So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (1984, ISBN 0-345-39183-7) is the fourth book of the
Hitchhiker's Guide to the GalaxyThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy series created by Douglas Adams. Originally a radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978, it was later adapted to other formats, and over several years it gradually became an international multi-media phenomenon...
series written by
Douglas AdamsDouglas Noel Adams was an English writer, dramatist, and musician. He is best known as the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which started life in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy before developing into a "trilogy" of five books that sold over 15 million copies in his lifetime, a...
. Its title is the message left by the
dolphinDolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in seventeen genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly...
s when they departed Planet Earth just before it was demolished to make way for a hyperspatial express route, as described in
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the GalaxyThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is the title of the first of five books in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy comedy science fiction series by Douglas Adams. The novel is an adaptation of the first four parts of Adams's radio series of the same name...
. The phrase has since been adopted by some science fiction fans as a humorous way to say "goodbye" and a song of the same name was featured in the 2005 film adaptation of
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the GalaxyThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy film based on the book of the same name by Douglas Adams. Shooting was completed in August 2004 and the movie was released on April 28, 2005 in the UK, Australia and New Zealand, and on the following day in the USA and Canada...
.
Arthur DentArthur Philip Dent is a fictional character, the hapless protagonist and antihero in the comic science fiction series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams....
has randomly hitch-hiked his way through the galaxy and is dropped off on a planet in the middle of a rainstorm.
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (1984, ISBN 0-345-39183-7) is the fourth book of the
Hitchhiker's Guide to the GalaxyThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy series created by Douglas Adams. Originally a radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978, it was later adapted to other formats, and over several years it gradually became an international multi-media phenomenon...
series written by
Douglas AdamsDouglas Noel Adams was an English writer, dramatist, and musician. He is best known as the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which started life in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy before developing into a "trilogy" of five books that sold over 15 million copies in his lifetime, a...
. Its title is the message left by the
dolphinDolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in seventeen genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly...
s when they departed Planet Earth just before it was demolished to make way for a hyperspatial express route, as described in
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the GalaxyThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is the title of the first of five books in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy comedy science fiction series by Douglas Adams. The novel is an adaptation of the first four parts of Adams's radio series of the same name...
. The phrase has since been adopted by some science fiction fans as a humorous way to say "goodbye" and a song of the same name was featured in the 2005 film adaptation of
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the GalaxyThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy film based on the book of the same name by Douglas Adams. Shooting was completed in August 2004 and the movie was released on April 28, 2005 in the UK, Australia and New Zealand, and on the following day in the USA and Canada...
.
Plot summary
Arthur DentArthur Philip Dent is a fictional character, the hapless protagonist and antihero in the comic science fiction series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams....
has randomly hitch-hiked his way through the galaxy and is dropped off on a planet in the middle of a rainstorm. He quickly realizes that he appears to be in the centre of England on the planet Earth, even though he had previously witnessed it being destroyed by the Vogons. Furthermore, while he has been gone for several years, it appears only a few months have passed on Earth. He manages to hitch a ride with a man named Russell, who is driving home his sister Fenchurch (Fenny for short). Russel explains that she had become delusional several months earlier shortly after a worldwide incident involving mass hysteria over the "hallucinations with the big yellow spaceships". Arthur also learns that all the
dolphinDolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in seventeen genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly...
s disappeared shortly after that event. Arthur becomes curious about Fenchurch, but they reach his home before he can ask more questions. Inside his still-standing home, Arthur finds, among a pile of junk mail, a gift-wrapped bowl inscribed with the words "So Long and Thanks for All the Fish" which he then uses as a fish bowl for his
Babel FishBabel fish alludes to the story of the Tower of Babel in the Bible, where God created language to divide the humans so that they could not work together to build a tower to heaven...
. That night, Arthur cannot help but consider that Fenchurch is somehow connected to him and to the Earth's destruction, and finds that he still has the ability to fly whenever he lets his thoughts wander.
After putting his life back in order, Arthur goes about trying to find more information about Fenchurch. He manages to catch her hitchhiking and pursues their earlier conversation in a pub, learning more about her unusual circumstances. He obtains her phone number but loses it after he has to give up the winning raffle ticket he wrote it on the back of. He happens upon her home when he attempts to locate the cave he had previously lived in after crashing onto prehistoric Earth with the Golgafrinchans: Fenchurch's flat is built on the same spot. As the two talk they find more circumstances connecting them. Fenchurch reveals that, moments before her hallucinations about the yellow ships, she had an epiphany while sitting in a cafe about how to make everything right, but then blacked out. Ever since, she has not been able to recall that epiphany. After seeing that Fenchurch's feet do not touch the ground, Arthur teaches her how to fly and together they make love over the London skies.
They then travel in a conventional manner to
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
to see John Watson, aka "Wonko the Sane," a scientist who purports to know the cause of the dolphins' disappearance. Watson shows them a bowl with the words "So long and thanks for all the fish" inscribed on it that they all by chance happen to own and encourages them to listen to the bowl. Upon doing this, they learn from the bowl's audio message that the dolphins, aware of the destruction of Earth by the Vogons, left the Earth for an alternate dimension but not before replacing the destroyed Earth with a new version and transporting everyone and everything to it as a way of saving the human species. After realizing the truth, Arthur explains to Fenchurch what he has experienced over the last several years while hitchhiking across the galaxy, after which she insists that she wants to see it all as well. The two make plans to hitchhike out on the next passing spaceship.
Concurrent to these events,
Ford PrefectFord Prefect is a fictional character in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by the British author Douglas Adams. He is the only character other than the protagonist, Arthur Dent, to appear throughout the entire Hitchhiker's saga.-Biography:Ford is a good friend of the main character, an ordinary...
discovers that during an update of the "Hitchhiker's Guide", his previous entry for Earth, "Mostly harmless", has been replaced with the volumes of text he wrote during his research. Recognizing that something is strange, Ford begins to hitchhike across the galaxy to reach Earth, eventually using the ship of a giant robot to land in the centre of London and causing a panic. In the chaos, Ford meets up with Arthur and Fenchurch and together they commandeer the robot's ship. Arthur takes Fenchurch to the planet where God's Final Message to His Creation is written, and they happen across
MarvinMarvin, the Paranoid Android is a fictional character in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams. Marvin is the ship's robot aboard the starship Heart of Gold. He was built as a prototype of Sirius Cybernetics Corporation's GPP technology...
, who, because of previous events, is now approximately 37 times older than the known age of the universe and is barely able to continue. Marvin, with Arthur and Fenchurch's help, reads the Message, "We apologize for the inconvenience", smiles, utters the final words 'I think... I feel good about it', and dies happy.
Discussion
The novel has a very different tone to the previous books in the series. This is partly because it is a
romanceThe romance novel is a literary genre developed in Western culture, mainly in English-speaking countries. Novels in this genre place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Through the late...
, and partly because the book bounces around in time more erratically than its predecessors. Adams even injects a humorous sub-plot. Perhaps most notably, there is very little space-travel: Arthur only leaves the new Earth in the final chapters. Adams' editor
Sonny MehtaAjai Singh "Sonny" Mehta is a publisher and editor-in-chief of Alfred A Knopf.He was schooled at the one of the leading schools of India, Lawrence School, Sanawar. He is referenced in the musical The Last Five Years and is well known for moving in with Douglas Adams in order to make sure he...
moved in with the author to ensure that the book met its (extended) deadline. As a result, Adams later stated that he was not entirely happy with the book, which includes several jarring authorial intrusions, which fellow author
Neil GaimanNeil Richard Gaiman is an English author of science fiction and fantasy short stories and novels, graphic novels, comics, audio theatre, and films. His notable works include The Sandman comic series, Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
described as "patronising and unfair".
The book also reflects a significant shift in Adams' view of computers. In the previous books, computers had been portrayed quite negatively, reflecting Adams' then views on the subject. However, between the writing of
Life, The Universe and Everything and
So Long and Thanks for all the Fish, his attitude toward technology changed considerably. Having been taken along to a computer fair, he became enamoured with the first model of the
MacintoshThe Macintosh, or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced on January 24 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a graphical user interface rather than a...
, the start of a long love-affair with the brand (he claimed to have bought two of the first three
MacintoshThe Macintosh, or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced on January 24 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a graphical user interface rather than a...
in the UK - the other being bought by his friend
Stephen FryStephen John Fry is a British actor, writer, comedian, author, television presenter and film director. With Hugh Laurie, as the comedy double act Fry and Laurie, he co-wrote and co-starred in A Bit of Fry and Laurie, and the duo also played the title roles in Jeeves and Wooster...
). In
So Long And Thanks For All The Fish, Arthur Dent purchases a computer for the purpose of star mapping; Adams makes only one disparaging comment about this decision.
Literary significance and reception
In 1993 the
Library JournalLibrary Journal is a trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey . It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional practice...
said that
So Long and Thanks for all the Fish was "filled with loopy humor and pretzel logic that makes Adams' writing so delightful".
Betsy Shorb reviewing for the
School Library JournalSchool Library Journal is a monthly publication with articles and reviews for school and public librarians who work with young people.It was founded in 1954 as Junior Libraries after breaking off from Library Journal. In 2006 School Library Journal had a circulation of 38,000 subscribers and over...
said that "the humor is still off-the-wall but more gentle than the other books. The plot is more straight forward and slightly less bizarre than its predecessors".
Audiobook adaptations
There have been three audiobook recordings of the novel. The first was an abridged edition, recorded in the mid-1980s by
Stephen MooreStephen Moore is an English actor, known for his work on British television in the 80s and 2000s.He is best recognised for his appearances in "Rock Follies" and other TV series such as The Last Place on Earth, the chidren's series The Queen's Nose and Chief Constable Mike Bishop in the TV drama...
, best known for playing the voice of
Marvin the Paranoid AndroidMarvin, the Paranoid Android is a fictional character in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams. Marvin is the ship's robot aboard the starship Heart of Gold. He was built as a prototype of Sirius Cybernetics Corporation's GPP technology...
in the radio series, LP adaptations and in the TV series. In 1990, Adams himself recorded an unabridged edition, later re-released by New Millennium Audio in the United States and available from BBC Audiobooks in the United Kingdom. In 2006, actor
Martin FreemanMartin John C Freeman is an English actor. He is most famous for his roles as Tim Canterbury in the BBC's Golden Globe-winning comedy The Office and as Arthur Dent in the film adaptation of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.-Career:Since leaving the Central School of Speech and...
, who had played
Arthur DentArthur Philip Dent is a fictional character, the hapless protagonist and antihero in the comic science fiction series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams....
in the 2005 movie, recorded a new unabridged edition of the audiobook.