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Sunday, April 17, 2011

12:Intro

Don’t Panic
What makes you choose a specific book to accompany you over the years is still a mystery to me. Or, maybe I can ask  what’s make a book choose you and stick with you as it is being packed, time after time in dusty jam-packed boxes, move from one side of the country to the other, being placed on different book shelves or thrown into a pile, almost forgotten for long periods of time.
This one is my Hebrew version of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.  A paperback edition, quiet ripped with the years it fits its name so well, a tired traveler hitching a ride with many different readers most of them my family members. We all read it, at least once, at one time or another and most of us more than once. It bears the marks on it; crumpled pages, some torn and taped back in, other folded at the corners to show where the last reader, even though I stressed time and time again it annoys me, marked where he stopped.  Any one of us can randomly cite any line from it and the others will immediately fill in or in a heartbeat “get it” and laugh. Cues like “42”, “yellow”, “don’t forget to pack a towel”, “behind a locked door with a sign; beware, tiger”, will grant me a nod of approval from my daughters and a round of laughs.
Because that what it is, smart with a humorous spin that carries the totally bizarre story to the far end of the unknown Galaxy. Reading it I am freed from all constrains of reality. Its’ quirkiness is focusing the light on the ridiculous and amusing. Douglas Adams is being so accurate in pointing out, with a surgeon like precision where we as humans are lost not only in the vast boundaryless galaxy but on our own planet. He sticks the knife in and then with the utmost pleasure turns it on and on.
My youngest is the most devoted admirer of the book and used, from a very young age to read it aloud when we were together in the car on long trips. At the beginning she did not like it at all; the opening chapter in which the earth is being wiped out to make room for a galactic freeway scared her as she took it at face value. Over the years she learned to appreciate the bizarre scene, one of my favorites, in which Arthur Dent, the earthling and one of the books’ main characters, is going to a great trouble trying to save his house from being demolished by his town officials. All this time, his friend, Ford Perfect, an outer space researcher for the revised edition of the Hitchhiker’s Guide and a seasoned space traveler, is trying to lure him away from his house and the doomed earth, about to be destroyed in a matter of minutes. 
Part of the book’s charm is that I can open it at any page, and it does not make a difference which one, and just start reading. Like a really good friend that even if you haven’ seen each other for years, you can immediately resume the communication, I feel the same. Beginning, middle, towards the end, I open the book and within seconds I am back in, as if I never left. Some people might sneer at this and see it as just another proof that the story line is lacking, the logic shaky, and all in all I let myself fall for a cheap cult culture.  Being blinded and carried away by a popularity wave of flashy words and clever phrasing wrongly seeing it as real literature. To those critics I say; in the words of the Hitchhiker’s Guide: 
“…for though it has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least wildly inaccurate, it scores over the older (Encyclopaedia Galactica) more pedestrian work in two important respects. First, it is slightly cheaper; and secondly it has the words DON'T PANIC inscribed in large friendly letters on its cover.”

5 comments:

  1. I have never read the Guide though we have it somewhere around, and my son pressed it on me once or twice. Not sure why it's not on my lifetime list--maybe because my son liked it so much at a time in his life when nothing was going right for him, I always figured it was a contributory factor. Very unfair of me. Your grafs 2 & 4 here make clear that I may have missed an opportunity.

    I like this introduction. I'm glad I hinted you split the two books and write about them separately because both intros are good.

    In fact, I feel so positively about this that I am going to ask you (I think for the second time) if you would allow me to edit it--not for organization or content, which are fine--but for English idiom and grace.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I don't mean I've asked twice if I could edit this piece! I mean I think I asked you once before about another piece.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I probably missed it the first time. Sure,the edit, I will be curious to see it and probably will learn something about my English.
    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  4. What makes someone choose a specific book to accompany them over the years is a mystery to me. Maybe I should ask: what makes a book choose someone and stick with them as it is being packed time after time in dusty jam-packed boxes, moved from one side of the country to the other, placed on different book shelves or thrown into a pile, almost forgotten for long periods of time?

    My specific book is a Hebrew version of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. A paperback edition, quite ripped with the years, it fits its name well, a tired traveler hitching a ride with many different readers, most of them my family members. At one time or another, we all read it, at least once, and most of us more than once. It bears the marks of use: crumpled pages, some torn and taped back in, others folded at the corners to show where the last reader marked where he stopped (even though I stressed time and time again how that annoys me).

    Any one of us can cite any random line from it and the others will immediately fill in or in a heartbeat get it and laugh. Cues like “42”, “yellow”, “don’t forget to pack a towel”, “behind a locked door with a sign; beware, tiger”, will grant me a nod of approval from my daughters and a round of laughs.

    Because that's what it is: smart with a humorous spin that carries the totally bizarre story to the far end of the unknown Galaxy. Reading it, I am freed from all constraints of reality. Its quirkiness focuses light on the ridiculous and amusing. Douglas Adams is surgically accurate in pointing out where we humans are lost, not only in the vast boundless galaxy, but on our own planet too. He sticks the knife in and then with the utmost pleasure twists it and then twists it some more.

    My youngest is the most devoted admirer of the book and from a very young age read it aloud on long car trips. At first she did not like it at all; the opening chapter in which the earth is being wiped out to make room for a galactic freeway scared her, as she took it at face value. Over the years she learned to appreciate the bizarre scene, one of my favorites, in which Arthur Dent, the earthling and one of the book's main characters, is going to a great trouble trying to save his house from being demolished by his town officials. All this time, his friend, Ford Perfect, an outer space researcher for the revised edition of the Hitchhiker’s Guide and a seasoned space traveler, is trying to lure him away from his house and the doomed earth, about to be destroyed in a matter of minutes.

    Part of the book’s charm is that I can open it at any page--it does not make a difference which one--and just start reading. Beginning, middle, towards the end, I open the book and within seconds I am back in, as if I never left. I pick it up like a really good friend I haven’t seen for years, but we immediately resume our last easy conversation.

    Some people might sneer at this easiness and see it as just proof that the story line is lacking, the logic shaky, and that I have been blinded by cheap culture, carried away in a wave of flashy words and clever phrasing, and , finally, that I see the book wrongly as real literature.

    To those critics I say in the words of the Hitchhiker’s Guide:

    “…for though it has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least wildly inaccurate, it scores over the older (Encyclopaedia Galactica) more pedestrian work in two important respects. First, it is slightly cheaper; and secondly it has the words DON'T PANIC inscribed in large friendly letters on its cover."

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for the edit; I see where I might have stumbled or phrased things in an awkward way.
    It is nice to see though, that with all the editing, the piece maintains the spirit in which it was written.

    ReplyDelete