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 just love this book. Not only is it personally evocative of my 80's childhood, but I think it really is the most enjoyable of Douglas Adams works (perhaps only Hitchhikers surpasses it). The plot is nicely twisty, unfolds at its own pace and in some odd ways (you can really see British SF/F techniques of cold opens and asides that make no sense until much later in the story that are meant to set you questioning and draw you in), and hangs together well. The characters are all likable: while the Hitchhikers stories take place in a universal culture that is sardonically indifferent bordering on hostile, the Doctor Who antecedents of the Dirk Gently stories gives Adams a softer and more compassionate humor. Dirk himself is a fascinating character (and again, shares a lot of the Doctor's DNA). The story is very much set in 80's London, but I don't think that harms it - of course, I read it in the 80's and know that time, if not that place. Your mileage may vary.

If only Adams wrote faster... I would have loved 5 or 6 Dirk Gently books rather than the 2.5 we got.

2 estrellas... no se, nunca me "engancho" la historia

“Let's think the unthinkable, let's do the undoable. Let us prepare to grapple with the ineffable itself, and see if we may not eff it after all.”

¿No les ha tocado que están en una reunión con amigos y se ponen a recordar una historia entre todos, para contársela a un invitado, pero como cada quien tiene su visión, todos terminan hablando de las anécdotas y nunca llegan al punto de la historia? eso es lo que siento que pasa con Dougals Adams y la historia de Dirk Gently. Lo interesante de todo esto es que Adams escribe todas sus historias (o de perdida las que conozco) con esta misma dinámica, pero con un nivel de éxito mayor o menor según su humor... o el del lector

“There are some people you like immediately, some whom you think you might learn to like in the fullness of time, and some that you simply want to push away from you with a sharp stick.”

Realmente no hay mucho que decir sobre la historia, siempre que no quieras agregar spoilers, así que de una manera resumida mencionare que los personajes son raros y tienen problemas de comunicación entre ellos, ya que muchas veces te dejan con la sensación de que a la acción o conversación que están levando le falta un poco mas para llegar "a buen puerto".

“Don't you understand that we need to be childish in order to understand? Only a child sees things with perfect clarity, because it hasn't developed all those filters which prevent us from seeing things that we don't expect to see.”

Aun así algunos personajes son buenos y hasta simpáticos, lo cual siempre ayuda. Los toques de ciencia ficción me gustaron, aunque creo que no fueron manejados de la mejor manera  Hablo de ustedes malditas paradojas temporales En fin, no es un libro de Adams que recomendaría, y veo dudoso que lea los demás libros de la serie (si señores, tiene mas partes) pero claro eso nunca se sabe jajaja

“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.”

Мене зачаровують світи Адамса, я можу "проковтнути" його книжку за день-два, бо мене настільки вона захопила, що я не можу відірватися. Я б хотіла розуміти одразу всі жарти і увесь контекст без приміток перекладача і ґуґлу. В цій книжці цього звісно не сталося, але це ніяк не завадило мені насолоджуватися кожною сторінкою.

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

A confusing story that wraps up toward the end, but isn't that just like life? You can't make heads or tails of what's happening until towards the end. And by then, it's too late. But the beauty of a book, is you can go back and read it all over again.

The individuals involved - Reg, Richard, Gordon, Susan, and Michael - all have roles to play in a wildly complicated mystery that pre-dates human life - in fact all life on the planet, and it takes Dirk Gently, aka Svlad Cjelli, to solve it, with the help of a salt cellar.

A must-read for Adams fans, but don't expect to understand the complicated tangle right away. I did, and I should have read this as one does Adams' other works, and that is to sit back and enjoy the ride. Even when cats (or horses stuck in a bathroom) are involved...

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.

A weird mystery mixed with paranormal and crazy events.

I came to the book from the brilliant and crazy TV show so it was a strange read. It was very different from the TV show, Dirk wasn't a really likable guy (the other characters were new) and the story had nothing in commun with the show. Nevertheless, Adams' style was easy to spot, with some humor and several descriptions that could be shared with Pratchett, giving the read an easy going and pleasant tone. I found the characters interesting, even if we never had the chance to know them well, but most of all, the story kept me engaged with all the strange events. I enjoyed the mix between weird mystery and paranormal, and some moments were pretty funny. Overall, a nice read, especially for its weird side.

**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 don't really know what this book is. I sifted through 50 pages or so of gibberish and decided that I just didn't have the patience or interest to go on. Maybe in 20 years or so I'll build up enough patience to try to read this again, but for now I'll move on to something else.

I read the Hitchhiker's Guide, and being the first book of his that I experienced I did I enjoyed it, but the more I read from Adams, the more I get the impression that he's not really that impressive. He just spouts the first nonsense that comes to mind, some of which can cause a smile, but most of which just makes me cringe, or wish the book would move on to actual story rather than trying to make himself seem witty at all cost. If there was any story going on in the first 5 chapters, I probably would have continued. However, there was not. Maybe the rest of the book makes up for it, but after spending days to get through just a few pages because of pure boredom, I simply don't care anymore.

I am a firm believer that a bit of British humor is good for the soul...
And I am quite American, in case you did not know...

n  n    “Don’t you understand that we need to be childish in order to understand? Only a child sees things with perfect clarity, because it hasn’t developed all those filters which prevent us from seeing things that we don’t expect to see?”n  n

Douglas Adams has a highly quotable, laugh out loud writing style which I adore; I seem to remember a blurb describing this book as The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy with significantly fewer spaceships (I apologize that my memory fails on whom I heard this from) I can't think of a better description myself.

This book will forever be on my list of favorite books of all time.
There's really not much more I can say about it which could express my love.

n  Some of My Favorite Moments:n

“Hello, Michael? Yes, it’s Susan. Susan Way. You said I shouldcall you if I was free this evening and I said I’d rather be dead in aditch, remember? Well, I suddenly discover that I am free, absolutely,completely and utterly free, and there isn’t a decent ditch for milesaround. Make your move while you’ve got your chance is my advice toyou. I’ll be at the Tangiers Club in half an hour.”

“The teacher usually learns morethan the pupil. Isn’t that true?”
“It would be hard to learn much less than my pupils,” came a lowgrowl from somewhere on the table, “without undergoing a pre-frontallobotomy.”

...he walked a little like an affrontedheron.
The other was small, roundish, and moved with an ungainlyrestlessness, like a number of elderly squirrels trying to escape froma sack.

“It seems odd,don’t you think, that the quality of the food should vary inverselywith the brightness of the lighting. Makes you wonder what culinaryheights the kitchen staff could rise to if you confined them to perpetual darkness.”

“Well,” said Reg, in a loudly confidential whisper, as if introducing the subject of nipple-piercing in a nunnery, “I hear you’vesuddenly done very well for yourself, at last, hmmm?”

“Did you know, young lady,” said Watkin to her, “that the Book of Revelation was written on Patmos? It was indeed. By Saint John the Divine, as you know. To me it shows very clear signs of having been written while waiting for a ferry. Oh, yes, I think so. It starts off, doesn’t it, with that kind of dreaminess you get when you’re killing time, getting bored, you know, just making things up, and then gradually grows to a sort of climax of hallucinatory despair. I find that very suggestive.”

Pink valleys, hermaphrodite tables, these were all natural stages through which one had to pass on the path to true enlightenment.

The door was the way to…to…
The Door was The Way.
Good.
Capital letters were always the best way of dealing with things you didn’t have a good answer to.

By means of an ingenious series of strategically deployed denials of the most exciting and exotic things, he was able to create the myth that he was a psychic, mystic, telepathic, fey, clairvoyant, psychosassic vampire bat.
What did “psychosassic” mean?
It was his own word and he vigorously denied that it meantanything at all.

“Or maybe she decided that an evening with your old tutor would be blisteringly dull and opted for the more exhilarating course of washing her hair instead. Dear me, I know what I would have done. It’s only lack of hair that forces me to pursue such a hectic social round these days.”

Gordon Way was dead, but he simply hadn’t the slightest idea whathe was meant to do about it. It wasn’t a situation he had encountered before.

"...I bet that even the very lowest form of dysentery amoeba shows up to take its girlfriend out for a quick trot around the stomach lining once in a while...”

Richard reflected that Dirk’s was a face into which too much had already been put. What with that and the amount he talked, the traffic through his mouth was almost incessant. His ears, on the other hand, remained almost totally unused in normal conversation.

“Exploiting?” asked Dirk. “Well, I suppose it would be if any body ever paid me, but I do assure you, my dear Richard, that there never seems to be the remotest danger of that...”

“Let us go. Let us leave this festering hell hole. Let us think the unthinkable, let us do the undoable. Let us prepare to grapple with the ineffable itself, and see if we may not effit after all.”

“Don’t you understand that we need to be childish in order to understand? Only a child sees things with perfect clarity, because it hasn’t developed all those filters which prevent us from seeing things that we don’t expect to see?”

“Sir Isaac Newton, renowned inventor of the milled-edge coinand 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 dismissive shrug, “yes, there was that as well, I suppose. Though that, of course, was merely adiscovery. It was there to be discovered.”
He took a penny out of his pocket and tossed it casually on to the pebbles that ran alongside the paved pathway.
“You see?” he said, “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.”

“...If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, we have at least to consider the possibility that we have a small aquatic bird of the family Anatidae on our hands.”

“Now. Having saved the entire human race from extinction I could do with a pizza...”

3 Stars Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency (audiobook) by Douglas Adams performed by a full cast.

I like Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy better. I thought I liked Douglas Adams’s sense of humor but this just didn’t work for me. This book is produced by the BBC and performed by a full cast. It’s broken into many parts and I think that affected the flow of the story. And it’s acted out as a radio drama and I had a hard time hearing some of the performers and understanding what was going on.