★★★☆☆
[Spoilers]
I read this after hearing Elon Musk say that it changed his life. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case for me.
There’s an general levity amidst some interesting, consequential ideas but there’s no depth: I never felt like there was a deeper meaning behind anything in the book. Even the calculation of the ultimate question and the answer seem to be throwaways simply to make the reader laugh in the moment, given the absurdity of the situation. Another example: mice are actually smarter than us? Sure. So what? They commissioned the Earth to calculate the answer to the ultimate question? Sure. Why does that matter? I can’t think of a single reason: had the dolphins done it instead, the plot, the idea, and the result would have been the same.
If it’s the reader who’s supposed to interpret the meaning behind these big, fanciful ideas, then that’s just a cop-out. There was so much potential to explore the consequences behind these unorthodox ideas (planet building? genocide? probability? non-humanoid aliens?) instead of having interchangeable characters (Ford, Trillian, and Arthur) react through comedic one-off lines. Speaking of the characters–none of them, except maybe Zaphod, undergo an inkling of character development from start to finish.
An enjoyable read overall–but don’t expect it to change your life.