Scan barcode
A review by molokov
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency / The Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul by Douglas Adams
4.0
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency: I tried reading this one aloud to H - she'd not read it before, apparently! However, as a read-aloud book it doesn't go so well as the description is convoluted and it's more amusing than laugh-out-loud funny (like the Discworld books). However, from my point of view, it's an astoundingly clever book and if you are re-reading it for the Nth time like me, spotting all the interconnectedness of all things before the explanation just proves how very clever Adams was when he wrote this. The technology mentioned by name (computers, mostly), of course, is severely dated but was quite cutting edge in the late 80's when this was published. A wonderful clever read, but you've really got to read it twice (and knowing your Coleridge poetry also helps)
The Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul: We didn't read this aloud, I just read it by myself. This book is not quite so twistedly clever as the first one, but it's got a rollickingly good story that although being more linear that DGHDA still has enough unusual mysteries to keep you wondering. I do think the resolution is somewhat weak and not having Dirk & Kate meet up at the end again is a bit disappointing. However, it's still quite enjoyable and reading these two books together is certainly worth it.
It also makes me feel somewhat disappointed that the two Dirk Gently TV series that were made strayed so wildly from their source material. They were both good in their own way but they missed so much of the extreme cleverness of these two books.
The Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul: We didn't read this aloud, I just read it by myself. This book is not quite so twistedly clever as the first one, but it's got a rollickingly good story that although being more linear that DGHDA still has enough unusual mysteries to keep you wondering. I do think the resolution is somewhat weak and not having Dirk & Kate meet up at the end again is a bit disappointing. However, it's still quite enjoyable and reading these two books together is certainly worth it.
It also makes me feel somewhat disappointed that the two Dirk Gently TV series that were made strayed so wildly from their source material. They were both good in their own way but they missed so much of the extreme cleverness of these two books.