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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I head a lot of praise for the author but never have read him. The fault is mine for he is quite good. The book is a strange mix of hard and soft fiction with Schrödinger cats, robots, time machines and ghosts (the later doesn’t makes in a fantasy, even an urban one). It reminded me, especially at the start, with its satire about Academia the old Soviet weird SF by [a:Arkady Strugatsky|1159886|Arkady Strugatsky|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1371815170p2/1159886.jpg] and [a:Boris Strugatsky|7170730|Boris Strugatsky|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1373635599p2/7170730.jpg] [b:Monday Starts On Saturday|1255119|Monday Starts On Saturday|Arkady Strugatsky|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348591262s/1255119.jpg|1039633]. It is beautifully written and some ideas are deeper than they look at a first glance.
Just a glance:
Well,” he said, “it’s to do with the project which first made the software incarnation of the company profitable. It was called Reason, and in its own way it was sensational.”
“What was it?”
“Well, it was a kind of back-to-front program. It’s funny how many of the best ideas are just an old idea back-to-front. You see there have already been several programs written that help you to arrive at decisions by properly ordering and analyzing all the relevant facts so that they then point naturally toward the right decision. The drawback with these is that the decision which all the properly ordered and analyzed facts point to is not necessarily the one you want.”
“Yeeeess . . .” said Reg’s voice from the kitchen.
“Well, Gordon’s great insight was to design a program which allowed you to specify in advance what decision you wished it to reach, and only then to give it all the facts. The program’s task, which it was able to accomplish with consummate ease, was simply to construct a plausible series of logical-sounding steps to connect the premises with the conclusion.
“And I have to say that it worked brilliantly. Gordon was able to buy himself a Porsche almost immediately despite being completely broke and a hopeless driver. Even his bank manager was unable to find fault with his reasoning. Even when Gordon wrote it off three weeks later.”
Just a glance:
Well,” he said, “it’s to do with the project which first made the software incarnation of the company profitable. It was called Reason, and in its own way it was sensational.”
“What was it?”
“Well, it was a kind of back-to-front program. It’s funny how many of the best ideas are just an old idea back-to-front. You see there have already been several programs written that help you to arrive at decisions by properly ordering and analyzing all the relevant facts so that they then point naturally toward the right decision. The drawback with these is that the decision which all the properly ordered and analyzed facts point to is not necessarily the one you want.”
“Yeeeess . . .” said Reg’s voice from the kitchen.
“Well, Gordon’s great insight was to design a program which allowed you to specify in advance what decision you wished it to reach, and only then to give it all the facts. The program’s task, which it was able to accomplish with consummate ease, was simply to construct a plausible series of logical-sounding steps to connect the premises with the conclusion.
“And I have to say that it worked brilliantly. Gordon was able to buy himself a Porsche almost immediately despite being completely broke and a hopeless driver. Even his bank manager was unable to find fault with his reasoning. Even when Gordon wrote it off three weeks later.”
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
medium-paced
adventurous
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Douglas Adam’s writing style is fantastic. However, not always the easiest to follow.
I have seen several reviews suggest that this book contains too much information and plot for too few pages. I disagree. I found that pacing a bit weird though. The first 100 pages or so of set-up could have been shortened down and allowed the conclusion of the book to be less abrupt (and confusing, I had to reread a few passages a couple times to figure it out) and more fleshed out. I understand that it was an artistic choice and has poetic value, though I would have liked some more elaboration on the aliens and what happened there. Or maybe that’s just my autistic brain not being able to read between the lines. Anyway, I enjoyed the book, even if my spacial awareness (that is lacking in the best of circumstances) was struggling a lot with where the characters were at different times and how they got there.
(Also, just the concept of Dirk Gently is my fave thing)
I have seen several reviews suggest that this book contains too much information and plot for too few pages. I disagree. I found that pacing a bit weird though. The first 100 pages or so of set-up could have been shortened down and allowed the conclusion of the book to be less abrupt (and confusing, I had to reread a few passages a couple times to figure it out) and more fleshed out. I understand that it was an artistic choice and has poetic value, though I would have liked some more elaboration on the aliens and what happened there. Or maybe that’s just my autistic brain not being able to read between the lines. Anyway, I enjoyed the book, even if my spacial awareness (that is lacking in the best of circumstances) was struggling a lot with where the characters were at different times and how they got there.
(Also, just the concept of Dirk Gently is my fave thing)
I know this book is very popular but I couldn't get into it. I found it a bit confusing, to be honest. And no idea how certain B stories fit together. It felt less like a "ahh everything is connected" and more of "B stories just doing a forced cameo at the end". Perhaps it was trying to set up a universe for sequels?
adventurous
challenging
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes