Sunday, March 29, 2009

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe: Excellent Random Title (prompt 18)


The title, "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe," is an excellent title. In order to match the book's tone, it had to be something funny and relatively ridiculous. It also catches the reader's attention very effectively, and turns out to be a rather large part of the story itself.

The real restaurant at the end of the universe is a restaurant contained in a time and matter protective shield that exists at the very end of the universe (think apocalypse). Patrons must travel through time to the very last moments of existence to eat at this restaurant, and while eating enjoy the show the universe puts on as it is brought to an end. Arthur, Zaphod, Trillian, and Ford are brought to this restaurant when Zaphod tells the computer to bring them to the closest place to eat. The computer then jumps through time to the restaurant at the end of the universe (which happens to exist in that very location millions (and millions and millions) of years later. While there, the group sees a turning point in their trip. They abandon their starship and begin traveling to their final destinations (for this book anyway). For this reason, the title is very well planned.

If I were to rename this book, I would frankly have a very hard time. I would try to match Adams' sense of humor while still keeping the title relevant to the story. The best I can come up with is, "Who's the Nutter In Charge Here??" My title isn't as good as Adams', but I think it has potential. The true ruler of the universe turns out to be a mentally ill man kept locked away in a shack on a remote planet protected by a massive improbability field. This title also conveys the sense of aimlessness and confusion often felt by the characters throughout the book.

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