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

This book is Douglas Adams' take on detective fiction in which Sherlock Holmes meets Doctor Who, quantum theory meets time travel.

As with many detective stories this book features a murder and all evidence seems to point to an innocent man, Richard. Enter the rather shady Dirk Gently, ex Cambridge undergraduate, last seen in police custody some years previously, now running a holistic detective agency. Holistic because it is based on the interconnectedness of all things, any event in the space-time continuum can connect to any other. Adams therefore assembles a wonderfully madcap collection of people, things and events, and weaves them into this imaginatively playful romp. Normally TOO MANY coincidences would have the reader rolling their eyes with frustration but here it just seems to work, it's fun to see what gets linked together.

Now I'm sure that this is a Marmite book, you will either love or loathe it. If you enjoyed Adams whimsical style in his better known 'Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy' then you are already well on the road to enjoying this one, if not, then it's unlikely to convert you. Personally, whilst I didn't actually laugh out loud, I found it a very clever piece of writing that left me with a smile on my face and that as far as I'm concerned can be no bad thing.

I think this is the second time I have read this book but maybe the third time. Either way, it has been over 20 years since I last read it (I think). I always marvel how much I remember and how much I “remember” after I read it. I remembered things like “Reg answers three questions but only asks two” and “Reg pulled off that magic trick using a SPOILER” and the couch is trapped because of the SPOILER visiting Richard’s flat a few weeks ago”.
Okay – overall impression is I love this book. It has that great Douglas Adams turn of phrase but he doesn’t overdo it too much. It has a plot brimming with amazing ideas. 20 years later it has aged remarkably well despite the fact a huge plot point hinges on answering machine tapes (something we don’t have) and there is some talk about computers. The characters are all interesting and well fleshed out, for the most part (I guess Susan gets short shrift and so does the dead boss). The laugh out loud humour wasn’t exactly there but it was still more funny/enjoyable than 99% of the humour novels I have ever read. I have to give it up to Douglas Adams he is one of the few people who managed to write a humour novel that was funny and he did it on several occasions (yes he wrote huge clunkers Mostly Harmless was the biggest piece of shite ever, but most other ONLY write shite).
Even though I love the book and am amazed by some of the ideas and the way they slowly unfold there are fundamental problems with the book that keep it from being perfect. The ending is too confusing by half...and requires you to have a full knowledge of Coleridge, his dream inspired poem "Kubla Khan", the fact that a man Porlock interrupted Coleridge writing the poem so (in OUR reality) the second half never got written. and since only a handful of people would read Dirk Gently AND know this Adams fails his readers. Hard to recommend a book to your friends "great book but I can't understand the ending". As well, a few great ideas seem to peter out in the end and a few prominent story lines seem to be over emphasized at the start or trail off at the end. I mean I LOVE the idea of the Electric Monk but...did he really need to be a part of this story? And Dirk is a wonderful character but for someone so smart why is he doing nothing with his life until Richard's case falls into his lap?
Even with the problems, it is so original and enjoyable I have to still give it five stars.

Having read other Douglas Adams books (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), I was already familiar with his writing style. It's the equivalent of going for a ride with the Mad Hatter on the Knight Bus. Sometimes confusing, always funny, and eventually you will end up where you are supposed to go. I love Douglas's snarky English humor. But I would definitely say his works are not for everyone.

Dirk Gently starts out with a series of series of seemingly random people and events that wrap around and tie together as the story develops. I liked how Coleridge was tied in throughout the book. But I was confused by the leap made at the end. I wish it would have been explained a little more. I think I figured it out, but I had to look up the The Rime of the Ancient Mariner to double check.

If you are interested in this book because you watched the Netflix series, or intend do so, my comments at the end :D

Adams nails it again and delivers a nice piece of fiction/comedy/romance/sci-fi/detective/fantasy.

It was a hard read though. I have to admit that I didn't dedicate as much attention to this book as I had wished, between my overworked and underpaid job and my messy personal life, I could only manage to pick this book for 10 minutes everyday before I fell completely asleep.

I haven't decided if I liked this more than The Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy but definitely was worth reading. At least, the plot is excellent, everything is connected and all that at the beginning seems totally unrelated, at the end, makes sense (kind of).

The characters are quite enjoyable. Dirk is pretty stressful (not to mention annoying) until he actually starts to sort things out (or at least he makes you think he is doing so). Richard is quite funny, and the rest, even though remain secondary are well developed and have a reason for being there.

This novel has nothing to do with the series. Well, there is a holistic detective called Dirk Genlty who believes in the interconnectedness of all things and... that's it. So, 1) if you want to read the book before you watch the series: don't. It's not necessary. I mean, read the book anyway, but go ahead with Netflix. 2) If you liked the series and want to read the book: go ahead, you won´t find your favorite characters but chances are you are going to laugh harder, find even weirder situations and don't worry, Dirk is as annoying as in the series.

You can read this review and more in my blog :)