The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul - Douglas Adams

For a long time now I have been meaning to get myself a Dirk Gently book... as a long time fan of Douglas Adams I couldn't understand how these had slipped me by, so when I saw this sitting on the 40p shelf in a local charity shop I snatched it up! Having grown up with Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy (H2G2) in both TV and book format (missed out on the radio show) and generally being impressed with Adams in general.... I mean this man worked on Dr Who, invented the best name in the universe ever for a character (Slartibartfast) and was generally a normal bloke with a wicked sense of humour! I knew I was in for a treat. So I settled down to read a bit of my ...  Read the complete review

*** The following review was written in September 2000. I have left the review untouched but have placed an update at the end to cover any changes since it was written. *** It's not easy being a Norse god. Thor is having a particularly hard time coming to terms with the fact that Norse gods simply aren't required any more and instead of accepting it and moving into a comfortable retirement home, he is trying to do something about it. Taking control of Asgard, the home of the gods, would be a good place to start. But being the god of thunder doesn't cut the mustard these days. At least not with the staff of a check-in desk at ...  Read the complete review

This book is the second that Douglas Adams has written about Dirk Gently (the first was Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency). 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 ...  Read the complete review

This is the second book featuring Douglas Adam's Dirky Gently. Perhaps because expections were not so high after the first book, I enjoyed this one much more. The plot revolves about the retired Viking gods and is based on the fantasy standard that the power of a god depends on the number of their worshippers, which makes these elderly gods rather limited. Unlike the normal fantasy version, where faded gods become voices on the wind or some such, here they move into retirement homes. Unfortuantly, not all of the Gods are happy with this, and Dirk gets involved in one Gods attempt to gain control of Valhalla and reverse his fortunes. This is a stronger book ...  Read the complete review

I was recently handed a copy of this book from my Aunt. It was my first Douglas Adams (and still is considering I just finished it last night). From the opening page I was impressed - such a fierce imagination and individual flair. The style of writing is incredibly humerous and the characters are painted with vivid and detailed srtokes. The plot is suberbly held together by the over-riding theme of 'wholism' or everything being interconnected in someway or another. Here we find Dirk Gently - a London inhabitant working, although I use the term 'working' loosely, as a private dectective (he is a Holistic Detective). He is a quirkily dressed, overwirght middle-aged man ...  Read the complete review