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

Hi,

I really liked this entry. It flowed really well, and although initially it seems a quite light hearted observation, it certainly leaves you with the feeling there is something deeper going on. I went back and read it again... Enjoyed!

Well done for making it onto the front page.

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Thanks for taking the time to read my work and your kind words. Much appreciated. I'm glad you liked it. It feels great that something I've written has made it into the underguide. (Unfortunately, I don't have the skill to write prose - a man has got to know his limitations as Clint Eastwood once said, after blowing something-or-other to pieces).

The point you make about another meaning is very astute. It's interesting, different people see different things in this poem.

It's an intruiging, almost philosophical, point as to whether what the writer intends to convey, or what the reader perceives, defines a work.

There is a companion piece which goes along with this one called; "interview for a worker" on my h2g2 homepage, if you're interested. (I'm afraid I toil in the darker recesses of the guide in the AWW! Not much light makes it down there!)

Best wishes

OF

Hi,

Nice to hear from you. I think the answer lies in what you are trying to convey, rather than what I perceived. I just felt you were getting across the idea that although some people saw this man as the perfect manager, they were totally blind to the destruction his presence brought. That's a very interesting observation on real life and real people.

I couldn't find interview of a worker on your homepage. Have you called it something else? Maybe you can post me the link.

I always envy people who have the ability to write any kind of poetry. I love to read it but I certainly don't have the talent to write it. I'm probably better at short stories.

Hope to see more of your work on the front page in the future.

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Evening F

Thanks for the message. Interesting point around writer vs reader. A couple of questions for your consideration.
What about all the works where the author is dead - does it diminish the impact or value that we'll never know what they originally intended?
Would you cherish your favourite book or piece of poetry less, if the author told you it was intended to convey something entirely different to that which you felt? ....and....err....
have I had too much wine to drink already this evening?

Anyway, link to Interview of a Worker is below (If you REALLY want to know what they're about, then drop me a line - but prepared to be disappointed!)

Take care

OF

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/A3998965

I felt Interview of a Worker complimented your other entry very well. I felt the first story represented the darkness and this one the light. Isn’t it interesting how it isn’t always the dark things that scare us in life, sometimes it’s the good. (The light) Sometimes in life we come across something that is so good that we can hardly trust ourselves to believe it to be true.

Would you cherish your favourite book or piece of poetry less, if the author told you it was intended to convey something entirely different to that which you felt?

No, I would still cherish it just the same. At the end of the day it doesn’t really matter what the author is trying to portray, it’s what the individual gets and feels from the writing that really counts. And of course depending on our lives and experiences we will all feel differently, and in different degrees.

What about all the works where the author is dead - does it diminish the impact or value that we'll never know what they originally intended?

The same thing applies to this also. It’s what your imagination gains from it that matters. In fact the mystery of not knowing sometimes fires the imagination and adds to the value.

And your own thoughts?

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