Received this as a Birthday present from my very lovely brother. Will read and inwardly digest whilst re-listening to the original radio tapes! Hope that I'll be able to astound my reading group next Thursday with my knowledge of the science behind the HHGG. Either that or I'll bore them :-)

Well, I've read the book, but I think only 10% actually went in! Very well written, but a bit too scientific for me. Parallel Universes, how the universe began, how it ends, time travel etc etc. Think this book will bear a bit of careful re-reading over time!

The chapter I did understand was the one on the Babel fish about language, with this quote that I particularly liked -->

"As generations of taciturn teenagers and eager pensioners have found, language acquisition after the age of seven takes an awful lot of hard work and time. Unless you are Dutch, of course, when apparently something like a babel fish (perhaps dredged from the canals) is implanted into your ear as a child."