The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The novel starts off at Arthur Dent's house. Several contractors are trying to convince him to allow them to demolish his house so that they could build a bypass. Ford Prefect, Arthur's best friend, comes by and warns him of the upcoming Apocalypse. They both go to a local bar, where people question Ford's knowledge of the end of the world. Vogons, an alien race from the planet Vogsphere, arrive to destory Earth. Arthur and Ford manage to board the Vogon's ship, but are caught by the aliens. As punishment, they are forced to listen to Vogon Poetry, which happens to be the third worst kind in the galaxy. Afterwards, they are thrown into an airlock and cast out into space. Luckily, they are rescued by the Heart of Gold, Zaphod's ship. Zaphod is the President of the galaxy and also happens to be Ford's cousin. He is accompanied by a woman named Trillian and Marvin the depressed robot. The group of five embark on an adventure to find Magrathea, a planet known for selling luxury planets. There, they meet Deep Thought, a computer who claims that the answer to everything is the number 42. The question for Deep Thought's answer is implanted into Arthur's brain, and Earth 2 is built. Trillian's mice offer to buy Arthur's brain so they can have access to the question, but he declines. This leads to a fight. Right when Arthur's brain is about to be removed, Zaphod saves Arthur. The book ends when the five decide to go to the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, which leads to the beginning of the next novel in the series.
An Abundance of Katherines
The novel begins with a boy named Colin Singleton, a boy whose "type" is girls named Katherine, spelled in that manner. He has dated nineteen girls named Katherine, and just recently Katherine XIX dumped him.
Colin wanted to have a "eureka!" moment so that he could be seen as a genius.
In order to get his mind off of the breakup, Colin's best friend, Hassan Harbish, convinces him to go on a road trip. They drive from Chicago to Gutshot, Tennessee to the place where the Archduke Franz Ferdinand's body is supposedly buried. Here, the two meet Lindsey Lee Wells and are later employed by her mother, Hollis. Their job is to piece together the oral history of the town by interviewing the adults who live there. Hassan and Colin live with Hollis and Lindsey.
Over time, Colin begins to develop feelings for Lindsey despite the fact that she has an on-and-off relationship with TOC, or The Other Colin. However, Colin still is working towards his goal of becoming a genius and creates the Theorem of Underlying Katherine Probability. This theorem is meant to determine the future of any two people in a relationship based on the personalities of the two people. His theorem works for all of his previous relationships except one, in which he had actually dumped Katherine III instead of the other way around. The graph makes sense at this point.
The reader finds out more about Colin's past as well. It turns out that K-19 was also Katherine the Great, or the first Katherine. Hassan begins dating Katrina, a friend of Lindsey's, but everyone soon finds out that TOC and Katrina were having an affair, which ends both of the couple's relationships. Colin discovers that the corpse of the archduke is actually Lindsey's grandfather, not the archduke's.
Later, Colin finds Lindsey in her secret hideout and tells her about all of the Katherines he had ever loved. Lindsey admits that she felt a bit relieved that TOC was having an affair, and not sad. This leads to them professing their love for each other. Four days later, she slips him a note claiming that she is in love with Hassan and cannot be in a relationship with him. Then she leaves a P.S stating she's kidding. Colin realizes that his theorem can only give insight on why a relationship failed, not predict the future of one. He discovers that he finds joy and peace in connecting with others, instead of trying to distinguish himself from others.
Colin wanted to have a "eureka!" moment so that he could be seen as a genius.
In order to get his mind off of the breakup, Colin's best friend, Hassan Harbish, convinces him to go on a road trip. They drive from Chicago to Gutshot, Tennessee to the place where the Archduke Franz Ferdinand's body is supposedly buried. Here, the two meet Lindsey Lee Wells and are later employed by her mother, Hollis. Their job is to piece together the oral history of the town by interviewing the adults who live there. Hassan and Colin live with Hollis and Lindsey.
Over time, Colin begins to develop feelings for Lindsey despite the fact that she has an on-and-off relationship with TOC, or The Other Colin. However, Colin still is working towards his goal of becoming a genius and creates the Theorem of Underlying Katherine Probability. This theorem is meant to determine the future of any two people in a relationship based on the personalities of the two people. His theorem works for all of his previous relationships except one, in which he had actually dumped Katherine III instead of the other way around. The graph makes sense at this point.
The reader finds out more about Colin's past as well. It turns out that K-19 was also Katherine the Great, or the first Katherine. Hassan begins dating Katrina, a friend of Lindsey's, but everyone soon finds out that TOC and Katrina were having an affair, which ends both of the couple's relationships. Colin discovers that the corpse of the archduke is actually Lindsey's grandfather, not the archduke's.
Later, Colin finds Lindsey in her secret hideout and tells her about all of the Katherines he had ever loved. Lindsey admits that she felt a bit relieved that TOC was having an affair, and not sad. This leads to them professing their love for each other. Four days later, she slips him a note claiming that she is in love with Hassan and cannot be in a relationship with him. Then she leaves a P.S stating she's kidding. Colin realizes that his theorem can only give insight on why a relationship failed, not predict the future of one. He discovers that he finds joy and peace in connecting with others, instead of trying to distinguish himself from others.