Commenter White English Teacher at Booker Rising took me way back, subtly mentioning the supercomputer Deep Thought, which was constructed to figure an the answer to the Ultimate Question, which turned out to be 42. The Earth, then, was the program which was constructed to ask the Question to the Ultimate Answer. The whole story is recorded in the five-part trilogy (or is it six parts?), kicked off with The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. That was the first science fiction book that I ever read, but being that it was amazingly off-kilter, it didn’t really feel like reading sci-fi. And I loved it. Immensely. Being that it’s science fiction, it’s mad dense, but I think it was some of the most fun I’ve ever had reading. And that’s saying a lot.
Being on summer vacation has also meant that I’ve had the chance to so some reading for pleasure. In this case, I made a trip to the comic book store and actually bought something. When I first started reading comics it was for the art, but now it’s just as much for the stories. Espeically when a philosophical question is raised. Enter Marvel’s Civil War. Because I’m not still of the mindset to go to the comic store every month, I just sat down and bought the trade paperback. But it’s good reading, and it raises some interesting questions. Of course, the first question I hafta ask is…why the brother had to die? Still. Always. Dag.
At any rate, I’m not gonna go all into the whole details of the series, but suffice it to say that it’s been nice to let the nerd out for a while. I don’t know if he’s gonna be out all summer, or if my trips to the comic store are done for the year. But I know I enjoyed it today.
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Reading f/ pleasure, eh? When survyed, only 25% of middle school kids said they do so.
I’ve read that entire HGTTG series and one other Douglas Adams “detective” novel — he’s one of my favourites. I’ve been meaning to re-read at least the first book, but if I don’t this summer I won’t panic.
Thanks for the headsup re the Civil War paperback. I picked up a few issues but didn’t finish collecting the whole of the series even tho I wanted to. I too came to comics for the art (I spose we all do?) but stayed for the writing. If you ever get a chance to pick up old Hulk issues when Peter David was writing it (the gray Hulk period), thass some good writin thurr. Good comics expanded my vocabulary, my understanding of mythology and enforced/enhanced some philosophical leanings.
man, re: hitchikers, i got the one-volume compendium. that’s probably why i haven’t read it again, because i got the compendium jawn instead of the little books. the civil war joint is tight too.
lee, yeah the number of kids who read for pleasure is tragic. when you take into account the type of stuff they read (hello, zane) it’s even worse. i wish my kids were readin some avengers and x-men
The Hitchhicker book is good. I didn’t read the rest.