

Just remind him to stay away from bowls of petunias...and sperm whales.

[Aristus]

22. And be sure to tell him that every time he goes to the bathroom on the planet Bethselamin

to get a receipt!

Just trust me on this one...

[GoddessOfGuinness]

23. I imagined you would!

:toast:

[bethdoc]

25. One of the best quotes from the books (IMHO)

From The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe:

Hesitantly, Arthur picked up one of those things that looked like pears.

"I always thought that about the Garden of Eden story," said Ford.

"Eh?"

"Garden of Eden. Tree. Apple. That bit, remember?"

"Yes of course I do."

"Your God person puts an apple tree in the middle of a garden and says do what you like guys, oh, but don't eat the apple. Surprise surprise, they eat it and he leaps out from behind a bush shouting 'Gotcha'. It wouldn't have made any difference if they hadn't eaten it."

"Why not?"

"Because if you're dealing with somebody who has the sort of mentality which likes leaving hats on the pavement with bricks under them you know perfectly well they won't give up. They'll get you in the end."

"What are you talking about?"

"Never mind, eat the fruit."

[surrealAmerican]

26. Those books are so much fun.

I read them with my kids when my son was about the same age as yours.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

27. He's hardly put it down.

He's halfway through already.

I'm just psyched because this is the first adult book he's taken to read on his own...other than tech manuals. He's always been fascinated by tech manuals for some reason. :)

[deepthought42]

29. Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency is good too.

I finally got around to reading that recently. I love the Monk; he believes things for you! :evilgrin:

[BarenakedLady]

28. That's great.

I tried to get my 11-year old daughter to read that. She doesn't seem to be into satirical sci-fi/fantasy like I am. Shame.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

37. She may find she wants to try it later...

Has she seen the TV show?

[LeftOfSelf-Centered]

30. Great choice!

I first read it when I was 13 or so, the first book that I read in English (English being my third language). The Hitchhiker's Guide series got me started reading, I wasn't interested in books much before. And of course it made my English become much better very quickly. I learned more from Douglas Adams and Robert Rankin than from my various teachers.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

38. Good for you!

We were assigned a popular children's book, Emil und die Detektive, to translate when I took German in college. Now I'm sorry I didn't take the initiative to read more German books.

[LeftOfSelf-Centered]

42. I remember having Emil und die Detektive

Probably still somewhere at my parent's place in Vienna. Can't say I ever read it though. When I was a kid books were something abstract to me, some thing you might read a couple of pages of, but I could never imagine actually going through a whole book (couldn't imagine anyone else doing it either), even though my parents have always been avid readers. That is until I came across Hitchhiker's Guide. I actually read the whole thing, then read Restaurant and so on. Of course from then on the only bookshop I would enter was the British bookshop, so the only German books I ever read were the ones I had to read for school... :)

[keroro gunsou]

31. so...

your critter is a hoopty frood that knows where his towel is, and the appropriate use for a bablefish?

but can he make a mean pan-galactic gargle blaster?

[GoddessOfGuinness]

39. Give him a couple of years...

He's only 10. :rofl:

[GreenPartyVoter]

32. I just gave my 11 yo the copy I gave his dad back in H.S. after watching the movie with him. He

absolutely adores Marvin. :P

Not sure if he is really reading it yet, though, as he was in the middle of a "Warriors" book.

I am hoping to get him into fantasy more at some point. Anthony, Asprin, Pratchett, Brooks, etc etc. He would really enjoy reading some of their books because they are also very funny. (Actually, Asprin has "Phule's Company." Maybe he would like that?)

[GoddessOfGuinness]

41. Marvin's my son's favorite character too.

I have a feeling he'll start delving into his dad's sci-fi collection regularly after this...

[JitterbugPerfume]

34. smart kid

with a smart mom

A good combination:loveya:

[tigereye]

36. that's great!

I love it.

[MorningGlow]

40. So cool!

Er, I mean, your kid is one hoopy frood.

Can't wait to introduce my kid to Adams' books. We're reading Harry Potter right now. It is my goal to turn him into a raging anglophile (like his mama :evilgrin:). And once he's old enough...MONTY PYTHON! Yeah, that'll be a while. Baby steps...

[Arkansas Granny]

43. Wonderful. I love to see a child of any age pick a book and read just for enjoyment.

You've done good.