SIX DEGREES: From Ratty to Ford Prefect

And here we are with another Six Degrees of Kool Books post! Sorry it's a little late, but I wanted to make sure to get the giveaway post up earlier this morning! Two posts in one day... and the opportunity to win a $10 Amazon Gift Card! Don't you feel lucky?

Anyway, we're back with the game that knows no boundaries and is unlimited by author, genre, time-period, or writing style. All that matters are the characters, and who they remind you of from other books. For more information about how you, too, can play the game, go HERE.

Last week, DJ made the leap from The Chronicles of Prydain to The Wind in the Willows! And today, I'm going to be jumping from Ratty all the way across the galaxy to a character from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Ford Prefect. While at first glance, these two characters may seem to be completely different, if you strip away the genres surrounding their stories, you find two very similar creatures. Both of them have a somewhat timid friend. Both of them encourage this friend to leave his home and go adventuring with them, mostly for that friend's own good. Both of them are sociable, laid-back, intelligent, resourceful, and brave. Ford's "river" is just a bit bigger than Ratty's is.

Random story: I first read this book in high school after a classmate read it for an oral-presentation of a book review. Interestingly enough, his presentation was fairly scathing, because he had hated the book so very much. Oddly enough, I was intrigued by how much he hated the book (mostly because he didn't think it was as funny as it had been billed as), and decided to check it out for myself. Just goes to show, negative reviews aren't always a bad thing! ;)

Other characters in this hilarious story are as follows.

We have Arthur Dent. He is just your typical, everyday sort of guy, but he happens to be Ford's friend, and thus, when the Vogons decide to destroy Earth in order to make way for an interstellar by-pass, Ford rescues him and they are off on an adventure... one which Arthur never really wanted. Arthur is sort of a perfect picture of the most unheroic character you could ever think of. He mostly wanders around the story in a perpetual daze, unsure about exactly what has happened to him. Some of this is undoubtedly due to the shock of having one's planet destroyed by aliens one did not know existed, and swept off onto adventures through space, which one did not believe were possible. But still. Poor Arthur.

Then there's Zaphod Beeblebrox, an extremely narcissistic, irresponsible, and incredibly insensitive character, with just enough charisma that nobody seems to notice or mind his insensitivity. Zaphod is always in the midst of some sort of hair-brained scheme or another - but generally has no clue what he is doing, as he was forced to remove part of his own brain to keep his plans a secret from... someone... he just can't remember whom.

They meet up along the way with Tricia McMillan (also known as Trillian Astra), another Earthling who Arthur actually met before Earth was destroyed. She is a brilliant astrophysicist and mathematician, and travels with Zaphod Beeblebrox. She is an adventurous sort, just sort of enjoying the ride.

Of course, you cannot talk about The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy without mentioning Marvin! Marvin is a robot. But he's not just any robot, he is a severely depressed robot. He is so depressed, that when he has conversations with other computers, they regularly decide to commit suicide rather than listen to him talk any longer. He is the ultimate causer of the "blue screen of death!" haha. His brain is the size of a planet, and he can calculate the probability of anything (but his calculations are almost always depressing, so his companions tend to ignore him). He also composes poetry and songs in his spare time (because no problem can occupy his entire brain), but they are not very good.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into this story that is just brimming with incredibly British humor. I'd love to hear if any of these characters remind you of other characters in different books!