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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
I had read this in college and subsequently forgot pretty much everything about it, so the mix of travel through time and space, aliens and ghosts, and disputed clairvoyance was freshly delightful.
The unmistakable intellect and wit of Douglas Adams is very apparent in this story of quantum physics and time travel. A very easy read, and great page Turner. The ending is a bit weak, it would appear that tying everything up was too complicated, so it was skipped over and just happened. That doesn't detract from the story in any real material way, and certainly wouldn't reduce my recommendation. Well worth a read.
i have an old, musty, first edition hardcover of this book* i must have found in one of the bajillions of used bookstores i've frequented in my life, though i have no memory of purchasing it. maybe it just spontaneously appeared on my bookshelves one dark and stormy night, when i wasn't paying attention. (how wonderful would it be if books could actually do that?)
in any case, i'm sure that i'm like many other people who were led to dirk gently out of a yearning need to fill the book abyss left behind by the hitchhiker's guide series, and subsequently found themselves a bit disappointed. but re-reading this now (for a bookclub, incidentally; i don't know if i would have been inspired me to revisit this series otherwise), i found myself utterly charmed by its strangeness. nothing much happens (until suddenly everything happens); its characters are blithely eccentric but not particularly extraordinary (until suddenly they are quite extraordinary); random plot points seem to hold little meaning in relation to each other (until suddenly they do).
a strange book, but also a delightful one. i discovered adams before i ever discovered wodehouse, so it's quite a revelation to read this now and see just how (deliberately) wodehouse-ian adams' writing really is. here's one example:
One, a young man, was tall, thin and angular; even muffled inside a heavy dark coat he walked a little like an affronted heron. The other was small, roundish, and moved with an ungainly restlessness, like a number of elderly squirrels trying to escape from a sack.
ahahahahaha. such genius! also a revelation to palpably feel (not just to clinically know) the doctor who resonances, particularly in the character of dirk gently - his air of manic moroseness combined with his tendency to throw out seemingly random questions that later become the key to solving/understanding the mystery of the day kept reminding me of none other than tom baker's doctor. that plus all the sly potshots taken at university students ("I say [there were] witnesses, in fact, they were mostly students") makes me think i may like this book more than the first hitchhiker's one. but i also haven't read the latter in years and years, so who knows. (gives me another excuse for more reading!)
*this is what the hardcover looks like. the photo on the back cover is titled DOUGLAS ADAMS*, and the asterisk leads you to a small note that states "Image of Douglas Adams created on an Apple Macintosh Plus using Macvision by Koala, after a difficult night". all other editions of this book are trash in comparison.
in any case, i'm sure that i'm like many other people who were led to dirk gently out of a yearning need to fill the book abyss left behind by the hitchhiker's guide series, and subsequently found themselves a bit disappointed. but re-reading this now (for a bookclub, incidentally; i don't know if i would have been inspired me to revisit this series otherwise), i found myself utterly charmed by its strangeness. nothing much happens (until suddenly everything happens); its characters are blithely eccentric but not particularly extraordinary (until suddenly they are quite extraordinary); random plot points seem to hold little meaning in relation to each other (until suddenly they do).
a strange book, but also a delightful one. i discovered adams before i ever discovered wodehouse, so it's quite a revelation to read this now and see just how (deliberately) wodehouse-ian adams' writing really is. here's one example:
One, a young man, was tall, thin and angular; even muffled inside a heavy dark coat he walked a little like an affronted heron. The other was small, roundish, and moved with an ungainly restlessness, like a number of elderly squirrels trying to escape from a sack.
ahahahahaha. such genius! also a revelation to palpably feel (not just to clinically know) the doctor who resonances, particularly in the character of dirk gently - his air of manic moroseness combined with his tendency to throw out seemingly random questions that later become the key to solving/understanding the mystery of the day kept reminding me of none other than tom baker's doctor. that plus all the sly potshots taken at university students ("I say [there were] witnesses, in fact, they were mostly students") makes me think i may like this book more than the first hitchhiker's one. but i also haven't read the latter in years and years, so who knows. (gives me another excuse for more reading!)
*this is what the hardcover looks like. the photo on the back cover is titled DOUGLAS ADAMS*, and the asterisk leads you to a small note that states "Image of Douglas Adams created on an Apple Macintosh Plus using Macvision by Koala, after a difficult night". all other editions of this book are trash in comparison.
If you thought H2G2 was Adams's best, think twice. Dirk Gently scores easily over H2G2, mainly because of it keeps it focus. Well almost all the time, that is. Finally, it's Adams we're talking about.
I feel uncomfortable giving this only 3 stars. I loved the Hitchhikers books, and the Netflix series that was based on this book.
I thought the plot arc was fairly lopsided. Dirk Gently doesn't make a significant appearance until more than halfway through. And the ending doesn't make much sense. I reread through the last few chapters looking for clues, but without luck.
I get the impression this was written quickly. It feels a little like a first draft, though a quite enjoyable one at that. Even despite the muddled ending.
I thought the plot arc was fairly lopsided. Dirk Gently doesn't make a significant appearance until more than halfway through. And the ending doesn't make much sense. I reread through the last few chapters looking for clues, but without luck.
I get the impression this was written quickly. It feels a little like a first draft, though a quite enjoyable one at that. Even despite the muddled ending.
No tengo palabras para describir este libro, solo se que por una gran parte del tiempo, todo era confuso y no tenia idea porque leía la mitad de lo que leia y el resto era solo aburrido.
Es el primer libro que leo de el autor y tenia la impresión que sus libros eran humorísticos y no vi nada de eso en este libro. De todos modos quiero intentar leer otros de sus libros,pero no en un futuro cercano,quizás cuando se quite un poco de mi decepción.
Es el primer libro que leo de el autor y tenia la impresión que sus libros eran humorísticos y no vi nada de eso en este libro. De todos modos quiero intentar leer otros de sus libros,pero no en un futuro cercano,quizás cuando se quite un poco de mi decepción.
A wonderful book, despite a major flaw - unless you are fully clued up as to the works of Coleridge, one of the major plot points is going to pass you by. Having said that, it doesn't really matter, because the sheer joie de vivre and elan with which Adams writes will carry you through, unleashing some great lines along the way.
For me, however, reading the book 30 years since I had first done so was a wonder of reminiscent weirdness, taking me back to the familiar yet strange world where Macs were the only computers worth a damn, telephone answer machines had tapes, and London only had a single dialing code. The inherent Englishness of the book also struck me this time, but I wonder what people will find the strangest - the odd world of Cambridge academia, or just what happened to be cutting edge at the back end of the 80s?
For me, however, reading the book 30 years since I had first done so was a wonder of reminiscent weirdness, taking me back to the familiar yet strange world where Macs were the only computers worth a damn, telephone answer machines had tapes, and London only had a single dialing code. The inherent Englishness of the book also struck me this time, but I wonder what people will find the strangest - the odd world of Cambridge academia, or just what happened to be cutting edge at the back end of the 80s?
I found this ok, I had a few laughs at the start but after a while it didn't seem to be going anywhere and I just wanted to get to the end to see how it would resolve itself. No idea what Gordon Way's ghost had to do with anything. I did like it but I was not very impressed with it.
Just arrived from Canada through BM.
What the Schrödinger's cat has to do with an Electric Monk and a dead ghost? This is not my cup of tea, sorry.
What the Schrödinger's cat has to do with an Electric Monk and a dead ghost? This is not my cup of tea, sorry.
For me it's all about that sofa stuck in the stairwell. God I love this book.