I would recommend this book to people who are really into the work of Douglas Adams. In this book you will find letters, interviews, mails, random thoughts, and of course The Salmon of Doubt, which has the same style as his other books, but is not as innovative or surprising as the more famous ones. There was one section I really enjoyed in which he speaks his mind about the idea of God, and talks about the circularity of the definition. The tautological concept of the creator. I wish he had written more about it and in more detail.

I came to this posthumous publication with some uncertainty. Was the estate of Douglas Adams attempting to cash in on whatever they found on his hard drive? However, considering the fact that he sold over 15 million books while he was alive, his heirs probably aren't short of a quid. I was delighted to find that this volume contains a plethora of real treats. Apart from his unfinished Dirk Gently novel there are short pieces, many non-fiction, along with speeches, interviews, & other items. All contain Adams' superlative wit & amount to a fitting tribute to a gifted humourist & environmentalist who left us way too soon (at 49). And they reminded me that it is way too long since I last re-read the Hitch-hikers series. Vale, Douglas. One of a kind.

Volume postumo, con interviste e commenti da parte di amici e colleghi, con alcuni capitoli di quello che sarebbe potuto diventare il sesto libro della trilogia della Guida Galattica o il terzo della serie di Dirk Gently.
Uno sguardo, divertito e divertente, nella vita e nelle opere di Douglas.

3.5 Stars

A Final Collection of Douglas Adams. Some of his Colums, Diaries a single Chapter taken out of the "Hitchhiker"-Universe and 9 Chapter of the third Dirk Gently Book.
The Colums are a bit much and a Stretch to read but the third and final part makes the book a fun read and really sad in a way. Would have loved to read what Adams' would have made out of it.

Oh, how bittersweet is was to read Douglas Adams’ “The Salmon of Doubt.” His writing is witty and reflective. Some words make me laugh and some words make me cry. How sweet the taste of those Dirk Gently chapters, but how sorrowful I am that he did not have the chance to complete the book. How fortunate we all are to have been alive at a time when his books graced our bookshelves!

I can recall the time that I first picked up his book “Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency.” This must have been about six years ago or so. I had finished watching the 2016 TV series before that and I had the spontaneous insight that I’d like to read the book version. In my country, and my specific city, we have posted around our neighbourhoods these wooden boxes with plexiglass doors that look like oversized bird houses. They are called “Little Free Libraries” and there are about half a dozen in my neighbourhood. Sometimes they will be empty, but sometimes they will be overflowing with books, it’s really luck of the draw.

That day, the day that I decided it was time to read “Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency” I decided that I would find it in a “Little Free Library.” You could call it a hunch. I walk up to the first one, it wasn’t there. I walked a couple blocks more to the second one—nope, not there either. Third time is the charm! There it was, “Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency” staring me right in the face. I suppose life gets you to where you need to be. Since that day, I have never seen “Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency” in another “Little Free Library.”

“Anything that happens happens, anything that in happening causes something else to happen causes something else to happen and anything that in happening causes itself to happen again, happens again” (p.278 e-book).

Thank you Douglas Adams, for causing so much to happen in the world.

This partially posthumous volume consists of a collection of magazine articles, newspaper columns, interviews and such like, along with one short story (about a young Zaphod)originally published in the Utterly Utterly Merry Comic Relief Christmas Book...a copy of which I own...and the (very) incomplete conflated text of three versions of the third Dirk Gently's novel. This novel was abandoned whilst Adams was still alive, in favour of a 6th Hitchhikers' novel. Adams had decided that the material/theme was better suited to the latter. Personally, I think a 3rd Gently's would have been much more fun than a 6th 'Hikers'. The Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul is my favourite Adams novel and The Salmon of Doubt looked to be very much in a similar vein, structurally and stylistically. It's a great shame that we will never see an end to this fragment.

THIS REVIEW HAS BEEN CURTAILED IN PROTEST AT GOODREADS' CENSORSHIP POLICY

See the complete review here:

http://arbieroo.booklikes.com/post/33...

Трудно, дори невъзможно е да се оценяват сборници. Давам пет звезди за прекрасните есета в началото, както и за всички останали необработени и нешлайфани парчета текст дошли от Дъглас Адамс.

Настоящият сборник е представен от кратки разкази, есета, интервюта и части от проекта за 3-та книга от серията с детектив Дърк Джентли „Сьомгата на съмнението“.

Тази посмъртна компилация е събрана от харда на неговия компютър. Дискът с произведенията на Дъглас съдържаха 2579 файла — от огромни, съдържащи пълните текстове на книгите му до писма в полза на „Спасете носорозите“, неговият любим благотворителен фонд. Имаше и невероятни идеи за книги, филми и телевизионни програми, някои от по едно-две изречения, други по пет или шест страници. Освен това имаше чернови на речи, материали писани от Дъглас за неговия уебсайт, предговори към множество книги и събития, както и размисли относно близки до сърцето на Дъглас теми: музиката, технологиите, науката, застрашените от изчезване видове, пътешествията и малцовото уиски (изброявам само някои от тях). Накрая открих дузина варианти на романа, с който Дъглас се сражаваше през по-голямата част от последното десетилетие. Сортирането и подборът за това незавършено произведение, което ще намерите в третата част на тази книга, се превърнаха в най-голямото предизвикателство, въпреки че като го казвам по този начин, звучи много трудно. Не беше. Въпросите раждаха отговори още в момента на възникването си.

Сьомгата на съмнението.

В самото начало, подходът на Дъглас Адамс, основата на който е атеистичният му и фантастичен хумор на човек вярващ в "изкуствения Бог" - Затова твърдя, че макар да няма истински Бог, има изкуствен Бог, и че не е лошо да го имаме предвид. Това е моята теза в спора, а вие сте свободни да ме замеряте със столове! - ми напомни за "Пътуване със сьомга" на Умберто Еко. Става дума най-вече за първата част (на този сборник). Общото критично и хумористично отношение към живота, вселената и всичко останало има изключително сходство между "Сьомгата" на Дъглас Адамс и тази на Умберто Еко.

Тази първа част е озаглавена "Животът". Спомени, случки и ситуации от живота на автора, оформени в есета и написани така, че няма как да ви разкажа за тях. Прочетете ги, прекрасни са и определено ще се посмеете.

МАГИ И ТРУДИ. Страхотно :)

Пристрастието и любовта на DNA (Douglas Noel Adams) към науката и техническите постижения се вижда (освен в абревиатурата на името му) във всяка буквичка, която е написал. Определено е било мания и със сигурност от там идва нюансът на специфичния му хумор - (себе)критичен, (себе)ироничен - качества на луд професор :)

Последната част представлява 11 глави от недовършената книга "Сьомгата на съмнението". Разбира се, много необработени и недовършени текстове, на етап на натрупване, оформяне, създаване... Почти всяка една глава влиза от отнякъде - от страници, които си пропуснал, защото все още не са били създадени. Бели полета измежду поредната идиотско-гениална история на Дъглас Адамс.

Цитати:

ФУРНАДЖИЙСКА ЛОПАТА

Дайте на хората анкетен лист и те ще започнат да лъжат. Един мой приятел веднъж беше провел някакво допитване в Мрежата. Каза, че информацията, която получил, за състоянието на този свят, била покъртителна. Знаете ли например, че 90 процента от хората са президенти на собствени компании и печелят повече от милион долара на година?

ВЪПРОС: КОЯ Е ЧЕТВЪРТАТА ЕПОХА НА ПЯСЪКА?

През този век (а и през предишния) моделът на комуникациите едно към едно беше телефонът, който предполагам, че всички познаваме. Комуникацията един на много също не липсваше — радио и телевизия, книгоиздаване, журналистика и какво ли още не. Информацията ни залива отвсякъде и в мишените й няма грам дискриминация. Любопитно е, но не се налага да се връщаме много назад в миналото, за да открием, че цялата информация, която е стигала до нас е имала връзка с нас, и затова всичко, което се е случвало, всяка новина, без значение дали се е случила с нас, в съседната къща, в съседното село, в границата на държавата или в границата на нашия хоризонт, се е случвала в нашия свят и ние сме реагирали, и светът е реагирал в отговор. Всичко ни е засягало по някакъв начин, като например ужасна катастрофа, при която е можело да се притечем на помощ. В наши дни поради плетеницата от комуникации един на много, ако в Индия катастрофира самолет, ние може силно да се разтревожим, но от нашата тревога няма никакъв ефект. Вече не сме способни да различаваме онова, което се е случило на другия край на света от другото, което се е случило на нашата улица. В съзнанието ни разликата между тях е толкова размита, че сме в състояние да се разтревожим много повече от съдбата на героинята от сапунена опера забъркана в Холивуд, отколкото от съдбата на собствената си сестра. Връзките помежду ни са изкривени и разкъсани, и не е никак изненадващо, че се чувстваме стресирани и отчуждени в света, защото светът ни влияе, но ние на него не. Комуникацията много на един я има, но не е кой знае какво, нито кой знае колко. По същността си нашите демократични системи са модели на тази комуникация и макара да не са съвършени, вървят към драстично подобрение.
Четвъртата комуникация обаче — много на много — се роди едва с появата на Интернет, която разбира се тече по фиброоптични кабели. Този тип комуникация формира четвъртата епоха на пясъка.

МЛАДИЯТ ЗЕЙФОД И БЕЗОПАСНОСТТА

Най-опасни от всички бяха три еднакви личности — точно те бяха затворени в този контейнер и заедно с кораба трябваше да изчезнат от лицето на тази вселена. Не че бяха зли, напротив, бяха доста простодушни и очарователни. Но са най-опасните същества във вселената, защото никога няма да се откажат да сторят нещо, което е разрешено и никога няма да сторят нещо забранено…

СЬОМГАТА НА СЪМНЕНИЕТО

Сиамските котки гледат хората по един особено презрителен начин. Чувството е познато на всеки, който се е натъквал на кралицата, докато е чоплила зъбите си.
...
Не можеш да се взираш в морето. Е, можеш, но то е покрито с пластмасови бутилки и употребявани презервативи и само ще седиш и ще се ядосваш. Единственото, което ни остана за взиране е белият шум. Онова, което понякога наричаме информация, но което иначе е само мехурчета във въздуха.
...
Една кола, син кабриолет, елегантна и желана, излезе от западната част на Бевърли хилс и пое по, както аз го разбирам, грациозните извивки на Сънсет булевард. Всеки, който видеше тази кола щеше да я пожелае. Очевидно. Дизайнът й беше такъв, че да я пожелаеш. Ако се окажеше, че хората не я желаха твърде много, конструкторите й щяха да я проектират наново и наново, докато всички я пожелаеха. Светът е пълен с подобни неща, която именно е причината всички да са в непрекъснато състояние на желаене.
...
Затова ще кажа само, че дрехите й бяха точно такива, че да предизвикат луд възторг в някой който разбира от дрехи и освен това бяха сини.
...
Светът ѝ изведнъж се беше преобърнал с главата надолу и сега тя изведнъж съвсем неочаквано се беше превърнала в най-безпомощното човешко същество в Лос Анджелис — в пешеходец.
...
— Хората си мислят, че писателите си стоят в някаква стая, гледат умислено и записват велики мисли. Само че те през повечето време гледат панкьосано и се надяват, че още не са пратили съдия-изпълнител.

Passata l'iniziale diffidenza verso questo genere di operazioni, che mi sembrano sempre molto commerciali e prive di amore verso gli autori scomparsi, mi sono trovato davanti qualcosa di gradevole e gustoso.
La prima metà, saggistica, è buona, con articoli ed aneddoti su vari aspetti dell'ingegno umano e dell'umana condizione, che fanno riflettere, sorridere, interrogarsi. Certo, alcuni sono un pò sottotono, ma tutti hanno il pregio di farci conoscere meglio questo autore, le sue idee ed il suo modo di pensare.
La seconda parte contiene un breve racconto dell'universo della Guida Galattica ("Sicuro, sicurissimo, perfettamente sicuro") ed i primi capitoli de "Il salmone del dubbio", nuova avventura del detective olistico Dirk Gently, incompiuta.
Questa parte è tanto meravigliosa, nella misura in cui amate questo autore: se la Guida Galattica vi ha lasciati indifferenti, non troverete nulla di interessante. Se Dirk Gently non vi è piaciuto, odierete lo spreco di pagine dedicato alla sua nuova avventura, anche se incompiuta.
Ma se viceversa li avete apprezzati, troverete "pane per i vostri denti": storie e personaggi assurdi, stravaganti, a tratti follemente divertenti.
Personalmente ho gradito molto la parte saggistica, perchè mostra l'uomo, prima dello scrittore. Un uomo arguto e sagace, raffinato nell'intelletto, dannatamente "british", capace di tratteggiare situazioni ed idiosincrasie del nostro tempo.
Viceversa il racconto incompleto di Gently, proprio perchè incompleto lascia l'amaro in bocca.

Douglas Adams’ final, only-half-finished book, with copious bonus features. The half-finished book is a Dirk Gently story, the first one I’ve read, but it’s so good it makes me want to read the others. The 200 pages of bonus essays, short stories, and interviews is well worth it just for the way Adams strings words together. Maybe not an essential read for everybody, but I enjoyed the heck out of it.

Just finished listening to the audio version (read initially immediately after the ink was dry). Two things come to mind:
1. This is not Dirk #3, and
2. I miss DNA.
3. I was wrong to originally only award this a 4
42: I may have mentioned #2 before

(Numbering system courtesy of DNA)

I am a bigger fan of Douglas Adam's musings than his outlandish fiction style. Sorry Hitchhiker fans

In early 1998 (or was it ‘97?), I experienced one of the most heady experiences of my life. A literary idol approached me at a conference we were attending in France (it was in Cannes, but it was a media festival rather than the more famous annual event), invited me to join him at dinner and debate the existence of God. Douglas Adams, self-proclaimed radical atheist, wanted to consider God’s existence (or lack thereof) with me. As a minister, I’d like to write myself in as the hero and claim that I at least put a dent in the famous atheist’s armor. We had a fascinating conversation and I’d like to think that I pushed him into rethinking his position, but that’s not very realistic. Hang on! This does relate to this collection of Adams’ writing in his last years, especially those reprinted in The Salmon of Doubt.

In our discussion, I pulled out the well-worn rubber duck of apologetics. I told him that he was dishonest in calling himself an atheist instead of an agnostic. I didn’t realize that this was the most offensive opening I could try. I hadn’t read his interview with American Atheists where he asserted that Agnostic did not adequately express his position because he was “convinced that there is no God.” (p. 96) But I blundered into the conversation with my classic approach that it is intellectual arrogance to claim to “know” that there is no God by appealing to an illustration in one of Rudy Rucker’s books on multidimensionality. This took my literary hero off guard because “multidimensionality” was a great fascination for him. I told him that certainty of the non-existence of God might well be trying to decide a multidimensional issue via the limited dimensions we have discovered in our empirical science. Then, I conceded that being “convinced” was different than “knowing,” but that it wasn’t objectively any better than a person of faith being “convinced.” I scored the opening round a stand-off. I’m not sure what Adams would have scored it. He must have been somewhat satisfied because he shifted gears.

He told me that there was no rational need for the existence of God. This, of course, is a different question. Unlike my typical sermon, I opted to walk the tightrope of suggested that God is a useful concept—EVEN (don’t be horrified at my speculation, true believers) if a personal God didn’t exist. I told him that I personally believe in a personal God, but for purposes of discussion, we should consider whether there really was no rational need for the existence of God. I asserted that, contrary to Adams’ hero Richard Dawkins for whom I expressed admiration for his science and reservation for his assertions which went beyond the acceptable evidence, the idea of God was more helpful than harmful.

Adams was skeptical (duh!) and attempted two analogies which I found interesting. He pulled some British currency out of his wallet and suggested that burning it wouldn’t warm you, eating it wouldn’t feed you, and wearing it wouldn’t cover you, but that it had purchasing power because the state stood behind it. But, he suggested that you need the assurance that the state exists in order for the currency to have any effect whatsoever. I countered (maybe a feeble parry at best) that, for the bulk of the British population, they had no idea of the nature of money supply, national deficit, budget viability, and governmental oversight of that currency but had an essential faith in the government. One doesn’t have to have all of the economics behind the currency explained satisfactorily in order to use the money. In the same way, one doesn’t have to understand everything about God in order to benefit from the idea of God. Therefore, there may well be a rational need for God.

Before I explain the next analogy, imagine my amazement to see the late 1998 speech from Adams that was reprinted in The Salmon of Doubt: “Money is a completely fictitious entity, but it’s very powerful in our world; we all have wallets, which have got notes in them, but what can these notes do? You can’t breed them, you can’t stir-fry them, you can’t live in them, there’s absolutely nothing you can do with them, other than exchange them with each other—and as soon as we exchange them with each other, all sorts of powerful things happen, because it’s a fiction that we’ve all subscribed to. …if the money vanished, the entire cooperative structure that we have would implode.” (p. 140) Did our discussion bear fruit? Adams didn’t change his mind about the existence of God. He merely recognized the utility of the concept of God. Egotistically, I had thought to convince him one step at a time, but perhaps, I merely pushed him to fortify and develop his philosophical position to allow for a utilitarian (he called it “artificial”) God.

The conversation was still stimulating, especially so when Adams began to expound about Feng Shui. Now, maybe I wasn’t listening, but I thought he was expressing skepticism about Feng Shui, so I said that it wouldn’t really make any different that he and I don’t believe that dragons exist, but that the concept of the dragon may help people design more comfortable and functional living spaces even if no dragon ever sets foot in the dwelling (and presumably they would not). Therefore, I suggested that even if I was wrong about the personal God whom I serve, my life may be better and more meaningful as a result of my conceptual idea of God’s involvement in my life. Now, admittedly, Adams’ hero of evolutionary arrogance (Richard Dawkins) wouldn’t concede this as said individual perceives the very concept to be harmful due to the fundamentalist extremes which have wreaked havoc in human history, but it seemed like the approach caused Adams to pause. Again, that could be arrogance on my part. I WISH I had impacted Adams and this could merely be wish-fulfillment.

However, I was delighted to read on p. 146: “You figure out how the dragon’s going to be happy here, and lo, and behold, you’ve suddenly got a place that makes sense for other organic creatures, such as ourselves, to live in.” Do I think I won a debate with this man who was, in so many ways, my intellectual superior? Naaah! I just like to think that our conversation pushed him in a direction he was already considering. Do I wish I could have convinced him of the existence of a personal God who cared about Him and wanted to be involved in his life and life’s work? Absolutely! Do I still admire him as a person and his creative output? Absolutely!

There were a few other lines that I really enjoyed in this book of essays, interviews, introductions to books, albums, and concerts, speeches, and rambling thoughts before I got into what I really procured the book to read, the last Dirk Gently story. I loved his line about art when he said, “I think the idea of art kills creativity.” (p. 158) And, I loved the story about his awkward experience in the train station with the cookies (pp. 150-151). It appears that he was sharing a table while waiting for a train. He had his coffee and a packet of cookies along with his morning newspaper. As he was reading his paper, the fellow reached over, opened the bag of cookies, too one out and began to eat it. Some British reserve kept him from confronting the man for his effrontery, so they actually ate the cookies in uncomfortable silence one-for-one. When the man left, Adams moved his paper and discovered an identical, but unopened bag of cookies under his paper. He was amused that he had thought so ill of the man while he was erroneously consuming the other man’s cookies. And he knew why this had occurred, but the other man never discovered the punch line. In the U.S., of course, there would have been a loud vocal confrontation at the very least.

As for the title piece, the bare-bones portion of the unfinished Salmon of Doubt, it was delightful—even in its admittedly unpolished form. I followed the tortured logic of the cabbie who assumed that since people said, “Follow that cab!” in the movies and he, having had a long tenure as a cabbie had never heard that phrase, he must indeed have been the cab that all other cabs were following (pp. 249-250). I rolled my eyes with empathy when Dirk discovered a freezer cabinet full of “old, white, clenched things that he was now too frightened to try to identify.” (p. 226) I chuckled at the description of Gently’s office that was “old and dilapidated and remained standing more out of habit rather than from any inherent structural integrity” (p. 238) I really loved the slam on typical airline personnel speak (Airline Syllable Stress Syndrome—p. 253). I was sad that the book wasn’t complete, even in its current form.