Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

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Customer Reviews:

Professor Plum in the conservatory with the candlestick? Not here [Posted on 2008-05-03]
"Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" is an interesting sideways take on a mystery - but at first, you won't even know that there's a mystery at all. Or that there's anything happening, really - Adams just presents a series of seemingly totally random scenes that are nonetheless entertaining, in their own little bubbles, through insightful character writing and Douglas Adams wit. One of the characters meets a sudden end, and Adams treats his ghostly afterlife as a real horror - he's doomed to wander through everything he loved in his past life, free to look but never touch or enjoy ever again, and he only gradually realizes that this is not a fixable situation. (Adams treats the death like a severe psychological trauma; a moment where the victim tries to reposition his body's face to give himself some dignity is heartbreaking.) It's not all gut punches, though - mostly, for the first half, it's just bits of everyday life (a woman fumes over a missed appointment; an '80's computer programmer attends a dinner at his old college) starring likable characters who're entertaining just for how true-to-life their reactions are...with the common thread of something, increasingly, feeling a little off in their lives. When the other shoe drops, it's not what you'd expect.

The book also has some neat theories about how math is behind the satisfaction we derive from disparate phenomena, particularly music. (HGTG, Adams's most famous work, is noted for light-as-a-feather flights of fancy, but Holistic has a thoughtfulness unprecedented for the author - there is some hard, protracted thought about scientific theory and emotional reaction.) It is, for the first half, stimulating, funny, suspenseful, and wrenching all at once.

And then comes Dirk Gently.

Imagine you're at a supremely interesting dinner party, and halfway through the world's biggest, most self-centered bore shows up and totally takes it over. That's Dirk Gently. I don't know how you feel about smart-aleck trickster characters who take the lead's money while kicking them in the rear, nattering about their own greatness all the while. I'll admit my answer is "not very well at all", even less so when they're endowed with Mary Sue powers. Dirk's friends buy his smokes and groceries because he has Jedi mind powers; his secretary works for him for free, just because he's so awesome; Dirk does everything and knows everything and solves everything, while all the other characters stop being human and lively and interesting to fluff his ego when they should be telling this fanboy wet dream to get the hell out of their story. (Also, since Dirk can't fully appreciate praise from a noncorporeal entity, Adams near-completely drops the most successful, ghost storyline.) The one time the characters disregard his sage advice, it nearly brings about THE END OF HUMANITY, for Cthulhu's sake. It's all horribly nauseating - and utterly disheartening that he's the only character we're sure to see in the sequel.

See, this is a problem. We come to a Douglas Adams for the witty observations and dialogue, but it's difficult to build a story around them. This was the strongest attempt I'd yet read, and yet DIRK THROWS IT ALL OFF. I have to steal*ahem*quote what Roger Ebert said about "Donnie Darko" - it's the one that got away, but we had a heck of a time trying to land it.

Another great book. [Posted on 2008-08-14]
I really enjoyed this book, just as I've enjoyed all of Douglas Adams' books. I was having trouble paying attention at the beginning, later on in the book I wish I'd had been paying more attention though. It all makes sense later in the book. I don't really want to spoil anything, so I'll just have to say it is another great addition to my collection.

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency [Posted on 2008-09-07]
The dramatization was as good as the Hitchhiker's episodes. The acting was superb, and the technical productions were absolutely brilliant. One negative - if you've never read the book you'll be confused by the beginning. For those who haven't read the book, I recommend reading it first. Despite the one negative, this is very well done, and I'm looking forward to the dramatization of "Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul".

Well done [Posted on 2008-11-26]
This dramatization doesn't always follow the book, but it does a good job capturing the spirit of the book, and added a good number of funny scenes not in the original book.

Modern Scifi Classic [Posted on 2008-12-06]
Every now and then, a great, original, creative humourist comes along and makes the world a bit more interesting for the rest of us with their witticisms and idiosyncratic, irreverent outlook on things. Oscar Wilde, P.G. Wodehouse, The Python lot. And of course Douglas Adams. Best known for his "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" novels, Adams definitely belongs to that rare breed of original funnymen mentioned above.

Of all his books and all the peculiar characters within them, I always liked Dirk Gently the best. This well bred, well spoken, witty, and charming private detective puts his own theory of the interconnectedness of all things to good use when he finds lost cats or saves the world from future mentalists. Although he apparantly is a second rate detective in the conventional sense and his business a total financial disaster, he is just that bit more brilliant than all the rest of us.

This BBC dramatisation brings, not only Gently (given a voice by the inimitable Harry Enfield) to life, but gives the story a new dimension entirely. I've always been of the opinion, that words should be spoken out loud to make the most impact. This is particularly true for novels. This recording is not an audiobook in the traditional sense, but more akin of the radio drama of ye olden days, and it is brilliant. It doesn't adhere strictly to the novel at all places, some bits and pieces from the pages not making it to the recording as well as new bits being added, but all to good effect. Especially Harry Enfield's debonair and suave portrayal of Gently as well as Olivia Coleman's portrayal of his sarcastic secretary hits the spot just right.

The story is true Douglas Adams, which (I guess) makes it less appealing to some people, his thoughts often revolving around the impropable and, quite often, downright silly world of comedy science fiction. There are ghosts, timetravel, electric monks that believe in order that their masters don't have to, psychic phaenomenons, and much more. Adams' style of writing is very descriptive and his language very accessible without being monotonous or ever boring, and the storytelling keeps you captivated at all times. It doesn't make much sense in the beginning, but in the end it all comes together very nicely. This is one book where I don't think anybody could figure out who did it (nor how they did it).

It is weird at times, yes. But most of all, it is funny. Very funny. I've been walking the streets of Beijing looking a right idiot at times, laughing out loud or just smiling like I just knew the secret of life. And so too will you.

5 stars, no doubt about it.

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