The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Book 2

De: Douglas Adams

Narrado por: Martin Freeman

Now celebrating the 42nd anniversary of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, soon to be a Hulu original series!

“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).

Will they make it? The answer: hard to say. But bear in mind that The Hitchhiker’s Guide deleted the term “Future Perfect” from its pages, since it was discovered not to be!

“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.

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.

Terrible Narration - book ruined

I absolutely love these books but this narrator is beyond terrible. He ruins all the characters. Zafod with his weird accent and Marvin is just boring. At least the Narrator in the 1st book made Marvin absolutely hilarious in his dreariness.

Annoying character voices grate at your nerves.

Not sure when exactly Zaphod Beeblebrox obtained a New York accent or became a tough-guy, but the interpretation of his character as voiced here by Freeman is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike enjoyable.

Enjoyed listening to this

Doesn't come close to the first book but is a good listen nonetheless. Though I saw negative comments on the narration, I didn't hate it that much :)

Hilarious

Martin Freeman’s excellent performance makes it much more enjoyable. Planning to listen again soon. Great piece.

Epic!

Great series and a good follow up on the first book. The characters still holds up and the author makes you laugh!

2nd Half of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Where The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy book ended in a 'to be continued' fashion, this second book in the series wrapped things up nicely. Additional books could be considered sequels, but this should really be considered the necessary second half of the original story: meat and potatoes to round out the first book's salad and dessert. It helps to take a some time and chew more during the main course.

Not everyone's narrator.

This story is not as exciting as the first of the series but is still entertaining. Martin Freeman is entertaining in his narration, but pauses every few words which makes it more difficult for me personally to concentrate on what he is actually saying. His variety in character vocals was nice. The only issue I had with that is the silly American accent of one of our supporting characters. An American accent is not what is silly, mind you. It was the exaggeration of it that annoyed me. For a character with so many lines, I would have preferred a less irritating accent. Nonetheless, it was still a good narration and story.

love this version

Martin Freeman is brilliant. His change of accent are terrific. Well worth a listen.

You know, that guy... or maybe you don't.

Any additional comments?

I love how all of the reviews I've seen refer to Martin Freeman simply as "the narrator." In case you were tragically unaware, he played Arthur Dent in HHGTTG the movie... Which is why they chose him to narrate. Stephen Fry narrated parts of the movie. Granted, I do prefer Stephen Fry to Martin Freeman, but it's not like he's just some guy out of left field either. Maybe if more people realized he was in the movie, they would've given him more of a break.