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

Hmm, not reading them in order, are you? That's no problem, it makes for a wider range of ones to choose from for buying next. Who's your fav character(s)?

Hard to decide... maybe Death, but Susan is really too. I also like Granny.
What about you?

Well, then try Soul Music, that's another Death/Susan one. I, of course, like my hero BS Johnson!

I loved Ridcully's bathroom.

The librarian is great too, although I like the others more.

Ponder Stibbons reminds me of several guys I know...

Ah, poor Ponder. When we were talking about old boots the other day, I accidently read the passage where Ponder was trying to scientifically justify waiting for the Hogfather

Which is the one where the wizards end up on a desert island in someone's office, with very quickly evolving trees and the Evolution God? He makes friends with Ponder, doesn't he?

I v.rarely get the hardback ones, they are a rip off. I've got all three children's Discworld's in hardback plus Going Postal and The Art of Discworld...ok that sounds a lot...but it's not when you think how many I have altogether*shuts up*

My favourite bit in Going Postal is about ....er...oh yes, The Prospect of Freedom.

The one with the god of Evolution is the Last Continent. I'm busy reading that to my little sister, she's very amused by Ponder having to explain sex and why anyone would want to... I only have the Bromeliad in hardcover, the rest in paperback...

the Bromeliad? or am I being

Truckers, Diggers, and Wings in one volume, the series is called the Bromeliad

Ah! I've never heard that before. Are they any good? I thihnk one of them's been made into a musical or something...hold on...No, that's Only You can Save Mankind, I have my wires crossed

They're not bad, but not as good as the Discworld... I like the Jonny books, too, though!

Well, I haven't read those either, but feel free to talk about them with yourself Where's Dmitri today? I don't know, what's more important than H2G2?

Have you read Carpet People? I thought that was great and he wrote it, I think, at about my age On my book it says it was co-written between TP the teenager and TP the adult

oh, and Strata? It was the sort of starting block for Discworld. It's not as good, it's very Sci-Fi rather than fantasy, but it still has much of TP's style

no, I've not read those, I'll look on ebay once I get my bank account moved...

I was told that I just HAVE to read Carpet People.

OK, OK, I'll go to ebay. Or Amazon!


But they haven'T shipped my book that was supposed to go out on the 1st!

indeed

Buna ziua (Good day)! The only thing more urgent than h2g2: giving your Shih Tzu a much-needed shampoo.

Personally, I didn't much like 'The Carpet People', but I love 'The Wee Free Men'.

I think, with all these architects around, we should have a BS Johnson memorial design contest. (With apologies to that other great designer, Rube Goldberg.)

Oh, you mean brave, suave Johnson? Good Idea! What exactly do you propose for contset rules?

Rules:

1. It must be a grandiose design. No half measures.
2. The design must utterly fail to do what it is supposed to do.
3. The design must contain emergent properties: that is, it must do something utterly unexpected.
4. The design must illustrate some previously unsuspected, but utterly astonishing, truth about the universe, revealed in the most insulting way possible.
5. The design should be aesthetically pleasing. (The last criterion is open to debate.)

Also, we should nominate existing works of architecture for retroactive BC Johnson awards, such as the Berliner Kongresshalle. (Isn't that one 'the pregnant oyster'?)

Oh, I have plenty of examples to nominate!