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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
Douglas Adams is a superb writer. That much is evident from whatever you read of his. I'd read Hitchiker's Guide To The Galaxy and absolutely adored it. Adams makes you laugh out loud and makes complicated ideas or stories simple and believable when they shouldn't be!
This was the problem I had with this book. I was on board for the ghost, the electric monk and his horse, even for the time travel, but the space ship for me was a step too far. I know that's a completely absurd thing to say, but I just think Adams took it too far to a stage where I was actually bored a didn't care. In fact I skipped quite a bit towards the end.
It took far to long for the reader to meet Dirk Gently as well. In fact, the book was really about Richard and his various problems. Richard was a brilliant loveable character who struggled with several things including wrapping his head around the whole concept. Dirk on the other hand was a bit of an arse. He spent the majority of the last third of the book sulking because someone beat him to an idea.
In the end I'm quite glad that I watched the series first because I loved it. Stephen Mangan is a fantastic Dirk Gently that can be an arse and loveable and Darren Boyd is a brilliant Richard MacDuff who bumbles through the case, trying to clear up Dirk's mistakes. I don't think I'll be reading another unfortunately.
Just a quick note. Adams is brilliant with dialogue and he has a wonderful sense of imagination.
This was the problem I had with this book. I was on board for the ghost, the electric monk and his horse, even for the time travel, but the space ship for me was a step too far. I know that's a completely absurd thing to say, but I just think Adams took it too far to a stage where I was actually bored a didn't care. In fact I skipped quite a bit towards the end.
It took far to long for the reader to meet Dirk Gently as well. In fact, the book was really about Richard and his various problems. Richard was a brilliant loveable character who struggled with several things including wrapping his head around the whole concept. Dirk on the other hand was a bit of an arse. He spent the majority of the last third of the book sulking because someone beat him to an idea.
In the end I'm quite glad that I watched the series first because I loved it. Stephen Mangan is a fantastic Dirk Gently that can be an arse and loveable and Darren Boyd is a brilliant Richard MacDuff who bumbles through the case, trying to clear up Dirk's mistakes. I don't think I'll be reading another unfortunately.
Just a quick note. Adams is brilliant with dialogue and he has a wonderful sense of imagination.
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
I'd already seen both tv shows on this before reading the book, although I usually do it the other way around. I enjoyed both shows and the book, although they're all quite different. this has the same sort of humour as the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, although this possibly has a bit more emotional weight or something along those lines. i liked the characters, and i think dirk gently is actually quite a relatable character in some ways, maybe. this was fairly philosophical possibly, and it had a strange theme or motif or symbol or something of telephones, although im not quite sure what it was trying to say about them. it was funny and interesting and i enjoyed it as much as the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy books, if not more. I didn't fully understand all the references but i think i understood most of the plot, at least in general terms. this also seems to have elements similar to the doctor who story city of death which was also written by adams, and this even has an long lived time-traveller in it
I saw the TV show and surprisingly enjoyed it. So I wanted to read the book
and it did not go that well.
and it did not go that well.
funny
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
That was a real wild ride of an adventure! Though I was a little muddled at first, I soon got the knack for the changing pov and Adams' writing style. The humour in this would have to be what I most enjoyed though. Seriously, the borderline ridiculousness of some of it made me reread sentences so to make sure it wasn't a mistake on my part. It never was.
This has turned out to be one of my favourite books I have read this year, and I'm definitely going to get my hands on the sequel!
This has turned out to be one of my favourite books I have read this year, and I'm definitely going to get my hands on the sequel!
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
adventurous
challenging
funny
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Well. Once Dirk Gently showed up and the plot started plotting, I could see some of the Douglas Adams I'd loved in Hitchhiker's Guide. But I do wish it hadn't taken half the book to get to that point. ...And that the Douglas Adams I loved was rather more in evidence.