Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul

Rating:
Summary: Do pick it up, pick it up, pick it up...
Review: Audio can be a wonderful way to experience the Douglas Adams aura. This sequel is much better than its precursor. Dirk Gently is funny and bizarre, yet oh so seriously English. Funny.

Rating:
Summary: A Confusing but Humorous Book
Review: A long dark tea-time of the soul. Only the title makes you aware of Adam's genious way of writing. The dark time of our souls... It is written with a British humor which I love, being áboring Swede'. Sometimes it really confuses me and I have to read a few parts twice, but it is generally a great novel with a silly sense of humor. He geniously connects to his other books, i.e. by having a sofa from `The hitchhiker's...` (I think) appear. There are lots of encounters with Gods, especially Thor and Oden (Odin in Eng.) If you liked 'The Hitch-hiker's...'you will love this as well as 'Dirk Gently's Holistic Agency`.

Rating:
Summary: Adams' best so far?
Review: Most people seem to prefer the more obvious slapstick of the early Hitchhiker's books, but I've found myself enjoying Adams more and more as he's matured. Many of the situations in this book are outrageous and silly, and there are plenty of the one-liners that are Adams' trademark ("It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on earth has ever produced the expression 'As pretty as an airport,'" the book begins) but there are very few passages intended solely for the purpose of eliciting a laugh. Everything's integral to the story, and it all makes sense in the end, although Adams doesn't hand you the answer on a silver platter. This novel is part social commentary, part Rubik's Cube (how DO those piecses fit together, anyway?), and part humor. It took me several re-readings to get the bit about the concentric circles on the eagle's wings, but it was worth it. If you enjoy exercising your mind through the contemplation of the absurd, you'll enjoy reading -- and re-reading -- "The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul."

Rating:
Summary: John Cleese + Isaac Asimov = Douglas Adams
Review: A reader of this book could easily get lost in Douglas Adams' unrelenting British dry humor and overlook the touching tragedy in his brilliant tale about immortal gods who have been cast aside, ignored and all but forgotten by their vapid subjects. His characters spend their time stumbling down a bouncing high-wire, teetering between silliness and profundity. Just when they seem in danger of plummeting off one side or the other, the author pulls them back and sends them down another plot twist that at first seems absurd and then seems absurd that it's all beginning to make sense. Adams has an ability to at once convey both the complexity and the insanity of the post-quantum physics world. This is a book which will help us understand why Einstein always had that bizarre, far-away look in his eyes. Einstein had caught a glimpse of the true nature of the universe -- and so will the reader of this extraordinary story

Rating:
Summary: A word or two concerning The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul
Review: Much can be said of The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, most of it rather meaningless. After all, how many detective stories have a very dirty refrigerator as the key to the mystery and a detective with an 8th sense? The world of the gods has been drastically altered, and the realm of humanity has been adversely affected. Only one man can save both. Dirk Gently, super-sleuth. As is typical of Douglas Adams's genius, a series of seemingly meaningless and unrelated events turn out to be tremendously important...to the story anyway. Dirk has to relate all of these events to find out what is wrong, and an eagle following him down a street has a goodly amount of anger towards him, causing even more problems. Other...interesting (for lack of a better word) situations confront Dirk while on his quest, including car accidents, a man who had his head cut off and placed on a record player, and navigating a massive party thrown by the gods themselves. The situations, and the dialogue, keep the reader interested, as you end up asking yourself, "What the hell is going on?" Of course, they are also extremely funny. A rather interesting example, when Dirk is talking to Kate, a person nearly killed when the check-in desk at Heathrow Airport explodes, follows. Kate: "Well, this name here is Dennis Hutch, isn't it? See?" Dirk: "Oh, yes. Yes I do. Er, should I know that name?" Kate: "Well, it depends if you're alive or not, I suppose. He's the head of the Aries Rising Record Group. Less famous than the Pope, I grant you, but--you know of the Pope, I take it?" Dirk: "Yes, yes. White haired chap." Kate: "That's him. He seems to be the only person of note this envelope hasn't been addressed to at some time. Here's Stan Dubcek, the head of Dubcek, Danton, Heidegger, Draycott. I know they handle the ARRGH! account." Dirk: "The--?" Kate: "ARRGH! Aries Rising Record Group Holdings. Getting that account made the agency's fortunes." The entire book is full of these crazy, yet meaningful conversations. Put together, they make for a very good mystery, and a humorous one at that (yes, the conversation about the dirty refrigerator does have meaning, the first one with his secretary). Perhaps the greatest achievement of this book is the skill at which Douglas Adams creates situations that show how stupid humans can be, and how callous we are. Although there is not nearly as much of this as in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (also very funny) series, the ideas make you think, the universal trademark of a great book. They can be hard to identify, but they are there, if one looks hard enough. The above is why I like this book. It has real meaning, and it is very entertaining to read, something that can not be said of many books. I can honestly say that there is nothing that I dont like about this book. I would recommend it to anyone, especially to those who have a sense of humor that has been dulled by the daily routine of life. They will benefit most.

Rating:
Summary: Well written but confusing story line.
Review: When Dirk Gently, not-so-master-detective, is on the case, who know what can happen? The story opens with an explosion in an airport. This introduces the female lead character and basis of the story. While moving through the story you learn that the old Norse Gods were actually real, but as their human believers dwindled, their powers became less and less. As a large scam between the most powerfull god, a human lawer, and an advitiser rocks the world of the gods, Dirk Gently must smooth everything out, or else the balence between the God's world and the human world will tip, and the angry Gods will run amuck! While this story is supremely written, a couple parts need to be reread a couple times so you can follow the story line. Adam's familiar humor and observations are just a prevalent, and just as funny as always. If you like this twisted story line as a break from all the other predictable Fantasies, this book is for you!

Rating:
Summary: Classic Douglas Adams
Review: A check-in counter at London's Heathrow Airport spontaneously explodes in a ball of flame, and is ruled by the authorities as "an act of God." As it turns out, the explosion was an act of *a* god---Thor, the God Of Thunder, trying to catch a plane to Oslo, Norway. But why would an almighty god be trying to catch a plane flight in the first place? Enter holistic detective Dirk Gently to solve the mystery....The second and, sadly, final "Dirk Gently" book written by the late, great Douglas Adams, "The Long Dark Tea Time Of The Soul" is a hysterically funny book, and a major improvement over the decent but unspectacular first book, "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency," which certainly had it's funny moments, but was too long (and long-winded) and confusing. This time around, Adams' writing is a LOT sharper & funnier, and he keeps the book excellently paced. And the character of Dirk Gently really grows here---he's much more concise and focused, and he doesn't ramble on and on about his philosophical views & methods of detective work as he did in the first book. "Long Dark Tea Time" contains many outrageously funny scenes---Dirk's dilemma with his old refridgerator, and his surprising encounter with a young boy watching TV are both particularly memorable---and great characters, too, not only Dirk Gently but also the spunky American girl Kate Schechter, Thor the hot-headed God Of Thunder, and the vile creature named Toe Rag. The story is clever, moves along nicely, and, if I haven't made it clear enough, is very, very funny.I'm saddened that Douglas Adams never got around to writing a third "Dirk Gently" book, as I would've loved to have read further adventures of this most oddball of detectives. But at least Adams wrote a pair of them, and "The Long Dark Tea Time Of The Soul" is a fabulously hilarious book that can proudly sit right alongside Adams' very best "Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy" books, in particular volumes 1, 2 and 4. "The Long Dark Tea Time Of The Soul" is classic Douglas Adams all the way.

Rating:
Summary: Hitchhiker's Guide to Reality
Review: This book, and its predecessor "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency", are heavily under-rated due to the major success of the Hitch Hiker "trilogy" by Douglas Adams. But in a way, they're the better ones. Especially this one.

I won't bother telling the story, because frankly I cannot. Now, I've been reading this book in about monthly intervals for years, but I still find something new each time, and I still have trouble keeping track of the story. Don't let that keep you, though. Yes, it *is* mildly confusing, but it all works out after a couple of times of reading, and it's great fun from first time, page one. Besides, it's worth the effort: there's many a topic for an evening of thinking in there.

But that's not what you buy it for.

Then there's the business of the Norse Gods walking the Earth, just like your average John Smith. Sort of. Thor naturally makes more of a nuisance of himself, but anyway, the notion of everything that the human race ever chose to believe in being true, and staying true long after we've ceased to need it to be true as well, is an astonishingly moving one. "Immortals was what you wanted, and immortals was what you got", complains one of them bitterly. And rightly so. What would you do if you were an immortal, omnipotent being whom no-one believes in anymore? Chances are, you'd sell your immortal soul to appear in a soft-drink commercial. Once you accept the fantasy part of it, it all snaps in place with logical precision, and even going to Asgard becomes an accepted way to spend the evening.

But that's also not what you buy it for.

The most outstandingly entertaining thing about the book is, of course, the humour, which is more like what you buy it for. Douglas Adams is an expert for making a pun in a couple of words and leave you laughing longer, and louder, than many other humourists could in an entire page. The incredible lightness of it all is only apparent if you ever tried to write humourous stuff yourself, and thus know how hard that is. No wonder that there are so precious few books from this author. And no wonder that many try to emulate him, and fail.

Still, this isn't entirely comedy, and that's a good thing, too. Yes, the Hitch Hiker books give a couple of insights into Life, the Universe and Everything as well -- but the Gently books give more of it, and more practically applicable examples of it, even to those of you who know where their towels are.

One of my favourite examples is the way that one of the (mortal) key characters, Kate Schechter, explains how her name is spelled: "Two E's, two C's, two H's, and also a T, an R and an S. Provided they're all there, the bank won't be fuzzy about the order they come in -- they never seem to know themselves." Okay, it's funny, but there's more to it than that: it's the kind of humour you can only really understand with a name like hers -- or mine --, which makes me wonder how someone with an instantly spellable name like Douglas Adams, of all people, found out about it.

All in all, this is everything you could want: Hugely entertaining, but in an intelligent way, and not boring however many times you take to it. A must-have-read!

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating
Review: I just wanted to add (to all of the other reviews) that, while the Dirk Gently books may not be as hilarious as the Hitchhiker's book (and at times verge toward drama), I would say they are much more interesting. The plots are complicated to be sure, at times esoteric and puzzling, and you may even have to re-read, but I find it is well worth it. Fascinating.

Rating:
Summary: Classic Douglas Adams
Review: A check-in counter at London's Heathrow Airport spontaneously explodes in a ball of flame, and is ruled by the authorities as "an act of God." As it turns out, the explosion was an act of *a* god---Thor, the God Of Thunder, trying to catch a plane to Oslo, Norway. But why would an almighty god be trying to catch a plane flight in the first place? Enter holistic detective Dirk Gently to solve the mystery....The second and, sadly, final "Dirk Gently" book written by the late, great Douglas Adams, "The Long Dark Tea Time Of The Soul" is a hysterically funny book, and a major improvement over the decent but unspectacular first book, "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency," which certainly had it's funny moments, but was too long (and long-winded) and confusing. This time around, Adams' writing is a LOT sharper & funnier, and he keeps the book excellently paced. And the character of Dirk Gently really grows here---he's much more concise and focused, and he doesn't ramble on and on about his philosophical views & methods of detective work as he did in the first book. "Long Dark Tea Time" contains many outrageously funny scenes---Dirk's dilemma with his old refridgerator, and his surprising encounter with a young boy watching TV are both particularly memorable---and great characters, too, not only Dirk Gently but also the spunky American girl Kate Schechter, Thor the hot-headed God Of Thunder, and the vile creature named Toe Rag. The story is clever, moves along nicely, and, if I haven't made it clear enough, is very, very funny.I'm saddened that Douglas Adams never got around to writing a third "Dirk Gently" book, as I would've loved to have read further adventures of this most oddball of detectives. But at least Adams wrote a pair of them, and "The Long Dark Tea Time Of The Soul" is a fabulously hilarious book that can proudly sit right alongside Adams' very best "Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy" books, in particular volumes 1, 2 and 4. "The Long Dark Tea Time Of The Soul" is classic Douglas Adams all the way.