book data
4849 ratings, 3.93 average rating, 210 reviews
(more data...)
edit
published
May 1987
by Simon & Schuster
binding
Hardcover, 247 pages
isbn
0671625829
(isbn13: 9780671625825)
description
There is a long tradition of Great Detectives, and Dirk Gently does not belong to it. But his search for a missing cat uncovers a ghost, a time travel...more
Sign in to Goodreads to see your friends' reviews of this book.
| topics | replies | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Next Best Boo...: Twin Peaks like mystery | 17 | 58 | 10 days ago, 06:56PM |
friend reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.
other reviews (showing 1-20 of 5800)
All ratings |
5 stars (1363)
|
4 stars (1877)
|
3 stars (1217)
|
2 stars (266)
|
1 star (35)
|
avg 3.93
Read in January, 1987
recommends it for:
anyone
Douglas Adams' underated masterpiece leads Dirk Gently from a search for a missing cat to unlocking the secrets of time travel and saving the human race from total extinction.
I thought no-one could write a better comic novel than 'The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy' until I first read this. I've subsequently re-read this novel countless times and it never fails to entertain, I'm still finding references to literature and popular culture that I've previously missed.
That a novel can b...more
I thought no-one could write a better comic novel than 'The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy' until I first read this. I've subsequently re-read this novel countless times and it never fails to entertain, I'm still finding references to literature and popular culture that I've previously missed.
That a novel can b...more
Like this review?
yes
(2 people liked it)
add a comment
Read in January, 1989
recommends it for:
Douglas Adams fans
Adams' first fiction foray into a world other than the one(s) created for the Hitchhiker's Trilogy is a treat: a detective story filled with the same bizarre happenings and twists, described and narrated in Adams' inimitable comedic style. Unlike the Hitchhiker's books, however, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency was written to be a stand-alone story, with a definite beginning, middle, and end. In many ways, this was Adams' first attempt at writing a proper novel--and he succeeds wil...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in June, 2007
recommends it for:
British comedy fans
I recently re-read Dirk Gently, since the first time I read it was in the seventh or eighth grade, and so I really didn't remember much of it. I must say it is absolutely fantastic. It is one of the few books which as I read it I was imagining what you could do for a film version. I think it would be a fantastic work to bring to the big screen, particularly after the modest success of Hitchhiker's...
That said, I love Douglas Adams. The man was a genius at creating characters, and the Gently ...more
That said, I love Douglas Adams. The man was a genius at creating characters, and the Gently ...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
I have listened to this book twice now – once as an audiobook (while I was rowing across the Atlantic ) and once as a dramatization (while rowing from California to Hawaii (see http://www.rozsavage.com) – and I still love it. Sort of a cross between Inspector Morse, Doctor Who, and of course the Hitch Hikers’ Guide to the Galaxy, it is very entertaining and just sufficiently thought-provoking. Recommended.
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
One of the best books i've ever read. It far surpasses the Hitchhiker's series. It's more complicated, funnier, and just amazing. It's a mixing Rime of the Ancient Mariner with Sci-fi themes and time travel... It's an Adams book through and through, with his trademark colorful language and wit. I recommend it to anyone who is capable of reading.
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
recommends it for:
Everyone.
While I have read more 'important' books that I feel like I should say are my most favorite book ever... I won't.
This book is my favorite book.
Its so funny, spooky, well written.
I have read this one maybe 10 times.
(Side note, I think that would be a useful way of rating books, how many times you read them.)
This book is my favorite book.
Its so funny, spooky, well written.
I have read this one maybe 10 times.
(Side note, I think that would be a useful way of rating books, how many times you read them.)
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
3 comments
I still don't really understand how the ending of this book worked, and trying to describe the plot would be like trying to build a submarine out of cheese. Instead, I'll just share some quotes from this book that I especially loved, because Douglas Adams is the only author in the history of the world who is capable of creating them.
"'A horse?' he said again.
'Yes, it is,' said the Professor. 'Wait - ' he motioned to Richard, who was about to go out again and investigate - 'Let...more
"'A horse?' he said again.
'Yes, it is,' said the Professor. 'Wait - ' he motioned to Richard, who was about to go out again and investigate - 'Let...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in November, 2008
Douglas Adams was a funny, funny man - and even though my personal favourites are the Hitch Hiker books, I still really like these books.
What's not to like - a book with electric monks, horses in bathrooms, sofas stuck in staircases, ghosts, Schrödinger's cat among other things? Now you might wonder how this all can be brought together - and I wondered too. But fear not - the answer is Dirk Gently who is a holistic detective: "The term 'holistic' refers to my conviction that what ...more
What's not to like - a book with electric monks, horses in bathrooms, sofas stuck in staircases, ghosts, Schrödinger's cat among other things? Now you might wonder how this all can be brought together - and I wondered too. But fear not - the answer is Dirk Gently who is a holistic detective: "The term 'holistic' refers to my conviction that what ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Guess I need a shelf for sci-fi-fantasy, but I don't yet. This was headed for four stars, but I got too confused toward the end. I occasionally got lost in the Hitchhiker books, too, so I guess I'm not surprised.
Richard is dating the sister of one of the world's richest men, for whom he works in software design. Said rich man is on his way to his "cabin" (palatial estate), leaving an extended message on his sister's answering machine (this is how he thinks through ideas) when ...more
Richard is dating the sister of one of the world's richest men, for whom he works in software design. Said rich man is on his way to his "cabin" (palatial estate), leaving an extended message on his sister's answering machine (this is how he thinks through ideas) when ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in July, 2007
Being as how every book in the Hitchhiker's Guide series are on my list of favorite books, it was only a matter of time before I seeked out this other Douglas Adams series.
You can read the book synopsis somewhere else -- I won't take up time in my review going over that. Except to say this: time travel. Yes, another @#$% book about time travel. I thought Adams was better than that. Even THHGTTG goes over time travel, and does it a lot better than Dirk Gently. Judging by the book's title, I t...more
You can read the book synopsis somewhere else -- I won't take up time in my review going over that. Except to say this: time travel. Yes, another @#$% book about time travel. I thought Adams was better than that. Even THHGTTG goes over time travel, and does it a lot better than Dirk Gently. Judging by the book's title, I t...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 2005
It's sad that most reviews of this novel start by stating the reviewer's feelings about Adams's other work, Hitchhikers Guide, but it is what he's famous for. I liked that series, but would hesitate to call it genius, as so many others have. I think it's overrated.
Conversely, I feel that the two Dirk Gently books are vastly underrated, and actually do reveal Adams's genius. These books are intelligent, devilishly clever and funnier than the other series. Some critics here have said it's ha...more
Conversely, I feel that the two Dirk Gently books are vastly underrated, and actually do reveal Adams's genius. These books are intelligent, devilishly clever and funnier than the other series. Some critics here have said it's ha...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has long been on my shelf of "frequent re-reads". So, for my 50th book of the year, I picked up Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, the first book of Douglas Adams' less well-known series. I use the word series loosely, as there are only two books. Adams left a third book, Salmon of Doubt unfinished at the time of his death.
The plot of this book is convoluted at best, but I'm going to try and describe it. The book starts with a series of u...more
The plot of this book is convoluted at best, but I'm going to try and describe it. The book starts with a series of u...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in March, 2004
After reading Douglas Adams' biography, Don't Panic, I decided to re-visit his body of work, starting with Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.
It's a rather disjointed book, with the first chapter only making sense once you've reached the very end. Richard MacDuff, a computer programmer, is dating the sister of his employer, Gordon Way, and doing a lousy job of it. He's invited to a Coleridge memorial dinner at his alma mater. St. Cedd's, by Professor Urban Chronotis, his counselor.
...more
It's a rather disjointed book, with the first chapter only making sense once you've reached the very end. Richard MacDuff, a computer programmer, is dating the sister of his employer, Gordon Way, and doing a lousy job of it. He's invited to a Coleridge memorial dinner at his alma mater. St. Cedd's, by Professor Urban Chronotis, his counselor.
...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in October, 2007
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency has many of the same elements as Adams's more well known Hitchhiker's Guide series: mentally ill robots, digital watches, time travel and the end of the earth.
Dirk Gently's story doesn't flow as evenly from scene to scene as the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy does but then there are so many different versions of the Guide that it's possible earlier versions were just as rough. It took me a while to get into the story and to piece together the differe...more
Dirk Gently's story doesn't flow as evenly from scene to scene as the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy does but then there are so many different versions of the Guide that it's possible earlier versions were just as rough. It took me a while to get into the story and to piece together the differe...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in May, 2008
Being a big fan of Douglas Adams, with “The Hitichhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” my all time favourite book, I had always wanted to read “Dirk Gently”, but somehow just never got around to it. I finally got around to it, and it’s very similar in genre, being a sci-fi comedy, but I felt it was not even close to being in the same league as hitch hikers.
It’s a bizarre story, that claims there is a interconnectedness to even the most seemingly random things, and he uses this to stitc...more
It’s a bizarre story, that claims there is a interconnectedness to even the most seemingly random things, and he uses this to stitc...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in November, 2008
recommends it for:
everyone
I had read this as a child, and remembered less than half of the story. It is funnier and the story holds together better than I recalled.
This book is not only hilarious, but also a fine work of literature. With any luck, it will soon be required reading in English classes.
Do not read the plot points on the cover... major spoilers!!
This book is not only hilarious, but also a fine work of literature. With any luck, it will soon be required reading in English classes.
Do not read the plot points on the cover... major spoilers!!
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in February, 2008
recommends it for:
adults
I decided a while ago that I have a hard time reading Douglas Adams stuff. I read too slowly. Listening to it is much better. Listening to Douglas Adams reading Douglas Adams is much much much better.
This book doesn't stray very far from what I consider to be stock DA. A lot of great witty banter. A decent amount of the strange and unbelievable. And space things. Or things from space. Outer space.
Still following this story, like most DA stories, is a bit like watching an episode...more
This book doesn't stray very far from what I consider to be stock DA. A lot of great witty banter. A decent amount of the strange and unbelievable. And space things. Or things from space. Outer space.
Still following this story, like most DA stories, is a bit like watching an episode...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 1995
I found the humor in this book much more to my liking than that in HHttG. The plot is largely irrelevant to the style and characters, but it's still decent in it's own right.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in June, 2007
I have a hard time rereading the Hitchhiker's Guide books - the first one seems really funny, then they kind of taper off for me. Rereading Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, though, makes me remember why I like Douglas Adams so much. His style of writing kind of surprises you - makes you feel comfortable, but then jumps out with a turn of phrase that makes you think. Or laugh. Both of those, in equal measure.
Much like the Hitchhiker books, Dirk Gently's is the story of a pretty ordinary...more
Much like the Hitchhiker books, Dirk Gently's is the story of a pretty ordinary...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in December, 2006
Primordial soup, what music looks like on a computer, the seemingly random murder of a millionaire businessman, a Cambridge don, an electric monk on horseback, and much more. Everything is connected. Or at least that is the way that Dirk gently would have us all believe. The problem is he just can't try to put all of these disparate elements together this time into one holistic piece. But he will. And you should find yourself laughing along the way. Be prepared for some unimaginable plot twists ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
to-read
(on 397 people's shelves)
fiction (on 137 people's shelves)
humor (on 99 people's shelves)
sci-fi (on 86 people's shelves)
currently-reading (on 78 people's shelves)
science-fiction (on 68 people's shelves)
fantasy (on 62 people's shelves)
mystery (on 45 people's shelves)
humour (on 29 people's shelves)
sci-fi-fantasy (on 29 people's shelves)
More shelves...
fiction (on 137 people's shelves)
humor (on 99 people's shelves)
sci-fi (on 86 people's shelves)
currently-reading (on 78 people's shelves)
science-fiction (on 68 people's shelves)
fantasy (on 62 people's shelves)
mystery (on 45 people's shelves)
humour (on 29 people's shelves)
sci-fi-fantasy (on 29 people's shelves)
More shelves...
quotes from this book
"The door was the way to... to... The Door was The Way. Good. Capital letters were always the best way of dealing with things you didn't have a good answer to."
More quotes...
groups with this book
