Download Douglas Adams: Two Complete Novels fb2

The 3 hours 1 minute version is abridged. It is okay, it has Douglas Adams' real voice and he reads it extremely well. The only reason I give it only four stars is that there is a 6 hour 40 minute version that is available on CD somewhere. I know this because I borrowed the CDs from Phoenix Public Library and I have listened to it twice through as well as reading the text twice through. I have also listened to part of the abridged version and the reading seems .. different. I think the abridged version is not simply edited down from the long version, but it actually has a different script, with a few words changed here and there and adams' voice sounds more distracted in the abridged version, more present in the long version. It appears the long version has been sold at this link in the past: Dirk Gently

This is a complicated novel, and to be able to understand it you really need to read it twice, or listen to it twice (or more) and I also needed to read a few blogs to really get it. It's a puzzle. Yes, you can solve the puzzle from the abridged version, but it will be more fun to have all the details.

There is also a version with several actors reading for BBC radio, that I tried and didn't like. Look for "Read by the author," and "unabridged" or "6 CD set"

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency [DGHDA] is the opening book in Douglas Adams’ second series of novels (what would have been a trilogy—at least--had Adams not passed away.) DGHDA was followed by The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, and that would have been followed by The Salmon of Doubt—though the manuscript was released in its incomplete form along with other random works in a collection by the same name—as publishers are want to make their cash cows rage after the dying of the light.

Adams is most famous for the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy [H2G2] series. DGHDA shares the British absurdist humor of H2G2, but is a more genre-bending a work. While H2G2 crosses humor and sci-fi, DGHDA takes those two genres and throws detective and supernatural fiction into the works. The book was billed by the author as a “detective-ghost-horror-who dunnit-time travel-romantic-musical-comedy-epic.” Of these, “horror” is dubious given the fundamental silliness, “epic” is a little grandiose for a work of 300 pages, and the “romantic” and “musical” parts are rather thin.

The title refers to a detective agency owned by Dirk Gently, who believes in the fundamental interconnectedness of all things and is a bit of a con man. Gently is the lead character in a comedic sense, but his straight man--Richard MacDuff--has at least equal claim to being the book’s overall lead. (Just as straight man Arthur Dent leads in the H2G2 books.) Gently gets involve when he discovers Richard engaged in the inexplicable activity of breaking into the window of his (Richard’s) girlfriend’s apartment—a girlfriend with which he has a favorable relationship. This convinces Gently that Richard has either been hypnotized or possessed, either of which makes him a prime customer of Gently’s agency.

The mystery part of the novel revolves around the new owner and editor of a magazine—Gordon Way--who dies, and whose ghost continues to be active in story (even having PoV chapters in this shifting PoV novel.) Richard comes to believe he’s a suspect, although the bungling former editor of the magazine—Michael Wenton-Weakes--is the lead suspect. Of course, the fact that the deceased is the father of Richard’s girlfriend, Susan Way, does encourage the notion that Richard could be involved. Of course, it wouldn’t be much of a who-dun-it if it was a straightforward case of one of these men with motives having done it.

As would be expected of a book by Douglas Adams, it has its moments of hilarity, but it wasn’t as funny as the best of the H2G2 books. The best absurdist device introduced into the book is the Electronic Monk. In an era in which no one has time for believing in things, one can purchase or rent a robot to believe things for one—particularly those outlandish notions that are unsupported by evidence and thus are least worthy of the effort of belief.

The main characters are all sufficiently quirky to be memorable, likable, or both. The characters are one of the strengths of this book. The story is a bit disheveled, probably purposefully so, but it doesn’t make for the easiest work to follow--particularly early in the story when one hasn’t yet got a firm grasp of who’s who and who’s doing what. That said, it’s a decent enough plot, all things considered.

I’d recommend this for those who like humorous speculative fiction.

There is nothing, or mostly nothing, that can't be seen again after a considerable passage of time as if seen for the first time. It's not that it's startlingly new,because there's the lingering image from the first encounter,although faint and growing fainter by the day. The fainting image forms a weak template so that the reader.or at least this reader, has an interesting experience such as "funny, I didn't notice that before" or "so that's how it worked" to "nah, not this time." So you keep reading and wondering if you'll finish these books before more are published only to realize that the only time machine outside your mind that would allow you to think about Adams's future is in Reg's rooms at Cambridge and it broke at the same time as British Telecom fixed the phone.

Douglas Adams is a great, entertaining writer who brings odd to the forefront. His books often involve normal people being placed in strange, abnormal situations with quirky characters. If you're a BBC watcher, don't worry, this is nothing like the show. We still get the paranormal and Gently's odd approach to detecting, but there's plenty of differences so it doesn't feel like a repeat.

There's a charming, very old professor, a slightly confused ghost, your average computer programmer, and then Dirk himself. There are bits that are slow, especially the parts about computers, but skim those areas and keep on. You'll love this entertaining, unique ride.

Look, it's Douglas Adams. Douglas....Freaking....Adams. That's all you need to know about this book series. Dirk Gently takes a moment to get truly into the plot of the thing, as it is quite twisty, turny, topsy, turvey. Much more than the excellent show that was based on the books. Adams' biting humor is present throughout the books and they are truly a must read for anyone who enjoyed the Hitchhikers Guide books, as I believe these books are most definitely on par with those classics. Read them now, young ones and revel in the mightiness of the Douglas Adams.