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One is Never Alone with a Rubber Duck: Douglas Adams’s Absurd Fictional Universe
Author(s): Marilette van der Colff (Author)
- Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
- Publication Date: 3 Sept. 2010
- Edition: 1st
- Language: English
- Print length: 110 pages
- ISBN-10: 1443823635
- ISBN-13: 9781443823630
Book Description
What do existential elevators, sentient mattresses, paranoid androids, humans and other aliens have in common? For one thing, they want answers. The fact (yes fact) that there are no answers (except, perhaps, for “42”) causes some humans (and other aliens) to face this empty madness we call life with Sisyphus-like defiance. Others choose to sulk or skulk or annihilate themselves. Another thing these creatures have in common is that they are all born mad, “and some remain so”. One is never alone with a rubber duck explores the premise that Douglas Adams’s Hitchhiker Series is not merely characterised by light-hearted comedy, but is underpinned by intricate philosophical ideas, especially those of twentieth century Existentialism and the related notion of absurdity. It also investigates the interlaced functions of Adams’s fantasy and landscapes of alterity, and considers the ambiguous concept of madness as subjective reality. Concepts related to alterity, such as simulation, the structure of reality, dreaming and parallel universes, are investigated as part of Adams’s fantastic story space. In a science-fictional sense, Adams’s aliens satirise the human condition and the monstrosities that lurk at the heart of twentieth century society.
Editorial Reviews
Review
Lively and colloquial in tone, Marilette Van der Colff s One is Never Alone with a Rubber Duck highlights the creative absurdity embedded in The Hitchhiker s Guide to the Galaxy. One is Never Alone, with its unassuming scholarship, paradoxically exploits the marginal stance of science fiction to demonstrate the philosophical significance of the genre. –Dr Ralph Goodman, Department of English, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa
Adams’s many fans will be intrigued by this skillful and entertaining analysis of the philosophical ideas underpinning the extremely successful Hitchhiker series, while those who have been foolish enough to dismiss it as mere frivolous entertainment will be forced to eat their words or blush behind their towels. –Molly Brown, Department of English, University of Pretoria, South Africa
About the Author
Marilette van der Colff is a junior lecturer in the Faculty of Education Sciences, at the North-West University in South Africa. She teaches Linguistics for Language Teachers and Children’s Literature. She is currently working on a PhD in the use of contemporary fantasy texts for children in the English language classroom. One is never alone with a rubber duck is her first book
