So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish by Douglas Adams
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Compared to any other book in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, I may say something rather controversial:

I think it is the best book.

Mind you, it's a close tie with the first book, but when we add an actual satisfying end to a rather delightful little adventure that has relatively little torture and a great deal more of truly romantic romance, I feel it deserves a boatload of respect.

It's full of all the little zingers we've grown to love, it has enormous amounts of satire... and it's simply beautiful. Do I love Fenchurch? I do. Do I think she's fantastic for finally giving that poor old sod, Arthur, a chance? Nay, even PITY? Ah, that's the interesting bit. It feels genuine. And delightful. And they're SOOO cute. I'll even say right here and now that if every romance on the planet panned out exactly the way this one did, I would die a very happy man.

Did I mention that they're CUTE??? And the flying is MUCH better than that scene in Christopher Reeve's Superman. Word.


And, I should mention here... even though the official fifth book in the series, Mostly Harmless, was written a full 8 years after So Long and Thanks for All the Fish, I'm just going to say that the reading order MUST be adjusted for taste.

Keep So Long as the last book you read. It makes the whole thing CHARMING and BEAUTIFUL. If you read Mostly Harmless, then read it right before So Long. That way, when you have that bitter taste in your mouth, you can wash it down with the pure charm of So Long. :)

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