Resumo de So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish

So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish, the fourth book in the
Hitchhiker's "trilogy," is a much different read than the books
preceding it. Gone are the skips and jumps from one galaxy and time to
another, the almost constant evasions of certain death, the madcap
hilarity that ensued whenever Zaphod, Ford, Trillian, Arthur, and
Marvin got together (or split up), and the maddening pace of a
well-told tale going happily along with little care whether or not the
story ever approached an appropriately witty conclusion. This is
basically the story of the young lady who figured out the secret of
happiness just seconds before Earth was destroyed by a Vogon fleet
preparing the way for a hyperspace bypass. It is also Arthur Dent's
story. Sure, we got to now Arthur fairly well in the first three books,
but he does spend an inordinate amount of time saying things like:
What?, I don't understand, Is it possible to get a cup of tea? and
That's it then, we're all going to die. Once you get him out of that
well-traveled bathrobe, Arthur Dent turns out to be a real person-a
little weird, of course, but real, rather complex, and surprisingly
interesting nonetheless.The story opens with Arthur's return to
Earth. I know Earth has already been destroyed, but that's just a minor
detail. Why and how Arthur returned is something of a mystery, but he
is amazed to find that his home planet not only exists, but that no
more than six or eight months have passed since he left suddenly eight
years earlier. His readjustment to life back home makes for good
reading, but what is really important is that hapless Arthur Dent soon
falls in love; it happens at first sight, even though the enchanting
Fenchurch is quite unconscious at the time. Lucky enough to
accidentally meet her in a more lucid state, Arthur's rather feeble
attempts to tell her how and why he is powerfully drawn to her
surprisingly meet with some success. Then the type of thing that can
only happen to Arthur Dent (or me, in all likelihood) separates the two
soon-to-be lovebirds for some time. I found the description of Arthur's
dysfunctional romance with Fenchurch to be as touching as it was
humorous. Their entwined fates take them on a journey of discovery
which culminates in their discovery of God's final message to Creation.
Those who want the type of nonstop action found in the preceding books
may be somewhat disappointed here. The pace is much slower, but the
character development is rich and winsome. Zaphod fans will be
disappointed by his total noninvolvement in this book. Ford makes only
a glorified cameo appearance, while Marvin makes a brief but quite
memorable return. I myself have a special affinity for this novel;
unlike its more humorous predecessors this one seems important and
meaningful. Additionally, you have to be happy for Arthur's
unprecedented feeling of happiness in a universe he can verifiably
assert to be quite off its rocker.
The book begins with Arthur Dent,
hitch-hiking randomly through the galaxy, arriving at (as the book's
blurb describes it) "the last place in the Universe in which he would
expect to find anything at all, but which 3,976,000,000 people will
find oddly familiar" - namely Earth, continuing on exactly the same as
before it was destroyed, except that the dolphins are gone.

After getting dropped off on the planet by a spaceship, Arthur Dent
walks along a road in the rain. While walking, he notices a Porsche
driving by, and is deeply surprised. After all, Porsche's only existed
on Earth, and wasn't Earth destroyed by Vogons? After walking for
awhile, he successfully hitchhikes in a car driven by Russell. In the
backseat sitting with him is Russell's sister, a beautiful woman.
Arthur learns that this woman goes by "Fenny," even though her real
name is Fenchurch (though Arthur doesn't learn her full name until much
later in the novel). Not able to stay in the car much longer (the
e a bastard), Arthur is dropped off at a pub, a pub
which he knows pretty well.

At the pub he hears the voices of an obnoxiously annoying man, and
his familiar dog. After this event, Arthur knows for sure he is on
Earth, and ventures to find his home and see what had happened to it.

Returning to his miraculously undemolished home, Arthur finds that
in his absence he has received an enormous pile of junk mail and a
decorative fishbowl inscribed with the words "So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish."
He wonders why the planet he is standing on still exists, seeing how it
was blown up by the Vogons. After cleaning himself up and shaving off
his beard, Arthur returns to the village pub, and explains his absence
of the last several months by having been away in California.

Later, Arthur goes to a pub in train station, and on chance meets
Fenny again. They talk uncomfortably, and Arthur tries to show her
without telling her that he likes her a lot. He is forced to buy a
charity raffle ticket from a woman who keeps interupting their
conversation, but in the end gets Fenny's number on the ticket.
Unfortunately, he loses the ticket and the number on it, and falls into
somewhat of a depression.

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