BOTB: Hitchhikers Guide 2TG (Drastic) v Barrytown Trilogy (Dlolman)

[MK Shrimper]

A meaty tie indeed.

 

[Ricky Otto]

Not a big fan of either of these, Roddy Doyle not my cup of tea. HGTTG is ok but not great, gets my vote for this round though

 

[MK Shrimper]

I love Roddy Doyle, read the majority of his stuff but Hitchhikers was absolutely seminal to my teenage years, and again, one of the few books I've re-read. I loved the TV show, played the computer game and watched it many times - the film is not too bad either.

I've never laughed so hard at a book. Sorry Roddy, but HHG2TG is just.....amazing.

 

[Jedi Shrimper]

I wanted to begin by quoting a particularly funny line from Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Problem is pretty much every line is hilarious. Surely one of, if not THE funniest book ever written, how can you not like it?

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Love Roddy Doyle's stuff.Can't stand Hitchhikers.

Catch 22 surely has to be the funniest book ever written.

 

[Pubey]

Never got Roddy Doyle's stuff really. I Like Hitchhikers.

 

[dloman]

Best i put something up to try and sway the voters here.

The trilogy contains some of Roddy Doyle’s most loved novels about the Rabbittes, a family in working class Dublin.

Mr Doyle said in a statement: “When I wrote the books that make up The Barrytown Trilogy, I hoped that the city would come off the page, like a character. When the characters spoke, Dublin spoke".

"The Commitments" , the first part of the trilogy, charts the meteoric rise and fall of Jimmy Rabbitte’s soul band and their bid for stardom in 1980s Dublin. "The Snapper" is about Sharon Rabbitte’s unexpected pregnancy, while the third instalment, "The Van ", features the family’s patriarch, Jimmy snr, and his friend Bimbo entering the chipper van business. The book was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1991.

Whilst the raw humour shines through on every page it is coupled with a deeper note of relationships within the family and none more so than Jimmy Rabbitte Snr and his offspring. In my opinion the strongest of the three is "The Van". Set against the backdrop of Dublin during the 1990 World Cup displays Jimmy's pain of dealing with his family, redundancy and a wilting relationship with his best friend. In this book Doyle is at his very best with words that come alive off the page that are not only funny but also poignant and at times moving.

 

[Gt Yarmouth Shrimper]

I'd like you to know I'm feeling very depressed. Classic

 

[RHB]

Read them both, but I'm with MK, I grew up with Hitchhiker, so as it must be 42 and it gets my vote.

 

[Razam]

never heard of Barrytown trilogy (although have watched the film "The Commitments").
sorry dloman you didnt really sell it to me. Have to vote HHGTTG.

 

[MK Shrimper]

Hitchhikers thumbs it through to the last 16.