h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've just watched the BBC TV version of this, after finding the video at a car boot sale, and it was fantastic! I'll be sure to keep my eye out for the books now. Thanks!

Good luck on the book hunt. A word of warning though, for the first few chapters there is a severe danger of drowning in description, but it's worth sticking with it.

This is a good entry, but I do have one quibble, I don't think peake's war life was given enough of a mention. After all, he was invalided out of the army with a nervous breakdown in 1943, and then they re-employed him to go and paint the sick and dieing at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945 (a sad irony, dieing after having supposedly being saved). I think experiences like that are worth more than a footnote, but maybe I'm just being pedantic.


Researcher PSG

Great entry alright. I would have liked a bio of Flay, but that's just me. BTW, am I the only one who hasn't been able to get through 'Titus Alone'? Is it worth persevering?

Hi there!

I hated Titus Alone, to tell you the truth. But go on with it...

I tried to keep as close as I could to Peake's literary life rather than anything else... yep...

Thanks for the good feedback!

Caper Plip

I've been planning on reading Titus Alone for 3 years now - I loved the first two - but he went and killed off all my favourite characters.

good entry btw

You know, when my best friend found herself all wrapped up in these books, and in a tape someone made for her of the BBC TV version, I couldn't understand it, but the more I think about it, the more I think I should probably read the trilogy. I couldn't follow the video very well, but that might just have been the accents.

Hey whats up with the britishisms?

What do you mean?

Wot about the britishisms?

What Britishisms? Are you referring to the Entry? If so, please make this clear and your point...

I was refering to the line i am american, so would appreciate a minimum of britishisms "nails and steel"
So no probably not the same entry your threads about, but i was interested in wheather americans do find it hard to understand or get english humour and use of language esspacialy on the T.V .
Rgds

Well, this isn't the place to discuss this... the Gormenghast Trilogy is a Gothic fantasy with hardly any humour...

Why don't you ask in Ask the H2G2 Community?

The link to that can be found here: A148907

Caper Plip

oPPPs

You're right, this isn't the place to discuss it, but what I meant by that line is that sometimes I run across words or phrases that are different in British English than in American English. Usually, I can figure out what they mean without too much trouble, but sometimes they're a little over my head. And no, British humor and like that aren't really that hard for me to grasp, but sometimes my ear just has a little trouble following the different accent, especially when someone on TV is trying to acheive a "mood." That's all I meant. If the line is really bothersome or offensive to anybody, I'll remove it.

"the Gormenghast Trilogy is a Gothic fantasy with hardly any
humour..."

Hardly any humour? Which Gormenghast Trilogy were *you* reading?

...meaning that compared to your average sitcom, the Gormenghast Trilogy would not be put under that roof. When I made that post, the previous poster had intended to ask that question for a Talking Point on said sitcom topic, and had mistakenly posted on the Editor's Choice section, which is why I said it had hardly any humour.

Of course it's funny Just in a different way to other pieces of comedy

I hope that clarifies it.

Caper Plip

Fair play. I've just been trying to imagine Prunesquallor as a serious protagonist.

Gormenghastian humour *is* a trifle blacker than your average sitcom, I agree.

I certainly agree with the above; a splendid entry. And I'm sure it won't lose it's bloom and youthful charm after only 20 years or so.

I've noticed a number of people in this thread expressing difficulty with Titus Alone. Well, I found it harder work than the first two books myself.

However, it's several years since I've read any of them, and I find that Titus Alone has stayed with me more vividly in many ways than the others... the clinical, scientfic world of Cheetah's father; the underworld where the only food was boiled weeds; Muzzlehatch and his car; Titus struggling with the modern world.

Am I the only one? Or has Titus Along struck a chord with anyone else?

D