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MAG.E 6
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MAG.E 6 (Disk 1 of 2).adf
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1977-12-31
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7KB
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131 lines
@2ILLUSTRATED HITCH HIKER~S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY
@3=============================================
@1
The latest chapter of the publishing legend that is The Hitch-Hiker's
Guide to the Galaxy has recently opened, this time with the publication
of The Illustrated HHGTTG. I was sent a copy of this for review in my
local newspaper, but since 90% of the readers won't know what I'm
talking about, I thought I'd get a bit of extra mileage out of the book
by giving you the dubious benefits of my comments...
The Illustrated Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams -
Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 25 pounds (large format hard-back).
The first thing that strikes you about this latest edition of the book
that is more popular even than the Celestial Home Care Omnibus is that
it is big. Really big. At 14 inches by 11 (that's about 36cm by 28cm,
EuroHikers) this will probably not fit on your bookshelf unless you have
the roof raised, but it certainly stands out from the crowd of
less big publications and will catch your eye in the shop with little
trouble.
The second thing that strikes you is that it is quite remarkably shiny.
Look at this in bright sunlight, and you'll need a decent pair of Foster
Grants to stop yourself going blind (that or a pair of boxing
gloves...). The dust cover looks silver at first, but move it around and
it glistens colourfully and tempts you inside...
Where the third thing that will strike you is the price (this might be
the first thing, actually, but it depends how poor you are). Twenty Five
pounds is A FAIR BIT OF MONEY by most people's standards, and so parting
with it is no doubt going to require no small amount of influence from
within the book.
Oh, and you might begin to wonder if this is the REAL Hitch-Hiker's
Guide to the Galaxy, since there is a distinct absence of the words
"Don't Panic" printed in large friendly letters on the cover. But fear
naught, for unwrapping the glossy dust cover reveals that all is well.
Even if the letters are not so much large and friendly as large and
enough to scare the poo out of you.
The book contains the complete text of the first HH book, augmented by
numerous photographs depicting certain scenes. That's right - not
paintings, PHOTOS. These have been put together using a combination of
modelling, actors and computer generated graphics and the result is at
first a little less than satisfying, to my mind.
The first thing you see on opening the book is the designers'
interpretation of Marvin, which is one of the best characterisations in
it, IMHO. Less chunky than the TV version, this one is a spindly looking
character, with (as you will see on page 44) knock-knees and a suitably
downcast
expression. It's hard to describe him fully in words, but he certainly
looks very
depressed to me.
The cast of human and near-human characters will most likely be unknown
to you: Jonathan Lermit as Arthur, Tom Finnis as Ford, Francis Johnson
as Zaphod and someone called Tali as Trillian. Oh, and a chap called
Douglas Adams has a cameo as one of the cops.
Of the cast, Zaphod is naturally going to attract interest, to see how
he's been "done". Well, thanks to computer technology, his third arm and
second head are integrated seamlessly onto the actor's body, giving what
must be the first "real" sight of this bizarre character (I don't count
the less than successful TV attempt).
Some of the double page illustrations include a wonderful scene of
a decidedly Mongolian-looking Prosser, against a red background and a
lineup of menacing looking horsemen, Ford and Arthur hitching a lift off
the Vogon ship, hanging in the air above them with a sort of long
tube-like extension in the process of demolishing the Earth, Prostetnic
Vogon Jeltz (a comical but rather rubbery-looking monster) watching his
ship's view screens while ankle deep in gloop, Arthur and Fords' arrival
on the Heart of Gold (complete with buildings washing up and down) and
Zaphod and Trillian in the ship's control room - a sort of huge white space
with nothing but monitors on one wall.
The most impressive picture is a fold-out (a pity there aren't more
than one) of the scene on board the ship when the whale is created by
the Improbability Drive. This features all of the main cast and the scenes
of improbability above and behind them are viewed in what look like picture
frames.
Sadly, some of the scenes that are not recreated include the actual
destruction of Earth and Arthur and Slartibartfasts' journey into the
void to see Earth II, but I suppose the latter would have been little
more than a shot of Earth in blackness and the former a shot of Earth
exploding in blackness.
Oh, and did I mention that Trillian is gorgeous? :-) We are talking
serious loveliness, here - forget Sandra Dickinson; as far as I am
concerned, THIS is what Trillian should look like!:-))))(And no, I'd not
heard of "Tali" before, either, but I'd certainly like to hear - and see
- more of her...) Turn to page 49 immediately for a glimpse (but don't ogle
for too long or other people in the shop will start to talk...)
As for the words of the story, which many of you will probably know
by heart anyway, they are presented in a pleasant fashion, sometimes with
pictures among the text, sometimes with extracts pulled out in boxes and
other "ornamental" captions, and sometimes with text "in" the pictures (on
viewscreens, for example).
The book has 98 pages, and ends, of course, with Zaphod suggesting
dinner at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, which leaves me
wondering if there will be an illustrated sequel.
But the 66 thousand Triganic Pus question is, of course, "is it worth
25 quid?"
Welllll, if I saw this in a shop, I suspect my first reaction would be to
put it
down again after being initially disappointed. But then
I would doubtless go home and think about it, go back to the shop, look
at it a bit more, and then stick it on my Christmas list in the futile
hope that Aunty Nettie won't bother with a tie this year and buy me
this instead.
After not getting it for Christmas, and having looked at it on every
subsequent visit to the bookshop, I would doubtless convince myself that
buying it is a sound investment, and that it will look good next to the
records, the tapes, the videos, the novels, the talking books and the
scripts.
Then all I will need to do is go out and buy a shelf unit capable of
taking the damned thing...
So, on a marks out 10 rating......This gets 7. It would have got 8, but
that price made me balk so severely that I dropped one of the marks into
a black hole.
@2Mark Ogier