I thought I would share another of my Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy blog posts. To catch you up, I kept a short blog through a semester of my senior year of high school solely dedicated to a five book trilogy created by Douglas Adams. The books are hilarious and I do not hesitate to recommend it to everyone that asks be for a book recommendation. This blog post was entitled “Oh, Canada”. You’ll find out why as you read it.
For your reading enjoyment, Oh, Canada!
So let’s talk about controversy. Hapless human Arthur Dent gets dragged all over several universes and time periods after watching Earth get destroyed to make room for a hyper spatial express route. His best friend, Ford Prefect, is an alien with a nearly unpronounceable name who writes planetary travel articles for said Book. The pair wander around, get into trouble, almost die multiple times, murder a whale and a bowl of petunias, steal a spaceship with an Infinite Improbability Drive, and make sandwiches.
Adams came up with the original idea while lying in a field, drunk, staring up at the stars and wondering if anyone had ever written a Hitchhiker’s Guide to Europe but for space. As it turns out, no one had, so he did. And it was glorious.
Here’s a tidbit for your next pub quiz: H2G2 was banned at one school in Canada for using the word “whore.” As in Eccentrica Gallumbits, the Triple-Breasted Whore of Eroticon Six. Yep, that’s it. That’s really it. As a person who thrives on controversy and poking the bear in the zoo, I find this rather pathetic. There are so many better reasons to toss a book in literary jail than saying “whore” once in a 250-page book. And of all the words to find offensive, that has got to be the least of them. Why even be bothered by that word? Is it the profession itself that is offensive, or the specific word? I guess I’m mostly disappointed that the reasoning is so lackluster because the book is so important to me. It’s no exaggeration to say The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy 5-book trilogy (And Another Thing… doesn’t count) changed my life. There are those few milestones in everyone’s life, and not surprisingly, most of my milestones have involved controversial topics or creators. But I’ll save that for another time.
I highly encourage everyone to read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy books. They are highly entertaining and something I feel every person should experience at least once in their reading career. If you have already read the books, don’t hate Canada because of this blog post and that school that banned one of the best book series ever written. Some people just can’t handle that much amazing I guess.
