The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

By: Douglas Adams

Narrated by: Martin Freeman

Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's Summary

“Douglas Adams is a terrific satirist.” (The Washington Post Book World)

Facing annihilation at the hands of the warlike Vogons? Time for a cup of tea! Join the cosmically displaced Arthur Dent and his uncommon comrades in arms in their desperate search for a place to eat as they hurtle across space powered by pure improbability.   

Among Arthur's motley shipmates are Ford Prefect, a longtime friend and expert contributor to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; Zaphod Beeblebrox, the three-armed, two-headed ex-president of the galaxy; Tricia McMillan, a fellow Earth refugee who's gone native (her name is Trillian now); and Marvin, the moody android. Their destination? The ultimate hot spot for an evening of apocalyptic entertainment and fine dining, where the food speaks for itself (literally).

“What’s such fun is how amusing the galaxy looks through Adams’s sardonically silly eyes.” (Detroit Free Press)

Listen to the rest of Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy "trilogy."

Want to learn more about the new Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie? Listen to this interview with Robbie Stamp, close friend of Douglas Adams and executive producer of the film.

©1980 Serious Productions, Ltd. (P)2006 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

I love this book!

Would you listen to The Restaurant at the End of the Universe again? Why?

Yes, it's a classic, and listening to it aloud makes it even more fun.

What did you like best about this story?

All of the Hitchhiker books are hilarious, and this one is no exception.

What about Martin Freeman’s performance did you like?

I liked his voice for Marvin the paranoid android.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me laugh.

Any additional comments?

I hate Martin Freeman's Zaphod Beeblebrox voice. He sounds like Joe Pesci.

16 of 17 people found this review helpful

awesome... except for the voice of Zaphod

This book is beautifully read with the screeching halt exception of Zaphod Beeblebrox. For unknown reasons the narrator chose to read this character as a stereotypical New York thug. Think Rocky Balboa and you'll have it. Other than that, the book is excellent.

30 of 34 people found this review helpful

God bless Martin Freeman

I didn't think the Hitchhiker series could get any better than Stephen Fry narrating. Then I proceeded to book 2 and heard Martin Freeman in my ears. Goodbye Audible Credits! Totally. Worth. It. Best purchse so far on Audible.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Great, But not as great as book one

I thought this book was great. The first one was a bit better, but that is only because it has the natural advantage of being a bit more shocking to the reader making it slightly more exciting. By now your a little more used to, as is Arthur, the impressively random and outlandish events that stretched your brain in the first book. But there are still just as many random and outlandish adventures to be had in book two.

I'm not sure why everyone thought the narrator was so awful. I thought he was fine. I had a different reader for the first HGTTG. He was fine too.

14 of 16 people found this review helpful

Still funny!

I have no idea why people are complaining about the narration. It's high quality and each character sounds unique. If you want a monotone boring narrator like the people below, then I guess this isn't for you. The narration in this book is very comparable to the great job Stephen Fry did in the first book.

The book itself is pretty good and makes me want to continue the series. I love the world, or should I say "universe" created by Douglas Adams in this series. It's refreshing and exciting.

20 of 24 people found this review helpful

The narrator is mostly harmless

I was worried by the comments on the narration, but I actually loved this Zaphod. The narrator is no Stephen Fry, but he's quite good and I found the book to be quite enjoyable. I think it boils down to different preferences, so if you loved reading these books don't let the naysayers scare you off. I plan to get the next three.

21 of 26 people found this review helpful

You'll be glad you got it

Don't be swayed by the comments about Zaphod. I thought it was an excellent performance. Martin Freeman gives Zaphod the voice that he has in the books. He is amusingly shallow and charmingly inarticulate. He has, of course, an American accent. In his boastful moments he sounds a little like a serene Al Pacino and in his frustrated moments a little like a slightly stunned Keanu Reeves.

9 of 11 people found this review helpful

Quotable book and narration.

I was upset at first to see that Stephen Fry did not narrate any more books after the first, but decided I must carry on with the story.

Martin Freeman did an amazing job with this narration, and the added voice modulations on the ethereal and strange creatures were perfect.

Like my review of Stephen Fry with the first book, I gave this audiobook 5 stars as well as the narration, but the overall 4 stars since I again had the problem with the chapters with audible. Some sections had multiple chapters in one so it was difficult to navigate through the book when going back.

Anyway, still loved it. About to buy book 3!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

The audiobook isn't as bad as everyone says.

Would you consider the audio edition of The Restaurant at the End of the Universe to be better than the print version?

I have to admit that while Martin Freeman's performance in this adaptation of "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe" isn't as great as Stephen Fry's reading of the original "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" it's not bad. As some of you may know Martin Freeman played Arthur Dent in the most recent film adaptation of HHGTG. The biggest problem I hear from the other reviews are about Freeman's portrayal of Zaphod Beeblebrox as having a more East Coast (more appropriately Bostonian) accent, his portrayal of Zaphod Beeblebrox's Great-grandfather as an old reedy, high pitched, southern accent (which actually fits if you listen to the actual narration, which describes the character's accent as being high-pitched and sounding like "nails on a chalkboard" to Zaphod). My only issue so far has been with the portrayal of Mr. Zarneewoop. Freeman does apparently have some trouble maintaining this voice for some reason. The voice overall isn't great. However Martin Freeman is a seasoned actor and for the rest of the cast he's very good.

Honestly I wasn't turned off by this reading like a lot of people have complained about. So, really, you might as well give it a try.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Restaurant at the End of the Universe?

Ordering a steak at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

What does Martin Freeman bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Freeman is a seasoned actor, as mentioned before. While he's not incredibly amazing as a narrator for an audiobook he does add enough inflection to give you a good read.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Doesn't really do the book justice

I'm a big HGTTG fan, and over the years I've listened to all the radio dramatizations and at least 3 or 4 different versions of the audiobooks (Stephen Fry, Douglas Adams, Martin Freeman and I think Simon Jones, who played Arthur Dent in the original radio series).

Martin Freeman played Arthur Dent in the 2005 HGTTG movie, so he's familiar with the material, understands most of the characters, and a couple of his characterizations are pretty good - I thought he did a great Marvin. And he's a good actor, too - he plays Watson in the new BBC version of Sherlock Holmes that everyone loves so much.

But his Zaphod is bad, it's inconsistent with the radio series, and I found myself wanting to give him either a cup of strong coffee or a couple of anti-depressants, because he just doesn't seem to have much enthusiasm. And HGTTG is supposed to have a lot of zip.

My recommendation is: Don't buy this version. Try to track down the Douglas Adams or Simon Jones versions.

11 of 14 people found this review helpful