Original artwork, not a still
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ‧ 1979
The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
A comic simile that works by denial: the ships do not hang the way a good simile expects, but the way bricks do not. It tells you at once that something huge, heavy and unnatural is overhead, and that the narrator finds it more funny than frightening. Fans quote it as the signature Adams move, setting cosmic doom against everyday bureaucracy.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the GalaxyShow the scene
Chapter 3 of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Ford Prefect and Arthur Dent are still on Earth when a fleet of enormous spaceships appears above it, and Douglas Adams describes their hovering by saying how bricks do not hang. The Vogon commander, Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz, announces over loudspeakers that the planet is scheduled for demolition to make way for a hyperspatial express route, a job lasting under two Earth minutes. Arthur's house had earlier been threatened by a bypass; now his whole world gets the same treatment. Ford and Arthur escape by hitching a lift on a Vogon ship.
Sources (2)
- Wikiquote: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the GalaxyChapter 3Reference checked
- Wikipedia: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (novel)PlotReference checked
Context reviewed
