Phase two of the binge, and our own hitchhike through this one of a kind sci-fi story

By: Addie, Ronald, Wesley, Jonah

Three days. Four Earth-men. One journey to read as much of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series as possible. While on this quest of binge-reading, we discovered that some things just aren’t meant to be consumed at this rate. A human can only take so much of Douglas Adams’ humor in one sitting. His dry, omniscient, and ironic comedy makes it simple to dive right into his nonsensical intergalactic journey. Especially for people who may not be super into sci-fi novels, the little giggles help ease your way into that world. That being said, around page two-hundred-and-something-something of the same thing, you just want Adams to be quiet and develop the plot a little more.
There were decent chunks of the series where I glossed over every word, because I knew exactly what was coming next. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy started with a bang, and ended with many whimpers. After the first major plot point of Earth exploding, Adams created a pattern that went as follows: One insignificant, but kind of dangerous thing would happen. All the characters would talk about how they were going to die. Adams would make some remark, insinuating that they were all dumb for thinking they would actually die. The insignificant, dangerous thing would resolve itself, and they all live happily ever after. Yes, the shenanigans were silly and funny and gave us some solid chuckles, but we started to crave some actual narrative arc.
We completed this binge after our three-day TV binge, and this was a whole new world of media consumption. Binge-watching TV is mindless and moves quickly and allows you to get a more holistic view of the story because of its visuals. But binge-reading makes you work harder to understand the plot and characters. You have to paint an image of the characters in your head, and play out scenes without being able to see them happen. As a result, binge-reading can make you feel more creative and inspired because it forces you to envision the plot as it moves quickly by you. In The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series, the author doesn’t spend much time describing the scenery or the appearance of the characters, so it can be tough, but it makes the binge-reader have to work that much more.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is a fun and easy series, but binge-reading it may not be the way to go. The short blips of excitement, supplemented with Adams’ humor is fun for a while. However, I would at least take some time to breathe in between books, if you’re going to tackle this strange series.