The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (1980) (edit title/settings)

Thevil edited the summary of The Restaurant at the End of the Universe 8 days ago.

• This is a book by DouglassDouglas Adams, about life after the Earth is destroyed. It is the second book in the series.

  series. The story begins when Arthur Dent, Trillian, Ford Prefect, Marvin the Paranoid Android, and Zaphod Beeblebrox casually float through space in the Heart-of-Gold, the universe's most amazingship which runs with an improbability drive. Arthur is very frustrated with the Nutri-Matic, because, although it can make a nutritious beverage based on the subject's taste buds and health needs, it can't make a simple cup of tea. After lecturing it about what tea exactly <i>is</i> and the history of it, it sets off to find how to make it. After a while, Arthur wanders in to meet with his frantic companions. Vogons are attacking the ship, and the computer is unresponsive because all of its intelligence is put forth into making tea at the moment. After being under fire for a few minutes, Zaphod decides that the only way of escape is to speak to his late great grandfather, who tells him that he must find the Ruler of the Universe. At that, he zaps the ship's computer and Zaphod disappears. Arthur's tea, however, is ready.
  ready. Zaphod and Marvin are sent to Ursa Minor Beta, where they forces the receptionist at the building that houses the Hitchhiker's Guide to let them sea a Mr. Zarniwoop (because Zaphod's mind told him to). They head up via a very reluctant elevator and the building is attacked by Frog Star battleships classes A through D. They lift Zaphod, Marvin, and a mysterious man named Roosta, along with the entire building to the second planet in the Frog Star system, a hostile environment long deprived of life except for the odd bird creature and a mysterious custodian named Gargravarr who is undergoing a divorce with his body because of differences in values. They come to the Total Perspective Vortex, and Zaphod becomes the only man to ever survive his look at the universe in its entirety. Exiting, he comes to what looks like a graveyard of ships, where there is one that still has power, although it is full of insane robots and three-hundred year-old passengers. There, he meets Zarniwoop, a man who brings the Heart-of-Gold, full of Arthur, Trillian, and Ford, from out of his pocket and tells him, once more, to find the Ruler of the Universe. Agitated, Zaphod completely disregards this and tells the computer to take them somewhere to eat.
  eat. The computer Zaps them to Milliways; the Restaurant at the end of the Universe. It allows diners to eat and watch the Universe explode, then go safely home, although it is expensive, and defies more than one law of science. They receive a call from Marvin, letting them know that they left him behind, and he's been parking cars for tens of millions of years. They rush out to the parking lot, grab Marvin, and steal and odd looking black car, which turns out to the stunt car belonging to Hotblack Desiado, a member of the loudest band in the Universe. As the car drives on autopilot into the sun, everyone but Marvin teleports away, because Marvin has to be at the controls.
  controls. Ford Prefect and Arthur Dent wake up together on a ship which appears to be transporting thousands of corpses somewhere. They are found by Number Two, a vicious officer waving a Kill-O-Zap gun, and taken to the Captain, a benevolent man who has spent the last three years in a bath tub. Number One gives them drinks, and to Number Two's rage, they chat calmly about where they are. They are on a ship from a planet called Golgafrinchan, two million years before their own time, transporting all of the people deemed unnecessary elsewhere (to a planet soon to be called Earth). They didn't know this, of course, and were told that their planet was going to be destroyed. The ship crash lands into their destination and Arthur and Ford, along with countless others, escape the wreckage, only to find that there's no way off the planet.
  planet. Meanwhile, Zaphod and Trillian are teleported back to the Heart of Gold, where they meet up again with Zarniwoop and are forced to go and meet the Ruler of the Universe. The Ruler of the Universe has always lived in the same enclosure, with the same cat, with the same people who come to visit him. He often ponders things along the lines of whether everything he sees is what everyone else sees, and if this is all his imaginations. This very ignorance is what makes him a fair and impartial ruler. He doesn't even know he <i>is</i> a ruler, and he doesn't know if there are really other people out there for him to rule. Life is somewhat simple to him, which frustrates Zarniwoop and pleases Zaphod. They sneak out, leaving Zarniwoop alone with the Ruler and get away in the Heart-of-Gold.
  Heart-of-Gold. Arthur and Ford embark on a long journey across the span of several countries, making relations with the natives, and come to find that they are indeed on Earth because they stumble into Denmark and find Slartibartfast's trademark. They hurry back to the Golgafrinchans and find that in all this time, they haven't even figured out how to make fire. They are too busy with "marketing" and "production" to see what's really simple, and so Arthur and Ford, after a long argument, finally give up on them. They try and teach the natives, who are dying out because of the Golgafrinchans, how to speak, or in Arthur's case, how to play Scrabble, but fail. Then they have an idea. Since The Untimate question to the Universe, for which they've been searching, is not in Arthur's conscious memory, then maybe it's in his unconscious memory. He draws scrabble pieces and comes up with the results: "<i>What do you get when you multiply six by nine.</i>"
  nine.</i>" Defeated, they give up and try to make better relations with the Golgafrinchans, or at least two Golgafrinchan girls who come up to them to ask questions. Arthur throws the Guide away, and the story ends with Arthur, Ford, and the two Golgafrinchan girls staring into the sunset and talking.

Snoozy edited the summary of The Restaurant at the End of the Universe Tuesday, May 31, 2011.

• This is an ingeniousa book by Douglass Adams, about life after the Earth is destroyed. It is the second book in the series.

  The story begins when Arthur Dent, Trillian, Ford Prefect, Marvin the Paranoid Android, and Zaphod Beeblebrox casually float through space in the Heart-of-Gold, the universe's most amazing ship which runs with an improbability drive. Arthur is very frustrated with the Nutri-Matic, because, although it can make a nutritious beverage based on the subject's taste buds and health needs, it can't make a simple cup of tea. After lecturing it about what tea exactly <i>is</i> and the history of it, it sets off to find how to make it. After a while, Arthur wanders in to meet with his frantic companions. Vogons are attacking the ship, and the computer is unresponsive because all of its intelligence is put forth into making tea at the moment. After being under fire for a few minutes, Zaphod decides that the only way of escape is to speak to his late great grandfather, who tells him that he must find the Ruler of the Universe. At that, he zaps the ship's computer and Zaphod disappears. Arthur's tea, however, is ready.
  Zaphod and Marvin are sent to Ursa Minor Beta, where they forces the receptionist at the building that houses the Hitchhiker's Guide to let them sea a Mr. Zarniwoop (because Zaphod's mind told him to). They head up via a very reluctant elevator and the building is attacked by Frog Star battleships classes A through D. They lift Zaphod, Marvin, and a mysterious man named Roosta, along with the entire building to the second planet in the Frog Star system, a hostile environment long deprived of life except for the odd bird creature and a mysterious custodian named Gargravarr who is undergoing a divorce with his body because of differences in values. They come to the Total Perspective Vortex, and Zaphod becomes the only man to ever survive his look at the universe in its entirety. Exiting, he comes to what looks like a graveyard of ships, where there is one that still has power, although it is full of insane robots and three-hundred year-old passengers. There, he meets Zarniwoop, a man who brings the Heart-of-Gold, full of Arthur, Trillian, and Ford, from out of his pocket and tells him, once more, to find the Ruler of the Universe. Agitated, Zaphod completely disregards this and tells the computer to take them somewhere to eat.
  The computer Zaps them to Milliways; the Restaurant at the end of the Universe. It allows diners to eat and watch the Universe explode, then go safely home, although it is expensive, and defies more than one law of science. They receive a call from Marvin, letting them know that they left him behind, and he's been parking cars for tens of millions of years. They rush out to the parking lot, grab Marvin, and steal and odd looking black car, which turns out to the stunt car belonging to Hotblack Desiado, a member of the loudest band in the Universe. As the car drives on autopilot into the sun, everyone but Marvin teleports away, because Marvin has to be at the controls.
  Ford Prefect and Arthur Dent wake up together on a ship which appears to be transporting thousands of corpses somewhere. They are found by Number Two, a vicious officer waving a Kill-O-Zap gun, and taken to the Captain, a benevolent man who has spent the last three years in a bath tub. Number One gives them drinks, and to Number Two's rage, they chat calmly about where they are. They are on a ship from a planet called Golgafrinchan, two million years before their own time, transporting all of the people deemed unnecessary elsewhere (to a planet soon to be called Earth). They didn't know this, of course, and were told that their planet was going to be destroyed. The ship crash lands into their destination and Arthur and Ford, along with countless others, escape the wreckage, only to find that there's no way off the planet.
  Meanwhile, Zaphod and Trillian are teleported back to the Heart of Gold, where they meet up again with Zarniwoop and are forced to go and meet the Ruler of the Universe. The Ruler of the Universe has always lived in the same enclosure, with the same cat, with the same people who come to visit him. He often ponders things along the lines of whether everything he sees is what everyone else sees, and if this is all his imaginations. This very ignorance is what makes him a fair and impartial ruler. He doesn't even know he <i>is</i> a ruler, and he doesn't know if there are really other people out there for him to rule. Life is somewhat simple to him, which frustrates Zarniwoop and pleases Zaphod. They sneak out, leaving Zarniwoop alone with the Ruler and get away in the Heart-of-Gold.
  Arthur and Ford embark on a long journey across the span of several countries, making relations with the natives, and come to find that they are indeed on Earth because they stumble into Denmark and find Slartibartfast's trademark. They hurry back to the Golgafrinchans and find that in all this time, they haven't even figured out how to make fire. They are too busy with "marketing" and "production" to see what's really simple, and so Arthur and Ford, after a long argument, finally give up on them. They try and teach the natives, who are dying out because of the Golgafrinchans, how to speak, or in Arthur's case, how to play Scrabble, but fail. Then they have an idea. Since The Untimate question to the Universe, for which they've been searching, is not in Arthur's conscious memory, then maybe it's in his unconscious memory. He draws scrabble pieces and comes up with the results: "<i>What do you get when you multiply six by nine.</i>"
  Defeated, they give up and try to make better relations with the Golgafrinchans, or at least two Golgafrinchan girls who come up to them to ask questions. Arthur throws the Guide away, and the story ends with Arthur, Ford, and the two Golgafrinchan girls staring into the sunset and talking.

Rebecca H ~ Is sorry for all the inactivity! edited the summary of The Restaurant at the End of the Universe Monday, July 19, 2010.

• This is an ingenious book by Douglass Adams, about life after the Earth is destroyed. It is the second book in the series.

  The story begins when Arthur Dent, Trillian, Ford Prefect, Marvin the Paranoid Android, and Zaphod Beeblebrox casually float through space in the Heart-of-Gold, the universe's most amazing ship which runs with an improbability drive. Arthur is very frustrated with the Nutri-Matic, because, although it can make a nutritious beverage based on the subject's taste buds and health needs, it can't make a simple cup of tea. After lecturing it about what tea exactly <i>is</i> and the history of it, it sets off to find how to make it. After a while, Arthur wanders in to meet with his frantic companions. Vogons are attacking the ship, and the computer is unresponsive because all of its intelligence is put forth into making tea at the moment. After being under fire for a few minutes, Zaphod decides that the only way of escape is to speak to his late great grandfather, who tells him that he must find the Ruler of the Universe. At that, he zaps the ship's computer and Zaphod disappears. Arthur's tea, however, is ready.
  Zaphod and Marvin are sent to Ursa Minor Beta, where they forces the receptionist at the building that houses the Hitchhiker's Guide to let them sea a Mr. Zarniwoop (because Zaphod's mind told him to). They head up via a very reluctant elevator and the building is attacked by Frog Star battleships classes A through D. They lift Zaphod, Marvin, and a mysterious man named Roosta, along with the entire building to the second planet in the Frog Star system, a hostile environment long deprived of life except for the odd bird creature and a mysterious custodian named Gargravarr who is undergoing a divorce with his body because of differences in values. They come to the Total Perspective Vortex, and Zaphod becomes the only man to ever survive his look at the universe in its entirety. Exiting, he comes to what looks like a graveyard of ships, where there is one that still has power, although it is full of insane robots and three-hundred year-old passengers. There, he meets Zarniwoop, a man who brings the Heart-of-Gold, full of Arthur, Trillian, and Ford, from out of his pocket and tells him, once more, to find the Ruler of the Universe. Agitated, Zaphod completely disregards this and tells the computer to take them somewhere to eat.
  The computer Zaps them to Milliways; the Restaurant at the end of the Universe. It allows diners to eat and watch the Universe explode, then go safely home, although it is expensive, and defies more than one law of science. They receive a call from Marvin, letting them know that they left him behind, and he's been parking cars for tens of millions of years. They rush out to the parking lot, grab Marvin, and steal and odd looking black car, which turns out to the stunt car belonging to Hotblack Desiado, a member of the loudest band in the Universe. As the car drives on autopilot into the sun, everyone but Marvin teleports away, because Marvin has to be at the controls.
  Ford Prefect and Arthur Dent wake up together on a ship which appears to be transporting thousands of corpses somewhere. They are found by Number Two, a vicious officer waving a Kill-O-Zap gun, and taken to the Captain, a benevolent man who has spent the last three years in a bath tub. Number One gives them drinks, and to Number Two's rage, they chat calmly about where they are. They are on a ship from a planet called Golgafrinchan, two million years before their own time, transporting all of the people deemed unnecessary elsewhere (to a planet soon to be called Earth). They didn't know this, of course, and were told that their planet was going to be destroyed. The ship crash lands into their destination and Arthur and Ford, along with countless others, escape the wreckage, only to find that there's no way off the planet.
  Meanwhile, Zaphod and Trillian are teleported back to the Heart of Gold, where they meet up again with Zarniwoop and are forced to go and meet the Ruler of the Universe. The Ruler of the Universe has always lived in the same enclosure, with the same cat, with the same people who come to visit him. He often ponders things along the lines of whether everything he sees is what everyone else sees, and if this is all his imaginations. This very ignorance is what makes him a fair and impartial ruler. He doesn't even know he <i>is</i> a ruler, and he doesn't know if there are really other people out there for him to rule. Life is somewhat simple to him, which frustrates Zarniwoop and pleases Zaphod. They sneak out, leaving Zarniwoop alone with the Ruler and get away in the Heart-of-Gold.
  Arthur and Ford embark on a long journey across the span of several countries, making relations with the natives, and come to find that they are indeed on Earth because they stumble into Denmark and find Slartibartfast's trademark. They hurry back to the Golgafrinchans and find that in all this time, they haven't even figured out how to make fire. They are too busy with "marketing" and "production" to see what's really simple, and so Arthur and Ford, after a long argument, finally give up on them. They try and teach the natives, who are dying out because of the Golgafrinchans, how to speak, or in Arthur's case, how to play Scrabble, but fail. Then they have an idea. Since The Untimate question to the Universe, for which they've been searching, is not in Arthur's conscious memory, then maybe it's in his unconscious memory. He draws scrabble pieces and comes up with the results: "<i>What do you get when you multiply six by nine.</i>"
  Defeated, they give up and try to make better relations with the Golgafrinchans, or at least two Golgafrinchan girls who come up to them to ask questions. Arthur throws the Guide away, and the story ends with Arthur, Ford, and the two Golgafrinchan girls staring into the sunset and talking.