I truly love this and Tea time - more so than the HH 'trilogy'.

Such wonderful characters and story-telling. DNA was truly a master craftsman.

You are missed!

Edit and update: listened to the audiobook. Magical. 10 stars. At least.

Just noticed I'd never marked this as read.

This and it's sequel remains my favourite of Adams books. Just... Perfect

Might be time for my bi-decade reread

Pročitao sam HOLISTIČKU DETEKTIVSKU AGENCIJU DIRKA GENTLYJA, hrvatski prevod klasika Douglasa Adamsa. Sugestivna američka adaptacija koju ja napravio Max Landis podstakla me je da se vratim literarnom izvoru iako mi humor Douglasa Adamsa nije previše blizak i nisam preveliki ljubitelj SFa pisanog za zasmejavanje. Moram odmah na početku reći da su mi obe ekranizacije, i britanska i američka, bolje od romana, što nije čest slučaj kada se porede dramska i prozna dela. Naime, američka više duguje Pynchonu nego Adamsu, i samo su neki detalji slični u pogledu zapleta, pa i odnosa među junacima. Međutim, sve što je u američkoj ekranizaciji bolje, upravo nadoknađuje nedostatke romana. Naime, obe ekranizacije su efektnije jer su građene na dramskoj strukturi i kompoziciono su zrelije postavljene od romana. Recimo, Dirk Gently lično se pojavljuje u romanu negde posle trećine teksta, a tamo se pojavljuje odmah.

Ono što su ključne postmoderne reference, međutim prepoznaju obe ekranizacije. Osnovna je naravno Sherlock Holmes, i ta matrica superdarovitog detektiva koji ima "običnog čoveka" kao svedoka i saradnika, i na tome se bazira britanski DIRK GENTLY, čiji kratak život sasvim sigurno možemo pripisati i pohjavljivanju Moffatovog SHERLOCKa. Međutim, to je i DOCTOR WHO, serija sa kojom Adams ima intenzivan odnos, i njenu atmosferu umnogome prepoznaje i razrađuje Landis.

Elem, vratimo se samoj knjizi.

Adams preuzima strukturu detektivskog romana, ali u jednoj zapravo najrudimentarnijoj formi, sa sve tom postavkom povratne opruge gde se na kraju sve razjasni prema početku, i onda na nju gradi slojeve SF imaginacije, društvene i svake druge satire. Za razliku od najboljih primera ovakve literature gde roman funkcioniše na svakom nivou, GENTLY iznad svega moramo posmatrati kao humoristički roman. i ko voli ovakav humor, kao takav je prilično solidan.

Ono što ga sprečava da se razvije u nepšto više i da u potpunosti iskoristi sve elemente koje uvodi jeste pre svega strukturalna svedenost. Bolji roman bi za početak morao biti duži sa većom razradom pojedinih elemenata. To se u ovom rukopisu nije desilo.

Ipak, pojedina rešenja iz ovog romana, koji za nekoliko dana puni trideset godina, nastavila su da žive u nizu kasnijih dela. Otud, Adamsov roman pored efektnosti u jednom segmentu sasvim sigurno možemo smatrati i izuzetno uticajnim.

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.

Given how huge a Douglas Adams fan I have always thought myself as, I was surprised at how little I liked this book. And guilty, I feel guilty. One star is added on for the guilt.
But, in truth, in retrospect, I don't remember liking this one anywhere near as much as Hitchhikers. The humor is a little flat and often forced, nothing has aged well (the ga-ga'ing over computers seems childish these days) and the plot, rehashes of two episodes of Doctor Who that Adams wrote, is too confusing and uninteresting to have any kind of effect. Plus, Dirk Gently shows up literally only halfway through the book and since he is the only really interesting person around we end up with only half of a book of interesting characters.
I guess they can't all be zingers.

Having listened to this book a second time, I now (I think) understand it.
But I'm not sure if that's a good thing. When I was more hazy on the plot and conclusion, this book seemed a whole lot more impressive to me.
I enjoyed it. Of course I did. It's Douglas Adams, but now that I understand the story (mostly), it feels like it falls a little flat.
It feels like it's missing that little something that propels it into 3d, multidimensional wonder.
The story feels too simple- which is hilarious to me because when I first listened to it, it seemed super complicated!
The issues I had were in the storyline, but the characters in this book were amazing.

Douglas Adams is great at writing these hilariously quirky characters that you fall in love with.
There is the Arthur- esque Richard Mcduff who gets caught up in all of the mayhem, the wacky professor Reg, who may or may not be older than he looks (a little inside joke for you if you've read the books), and, of course, Dirk Gently (or Svlad Gelli, depends who you ask) in all his glory as a private investigator, running his holistic detective agency and being wonderfully absurd.
There are also great supporting characters, such as Dirk’s secretary, Janice Pearce, who doesn't work for him anymore due to not being paid, but sticks around to make sure he realises that fact, by answering the detective agency's phone like this, n  ”Good afternoon she said, Wayne Wright's brute emporium, Mr Wayne Wright is not able to take calls at this time, since he is not right in the head, and thinks he's a cucumber, thank you for calling.”n


Dirk as a character is brilliant. n  ”There is no point in using the word 'impossible' to describe something that has clearly happened.”n

I liked Reg and Richard too, though.
What was really interesting about this book for me was when we are introduced to Dirk's viewpoint of the n  ”interconnectedness of all things”n, it's a classic Adams viewpoint, something that sounds wildly silly, yet can be interpreted to crop up a lot in real life, which gives it a bit of an edge.

n  n    "Sherlock Holmes observed that once you have eliminated the impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the answer. I, however, do not like to eliminate the impossible."n  n

The narrator of this audiobook is very good and did all the characters very well.

Definitely give this a listen/read if you want something crazy, imaginative, and full of humour, even if it doesn't quite wrap up well enough at the end.




Some of my favourite moments:

When Reg finds a horse in his bathroom at the college with Richard.

n  n    ”A horse?’
’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?'
The professor looked blankly at him."n  n

I now know that Isaac Newton invented the cat flap!

n  n    "Sir Isaac Newton, renowned inventor of the milled-edge coin and the catflap!"

"The what?" said Richard.

"The catflap! A device of the utmost cunning, perspicuity, and invention. It is a door within a door, you see, a ..."

"Yes," said Richard, "there was also the small matter of gravity."

"Gravity," said Dirk with a slightly dismissed shrug, "yes, there was that as well, I suppose. Though that, of course, was merely a discovery. It was there to be discovered." ... "You see?" he said, dropping his cigarette butt, "They even keep it on at weekends. Someone was bound to notice sooner or later. But the catflap ... ah, there is a very different matter. Invention, pure creative invention. It is a door within a door, you see."n  n

First read

⭐️ 4.2
this book is so crazy I don't even know where to start with a review...
There are so many good ideas in this book. It's all so wonderfully crazy and silly.
I really enjoyed this book, but at the same time, it was pretty confusing.


my review of:
The long dark teatime of the soul


⭐3.5
14+
cws: spookyness, ghosts, guns

Een soort van bizarre humoristische detective met geesten en andere paranormale activiteiten: what's not to like?
Wie een soort detective-versie verwacht van The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy komt bedrogen uit: het absurditeitsniveau ligt toch wel beduidend lager.
En wie denkt de inhoud al te kennen doordat ie de tv-serie al gezien heeft, komt óók bedrogen uit: de tv-serie lijkt langs geen kanten op het boek, de naam "Dirk Gently" is werkelijk de enige overeenkomst.
Hoewel ik niet weg was van dit boek, was het best een ontspannend tussendoortje. Toegegeven, ik begrijp niet helemaal hoe de ontknoping in elkaar zit, maar ach, ik ben dan ook niet Dirk Gently.

Bilimkurgu ve fantastik ögeleri birbirine bağlayıp bunu keyifli bir şekilde anlatmayı başaran bir kitap, Kutsal Dedektiflik Bürosu. Kitap boyunca gerçekten yer yer çok eğlendim, yer yer ilginç bulduğum noktalar oldu ve her şeyden öte hayalgücüm çok farklı seviyelere ulaştı. Eh, bunu söyleyerek kitabı "kutsal" hale getirmiş olmak biraz abartı olur. Kutsal Dedektiflik Bürosu elinize alıp kafa dağıtmak için harika bir kitap. Eğer derinliğine inerseniz hayal kırıklığına uğramanız olası, eğer yüzeysel bakarsanız kitaptan keyif almamanız hayli olası, o yüzden geriye kalan tek seçenek anlatılanları hiç sorgulamadan onunla beraber serüvenden serüvene uçmanız. Daha sonra o serüvenler birleşip mantıklı hale geldiğinde sizi tatmin eden bir sonuca ulaşabiliyorsunuz.

Kitapla ilgili övgüde bulunacağım ilk konu karakterler. Gerçekten her bir karakteri ilgiyle okuduğumu söyleyebilirim. Bazı karakterler bunların arasından sivrilip çok daha eğlenceli hale geliyor. Açıkçası yer yer anime seyrediyormuşum hissine kapıldığımı bile söyleyebilirim. Diğer karakterlerin hikayeleri ise hiç aşina olmadığımız bir konuyu işliyor. Özellikle o karakterlerin yaşadığı hissiyatı okurken gerçekdışı bir durum gerçekten oluyormuş hissine kapıldım. Ayrıca bu iki farklı kategorideki karakterlerin birbiriyle etkileşimi o kadar ustalıkla işlenmiş ki hiçbirisi sırıtmıyor, kitapta ilerledikçe karakterlerin hikayeye katkısı çok daha mantıklı hale geliyor.

Kitabın bir diğer güzel yanı ise bilimsel açıdan güzel noktalara değinmesi. Gerek kuantum alanına dair düşünceler olsun, gerek zamanın kendisine olan atıflar olsun, gerekse farklı dünyalarda yaratılan farklı işlevlere sahip cihazlar olsun; bu detayları okuyup irdelemek bu kitabı değerli kılan özelliklerden birisi oldu benim için. Mesleki uğraşlar açısından çok güzel bir yaklaşım açısı bulduğum bir alıntı paylaşıyım:

"Eğer bir şeyi gerçekten anlamak isterseniz, bunun en iyi yolu onu başka birine anlatmaya çalışmaktır. Bu şekilde insan olayı kendi zihninde düzene koymaya mecbur kalıyor. Öğrenciniz ne kadar yavaş ve aptalsa, siz de açıklamayı o kadar daha basit bir şekilde yapmak zorundasınız. Ve bilgisayar programları yazmak aslında budur. Karmaşık bir fikri, aptal bir makinenin bile anlayabileceği küçük adımlar şeklinde düzenledikten sonra, o şey hakkında kendiniz de gerçekten bir şeyler öğreniyorsunuz."

Kitabın sorunlarına gelecek olursak eğer, bunların en başında çeviri geliyor. Normalde çeviriye çok yermeyen birisiyim ama bu kitapta rahatsız edecek hatalar ne yazık ki fazlasıyla bulunmakta. Bazı kısımlarda çevirmen, orjinal kitaptaki cümleyi tıpatıp aynı şekilde çevirmeye kalkışınca okuyucu için o cümleyi anlamak adeta işkence hale gelmiş. Kitabı okurken belli bir noktadan sonra hem bu hataları görmezden gelmeye başlamam hem de bazı yerlerde çevirmenin harika iş çıkarması kitaptan genel olarak keyif almamı sağladı yine de.

Bunun dışında kitab��n sonuyla ilgili birkaç tuhaflık var. Bu tuhaflığın ikinci kitapta açıklanmasını bekliyorum açıkçası. Bunun en temel sebebi kitabın sonlarının gerçekten biraz aceleye gelmiş olması. İkinci kitap, bu kitaptan farklı bir konuyu ele alıyorsa müthiş hayal kırıklığına uğrayacağım.

Genel olarak kitabın ağır ve ilginç başlayan başlangıcından sonra bahsettiğim eğlenceli karakterlerin hikayeye girişi ile kitaptan epey keyif aldım. Beni birçok kez güldüren ve aynı zamanda düşündürüp sorrgulatan bir eser oldu Kutsal Dedektiflik Bürosu. Ayrıca Douglas Adams'ın en meşhur kitabı olan "Otostopçunun Galaksi Rehberi" kitabını şimdi daha da çok merak ediyorum. Bilimkurgu-fantastik-komedi birleşimi bir kitap okumak isteyen herkese bu kitabı kesinlikle tavsiye ederim.

**Rating: 4/5**

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

I almost thought that there were a few too many ideas stuffed into this book - which might've been a bit more comprehensible if it was slightly longer - and I think I enjoyed The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy just a tad more. However I can't deny the sheer ingenuity and comedic genius of Adams; this was confusing as heck but it was an entertaining ride regardless. I admittedly had to do a little googling to understand the context behind Coleridge's Kublai Khan and the story of the man from Porlock, but once I did everything fell into place beautifully. It's honestly amazing how Adams was able to tie everything together so intricately, while never failing to make me laugh.

“Sir Isaac Newton, renowned inventor of the milled-edge coin and the catflap!"

"The what?" said Richard.

"The catflap! A device of the utmost cunning, perspicuity and invention. It is a door within a door, you see, a ..."

"Yes," said Richard, "there was also the small matter of gravity."

"Gravity," said Dirk with a slightly dismissed shrug, "yes, there was that as well, I suppose. Though that, of course, was merely a discovery. It was there to be discovered." ... "You see?" he said dropping his cigarette butt, "They even keep it on at weekends. Someone was bound to notice sooner or later. But the catflap ... ah, there is a very different matter. Invention, pure creative invention. It is a door within a door, you see.”

I’ll be honest with you, I’m not particularly fond of ‘The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ novel. The first radio series I love, but the novel fails for me because the best bits in it are just taken from the radio series (which, of course, the novel is an adaptation of) and it doesn’t have a proper bloody ending. As a teen I greatly preferred the world of Dirk Gently, and on re-reading the first of those novels – having forgotten pretty much everything which takes place between its covers – I have to say I was a smart old teenager.

Firstly the flaws: plotting was never Adams’ strong point, and undoubtedly that’s the case here. Suffice to say there’s a murder, an eccentric don, an electronic monk and a number of ghosts – all of which come together with varying degrees of success towards the end. The biggest problem with the plotting though is how long it takes Dirk Gently himself to get involved in the action. This novel is nearly half over by the time he appears, which is a great shame as he is by far the most interesting and entertaining character. A private detective who doesn’t agree with Sherlock Holmes that once you eliminate the impossible whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth; simply because he doesn’t like to eliminate the impossible.

(Thank God – whoever He might be – that there’s a sequel.)

However, despite those problems, this is a highly funny, entertaining and intelligent read. (One, incidentally, which seems to draw on Adams’ past as scriptwriter for ‘Doctor Who’ – a very old man with well hidden time machine does appear). A lot of the characters are vaguely drawn and trying to describe what it’s all about afterwards is quite hard, but if you like smart and absurdist humour which will make you think, then this is definitely recommended.

Incoherent, rarely funny.

Probably 3.5 stars for this one.

As usual, I quite enjoyed Adams's humor and brilliance, but this one, to me, isn't his best work. It seemed rather... erratic in the beginning and then a bit hurried at the end. It was very speculative, and very contemplative and assumed that the reader (or in my case, listener) was keeping right up, but I don't fault Adams for that. I don't want the book to dumb anything down for me. Although, if it dumbs things down for a character in the book, that's perfectly fine. ;)

I really loved the humor in this book, and I think I'll read the second book in the series, as I want to read everything that Adams has written if I can. I think reading this would be more conducive than listening to it was, especially listening while working - tedious as the work may be.

So, overall, I liked it. I laughed out loud quite a few times, and that's good enough for me.