I'm tempted to add another star. Not because the novel is good, but because, unfortunately... it has a lot of interesting ideas but it's way too hard to follow and doesn't just work.

It's really about the adaptation though.

And no I don't mean that Dirk Gently tv show, which is a loose adaptation at best indeed, but because I just listened to the BBC radio show. And that's what it's all about! Radio is of course Douglas Adams first love, and I will count that as 'canon' when it comes to Adams. It's the medium that Dirk Gently was meant to be experienced with.

So if you are asking, this is one of those cases in which case the book isn't better, but the you have to check out the radio drama--

Is it an audacious thing to say that Mr. Douglas Adams is hit or miss?

Yes. (Well, & "audacious" not really.)

Good. Here is a fun (and I mean FUN) book, rife with what is absurd and comical in certain sciences that dictate what the world is--I know my math teacher in high school was mad about him. And it does seem as though there is an intended niche audience already built for this type of literature: more literary than, say, Piers Anthony but not character-driven, nor truly dearly dramatic. There is much confusion, and this is also part of its whimsical charm, but the coming together seems so tight, so like a mathematical equation solved and, just, done for (although there is that infamous "to be continued..." at its conclusion--this is giving nothing away!). I'm caustic toward these post-Lewis Carroll productions--wasn't a rabid fan of "Hitchhiker's" for instance, but I won't mind reading Dirk Gently #2. When that type of mood actually finds me.

Lectura con el grupo 221 b Baker street



Falta de ritmo, largos tramos aburridos, personajes muy poco interesantes, pasajes largos desconectados casi por completo de la trama principal y un misterio falto de elementos para interesar al lector son la formula para el desastre de este libro.

En la ficción hay algunos recursos que son díficiles de trabajar, a mi parecer uno de los más complicados son los viajes en el tiempo, no importa cuanto humor le imprimas, y vaya que Adams le pone mucho, este puede llevar a estrellarte y aquí simplemente no funciona, no tanto porque este mal manejado sino porque terminá sin desarrollarse, le faltán páginas para hacer que realmente sirva al punto de que se siente como si el libro hubiese terminado a la mitad de la historia.

La mayoría de los personajes me daban igual y si bien Dirk fue un personaje que me agrado y del que quería conocer más no aparece hasta pasada la mitad del libro y, con él, comienzan a suceder cosas que podían ser interesantes pero que al final no se desarrollan lo suficiente como para levantar la historia y al final sólo dejan la sensación de que las cosas se pusieron raras.

Al final para mi la historia no funciona y es interesante en un 30% pero el resto es malo, inconcluso y con un humor extremadamente forzado por momentos.

n  "Creamos lo increíble. Hagamos lo imposible."n

I have loved Douglas Adams ever since he wrote the Hitchhikers series and I obsessively consumed the entire set in a matter of days. His writing style drives me crazy, and I always wonder, how can anyone write like that? Is it even possible? I mean, it clearly is, because he DID write like that, but still. He puts together ideas and concepts in such a fantastical manner, it seems like he is perpetually on something. The unreal fantasy in this book reminds me a lot of the Lemony Snicket series, which is also something I absolutely adored.

This touches on time travel, ghosts, paradoxes - I mean just look at the cover. It is ALL the science fiction with none of the boring overused tropes. I finished reading this in two days flat and the only reason I wish I hadn't was so I could go back and take it slow. Actually relish the sheer witty craziness or crazy wittiness.

I did go back and read parts of it. Well, most of it. Okay, I went back and read the entire thing. Slower. And since I knew the ending this time round, I read it all in a different light.

So yes, I do recommend reading this. And I recommend reading it twice.

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

To be honest this is the first time I have read Douglas Adams Dirk Gently books and I have to say it was more of a challange than I was expecting. Now I know that Douglas Adams is famous for his Hitch-Hikers series which took absurdist science fiction to new heights (am sure the more scholarly out there will tell me what the correct term is) but that is such a well know and loved story - that it can almost tell itself.

However with Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency I felt that the absurdity was cranked up a little too high - part of the early story I struggled to follow as they seem to jump around far too much either in subject or dialogue or in some cases location.

Now true it does all come together and form a cohesive story and quite a fun one to be honest however it took its time and that was a struggle. I agree with many readers out there if a story does not "click" then move on - after all there are far too many books out there to waste on those you do not enjoy and this book did skate very close to that however it pulled it back just as quickly.

Will I read the next in the series - probably but I am going to have to build up to it so do not expect it any time soon.

One of the most annoying things about reading the Kindle edition of this book was the fact that popular highlights show up and you can't turn them off, at least not easily. It drove me mad. It was inevitably the parts that you'd pick out as funny for yourself, not anything surprisingly good...

Anyway, I grew up with Douglas Adams' work in the background, on the radio while we ate or while me and my sister played after dinner and my dad tried to relax. He's a big Douglas Adams fan, though he sticks mostly to the radio stuff, thinking that has more life.

I do enjoy Douglas Adams' writing, but I didn't find Dirk Gently as compulsive to read as Hitchhiker's Guide. There were a lot of good bits -- things I might pull out as memorable quotes -- but it didn't come out that memorably as a whole. The quotes are memorable without the story surrounding them. They're sort of bon mots that felt sort of pasted in, for the most part.

It's fun, don't get me wrong, and it was excellent train reading: entertaining without needing my full focus.

I love this book. I love it far, far more than is in any way reasonable. It is possibly Douglas Adams' strangest work, and it is far and away my favorite. It makes almost no sense unless you read it twice or more. And a good knowledge of the content and historical context of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Kubla Khan and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is essentially required to understand many of the jokes and much of the plot.

Because, as it turns out, the linchpin upon which history turns, upon which depends the whole of human history before and to come, is the fact that Coleridge never wrote the second "altogether stranger" part of Kubla Khan.

This discovery is the culmination of an intricate, madcap skein of detecting into the interconnectedness of all things by "holistic detective" Dirk Gently, computer programmer Richard MacDuff and his ghostly employer Gordon Way, an Electric Monk, a rogue Time Lord turned Cambridge professor (the book started life as a Doctor Who script), a horse in the bathroom and a thousand thousand slimy things. Beginning with an inquiry into an inexplicable bout of housebreaking, proceeding to impossible magic tricks, a murder, a sofa that can't be where it is, the mathematics of music, aliens, and time travel, the story is packed with whimsical trivialities which turn out to have the most profound significance — in line with the titular detective's much-professed belief in the interconnectedness of all things, but especially nice beaches in the Bahamas. Although it may appear nonsensical, all is in the end tied together — but if you blink, you'll miss the explanation of how the sofa got up the stairs.

Dirk Gently is a much darker book than The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but it's also much richer, with a flavor a little closer to Terry Pratchett (and particularly to the brilliant Good Omens) than to the wacky, almost slapstick Hitchhiker series. Adams' omnipresent punnery and clever narrative is absolutely delightful, if subtle enough that one must sometimes pause to figure out just what sort of trick he is playing. The joy Adams took in whimsy and wordplay is palpable on almost every page. This may be the best-written of his works, and to my mind it is also the funniest. It is a quick read, and well worth the few hours it'll take to read twice. Or five times, if you love it as much as I do.

In Xanadu did Kubla Kahn
A science fiction book decree
With plot purloined from Doctor Who
A cross between a witches' brew
And a nice cup of tea.

So several chapters serially were wrote
Until the text was finished, good and whole
A sovereign remedy or antidote
Against the long dark teatime of the soul

And there were geeks who answered alien prayers
While moving house accompanied by their boxes
And there were sofas stuck upon the stairs
In curious angles causing paradoxes.

But oh! the changes made to history
A tricky deed for any witch or warlock
Even when travelling by time machine
And claiming to be resident in Porlock

A ghost and an Electric Monk in a dream I saw apart
They were the most eccentric pair
I've come across 'most anywhere
But still they touched my heart

If I could piece together
The fragments I find now
Then all around would marvel
And open-mouthed avow

Weave a circle round him thrice
And never mind his extra head
For he of Adams books has read
And fables heard from Paradise

This re-read is holistic indeed!

I adore the way Douglas Adams ties together nearly every bit in the end. Or probably absolutely every tiny bit? For I have to admit, that the fully comprehension of the end lies just outside my grasp. But that is one of the many attractions this book has for me. When thinking about it, I get involuntarily caught in one of those space time paradoxons that cause headaches.

Poetry, music, computer work, British Telecom and even the infamous sofa are all part of the greater picture.
The writing is intelligent, hilarious and silly at times. I laughed out loud several times and every other page contains a quote-worthy sentence.

For me, this is Douglas Adams' best work. And I was delighted to realise, that after all these years it hasn't lost a iota of it's fascination for me.

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.

Basic Plot: Dirk Gently (holistic private detective) proves how the world is interconnected by solving a murder and saving the entire human race, among other things.

The concept is hilarious- a detective who makes the most random connections possible to solve mysteries. His method of getting places (follow someone who looks like they know where they're going and you'll end up where you need to be eventually) is hysterical, and I must admit I've used it on a few occasions when lost. Only Douglas Adams could have created this madness and actually made it work. If you're a fan of the Hitchhiker books, it's a variation of the wackiness there, in a slightly (if that is even possible) more focused (though still very scattered) way.