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By his own admission, Douglas Adams was not a great writer. When you list the names of the authors who have advanced the English language, Douglas Adams will not feature in that pantheon, though it must be said that he loved the language more than most. But never mind that, for his place is secure in a far more important list: Greatest Thinkers. In the simplest sense of the word, Adams was a philosopher. Like his friends in Monty Python, he used comedy “as a medium to express intelligence” and to communicate ideas, the way comedy should be used. Although this isn’t the book that he intended to deliver to the world, it has served as the perfect goodbye to an author who died well before his time.
The book is divided into four parts—the first three being Life, the Universe, and Everything, obviously, followed by a fun short story that I’d read before, Young Zaphod Plays It Safe, and finally, the unfinished sequel to The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul. In the first three parts, the editor has presented a collection of Adams’ speeches, interviews, website entries, book recommendations, introductions to other books/editions and some unpublished stuff rummaged from his many, many MacBooks. In other words, this is a book for those of us who are already familiar with Adams and were left wanting more, those of us to whom Douglas’ idiosyncratic wit and charm feel like a warm, comforting hug.
In his introduction to this book, Stephen Fry elaborates on this feeling:
n
What I love about DNA’s writing is his tendency to flit from topic to topic at supersonic speeds and draw comparisons between apparently unrelated subjects, like Newton and Darwin, for example. It takes a peculiar kind of intelligence to draw such elaborate connections. But Adams has this in common with both Newton and Darwin: a sense of wonder. My Physics professor used to say that to be a physicist, one must first be a philosopher, completely in awe of the universe and everything in it, just as Douglas was until the very end. But members of both professions also refuse to settle for a limited world-view, discontented to be living in ignorance. That same sense of wonder puts them on the quest to seek answers and so, they steer the human race forward. Douglas Adams understood and appreciated this and, in his humour and philosophy, he retained a deep respect for science. His strength lay in the fact that he could convey this reverence without ever sounding arrogant:
The Salmon of Doubt provides extensive insight into Adams’ thoughts and beliefs. As is evident, I particularly enjoyed his commentary on religion and atheism, which he wrote with an uncanny understanding of not only science and religion but also the human psyche. If you think atheists are a tiresome lot, you’ll be blown away by DNA, who had to have been the most affable and amusing atheist in history. Where his good friend Richard Dawkins incites anger in those who cling to religious beliefs, on reading Adams you can’t help but laugh at your own (il)logical fallacies. (Incidentally, this edition includes an utter tear-jerker of an epilogue by Dawkins.) Such is the power of a good joke, as DNA unfailingly demonstrated:
n
I hope that someday I can acquire his unique skill and ability to discuss heavy subject matter in a light-hearted manner, such that his audience is left with much to ponder over but never overwhelmed. Another joy was to read about his profound love for music. To read his essays on The Beatles and Bach is to see that Adams admired those who dared to do something different, who were imaginative and creative and avant-garde. Rare is such a person who could talk about almost anything under the sun: from subatomic particles to manta rays, technology to Jane Austen, architecture to evolutionary biology. The world suffered an incalculable loss when he passed. The Salmon of Doubt may not have gone where it intended to go, but I think it has ended up where it needed to be. It belongs in the compendium of every DNA fan who adores this writer and wants to know his thoughts on everything from Earl Grey tea to the letter ‘Y’. If you’re not a fan yet, I can’t imagine what you’re waiting for!
So long, DNA, and thanks for all the laughter.
The book is divided into four parts—the first three being Life, the Universe, and Everything, obviously, followed by a fun short story that I’d read before, Young Zaphod Plays It Safe, and finally, the unfinished sequel to The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul. In the first three parts, the editor has presented a collection of Adams’ speeches, interviews, website entries, book recommendations, introductions to other books/editions and some unpublished stuff rummaged from his many, many MacBooks. In other words, this is a book for those of us who are already familiar with Adams and were left wanting more, those of us to whom Douglas’ idiosyncratic wit and charm feel like a warm, comforting hug.
In his introduction to this book, Stephen Fry elaborates on this feeling:
n
“Douglas has in common with certain rare artists the ability to make the beholder feel that he is addressing them and them alone: I think this in part explains the immense strength and fervour of his ‘fan base’. [...] When you look at Blake, listen to Bach, read Douglas Adams or watch Eddie Izzard perform, you feel you are perhaps the only person in the world who really gets them. Just about everyone else admires them, of course, but no one really connects with them in the way you do. I advance this as a theory. Douglas’s work is not the high art of Bach or the intense personal cosmos of Blake, it goes without saying, but I believe my view holds nonetheless. It’s like falling in love. When an especially peachy Adams turn of phrase or epithet enters the eye and penetrates the brain you want to tap the shoulder of the nearest stranger and share it. The stranger might laugh and seem to enjoy the writing, but you hug to yourself the thought that they didn’t quite understand its force and quality the way you do—”n
What I love about DNA’s writing is his tendency to flit from topic to topic at supersonic speeds and draw comparisons between apparently unrelated subjects, like Newton and Darwin, for example. It takes a peculiar kind of intelligence to draw such elaborate connections. But Adams has this in common with both Newton and Darwin: a sense of wonder. My Physics professor used to say that to be a physicist, one must first be a philosopher, completely in awe of the universe and everything in it, just as Douglas was until the very end. But members of both professions also refuse to settle for a limited world-view, discontented to be living in ignorance. That same sense of wonder puts them on the quest to seek answers and so, they steer the human race forward. Douglas Adams understood and appreciated this and, in his humour and philosophy, he retained a deep respect for science. His strength lay in the fact that he could convey this reverence without ever sounding arrogant:
The Salmon of Doubt provides extensive insight into Adams’ thoughts and beliefs. As is evident, I particularly enjoyed his commentary on religion and atheism, which he wrote with an uncanny understanding of not only science and religion but also the human psyche. If you think atheists are a tiresome lot, you’ll be blown away by DNA, who had to have been the most affable and amusing atheist in history. Where his good friend Richard Dawkins incites anger in those who cling to religious beliefs, on reading Adams you can’t help but laugh at your own (il)logical fallacies. (Incidentally, this edition includes an utter tear-jerker of an epilogue by Dawkins.) Such is the power of a good joke, as DNA unfailingly demonstrated:
n
“This is rather as if you imagine a puddle waking up one morning and thinking, ‘This is an interesting world I find myself in — an interesting hole I find myself in — fits me rather neatly, doesn’t it? In fact it fits me staggeringly well, must have been made to have me in it!’ This is such a powerful idea that as the sun rises in the sky and the air heats up and as, gradually, the puddle gets smaller and smaller, frantically hanging on to the notion that everything’s going to be alright, because this world was meant to have him in it, was built to have him in it; so the moment he disappears catches him rather by surprise. I think this may be something we need to be on the watch out for.”n
I hope that someday I can acquire his unique skill and ability to discuss heavy subject matter in a light-hearted manner, such that his audience is left with much to ponder over but never overwhelmed. Another joy was to read about his profound love for music. To read his essays on The Beatles and Bach is to see that Adams admired those who dared to do something different, who were imaginative and creative and avant-garde. Rare is such a person who could talk about almost anything under the sun: from subatomic particles to manta rays, technology to Jane Austen, architecture to evolutionary biology. The world suffered an incalculable loss when he passed. The Salmon of Doubt may not have gone where it intended to go, but I think it has ended up where it needed to be. It belongs in the compendium of every DNA fan who adores this writer and wants to know his thoughts on everything from Earl Grey tea to the letter ‘Y’. If you’re not a fan yet, I can’t imagine what you’re waiting for!
So long, DNA, and thanks for all the laughter.
