First off, this novel is exquisitely well-plotted. All the elements of the mystery are set up perfectly and subtly, so much so that it's easy to miss them, and everything is explained satisfyingly in the end. Beyond that there's something funny on almost every page, and Adams is able to get at big themes in a meaningful way: the beauty of life, the interconnectedness of all things, the need for (and impossibility of) certainty, the way that what we believe at any given move is constantly shifting.

Here's one funny passage that illustrates Adams's talent for a great setup and punchline:

"Yes it is," said the Professor. "Wait—" he motioned to Richard who was about to go out again and investigate—"Let it be. It won't be long."

Richard stared in disbelief. "You say there's a horse in your bathroom and all you can do is stand there naming Beatles songs?"

You can guess how the horse got in.

I loved The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and had high hopes for Dirk Gently, but this novel just didn't quite do it for me. Its plot is a weak. This wouldn't have been an issue if it had been packed with quotably witty lines like Hitchiker's Guide was, but it is not. There are still some good bits, to be sure, but the laughs are sparse.

It's funny, I thought I had read this before--I'd bought a used copy years ago and had kept it on my shelf fondly along with the Hitchhikers Guide books. And then I started to "re-read" it for book club, and a) hated the first chapter (about the Electric Monk) and b) realized that I never had read it before, probably because I read the first chapter and was like "wtf is this" and put it down FOREVER.

I'm glad that I persevered this time around, though, because it really is a fun and clever story.

(I probably still don't like it as much as the Hitchhikers Guide books but that's fine.)

I enjoyed the TV show, especially the first season and based on that experience, I wanted to read the book. I'm just glad I've watched the show first because if had read the book first, I probably wouldn't have bothered with the show.

4 1/2 stars

Douglas Adam's humour and quirky style is on full display in this delightfully convoluted and complex novel that really has to be re-read to be fully appreciated. A realistic approach is probably to waive all thoughts of a clear understanding on your first go through and just enjoy it for laughs. I certainly did.

The gem of a book brings together aliens, electric monks, ghosts, dead poets, crazy Cambridge professors, possibly insane detectives, a long suffering girlfriend who I thought was fantastic and a plot which doesn't proceed in a strictly linear fashion just to add to the confusion.

Like I said though, don't worry about it making sense on the first go through.

Edit: Reread and upgraded my rating very slightly to 4 1/2 stars

What did I think? Hmm... I thought that this book was amazing. Mainly because I totally sync with the author's writing style, but also due to the plot, the characters and the subject matters he deals with in this book!

I saved so many quotes to my iPhone while reading this... my poor Notes app is overfilling! But let's not get ahead of ourselves. First off, Adams is just a genius writer. I do believe that everyone can agree with that sentiment. His Hitch Hicker's Guide to the Galaxy series is one of the most popular out there, after all! (And one that I've read through a couple of times as well!)

I actually wanted to read the second book in this series, The Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul, for some reason which I can't remember now, but it included GoodReads, something someone said about it, and the crazy title. But before I can read any book in the middle of a series, I really need to read the first books in that series! Thus commenced the lovely road that was Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.

And it really was a lovely book to read. Amusing, quirky, filled with paradoxes and conundrums and so forth (say, have you ever gotten a sofa stuck in the staircase that leads to your flat in such a way that it is technically impossible to even have found its way there? If so, you might want to consider the possibility of the involuntary of a time machine!).

What I loved most about this book was the way that Adams always includes real scientific newsworthy discoveries into his plots. Who else would base a detective agency based on quantum theory? Who else would set a whole book around such crazy things as ghosts and time travel and saving the universe and still have it coming out slightly believable? Why, Douglass Adams of course!

Anyway, I've been having trouble gathering my thoughts for decent reviews lately, so I think I should leave this one where it is without spoiling any more of the story. I hope to be enjoying the second book in the series just as much as this one!

Ha. No. Just no. Forced humour. Dont uds whats going on. Not for me. 1 sofa.

Infinitely dull for long stretches, punctuated by brief flashes of humor and incomprehensibility, with an ending that's fairly amusing. Time well spent? No, not really. Recommended for lovers of dry British humor that can stomach even the driest of Monty Python sketches.

Disappointed!
My fault certainly. After the "The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy", I was expecting something.... else.

Adams' first fiction foray into a world other than the one(s) created for the Hitchhiker's Trilogy is a treat: a detective story filled with the same bizarre happenings and twists, described and narrated in Adams' inimitable comedic style. Unlike the Hitchhiker's books, however, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency was written to be a stand-alone story, with a definite beginning, middle, and end. In many ways, this was Adams' first attempt at writing a proper novel--and he succeeds wildly. I was immediately captivated by the character of Dirk Gently, and drawn headfirst into his swirling, wildly-skewed version of reality, where everything is connected to everything else--so much so that something innocent randomly said on page five can (and does) become critically important on page 205. Don't bother trying to figure out the plot before the book ends, because you won't be able to do it. This is a detective novel, yes, but a Douglas Adams detective novel, where spaceships, time travel, Bach, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, tea, pizza, and ex-boyfriends are so intricately linked that your head will be swimming by the time you finish the last sentence. But the dizziness is well-worth the effort.

La prima parola che mi viene in mente per descrivere questo libro e': cazzeggio. Solo cosi' penso possa essere definito un romanzo del genere. Non l'ho capito? Puo' darsi! Non l'ho apprezzato? Ancora piu' probabile! Se si escludesse la buona vena ironica (british direbbe qualcuno) che prosegue per tutta la narrazione, rimarrebbe ben poco. Solo la simpatia (sprecata) dei due personaggi principali impedisce di passare dal cazzeggio alla cazzata.

I recently watched the pilot episode of Dirk Gently and loved it. So, naturally, I picked up the book. Now this order of doing things is often frowned upon by many people, including me, but sometimes things just happen.

The reason I'm telling you this is that I was slightly let down by the book, having seen (a version of) Dirk Gently in action before reading about him. There just wasn't enough of the detective in the book, while he (both versions) is such an interesting character. And yes, it was a fun little book, but felt a bit random and not as interconnected as it should have been, considering the holistic approach Dirk promotes.

Also, having looked into some other reviews before writing my own, I have to say that

a) I'm not going to touch on the Pratchett vs. Adams thing, but the seemingly random scenes in the beginning of the book and the time it took to actually reach the main character did remind me of many Discworld novels (nothing original about that technique, just saying).

b) The Doctor Who connection - it's certainly strong, then again I'm a Doctor Who maniac. But I think it's safe to say that those of us who can't wait until the next Doctor Who episode (September!) will certainly enjoy Dirk Gently's company.