So Long and Thanks For All the Fish

[jayson]

Aside from Sai King, Douglas Adams is perhaps my favorite author. I am sure many others here have read the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. Has anybody else read Adams' Dirk Gently series - Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul? I love the first book and re-read it at least once a year for some good laughs.

[LadyHitchhiker]

Thought it was about zarking time we had a Douglas Adams thread. Come one come all you fabulous Hitchhikers you!!! Tell of the splendor Of douglas Adams from all his radio views to his video games... Please share and enjoy!!!

[jayson]

Liz - I know that like me you are a big fan of HHGTTG, but have you read the Dirk Gently series as well? I think those are also hilarious and great reads, very Douglas Adams.

[LadyHitchhiker]

Absolutely! I have read everything of DA's that I can get my hands on!!!! Have you? What do you like about them? Please! Let's discuss!

[jayson]

i love the interweaving storylines in the Dirk Gently novels, they seem random and unrelated until Dirk brings them altogether to "solve" the cases. i also love the way he describes music, particularly classical music in the first book [DG's Hollistic Detective Agency]. the language he uses is just brilliant. i will have to find the exact wording another time.

[LadyHitchhiker]

Yes! Quotes are loved! But I agree.. I think that the use of a holistic detective was brilliant and groundbreaking and I really wish that Douglas Adams didnt' love the sound of whooshing deadlines going by so much or else he may have very well have concluded the series or at least written another installment for us....

He is my favorite detective.

Next, Sam & Max

next Harry Dresden from Dresden Files...

(I didn't include Mulder and Scully in here because they're not primarily detectives even though that is in their job description.. they are feebs...)

[Ruthful]

The Dirk Gently novels and Starship Titanic are the only novels he wrote that I haven't really gotten into, although I do have The Dirk Gently series somewhere on my bookshelf, waiting to be picked up. I'm still not convinced that he became an athiest because of Richard Dawkins. It seems as if you were going to make such a momentous decision you'd have to be persuaded by someone more compelling than a carnival barker when it comes to epistemological/philosophical matters.

The thing I loved about Douglas Adams was his way of framing subjects in a way that at first glance might seem flippant or silly, but when you begin to excavate beyond the surface are quite insightful. There's a great video on Google-I have no idea of it's still up-of a documentary hosted by DA where he explains the fabric of the World Wide Web at a time when it was used almost exclusively by academic researchers. Very interesting stuff.

R.I.P.

[LadyHitchhiker]

Actually Douglas Adams did not write the Starship Titanic. They are all his ideas but they were put together by Terry jones... A Monty Monty Python man... but I've been playing the game..

I liked the book but the game is tough and frustrating at points and silly and monty pythonesque in others...

"The thing I loved about Douglas Adams was his way of framing subjects in a way that at first glance might seem flippant or silly, but when you begin to excavate beyond the surface are quite insightful." <-0---- I love this quote and this is the type of person I hope others see me as.

[Ruthful]

Definitely.



I do remember Terry Jones's name on the cover-and the fact that there was some sort of game included-but I figured they were co-authors. I don't remember when the book was actually published. The mid to late-90s?

I don't know. It seemed to sci-fiish to me.

[LadyHitchhiker]

The story actually doesn't have much to do with the game.. I was disappointed when I started playing the game because I was hoping the characters in the book would be in the game

Yeah well we know how Douglas Adams liked to have deadlines whoosh by and he was working on trying to make THHGTTG into this big movie so Terry jones agreed to do it under one condition. He had to be completely sans clothes when he was writing this for Douglas Adams (with his approval and help of course) and I guess they both should be attributed to Starship Titanic though Terry jones is very big about giving DA more of the credit.

[Ruthful]

LOL.

[LadyHitchhiker]

Douglas Adams could live 300 more years and I bet he still wouldn't finish all his stories because of the whoosh of deadlines.. *shakes head* But I would love to have waited and read more of his great writing. They just don't make people like that every day... and if they do then they end up corrupting them with ... stupid stuff.

No sci-fi humor is not stupid stuff for you skeptics out there....

Sooooo I've been antagonizing the bots on Starship Titanic with a list I found on the internet but so far nothing really funny... I'd hate to leave spoilers on the game here, but there does happen to be an avian fellow in the game!!!

Anyone else played it?

[LadyHitchhiker]

I guess not... I never did get the hang of Thursdays... *grumble*

[LadyHitchhiker]

I have to take this picture off my sig but isn't this great?!??!
[IMG][CENTER][/IMG]

[MonteGss]

I have read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. I really enjoyed them. I bought the Ultimate Edition which contains all of the books and one story. I have so many other books to read that I am forcing myself to read them all one at a time..in between other novels I have to read. Anyway, nothing but good things to say so far. I am looking forward to learning more about the Question and the Answer.

[LadyHitchhiker]

*gasps* I knew there was other reasons I liked you Monte!!!!

[jayson]

Glad to hear Monte. I love the series and re-read often. Douglas Adams is among the funniest people ever. I know you are a big fan of audiobooks. You should try to get a hold of the audio version of the series as read by Adams himself. It's that much funnier hearing him read it as he knows exactly how to time the jokes.

[MonteGss]

Yeah...Dark Tower..XFiles, Hitchhikers...wait Liz....I've never seen you in the Whedonverse thread. Shame one you!

[MonteGss]

Glad to hear Monte. I love the series and re-read often. Douglas Adams is among the funniest people ever. I know you are a big fan of audiobooks. You should try to get a hold of the audio version of the series as read by Adams himself. It's that much funnier hearing him read it as he knows exactly how to time the jokes.

I will look into this. I haven't noticed them on iTunes though...
I'll look on eBay. Thanks!

[theBeamisHome]

I have the Ultimate Guide too Monte!! It's hard bound in like a black almost leathery thing with gold trim on the pages.. almost like an old school Bible..lol.. But I've read them over and over.. the page-long analysis of the importance of a towel is pure genius.. i was crying laughing..

[MrsSmeej]

I've always thought that (other than the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything) my most favorite bit was God's final message to his creation. That and Wonko the Sane... Ohhh, and the creation story... And the elephant's last thoughts... Adams was brilliant.

[jayson]

i particularly liked the Total Perspective Vortex and any scene involving Marvin

[theBeamisHome]

the elephants last thought? do you mean the whale? i thought that was great.. and the bowl/rabbit/fly/bunches of other things that Arthur killed part.. great.. Marvin was genius. although the movie wasn't really like the book (that's how Adams wanted it anyway) i loved that Alan Rickman was Marvin. I love that guys voice.

[LadyHitchhiker]

I really think Douglas Adams liked the constantly evolving incarnations of his wonderful beautiful Hitchhiker's Guide but I haven't found a quote saying such...

[jayson]

i think the very fact that it was Adams himself who made the changes for the movie illustrate that point