Tag: Dirk Gently

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams (Heinemann, 1987) Rushed ending aside, this is a consummate piece of genre creation. Adams crafts a supernatural SF detective story with gorgeous (often subtle) pieces of interconnectedness, Doctor Who rehash and zany bits of faux-throwaway, all brought together by the late-appearing protagonist. Improbably brilliant.    

The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul

The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams (William Heinemann, 1988); audiobook read by Douglas Adams (Phoenix, 2015) The story, when looked back upon at book’s end, turns out to have been the flimsiest of nonsense. Dirk actually does very little. But this only serves to emphasise the deft, droll, audacious touch of Adams’ whimsy, and the lure of…

The Salmon of Doubt

The Salmon of Doubt by Douglas Adams (William Heinemann, 2002); audiobook read by Simon Jones (Phoenix, 2005) A patchy, posthumous collection of Adams writings (predominantly non-fiction) exemplifying his off-beat, self-indulgent style, his knack for pinning down human absurdities, and his incurable technophilia and recycling of ideas and anecdotes. Most tantalising for fans is the nascent unfinished Dirk Gently novel(la).  …

Galahad at Blandings

Galahad at Blandings by P. G. Wodehouse (Simon & Schuster, 1964); audiobook read by Jeremy Sinden (Chivers, 1993; 2011) In Galahad Threepwood surely we have the nascent (if more genteel) template for Dirk Gently, and in the comings and goings at Blandings Castle that of Douglas Adams’ much-vaunted fundamental interconnectedness of everything. This is Wodehouse at his fabulous, gab-gifted, exquisite…

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams; adapted by Dirk Maggs (BBC Radio, 2007) Although overly chaotic at the outset (and no doubt baffling to those not already familiar with Adams’ novel), Maggs’ adaptation finds its feet and diverges, becoming a clever piece of comedy. Harry Enfield makes a fine Dirk; likewise Billy Boyd as Richard.