Title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Publish Date: May 15, 1987
Buy: Amazon
Book Blurb: What do a dead cat, a computer whiz-kid, an Electric Monk who believes the world is pink, quantum mechanics, a Chronologist over 200 years old, Samuel Taylor Coleridge (poet), and pizza have in common? Apparently not much; until Dirk Gently, self-styled private investigator, sets out to prove the fundamental interconnectedness of all things by solving a mysterious murder, assisting a mysterious professor, unravelling a mysterious mystery, and eating a lot of pizza – not to mention saving the entire human race from extinction along the way (at no extra charge). To find out more, read this book (better still, buy it, then read it) – or contact Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency. ‘A thumping good detective-ghost-horror-whodunnit-time travel-romantic-musical-comedy epic.
Review: I have to say I read this book because I was watching the new series on BBC America. I knew that the series was inspired by the Douglas Adams book, so when I started to get really confused with the show, I decided to see if the book could offer any clarity.
Uh no.
The book is absolutely nothing like the show, except that it, too, is pretty darn confusing. There are characters that are in both the book and the show...Dirk, of course, who takes FOREVER to show up in the book, Oh and a cat...but no corgi and the cat doesn't morph into a shark that kills people either, oh and a time machine.
Dang that was disappointing.
The book was interesting though and to me it read more like a quirky mystery with a touch of weirdness than sci fi.
I mean there are electric monks on horses (horses that sometimes end up in bathrooms)
The story is pretty random. Dirk makes his first appearance 30 pages in, but he doesn't make a huge impact on the story until it was half over.
Its been a long time since I read Hitchhikers Guide but while reading this I was stuck by how similar his writing style was with Pratchett. (I think I like Pratchett better though)
Dirk is character that is just...well a pain in the butt and not your typical detective or holistic detective..everything is interconnected and all that yada yada yada.
BTW Dirk is not his real name, it is Svlad Cjelli, uh ok.
When he is investigating the death of Gordon Way, who is a ghost now btw, we see he's a bit of a trouble maker with local law enforcement.
Richard MacDuff is the guy he's trying clear, even though he doesn't need to be cleared.
Its all crazy and oddly, it is all interconnected.
Oh and like the series it doesn't make sense until the very end.
Rating: 4 flowers
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