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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
"Read" as an audiobook this time - very interesting BBC production with different actors for each voice, professional music & sound effects, etc. - not an approach I'd heard for audiobook before but fun!
adventurous
challenging
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
After a very unusual night, Richard becomes re-acquainted with his college friend, Svlad Cjelli - or, as he is currently calling himself, Dirk Gently. There's also a ghost involved. It gets weird.
I have my doubts that Adams knew what the solution to the mystery would be before he started writing. This was my impression with the Hitchhiker's books as well - he seems to just sit down, write what's funny, and then try to come up with something that'll end the book.
And that's fine. This is one mystery where the journey really is all that matters, and the journey is hilarious.
Now that I've finished reading the book, I can finally watch that show I keep hearing about!
I have my doubts that Adams knew what the solution to the mystery would be before he started writing. This was my impression with the Hitchhiker's books as well - he seems to just sit down, write what's funny, and then try to come up with something that'll end the book.
And that's fine. This is one mystery where the journey really is all that matters, and the journey is hilarious.
Now that I've finished reading the book, I can finally watch that show I keep hearing about!
So this book is going in my favorites list.
I haven't sat down to read a book outside of school in longer than I want to admit. But this one was perfect. I love the way Adams weaves together so many different plots and I love that he switches perspective so often - it really makes you keep reading. The whole thing is so engaging, though. It feels like he planned out the entire thing and made it up on the spot, all at the same time, which is exciting. And I love the way that he uses as little as one line of dialogue and/or action to set up an entire plot. I found myself constantly going back to previous chapters, trying to make the connections that I couldn't quite put together yet.
The only issue I can think of is that the ending was a bit hard to understand. But usually I have to think about endings for a while anyway, so. Also, at first I thought the beginning was pretty slow and boring. But once I finished it, it made sense. That seems to be how a lot of the plots in this book go.
I'm not sure how to recommend this, really. While I was reading it I mostly compared it to The Blind Assassin, and I still think that's a fair comparison. The writing style also reminded me a bit of Lemony Snicket's. So I guess I would recommend it if you're a fan of unconventional detective stories with a healthy dose of sci-fi and a dash of humor.
Anyway, this was actually the first Adams novel I've read, so I'm really looking forward to reading the others!
I haven't sat down to read a book outside of school in longer than I want to admit. But this one was perfect. I love the way Adams weaves together so many different plots and I love that he switches perspective so often - it really makes you keep reading. The whole thing is so engaging, though. It feels like he planned out the entire thing and made it up on the spot, all at the same time, which is exciting. And I love the way that he uses as little as one line of dialogue and/or action to set up an entire plot. I found myself constantly going back to previous chapters, trying to make the connections that I couldn't quite put together yet.
The only issue I can think of is that the ending was a bit hard to understand. But usually I have to think about endings for a while anyway, so. Also, at first I thought the beginning was pretty slow and boring. But once I finished it, it made sense. That seems to be how a lot of the plots in this book go.
I'm not sure how to recommend this, really. While I was reading it I mostly compared it to The Blind Assassin, and I still think that's a fair comparison. The writing style also reminded me a bit of Lemony Snicket's. So I guess I would recommend it if you're a fan of unconventional detective stories with a healthy dose of sci-fi and a dash of humor.
Anyway, this was actually the first Adams novel I've read, so I'm really looking forward to reading the others!
challenging
dark
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I love this book. I love it far, far more than is in any way reasonable. It is possibly Douglas Adams' strangest work, and it is far and away my favorite. It makes almost no sense unless you read it twice or more. And a good knowledge of the content and historical context of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Kubla Khan and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is essentially required to understand many of the jokes and much of the plot.
Because, as it turns out, the linchpin upon which history turns, upon which depends the whole of human history before and to come, is the fact that Coleridge never wrote the second "altogether stranger" part of Kubla Khan.
This discovery is the culmination of an intricate, madcap skein of detecting into the interconnectedness of all things by "holistic detective" Dirk Gently, computer programmer Richard MacDuff and his ghostly employer Gordon Way, an Electric Monk, a rogue Time Lord turned Cambridge professor (the book started life as a Doctor Who script), a horse in the bathroom and a thousand thousand slimy things. Beginning with an inquiry into an inexplicable bout of housebreaking, proceeding to impossible magic tricks, a murder, a sofa that can't be where it is, the mathematics of music, aliens, and time travel, the story is packed with whimsical trivialities which turn out to have the most profound significance — in line with the titular detective's much-professed belief in the interconnectedness of all things, but especially nice beaches in the Bahamas. Although it may appear nonsensical, all is in the end tied together — but if you blink, you'll miss the explanation of how the sofa got up the stairs.
Dirk Gently is a much darker book than The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but it's also much richer, with a flavor a little closer to Terry Pratchett (and particularly to the brilliant Good Omens) than to the wacky, almost slapstick Hitchhiker series. Adams' omnipresent punnery and clever narrative is absolutely delightful, if subtle enough that one must sometimes pause to figure out just what sort of trick he is playing. The joy Adams took in whimsy and wordplay is palpable on almost every page. This may be the best-written of his works, and to my mind it is also the funniest. It is a quick read, and well worth the few hours it'll take to read twice. Or five times, if you love it as much as I do.
Because, as it turns out, the linchpin upon which history turns, upon which depends the whole of human history before and to come, is the fact that Coleridge never wrote the second "altogether stranger" part of Kubla Khan.
This discovery is the culmination of an intricate, madcap skein of detecting into the interconnectedness of all things by "holistic detective" Dirk Gently, computer programmer Richard MacDuff and his ghostly employer Gordon Way, an Electric Monk, a rogue Time Lord turned Cambridge professor (the book started life as a Doctor Who script), a horse in the bathroom and a thousand thousand slimy things. Beginning with an inquiry into an inexplicable bout of housebreaking, proceeding to impossible magic tricks, a murder, a sofa that can't be where it is, the mathematics of music, aliens, and time travel, the story is packed with whimsical trivialities which turn out to have the most profound significance — in line with the titular detective's much-professed belief in the interconnectedness of all things, but especially nice beaches in the Bahamas. Although it may appear nonsensical, all is in the end tied together — but if you blink, you'll miss the explanation of how the sofa got up the stairs.
Dirk Gently is a much darker book than The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but it's also much richer, with a flavor a little closer to Terry Pratchett (and particularly to the brilliant Good Omens) than to the wacky, almost slapstick Hitchhiker series. Adams' omnipresent punnery and clever narrative is absolutely delightful, if subtle enough that one must sometimes pause to figure out just what sort of trick he is playing. The joy Adams took in whimsy and wordplay is palpable on almost every page. This may be the best-written of his works, and to my mind it is also the funniest. It is a quick read, and well worth the few hours it'll take to read twice. Or five times, if you love it as much as I do.
I loved this. It was goofy and imaginative. Much like Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, this book is filled with great quotes and interactions based around the idea of literalizing the nuances of language. I had no idea where this was going at the beginning, but found the journey to be quite entertaining.
An interesting novel. Not near the amount of space travel as his Hitchhiker books, but a great read, none the less. I'll be interested to see what the BBC does with their upcoming series based on the Gently novels.
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Será por lo corto, pero el personaje de Dirk no se me ha hecho tan parecido al de la serie, siendo mucho menos inocente. Por lo demás, los niveles de absurdo están de la mano en las dos.