First Impression Friday will be a meme where you talk about a book that you JUST STARTED! Maybe you’re only a chapter or two in, maybe a little farther. Based on this sampling of your current read, give a few impressions and predict what you’ll think by the end.

Synopsis:

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.

Congratulations on making it through yet another work week! You all survived, gracefully I hope. Thankfully, I spent only two days at the office this week as I spent the rest of it vacationing with my family. This is the first time that I traveled with my family, something that I have been contemplating doing for the past few years. We’re just two months into the year and I already ticked off some of the things I have been dreaming of. So yeah! I hope that the rest of the year will be filled with nothing but blessings and good tidings. To everyone, I hope that you are ending on a high note. I hope that you were able to achieve everything you set out to achieve at the start of the week, perhaps the year. If the past week went awry, I hope you get to spend the weekend resting. More importantly, I hope everyone is doing well, in mind, body, and spirit. After chalking up another work week, I hope you get to enjoy the weekend.

But before I can dive into the weekend, let me cap the work week with a new First Impression Friday update. I opened my 2023 reading journey by catching up on novels published in 2022; I guess this is going to be a tradition as this was how I started 2022 as well. Currently, I am immersing myself in the works of British and Irish literature. I opened February by reading two books by Irish writer James Joyce, back-to-back: Dubliners and Ulysses. The former is my first short story collection in nearly four years while the latter was my 1000th novel. Since then, I have traveled to Scotland through Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting, and to England through Iris Murdoch’s debut novel Under the Net. However, my current read is taking me into a place out-of-this-world, quite literally.

So my current read is Douglas Adams’ The Restaurant at the End of the World. This is the second book in his renowned The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Yes, finally! Nearly five years after I read the first book in the series, I am reading its sequel. I have been planning to read the other books in the series in the past few years but I kept pushing it back because other books kept distracting me (LOL). Anyway, years after resolving to read the rest of the series, I think I am finally taking the steps toward achieving it. And I say it is about time for I am nearly forgetting what happened in the first book. Thankfully, the second book brushed up my memory a bit.

The second book reintroduces the main characters who we met in the first book: Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, Trillian, and Zaphod Beeblebrox. To the uninitiated, Arthur Dent is a middle-class British man who is the only human character in the story; the rest of the characters are different aliens from different planets and galaxies. We meet them again as they attempt to leave the planet Magrathea on the Heart of Gold. However, they were intercepted by a Vogon ship bribed by Gag Halfrunt and a group of psychiatrists; the ship fired at Dent and his crew. What ensued was a mixture of adventures and misadventures, reminiscent of the first book in the series.

Adams, like in his first book, built The Restaurant at the End of the World from strength to strength. His humor and wit, prominently displayed in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, was again one of the glues that bound the story together. The ultimate goal of the main characters – to understand the significance of the Ultimate Question, and find the Ruler of the Galaxy – drives them yet again. Adams tackled a vast territory of subjects, from time manipulation to the end of time to the relativity of life, death, and the afterlife. What was commendable was that he was able to accomplish this while economizing the number of words; yes, the book is deceptively slim but it packs a lot of punch.

The book is rather accessible and easy to read. I am gliding through it although I have to stop once and a while to process and understand the meanings hidden by Adams in his work. Yes, it seems like it is all fun and games but underneath it are deep meanings. The entire series may be a work of comedic science fiction but its lightheartedness belie a critical and satirical masterpiece. With its slimness, completing the book over the weekend is not impossible. How about you fellow reader? What book or books are you taking with you for the weekend? I hope you get to enjoy them. Again, happy weekend everyone!

Advertisement