Sequel to Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. A passenger check-in desk at London's Heathrow Airport goes up in a ball of flame and Dirk Gentl...
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Dec 17, 2009
John
rated it: 
Adams' bizarre book is more of an adventure than a mystery, and more of a picaresque than an adventure. It's true, this plot wanders and is flimsy at times, but Adams always makes up for it with clever insights and hilarious jokes. Minor events mushroom at the end to unexpected relevance, a very bold literary move that would be a sign of laziness if these moves didn't work and we didn't recognize Adams' competence as a writer from the execution of his humor throughout. Fantasy readers and Adams'
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Dec 17, 2009
Thorir2007
rated it: 
Unlike his “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” series (a collection of humorous vignettes without much of a plot, continuity, or character development), Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently series (two novels and some sketches for a third one, included in the “Salmon of Doubt”) is in fact literature of the first degree. In the second novel, “The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul,” Dirk Gently, a private “holistic” investigator (an eccentric slob, perpetually broke, capricious, silly, and wonderfully insightfu
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Oct 09, 2007
Jerzy
rated it:
Lots of hilarious moments, though the pacing's not quite up to the level set in the first Dirk Gently book. The ending especially feels rushed - he spends a long time building up this fantastic web of complexity, and then rips it down with a climax and ending that together are barely longer than "But it all worked out okay in the end."
But, as a math student working through too many proofs right now, I really love Dirk's way of thinking! ...especially his reversal of Sherloc More...
But, as a math student working through too many proofs right now, I really love Dirk's way of thinking! ...especially his reversal of Sherloc More...
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Sep 14, 2007
Tracey
rated it:
Continuing in my Douglas Adams re-read, I checked out Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul from the library, as I seem to have misplaced my copy.
The story opens with Kate Schechter attempting to catch a flight to Oslo, even though Fate seems to be conspiring against her. An explosion, deemed an "act of God" confounds her plans. She becomes involved in the events around whom the god involved in the aforementioned act are developing.
Meanwhile, Dirk Gently, holistic de More...
The story opens with Kate Schechter attempting to catch a flight to Oslo, even though Fate seems to be conspiring against her. An explosion, deemed an "act of God" confounds her plans. She becomes involved in the events around whom the god involved in the aforementioned act are developing.
Meanwhile, Dirk Gently, holistic de More...
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Jun 30, 2007
Jon
rated it: 
Unfortunately, Adams' sequel to Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency isn't as tightly-written as its predecessor. On the sentence level, Adams is still writing furiously funny jokes, but The Long, Dark Tea-Time of the Soul ends up feeling like first-class humor wrapped loosely around second-class plot and characters. Adams has been accused of writing punchlines rather than plots, and it shows in this book perhaps more so than anywhere else. I also thought the book's flow suffered greatly in p
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Jan 13, 2009
Madeline
rated it:
Once again, rather than attempt to describe the latest of holistic detective Dirk Gently's adventures, I will instead present a selection of completely random quotes from the book. They really have nothing to do with each other, but I like them.
"It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on earth has ever produced the expression 'As pretty as an airport.'
Airports are ugly. Some are very ugly. Some attain a degree of ugliness that can only be the result of a special ef More...
"It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on earth has ever produced the expression 'As pretty as an airport.'
Airports are ugly. Some are very ugly. Some attain a degree of ugliness that can only be the result of a special ef More...
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Jan 03, 2012
Badgerlord
rated it:
Dirk Gently's second adventure begins when he wakes up late and begins wishing he had a client. Then he remembers he did, only he had angreed to to meet him several hours before. So starts a great example of Douglas Adams writing, and also a quest which leads from an airport (at the recieption desk to Oslo), to the Woodshed Mental Hospital, and into a world that exists beyond ours.
This is a great example of writing, easily recognisable as the work of Douglas Adams. It contains all th More...
This is a great example of writing, easily recognisable as the work of Douglas Adams. It contains all th More...
Dec 30, 2011
Catherine
rated it:
While shopping for Christmas presents in Waterstones… looking back I think anyone could see how this could be considered a bad idea, lets just say that I came across several books that I decided I must definitely own. Somehow, by some miracle I managed to muster up all my will-power, avoid the temptations neatly arranged and tastefully displayed in my path and come away with only one book, ‘The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul’ by Douglas Adams. Having already read the first in the ‘Dirk Gently’ s
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Dec 04, 2011
Laura
rated it:
Sometimes, even if you’re Thor, it’s very hard to get to Oslo.
At least, if you’re Thor in a universe where humans created gods, and the gods need ongoing worship to exist. See generally http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Ma... This book might have been my introduction to the idea that humans created gods in our own image. And the pathos of being a being created to be worshipped once the worship stops.
It also may have been the first book I read where a lawyer and an More...
At least, if you’re Thor in a universe where humans created gods, and the gods need ongoing worship to exist. See generally http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Ma... This book might have been my introduction to the idea that humans created gods in our own image. And the pathos of being a being created to be worshipped once the worship stops.
It also may have been the first book I read where a lawyer and an More...
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Jun 29, 2011
Cynthia
rated it:
It has been a few years since I read a Dirk Gently novel. I am so glad to return to Adams and to Gently. I read this and realized that this is why I loved Neil Gaiman's American Gods so much. It felt a lot like this novel. This is a book about the gods of Norse origin and their difficulty trying to keep themselves alive in today's world. I loved the fact that even the gods can be tripped up by attorneys and ad execs! I already posted the opening sentence in a Facebook status, but I will include
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May 23, 2011
Nathan
rated it: 
The back jacked of this book promised me it was "Funnier than Psycho" and "Shorter than War and Peace." Now, I thought that these were jokes. I assumed that that tag was cute and that it would be quite funny. In fact, funnier than Psycho is about as good as the humor was. It was there, but rarely very funny and generally simply kinda cute. It was in fact shorter than War and Peace.
I didn't expect much for plot. It is a Douglas Adams book after all, but I ha More...
I didn't expect much for plot. It is a Douglas Adams book after all, but I ha More...
Apr 19, 2011
Pvw
rated it: 
Maybe the only merit of this book is that it shows how The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy could have gone terribly wrong. Why, the 'Hitchhiker's Guide' is a buch of strange and witty ideas that have no direction and almost can't work together. Yet, through the excellent pace and the hilariously funny writing style, Douglas Adams pulls it off and made it into the great sci-fi comedy it became.
Here, we again have weird ideas (even involving scandinavion gods) but, really, none of it wo More...
Here, we again have weird ideas (even involving scandinavion gods) but, really, none of it wo More...
Jan 23, 2011
Nikki
rated it:
I'm not sure whether this is the effect of not being jammed into half a train seat by someone twice the size of me, but The Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul seemed less funny but more absorbing than the first book. It helped that it included Norse gods, I think. I had no idea that Douglas Adams had tangled with them.
On the other hand, I don't really think that as much seemed to happen, somehow. Less plates seemed to be spinning. I think that was a good thing for the narrative, but it see More...
On the other hand, I don't really think that as much seemed to happen, somehow. Less plates seemed to be spinning. I think that was a good thing for the narrative, but it see More...
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Sep 21, 2010
None of these editions seems to be the one I have. Anyway, I almost gave this book a pass, because of the title. I knew the basic premise of the title, and I've always thought it silly. Adams himself points out that immortals don't necessarily have better memories than the rest of us. So how can they get bored, when they can't possibly know things well enough to anticipate what comes next?
In this case, it's because they're unemployed, and have nowt to do. And they don't seem t More...
In this case, it's because they're unemployed, and have nowt to do. And they don't seem t More...
Feb 10, 2010
Morgan
rated it:
The only thing that kept me from reading this book in one day was that I'd just finished a book and had some time to kill before I wanted to go to bed, so I figured reading the first two chapters would be a good use of time.
I distinctly remember not expecting to finish it the next day.
I also had a terrible case of bronchitis/flu (that would end up acquiring an ear infection before it'd run its brutal course) at the time, and spent the weekend in my bed "getting bette More...
I distinctly remember not expecting to finish it the next day.
I also had a terrible case of bronchitis/flu (that would end up acquiring an ear infection before it'd run its brutal course) at the time, and spent the weekend in my bed "getting bette More...
Sep 28, 2010
F.R.
rated it:
As much as I enjoyed ‘Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency’, I have to say that ‘The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul’ is the better book. The reason for that is simple – you get more Dirk for your pound! Whereas it was halfway through before this most intriguing of detectives put in an appearance in the first novel, here he arrives in Chapter Three – waging a war with his cleaner as to which of them is actually going to open the fridge door (something which hasn’t been done in over three month
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Jul 28, 2011
This book was a bit of a disappointment. Good by most standards, but below Adams’ median.
The second (and final) book in the Dirk Gently series, it has little to do with the first book except the Dirk character himself. The storyline, however, remains larger-than-life:
“So far he had taken no real interest in the strange incident at the airport, but now it demanded his attention. The explosion was now officially designated an ‘Act of God.’ But, thought Dirk, what god? And why?”
As always, Adam More...
The second (and final) book in the Dirk Gently series, it has little to do with the first book except the Dirk character himself. The storyline, however, remains larger-than-life:
“So far he had taken no real interest in the strange incident at the airport, but now it demanded his attention. The explosion was now officially designated an ‘Act of God.’ But, thought Dirk, what god? And why?”
As always, Adam More...
Mar 10, 2011
Brian
rated it:
Upon my third reading, I discovered that this book shows its flaws when compared with Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. The plot is more direct and ultimately predictable, with the dramatic conclusion being neither dramatic nor conclusive, but Adams's style of prose makes it infinitely readable. One of the Great Masters of the comic novel, Adams could be the P.G. Wodehouse of the late 20th century. Although better known for his "Hitchhiker" series, the Gently novels seem to have
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Mar 20, 2011
Jireh Lee
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Aug 01, 2011
Kurt
rated it:
As a rule, I much prefer Douglas Adams when he cheekily refuses to have a plot. I love the way his descriptions make me laugh out loud, and his characters are endearing and amoral, and his philosophical digressions go exactly where they should - when he has a simple plot, like the last couple of Hitchhiker books, I generally lose interest and pine for his zanier works. So this book, in which Dirk Gently investigates an "act of God" at a Heathrow ticket counter in a fairly straightforwa
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Oct 09, 2010
Rossrn
rated it:
I read this book in the early 1990s and needed something fun so I picked it up at the library.
I enjoyed the book, but really need to read book one of the series.
Dirk Gently is a holistic detective who is hired by a wealthy client who claims a 7 foot green monster with a scythe is coming after him due to a contract. Dirk doesn't believe the client, arrives late for a meeting by several hours, and finds his client decapitated with his head revolving on a record player (remember More...
I enjoyed the book, but really need to read book one of the series.
Dirk Gently is a holistic detective who is hired by a wealthy client who claims a 7 foot green monster with a scythe is coming after him due to a contract. Dirk doesn't believe the client, arrives late for a meeting by several hours, and finds his client decapitated with his head revolving on a record player (remember More...
Jun 13, 2009
Adam
rated it:
"An 'act of God.' Merely a chance, careless phrase by which people were able to dispose conveniently of awkward phenomena that would admit of no more rational explanation. But it was the chance carelessness of it which particularly appealed to Dirk because words used carelessly, as if they did not matter in any serious way, often allowed otherwise well-guarded truths to seep through."
Holistic detective Dirk Gently returns for a mystery of supernatural proportions. But while More...
Holistic detective Dirk Gently returns for a mystery of supernatural proportions. But while More...
Jul 03, 2010
Has anyone actually heard THE CD?: Sixty-four out of the 66 reviews currently up talk about THE BOOK. The product listed is THE AUDIO CD of the book. I ordered the CD set for Christmas, and it was good - up until the final, 6th CD. There, one section repeats over and over, over all 18 tracks. It's the part of Chapter 26 where Thor and Kate meet Tsuliwaensis. Each track is not identical, but the part of the book that is read, is. Needless to say, you never get to the thrilling conclusion of the b
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Dec 28, 2009
Yoon
rated it:
I am one of a handful of people who have read all or most of <cite>The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy</cite> series without finding it particularly funny, interesting, or good, so it took me quite by surprise when I pulled this from the shelf, started reading, and started to crack up. I have not read the prequel, but this mostly stands alone pretty well: a "holistic" detective, Dirk Gently, collides with a woman named Kate Schacter who is suffering travel difficulties, n
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Aug 20, 2011
Jodi
rated it:
I recently re-read Dirk Gentley's Holistic Detective Agency and realized it was not as good as I remembered so I approached my re-read of Tea Time with some trepidation. I remember loving this book, really loving it. Perhaps it might be better not to read it again.
I'm happy to report that for me, the book holds up. It's funny, it's weird, it has Norse gods. I love it and it remains one of my favorite books of all time.
I was also reacquainted with a paragraph that I rem More...
I'm happy to report that for me, the book holds up. It's funny, it's weird, it has Norse gods. I love it and it remains one of my favorite books of all time.
I was also reacquainted with a paragraph that I rem More...
Nov 25, 2010
Andrew
rated it:
It is hard for me to give this book the proper rating, so I almost didn't try. I remember reading it in my formative years and thinking that it was the best thing ever written. However, when I went back to it this time, I found it slightly uninteresting and difficult to get through.
The reason why I find it hard to rate is that I don't know if it is the book's fault that I had a hard time reading it. The past month or so my life has been tumultuous to say the least, and it has really More...
The reason why I find it hard to rate is that I don't know if it is the book's fault that I had a hard time reading it. The past month or so my life has been tumultuous to say the least, and it has really More...
Aug 06, 2010
Rachel
rated it:
I know most people love Douglas Adams for his H2G2 series, and certainly I am one of them, but the (tragically short) Dirk gently series is--at least to me--the much better of the two. Here we see Adams's humor evolving and maturing, moving away from the realm of crude and slapstick humor and solidly into the realm of high-level wordplay. It's still uniquely, bizarrely Adams, with the same profound sense of wacky playfulness and plots more twisted than a coil of rope, but the Gently characters r
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Jun 28, 2011
surfmadpig
rated it:
"Even eagles were being swooped on by eagles" pretty much sums up the book for me: funny, but random, and too much action. And yes, there is a thing as too many eagles.
As compared to Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, this one looked better plot-wise at first, but then became much more of a let-down.
I have to admit that the randomness didn't bother me as much as the long, detailed scenes of supernatural hammers being thrown around and eagles swooping on More...
As compared to Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, this one looked better plot-wise at first, but then became much more of a let-down.
I have to admit that the randomness didn't bother me as much as the long, detailed scenes of supernatural hammers being thrown around and eagles swooping on More...
Aug 14, 2011
The Bee
rated it:
I never enjoyed Dirk Gently as much as I did A hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy. But I saw bits of the series on TV (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00wqfl2) and thought I have a look again.
Well if you always wondered how Odin the all-father of Gods and something nasty ended up in the woodshed and how a coca-cola machine, an eagle and St. Pancreas train station plays into all then you are right to read this book!
I enjoyed it thoroughly!
Ich habe Dirk Gently nie so More...
Well if you always wondered how Odin the all-father of Gods and something nasty ended up in the woodshed and how a coca-cola machine, an eagle and St. Pancreas train station plays into all then you are right to read this book!
I enjoyed it thoroughly!
Ich habe Dirk Gently nie so More...
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Apr 18, 2011
Myles
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This is much better Mr. Adams. Much better.
At first I was a bit ticked-off to find out that the to be continued ending of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency was a complete and utter lie, none of the flapping loose ends of that book were tied up in this one. Except perhaps the one about the secretary.
Except she's the biggest loose end in this one. Agggg, so frustrating.
I think in certain moods and in certain times my mind is to linear or practical or somet More...
At first I was a bit ticked-off to find out that the to be continued ending of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency was a complete and utter lie, none of the flapping loose ends of that book were tied up in this one. Except perhaps the one about the secretary.
Except she's the biggest loose end in this one. Agggg, so frustrating.
I think in certain moods and in certain times my mind is to linear or practical or somet More...
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