The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
ISBN: 9780330262132
Description
When all questions of space, time, matter and the nature of being have been resolved, only one question remains - "Where shall we have dinner?" "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe" provides the ultimate gastronomic experience, and for once there is no morning after to worry about.
Reviewed on 26th September 2009
The second book in the series continues in a similar vein to the first, although the flippant sense of surrealism seems more forced. The book is very much divided into a series of acts - possibly as a result of being based on the radio series which was presented as a set of discrete episodes. A lot of what happens in this book I remembered as being later in the series, which is quite exciting in a way as it means there's lots still to come that I've forgotten!
It's nice that some of the minor characters get bigger roles in this one - the plot moving away from a focus on Arthur and in fact on the most part it seems onto Zaphod and his investigations into who runs the universe. Trillian still gets a very poor showing however and the book probably suffers from a lack of female character action.
I find that Adams' writing seems to have slipped into a pattern of peril, escape, peril, escape etc. and the presence of the Infinite Improbability Drive acts a bit of a deus ex machina providing escape from peril that can be anti-climatic and has a lazy feel to it.
This book has not only some very funny ideas, but ideas which when thought about pose some very interesting questions that still have relevance on this planet... for example food which wants to be eaten, and shipping off a useless third of the population.
Overall, another good quick read that deserves going over several times to catch everything missed at first - but not quite as fantastic as the original.