This is one of my favorite books of all time. I will re-read or re-listen to it at least once a year and even though I know the story backwards and forwards, it never fails to entertain me.

I didn’t enjoy this nearly as much as Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency. It started off interesting, but for some reason I became progressively less interested as the story continued and I put the book down more and more frequently. I also didn’t find it as funny. It had humor, but it didn’t make me laugh as much. I think it intentionally took a more serious tone, which I might have appreciated better if I’d been more interested in the story.

The first book had a mixture of elements from both science fiction and fantasy, but I thought it leaned more toward science fiction. This book, on the other hand, was purely in the fantasy category with Norse gods playing a large role in the story. In many ways this reminded me of American Gods, at least in terms of the basic premise, except without the “American” part. This book was published first, so maybe I would feel differently if I had read it first, but I preferred American Gods.

I’m not really sure why this one didn’t work as well for me as Dirk Gently did but, by the end, I was happy to be done with it.

I recently re-read Dirk Gentley's Holistic Detective Agency and realized it was not as good as I remembered so I approached my re-read of Tea Time with some trepidation. I remember loving this book, really loving it. Perhaps it might be better not to read it again.

I'm happy to report that for me, the book holds up. It's funny, it's weird, it has Norse gods. I love it and it remains one of my favorite books of all time.

I was also reacquainted with a paragraph that I remember fondly from reading this book long ago:

"Yes, it is true," he was saying, "that sometimes unusually intelligent and sensitive children can appear to be stupid. But, Mrs. Benson, stupid children can sometimes appear to be stupid as well. I think that's something you might have to consider. I know it's very painful, yes. Good day Mrs. Benson."

Continuing Dirk Gently's adventures takes us further into DNAs universe with his absurdist, surreal humor that only he could conjure up, almost at will.

Douglas Adams brings his trademark wit to The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul (I say that like I've read more than two books from him), and when it works, it works.

The book starts pretty good, mixing detective fiction with Adams' sense of humor. He showcases his talent for mixing the weird and sort of creepy into a humorous twist, especially in the early chapters where the strange events really take off.

But then things get messy. The story loses its way about a quarter through, becoming a tangled and confusing slop of nothingness. Like I can get a few themes from this book but it really feels like a pointless tale. And I understand that not all books need to mean something or have some themes to them, but they have to be enjoyable.

While everything does come together in the end, getting there feels like more work than fun. The jokes are there, but they can't quite save the mediocre story. It's not a horrible book. Adams still makes you laugh. Best to think of it as a good joke that goes on a bit too long. Sorry Max.

2.4/5

The one and only sequel to Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency is funnier, at least in the first half, and no less eccentric than its predecessor. A favorite highlight here is the female lead character attempting to explain the concept of "humor" to the director of a psychiatric institute.
Unfortunately in the second half humor is all but forgotten as Adams attempts to satisfactorily tie together all the crazy plot elements - attacking eagles, stubborn vending machines, murderous demons, bumbling Norse gods, etc. - with some measure of coherency, and succeeds only to a degree.

Better than the first lmao

The back jacked of this book promised me it was "Funnier than Psycho" and "Shorter than War and Peace." Now, I thought that these were jokes. I assumed that that tag was cute and that it would be quite funny. In fact, funnier than Psycho is about as good as the humor was. It was there, but rarely very funny and generally simply kinda cute. It was in fact shorter than War and Peace.

I didn't expect much for plot. It is a Douglas Adams book after all, but I had hoped for decent characters. Unfortunately there is so much going on that none of the characters has a real chance to develop. The shifting character perspective didn't help either. The book was quite short, and chapters told from multiple character points of view don't really have enough room to let the characters grow, just paint the bare bones plot.

The ending was just bad. Not that what happened was bad, but it seemed that Adams' editors told him he needed to cut 50 pages, and he subsequently decided to cut 50 of the last 55. The action was jammed together, not fleshed out, and a little hard to follow. For as mediocre as the rest of the book was, the ending was a let down.

I don't think I'd recommend the book to anyone except the most devoted Adams fan. Unless your reading goal includes being able to say "Yeah, I've read ALL of his books," I don't see any reason why you should pick this up.

No, sorry. I'd have to be a great deal more bored than I am with my life to finish listening to this. It might be funnier read in print, because the reader seemed bored by the whole thing as well.

How do you describe Adams' Dirk Gently books? I have a hard time not because they can't be genre-classified but because they don't fit any novel form out there. Stream-of-consciousness on the part of the author? Is Gently the main character? Who is the main character? What is going on? There's one thing going on, though--Adams does a lot of describing. It's a wealth of description. Plot? Pish-tosh! We don't need no stinking plot! That's not why you read an Adams novel anyway. So just let Adams mess with your mind. But if you aren't acquainted with his work, read the first two novels in the Hitchhiker's Guide series first, then come in for a landing on the first Dirk Gently novel. You'll thank me.

Cant believe this is the first time I’ve written a review for this. I’ve read and listened to it dozens of times.

Sublime.

So it goes.

“The impossible often has a kind of integrity to it which the merely improbable lacks.”



So the title The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Souli s so fantastic! And the randomness, quirkiness and interesting meditations of Douglas Adams's detective, Dirk Gently, matches the tone set by that title. The novel even features the Norse Gods in the modern world (reminding me of Neil Gaiman's American Gods). Definitely a different take on Thor than you'll see in the superhero movies. The mystery/plot(s) are less the point here than simply taking the journey. In that respect, there's a commonality with Adams' more famous Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. Getting to the restaurant at the end of the universe, for instance, is more important than the destination. For me, the randomness can be too random at times and not at all connected to plot, but again, I know that wasn't the point. I enjoyed! 3.75 stars.

“It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on earth has ever produced the expression, 'As pretty as an airport.”