Dirk Gently is a "holistic detective" who makes use of "the fundamental interconnectedness of all things" to solve the whole crime, and find the whole person. He bills for everything but claims that he cannot be considered to have ripped anybody off, because none of his clients ever pay him. I can't speak for the first book, since I read out of order, but he certainly doesn't get paid in this one.

I so wanted to give this book five stars. I love Douglas Adams' humor, and his Hitchhiker's series will always be one of my favorites and a go-to. This, however, fell flat after the first half. The set up was pure Adams' British humor. Ridiculousness for ridiculousness' sake, but then when we get to a point where things must be explained it just falls apart.

It seems the Dirk books are about seemingly unconnected narrative threads eventually meeting up and becoming connected, but that didn't happen here. There is an ending of sorts. This was about Thor and Odin, Norse Gods, who have been misplaced and have lost, not only their powers, but also their marbles! Adams attempt to pull the threads together simply caused more confusion for me and the novel felt very unfinished.

I think there are parts of this book that could be read alone as an example of Adams' genius, but the novel, taken as a whole, was not successful. I will still read the first because I am a bit of a completest and it was a mistake on my part to read out of order, but I won't be expecting much.

Pas une suite à proprement parlé , mais plutôt une deuxième enquête où on retrouve le personnage principal de cette série : Dirk Gently. Très drôle même si j'ai moins rigolé qu'en lisant un Cheval dans la salle de bain. J'ai trouvé le livre mieux construit que le premier, la conclusion est intéressante. Le personnage de Dirk est plus mis en avant. Toujours aussi absurde, c'est une très bonne lecture que je recommande.

It was funny and enjoyable, but the plot was a bit of a mess.

1. baskıda belli hatalar var. Her zaman olduğu gibi yayınevine bildirildi. Gelecek baskılar daha iyi olacaktır :)

Şahane bir kitap okudum, ŞA-HA-NE!
...
Milenyum Üçlemesinde Stieg Larsson Lisbeth Salander'ın Cebelitarık'ı sevdiğini söyler ve bir kayadan bahseder. Üçlemenin getirdiği her şey için belki sırtını dayayıp dinleyebileceği bir yerdir bu kaya... Adams ile çay saatim bitince istedim ki göklerin tanrısı Thor tıpkı Kate'e yaptığının aynısını yani "bir çiçek demetini kaldırır gibi" beni de kaldırsın ve taaa buralardan tam da bu kayanın dibine bıraksın. Tanrı değil mi yanıma hiç bitmeyen soğuk siyah bira ve belki biraz tuzlu fıstık ile birlikte kitaplarımı da versin. Olsun bu böyle olsun!

Ok? I guess?
Its not BAD, its just.... ehhh?
Some bits were good some were bad, some were just plain and boring
I felt like maybe the book was too short? like suddenly at 80% EVERYTHING happens

Continuing in my Douglas Adams re-read, I checked out Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul from the library, as I seem to have misplaced my copy.

The story opens with Kate Schechter attempting to catch a flight to Oslo, even though Fate seems to be conspiring against her. An explosion, deemed an "act of God" confounds her plans. She becomes involved in the events around whom the god involved in the aforementioned act are developing.

Meanwhile, Dirk Gently, holistic detective, remembers that he has a client, with whom he was supposed to meet about five hours previous to his realization. He arrives a little too late to assist with the problem for which he is hired, but ends up doing some detective work anyways. The two protagonists eventually collide (literally) and the story proceeds from there.

This novel posits the question "What happens to the immortal gods once humanity is done with them?"; a theme also explored by Neil Gaiman's American Gods :: checks publication dates:: Yes, Douglas was first, by about 12 years, but both are very good, IMHO. Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul is, I believe, a better written book than its predecessor, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency - Adams seems to have a better grip on where he wants to go with the story.

Recommended to those who like their alternative universes well-leavened with humour.

Such a weird book. I don't...I don't even know exactly what it was that I just read. But I know that I enjoyed every single page of it's sarcastic, hilarious, bizarreness.

I really really wish we got more Douglas Adams books, in particular Dirk Gently. I am one of the few people who actually likes the way he ended the Hitchhiker's Guide trilogy, but I wanted more Dirk and his very weird adventures.

This probably hasn't aged all that well, for a start there's a whole thing about how it's impossible to get a pizza delivered in London. I can only assume that was the case at the time of publication but what kind of hellhole was 1980s England that you couldn't get a pizza?

Also Dirk smokes cigarettes as per all private detectives before 2003. It makes sense for the character but I've become so used to a smoke free media outside of period pieces that I actually found it surprising.

There's also the way this uses a concept of forgotten Gods walking around in our world in a way that we've seen a few times now since then, so that element might not seem as fresh.

It's still a quick, enjoyable read and is easier to follow than the first book.

I rate The Long Dark Tea-Time of the soul by Douglas Adams a 3/5 or 60%.

That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy this book, it’s just hard for me not to compare it to the other work I’ve read from Adams which was, in my opinion, much better (hitchhikers).

Dirks philosophy of *holistic* investigation is on full display in this book as he goes through the most strange and mind bending journey to solve his case. He believes that everything that ever happens in his life is all inner connected. Connecting those pieces, no matter how strange they may be, is the true case that he has to solve.

While I do love this premise, and the book did swing back around at the end, the round about that Adams took us on was far too cumbersome in my personal opinion. Adams humor shined through again (I can’t lie, some chapters were so stupidly funny) but I think the tangents that he went on in this book made me loose interest at points. I found myself searching for the main plot at times, and maybe I shouldn’t do that with an Adams book as he likes to take the story wherever he pleases and doesn’t like the reader to guess what’s coming next, but for me I would have liked to stay on topic a little more .

7/13/21 ETA: This was even more funny than I remembered, and I think I understood the end better this time, though it still gets a bit frantic. Revisiting Adams made me happy.

Your daily horoscope
from The Great Zaganza

Aries
Keep your chin up today, and take anything unexpected or unpleasant with good humour. Remember: taking everything seriously is a recipe for immediate -- and future -- suffering. Lighten up!

Taurus
Saturn moves into a happy phase today. Good for Saturn! Here's hoping that's also good for you. Cross your fingers and toes... if that doesn't improve the chances, I don't know what will!

Gemini
Just stick with the good half of your personality and ditch that @#$& other half of your personality, girlfriend!

Cancer
You or one of your other Cancer friends will probably mention just how much you're annoyed about trumpets at the moment. Random, but Cancers be cwazy.

Leo
Keep wearing that grin and be nice to people. They may even occasionally be nice back. Yes, miracles happen. Anyone who says otherwise is a lying bastard, and almost certainly a Gemini.

Virgo
You'll inform your Cancer friend that you must have misheard, since you're pretty darn sure that they were talking about Trump.

Libra
Inform your Cancer and Virgo friends that, seriously, you've heard enough about Trumps, trumpets and miscellaneous T words to last you four years. Otherwise, enjoy the sunshine and celebrate with Persons of Taurus Origin about how happy Saturn is looking these days.

Scorpio
Bright day ahead. Let your hair down in whatever physical or metaphorical fashion that you see fit. And yes, smashed avocado for breakfast would be a, ahem, smashing idea. Lucky numbers are 12 and 746,534. Oh, another thing to be pleased about is that you're the only star sign with lucky numbers today. Feel free to say "Neeeenerrrrneeeenerrrr" (or some friendly variant) to any other zodiacs.

Sagittarius
Your Save The Avocado charity idea is, frankly, absolutely and incontrovertibly terrible, and you should just join the hipsters and eat the darn thing. Highly recommended.

Capricorn
Don't let the fact that your star sign has easily the lamest name get you down. Fight back and show those others what you're made of! I mean that figuratively. You know, just to be clear, no flaunting of innards or anything unpleasant.

Aquarius
Enjoy life. That's exactly what it's for. Oh and for helping others, doing the right thing, etc etc.

Pisces
IF YOU'RE READING THIS, DIRK GENTLY, I'M AFRAID VIRTUALLY EVERYTHING YOU DECIDE TODAY WILL BE WRONG. YOU, MY FRIEND, ARE IN SERIOUS HOT WATER. YOU'LL HAVE TO USE YOUR HOLISTIC PRIVATE DETECTIVE SKILLS. THERE'S AN ODD DISAPPEARANCE AT THE AIRPORT IN STORE FOR YOU, AND A FEW NORSE GODS WILL PROBABLY SHOW UP BEARING AT LEAST ONE VERY LARGE HAMMER AND FAIRLY DISMAL PERSONALITIES. THERE'LL BE A BRUTAL DISCOVERY OF A FRIEND WHO LOST HIS MIND AND THEN THOUGHT, HANG IT, I'LL LOSE MY HEAD AS WELL. THAT ISN'T THE HALF OF IT, DIRK. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.