DOUGLAS ADAMS - DIRK GENTLY'S HOLISTIC DETECTIVE AGENCY
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So here i am, sat awake at a stupidly late hour, i cant sleep, which is pretty much how every night goes, well i thought to myself, why not read a good book, so completly at random ... Read review
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production team that brought us the most recent three series' of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. This first production is based on Douglas Adams' novel of the same name, adapted by Mike Stott and directed by the hugely acclaimed Dirk Maggs. This series of six half-hour episodes features a stellar cast with Harry Enfield as the eponymous Holistic Detective, Billy Boyd as his client Richard Macduff, Olivia Coleman as his secretary Janice Pearce, Jim Carter as his nemesis DS Gilks, Andrew Sachs as Professor Reg Chronotis, Felicity Montagu as Susan Way, Robert Duncan as her brother Gordon, Toby Longworth as the Electric Monk and Michael Fenton Stevens as Michael Wenton Weakes. Although this adaption will maintain the element of comic absurdity and wit that appeals to HH fans, it will work in its own right as a comedy for listeners new to Adams. Essentially a science fiction mystery comedy, the series explores everything from quantum physics, Norse Gods and an electric monk, to Coleridge, Schrodinger, Fractal theory, computer software & Bach.
A review by kylecoare on Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency - Douglas Adams September 8th, 2003
Author's product rating:
Would you read it again?
Absolutely
Story
Outstanding
Characters
Good
Readability
Excellent
How does it compare to other works by the same author?
Excellent
Advantages:
Great funny read . Nice charactures .
Disadvantages:
Not as well known as Hitch - Hikers .
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
DOUGLAS ADAMS - DIRK GENTLY'S HOLISTIC DETECTIVE AGENCY -------------------------------------------------------
So here i am, sat awake at a stupidly late hour, i cant sleep, which is pretty much how every night goes, well i thought to myself, why not read a good book, so completly at random i decided to pick up one of my old favourites, Dirk Gently's holistic detective agency.
This is the first book in a trilogy which sadly never got finished due to Douglas Adams' untimely death, although the first few chapters have been released in the last Douglas Adams book, The Salmon of doubt. But what better way to celebrate a great writer than to look back at some of the material that made him famous.
Douglas Adams wil always be known as that bloke that wrote Hitch Hikers guide to the galaxy, which is a great shame, as people tend to miss out the fact that he also wrote a few other books along the way. HHGTTG, was an amazing piece of work, and it was very hard to pick fault with, although it was never intended as a novel, it worked so well. But the fans didnt really take to Dirk Gently quite as well, this is a shame because there is actually a much more balanced storyline running through these books.
The main reason most didnt take to this is that it didnt contain any of the Hitch hikers crew, or happen in space, but what it does have is great writing and an interesting if a tad confusing storyline.
The story is about Richard Macduff, and a lot of strange things that occur around him, such as a sofa on the stairs, that mathamatically shouldnt have been able to get where it is and definately wont come back down now its found a nice home in the middle of the stairs.
The story takes you on an interesting journey which includes a horse in a bathroom, the ghost of Richards girlfriends dad, Richards old college professors and lots of other unexpected things.
Luckily or unluckily for Richard, is that an old friend from his college days, Dirk Gently is on the case, but unlike most detectives Dirk has his own more unique style of solving cases, this involves the ultimate interconectedness of things, so instead of actually knowing where he is going he will just follow the next available car, and in some way that will connect with the whole case. This is a nice way to keep the story going and you almost feel sorry for Dirk in a way, although he does have a bit of a darker side.
The book is very funny, easily up with the humour of Hitch-Hikers, if not surpassing it a little. Some of the set pieces will have you in hysterics, and i mean laughing your guts out, this also can be quite a sad little novel, with an intresting twist on the whole Detective style novel.
Some may find it a little confusing at first but stick with it and the story unravels itself really well towards the end, although it definately needs a second read to bring it all together in your mind.
The charactures are very well created, unlike HHGTTG, where although they were good, there were times where they didnt have a lot of depth, here they are full of characture, you can almost imagine bumping into Dirk as he's following a complete stranger in hope for a lead on his latest case.
Any fan of HHGTTG should really try this book, as it offers a lot more storyline and holds the attention really well. Also any Terry Pratchet fans would like this as the humour is fairly similar, although Adams' does tend to be more pythonesqe.
When i bough this it was a paperback pacaged with both Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and its sequal The long dark tea time of the soul all for the small sum of 4.99. So it is a great purchase.
Advantages: very funny Disadvantages: bitty at the outset
...police on his tail, and Dirk Gently's holistic detective agency pressing its case. To complicate matters, there's an electric monk riding round on a horse randomly believing in things (for a while he believes everything is the same shade of pink, which makes moving about rather tricky.) There are strange Cambridge dons with weird secrets, and a threat to the wellbeing of the plant, oh, and some ghosts, a spaceship, a time machine, and a dead computer ... ...Detective Agency" starts out as a very bitty piece of writing, and proceeds to make only limited sense for a long time, before eventually all the threads pull together. It is however very witty (more so since the rise of microsoft) and very easy to read. Well, it is easy to read if you have any idea what Mr Adams is talking about. Douglas Adams likes to borrow ideas from elsewhere, which only works for the reader if you know what he's talking about. ...
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Story
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How does it compare to ...
very helpful
29.05.2002
Thumpingly good Review ofDirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency - Douglas Adamsby
seagulls-lost-horizon
Advantages: Entertaining and fun Disadvantages: Not quite what it seems
...Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency is almost more of the same, but not quite, however it is just as good.
It was due to my love of The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy that I came to read this book, and with great sadness that I’ve just read it again in respect to Douglas Adams who died recently.
Its described on the back cover, and by the author as ‘A thumplingly good detective-ghost-horror-who ... ...good description.
Dirk is a detective, a holistic one, and his idea of detection is not by looking for fingerprints, following clues and the silly things that the police usually do, but believes in the fundamental interconnectedness of all things to solve the problems that people bring to him. Which means that all things are connected to each other, and only by looking at the whole crime can it be solved. This pretty well sums up the plot because ...
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Advantages: Douglas Adams wrote it, very clever plot, satisfying coming together of diverse oddness Disadvantages: it is a finite experiance, as are all books, shame really,
...backwards?
The main character Dirk is a role model for all oddball misfits with attitude out there, he uses holisitic (apparently unconnected acts all have some significance, chaos theory that sort of thing) methods and dextrous wordplay to come to some absolutely great conclusions, for example when lost he picks a car at random and follows it, in the sure knowledge that even if it is not going where he initially wanted to, it may well be going ... ...works.
The book is as funny as all of Douglas Adams stuff is, (VERY) , and is one of the few books that I have read a number of times and has a special plot on my bookshelf.
So if you loved the hhgttg series, get this, read it, buy an I Ching calculator and live your life a different, more holistic way... ...
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Advantages: Excellent plot, amusing characters Disadvantages: Hard to understand the plot first time through.
...about Dirk Gently, who runs a strange (holistic) detective agency. He's taken on by an old friend of his, who is accused of murdering his boss. This is when things start to get strange....
I found this hard to put down - certainly one of Douglas Adams' better works. ...
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Advantages: Very entertaining read Disadvantages: Not as good as the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series
...This book is the second that DouglasAdams has written about DirkGently (the first was DirkGently's HolisticDetectiveAgency). It was written after the 5 part trilogy(?) of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and although the humour is similar its definitely not the same sort of idea.
Kate Schechter first meets the rather angry, not to mention lost, Norse god (Thor) at the check-in desk at Heathrow Airport. Kate then misses her plane to Oslo and just as she is about to leave the airport the check-in desk she and Thor were at explodes, leaving her in a bruised heap on the floor and the Norse god no where to be seen. Of course no one realises that the god is responsible and so the usual suspects rush forward to claim responsibility before having to admit it had nothing to do with them.
Mr Anstey becomes Dirks client because...
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helpful 10.04.2002
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