2nd Quarter ORB Review

First of all, the following review is written for two books because, by themselves, they do not provide enough depth for the ORB Presentation guidelines. Now then, as fate would have it, Douglas Adams wrote the two books back to back, and the two could basically be combined into one novel. The protagonist in the two books is Arthur Dent, a mild-mannered human living on Earth when (conveniently) his home planet is in line to be destroyed to create a hyperspace freeway. This is pure irony being that his house was also planned to be destroyed for a non-hyperspace, every day Earth type of freeway. He is whisked away by his friend Ford Prefect, and the two “hitchhike” their way onto a starship. After an unfortunate discharge into open space via a Vogon airlock, the two meet Zaphod Beeblebrox (the President of the Galaxy, escaping from stealing a Golden spaceship) and a few others; and all of the characters go on some less than pleasant adventures.
“They’re those kind of books you just want to pick up and hug it to bits. The turns of phrases are so different, they throw you off the sentence and you have to read it again to fully appreciate it,” says Hannah Dooling of sffworld.com, “[The books] have provided endless hilarious days quoting it to my classmates and pissing off my teachers, who I have insisted to, that the answer to any of their questions is 42.”
For your information, these books were written by a man who was once admitted to a mental institution, and the books certainly reflect Adams’ randomness. His is truly an odd style of writing, full of twists and obscure references to aliens and planets unmentioned previously in the books. However, Adams maintains the fact that he is an Earthling and he does stay with a storyline. But, as also in his other books (Life, the Universe, and Everything/ So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish/ Mostly Harmless) the odd yet wonderfully composed sections about things us humans understand are hilarious.
“For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much - the wheel, New York, wars and so on - whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man - for precisely the same reasons.Curiously enough, the dolphins had long known of the impending destruction of the planet Earth and had made many attempts to alert mankind to the danger; but most of their communications were misinterpreted as amusing attempts to punch footballs or whistle for tidbits, so they eventually gave up and left the Earth by their own means shortly before the Vogons arrived.The last ever dolphin message was misinterpreted as a surprisingly sophisticated attempt to do a double-backwards-somersault through a hoop whilst whistling the 'Star Spangled Banner', but in fact the message was this: So long and thanks for all the fish.” (113)
These books have provided a generation with a source for clever and spontaneous writing. I particularly enjoyed these two books, and am currently reading the rest of the “trilogy”. I strongly recommend readers to indulge in these books, especially if you enjoy complete absurdity. Even though Mr. Adams is now dead, he knew the meaning of life: 42.

Now I Can Die In Peace

Now I Can Die in Peace is a compilation of Bill Simmons’ columns working for ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com, and the writing’s span from his boyhood experiencing the Boston Red Sox baseball team to their championship season in 2004. This New York Times best-seller is filled with comedic phrases about Bill’s life (with or without sports) and the heartbreak of 86 years and no championships with the Sox. They had come close during his childhood, his teen years, and his early adulthood, but they had never sealed the deal. But, about half of the book is about the Red Sox incredible 2004 curse-breaking season (if you don’t know about the Curse of the Bambino, ask anyone from New England about Boston baseball).

“Bill's style is a breeze to read and never gets boring,” says Rotoauthority.com, “His columns read like a barroom conversation, only more pithy.”

Mr. Simmons’ book is, at points, a gut-wrenching yet hilarious read for any Boston sports fan; then again, for anyone. His never-stale wit pops up every paragraph or so, and you could read this book for days without getting sick of it. His combination of pop culture and sports is delectable to any readers’ palate, and it reminds me of a book I read written by Stephen King and Stewart O’Nan, entitled Faithful; it’s not a horror book, it’s actually about the Red Sox ’04 season as well. However, a similar comedic style of writing can be found in both books.

The title of this book was actually put into place for two reasons. The first being that Bill’s editors at ESPN wouldn’t let him call it Love Child of the Impossible Dream; the second being that his dad called him moments after the Sox won in ’04 shouting, “They won it in my lifetime!” spurring Bill to name the book as such. So many of the Red Sox faithful had died before seeing this beautiful occurrence, and this book helps the people who did survive the years enjoy it a little bit more. Plus, Bill’s writing style is quite enjoyable. I actually laughed at loud during numerous points of reading this book. One of the breakouts happened after reading his point of view of the last moments of the ninth inning of the 2004 World Series:

8:40 pm: I’m staring at Edgar Renteria (shortstop for the opposing St. Louis Cardinals) wondering, “Does this look like the guy who will make the last out when the Red Sox win the World Series?”

(You know what? Yes. Yes he does.)

8:41 pm: One hopper back to Foulke (Red Sox closer), underhand scoop to first…

HEE-YAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

8:41 pm: HOLY $%#%@%@#^%#$@#$@!!!!!!!!!!!!

8:42 pm: All right…

I now, quite frequently, read Bill Simmons’ columns on ESPN.com and enjoy them thoroughly. His clever writing makes me chuckle, and even enjoy sports more than I usually do. I hope that he writes another book soon, so I can rush out to purchase it.

_peter