I'm a heretic without humor...

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by jandrew

Obviously, some people are humorless and just don’t want to admit they don’t get it. They will claim they aren’t humorless because they laughed at other stuff, but they are mistaken and that other stuff just isn’t funny. It’s sad really.

That. Was. AWESOME!

[crossi]

I bought the omnibus and read the whole thing but I found it a tedious chore. I kept waiting for it to get funny but it never did. And I absolutely hated the ending. This is humor? There wasn't a single character I cared about, not surprisingly because none of them cared about anything. There was no plot, just a series of not especially funny episodes. For humor Terry Pratchett or Heron Carvic are way better than Adams.

[latepaul]

Maybe you have to read it at the right age? I think it's a good fit for a geek teenage boy but not sure what I'd've made of it these days.

Meh! What am I saying? Humour is subjective. It makes me laugh and that makes it funny for me.

What is interesting is that whilst I read it when I was younger and mostly just laughed, these days I find I admire how insightful and clever it is. Even prophetic. As I struggle with my gesture-based UI on my mobile phone I'm reminded of his line about how the more HiFi technology improved the more subtle the controls became until you just vaguely waved your hands and the general direction and hoped (something like that).

I just read a novel that centred around the hero trying to stop a bad guy from creating a device that extrapolated a view of the universe from a single particle of matter and the potentially devastating effect this might have. This was done straight and the book was not bad, but the author had either never heard of the Total Perspective Vortex (and the fairy cake) or chosen to ignore it.

Also I have to give Adams credit for introducing me to my favourite joke. I say 'introducing' because he was notorious for nicking stuff. That joke, since you ask, was:

"It's at times like this I wish I'd listened to what my mother told me when I was young"
"Why what did she say?"
"I don't know, I wasn't listening!"

bum-tish!

I do have sympathy with the OP however. When I was young, a little after I discovered H2G2 probably, I read several Stainless Steel Rat books. I enjoyed them as light, mildly surreal, SciFi adventure romps. I was slightly shocked to find out later that they were supposed to be funny! Thing is I did enjoy them - I just never found them funny.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by latepaul

Maybe you have to read it at the right age? I think it's a good fit for a geek teenage boy but not sure what I'd've made of it these days.

A poster above mentioned that some of continued joy in stuff like HHGTTG may not so much that we still enjoy the material itself, but that it takes us back to when we liked it originally.

There may be a lot to that, I think.

Sort of how the MEMORY of our favorite childhood desert is always better than actually having the same desert as an adult.

I read several Stainless Steel Rat books. I enjoyed them as light, mildly surreal, SciFi adventure romps. I was slightly shocked to find out later that they were supposed to be funny!

They were?!? Hmm. That might explain a lot. I HATED the first Rat book.
If it was supposed to be funny, then I feel like the uncle in the James Gregory bit who saw Miss Piggy on the Muppet Show and said "Hmph. I bet that ain't a real pig."

[tompe]

Originally Posted by ApK

They were?!? Hmm. That might explain a lot. I HATED the first Rat book.
If they were supposed to be funny, then I feel like the uncle in the James Gregory bit who saw Miss Piggy on the Muppet Show and said "Hmph. I bet that ain't a real pig."

I thought they were romps and sometimes funny. But for more funny Harry Harrison books I would go to: _Bill, the Galactic Hero_, _Techicolor Time Machine_ and _Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers_.

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

... as I don't seem to be finding large parts of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy to be as funny as they should have been.

As I've fallen behind in my challenge, I've decided to 'cheat' a bit and read this omnibus, as each book is only 120 to 175 pages (using Count Pages @ 2400 char/page). Reading this set will complete 5 out of 6 books of the "read something non-fantasy" sub-challenge.

This cult classic is a great disappointment, however. Everybody I've ever met who read it told me I should read it because it's so hilariously funny... but I just don't see it. Yes, I get the word plays, the jokes, the references, the allegories and the descriptions of the absurd situations, but... it's... just.... not.... IT. It's not funny enough.

Oh of course, there are some points which brought a smile to my face, such as

Spoiler:

... a world ridding itself of all the middle-men and people with 'useless professions', such as marketeers, 'phone sanitizer', managers, consultants and so on, and them not realizing it, making their ship crash on prehistoric earth ...

and

Spoiler:

... the horror scene where Arthur Dent discovers that every creature he has ever killed, on any world or in any time frame is actually the same creature over and over again ...

and

Spoiler:

... the scene where Arthur meets Wowbagger The Infinitely Prolonged, who is bored with his immortality to such a degree that he has made it his life's work to go and personally insult every living being in the universe, in alphabetical order ...

There are some other parts that are funny, obviously, but to be honest, I think a large part of the trilogy of five books is just a lot of incoherent nonsense, throwing around weird names, meant to be funny and not succeeding at it very well. For me, the story finally got going a bit at chapter 25 of the first book, which I think is quite late, and it hasn't gotten any better since then.

(Douglas Adams seems to have a distinctly unhealthy preoccupation with fish, also, which is intriguing.)

I've just finished the third book, and I'm seriously contemplating if I should finish the last two, which are, together, only 300 pages or so. Then I at least can tell other people I've read the series, before I change my name to Marvin.

Oh, yeah... where was I? Ah, yes. The topic of this thread. Or was it the thread going to grow out of this topic? I don't know. Anyway, what books have you read recently that you felt should have been better (or, worse), after all you've heard about it?

I read it (tried to) years ago. I love humor. I found the book flat, juvenile (and I usually don't mind juvenile humor) and not worth reading. I skimmed heavily to make it to the end. I have no idea why people love it so.

[Angst]

Originally Posted by doubleshuffle

Same here. I think it's what eschwartz likes to call the Tao of Pratchett.

I feel the same way about Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson. Some amazing insights masquerading as a cartoon.

The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't.
--Douglas Adams

[bobstro]

Originally Posted by ApK

A poster above mentioned that some of continued joy in stuff like HHGTTG may not so much that we still enjoy the material itself, but that it takes us back to when we liked it originally.

There may be a lot to that, I think.

Sort of how the MEMORY of our favorite childhood desert is always better than actually having the same desert as an adult.

With all the free online TV streaming available, I thought it'd be great to peek at some of the shows I loved as a kid. I even found episodes of The Rat Patrol, and settled in for some nostalgic viewing. I'm sorry I did. They sucked. At least looking back as a jaded old adult some 40+ years later, they suck.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

I read it (tried to) years ago. I love humor. I found the book flat, juvenile (and I usually don't mind juvenile humor) and not worth reading. I skimmed heavily to make it to the end. I have no idea why people love it so.

Well, skimming will not work since that is like skimming poetry. It is the words and turn of phrase that is the most important here.

Maybe I should re-read the books and see if I still like them a lot. A good thread if it make you want to read a book...

[doubleshuffle]

Originally Posted by Angst

I feel the same way about Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson. Some amazing insights masquerading as a cartoon.

The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't.
--Douglas Adams

Oh yes indeed about Calvin and Hobbes. And thanks for reminding me of that sentence!!

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by tompe

Well, skimming will not work since that is like skimming poetry. It is the words and turn of phrase that is the most important here.

Maybe I should re-read the books and see if I still like them a lot. A good thread if it make you want to read a book...

I didn't start out skimming. I resorted to it after my eyes crossed from boredom. Then I would try to concentrate again and so on. I even asked the guy who rec'd it to me if I had the right book.

OTOH, I do love Calvin and Hobbes. Some great and wonderful work there.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by tompe

Maybe I should re-read the books and see if I still like them a lot. A good thread if it make you want to read a book...

This thread is making me reluctant to read HHGTTG again, for fear of not liking it anymore.

[danskmacabre]

Interesting many people saying the Pratchett books improved over time.
I read "The color of magic" many years ago in my school library when it was the only book Pratchett had published.
I loved it and over many years I read quite a few of his books, but I suppose by about halfway through the books he wrote I lost interest.

I don't know whether I just got sick of his style or I preferred his earlier books.
but as I remember it, I seemed to enjoy the earlier books more.

Not sure I'll bother reading the HHG books again.
Having read all the books.
Listened to the radio series (on CDs).
I had the records at one stage.
Saw the TV series.
I even watched the movie, which contrary to popular opinion, I tried to watch with fresh eyes and actually enjoyed it.
I even had the text adventure computer game, which I didn't finish, but it was kinda fun.

All in all, I had a laugh and I expect, as already has been commented, there are probably some very high expectations of it, which I doubt it can live up to for many people.

It wasn't some life changing experience for me, but I enjoyed it and there was some very insightful stuff in there and interesting social commentaries.
Beyond that, the style of the humor is not for everyone, and that's completely fine.

[Antoinekamel]

English humour. The obvious hints of funny pretending they're cult, although they aren't. And, of course, too repetitive. (I've read the five books, but had pleasure with only roughly one third of the stories.)

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by bobstro

With all the free online TV streaming available, I thought it'd be great to peek at some of the shows I loved as a kid. I even found episodes of The Rat Patrol, and settled in for some nostalgic viewing. I'm sorry I did. They sucked. At least looking back as a jaded old adult some 40+ years later, they suck.

Try Combat and 12 O'Clock High instead. They hold up remarkably well, especially Combat.