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The Accurant At The End Of The Universe: Analysis

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The Accurant At The End Of The Universe: Analysis
T h e C o o k C o u r a n t
Jon Rasche November 9th, 2005

THE RESTAURANT AT THE END OF THE UNIVERSE!
"There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.

There is another which states that this has already happened." – Douglas Adams

The opening line: "In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move," pretty much tells the reader what to expect throughout the book: the unexpected. The unexpected is exactly what Douglas Adams specializes in during THE RESTAURANT …show more content…
This book, however, not necessarily an excellent book, will never bore the reader. Some books foreshadow and allow for predictions, while THE RESTAURANT AT THE END OF THE UNIVERSE is so bizarre and quick that one can only try to keep up. This fast-paced-sequence-of-events style makes the book that much more thrilling for me. The book follows Arthur Dent, a middle aged Englishman who has difficulty with accepting what he sees, only wanting a nice cup of tea, the love of his life, and a nice relaxing chair by the fire; instead, he ends up rocketing around the universe with his love and a few others, narrowly escaping death on an hourly …show more content…
It urges one to accept what one sees and to do something about it instead of freaking out about it. It also focuses on What is this life thingy that everyone seems to be talking about, and what is the big deal? To the unobservant, this story will seem like a load of rubbish, while the perceptive (or perhaps the overly analytical), will find a deeper meaning within the arbitrarioscity. The main conflict deals with... Oops I'm sorry? What main conflict? This story, however wonderful, has no main dilemma. An underlying question, or quest, carried on from the prequel: What is the ultimate question to which the answer is forty-two? The book touches on this question near the end. The story itself mainly consists of small fun and exciting things that are not resolved but forgotten about because WOW, another new, fun and exciting thing occurs! The technical term that can be applied to this book is the bright-shiny-object theory. Douglas, when writing the book came up with a great idea to use, but got overexcited and used it before he could finish his previous thought. While entertaining and enthusing, it detracts from the overall appeal of the
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