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4710 ratings, 3.90 average rating, 160 reviews
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published
January 1st 2006
(first published 1988)
by Phoenix Audio
binding
Audio CD
isbn
1597770086
(isbn13: 9781597770088)
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avg 3.90
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 Sherlock-Holmes...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 Sherlock-Holmes...more
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Read in March, 2004
recommends it for:
those who like their alternative universes well-leavened with humour
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 detective, remembe...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 detective, remembe...more
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Read in November, 2005
recommends it for:
Fantasy readers, sci fi readers, theology readers, humor readers
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'...more
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Read in June, 2006
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 w...more
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Read in January, 1990
recommends it for:
Douglas Adams fans
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 suffere...more
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Read in November, 2008
A passenger check-in desk at Heathrow suddenly explodes and nobody knows why - finally it is decided it was an act of God.
But this being the second Dirk Gently novel, it's not that simple. For starters - which God? And why did Gently's ex-secretary disappear at the same time? And who is the big creature with green eyes and a scythe, that kills Gently's only client? And is it better to buy a new fridge than to clean the old one? And what has all this to do with Thor and Odin?
People who have...more
But this being the second Dirk Gently novel, it's not that simple. For starters - which God? And why did Gently's ex-secretary disappear at the same time? And who is the big creature with green eyes and a scythe, that kills Gently's only client? And is it better to buy a new fridge than to clean the old one? And what has all this to do with Thor and Odin?
People who have...more
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Read in January, 1988
recommends it for:
mostly wackos I guess
"It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on earth has ever produced the expression "As pretty as an airport."...this ugliness arises because airports are full of people who are tired, cross, and have just discovered that their luggage has landed in Murmansk (Murmansk airport is the only known exception to this otherwise infallible rule), and architects have on the whole tried to reflect this in their designs.
They have sought to highlight the tiredness and crossness mot...more
They have sought to highlight the tiredness and crossness mot...more
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Read in August, 2008
There isn't a lot I have to say about this one, only that Douglas Adams really stands the test of time. I was in early college when I read most of the Hitchhiker's series, and coming back to this one after being away so long only made me remember all the humor, humanity, simplicity, and brilliance of this man.
That being said, this one lacks a certain "instant classic" feel given to the earlier Hitchhiker's books. Still, at the end of this book even if I felt that I still didn't re...more
That being said, this one lacks a certain "instant classic" feel given to the earlier Hitchhiker's books. Still, at the end of this book even if I felt that I still didn't re...more
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I first feel in love with Douglas Adams on watching the TV version of ‘The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy’ and then discovering the then Hitch Hiker novels. When Adams published ‘Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency’ I was half expecting to be disappointed assuming that it could never hold a candle up to the brilliance of the Hitch Hiker books. I was proven gravely wrong and the first Dirk Gently novel was, and indeed still is, my favourite novel of all time and so I was anticipat...more
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Read in May, 2008
The second in the Dirk Gently detective series. Dirk is back, but business is lousy. No one wants to hire detectives, it seems. When Dirk finaaly gets a client, it appears to be a crazed rich man, terrified of a large, hairy monster with green eyes and a scythe, who keeps appearing out of nowhere and saying something about a contract that is due. The next day, however, when he is five hours late meeting his client, he finds him dead, his head having been removed and revolving rock LP record....more
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Fantastic. Marvelous. Wish there were more to come. Maybe there's a parallel universe where Adams had a stronger heart and is still writing...
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Read in January, 1988
recommends it for:
Hitch Hikers fans
It takes a brave man to move away from the series of books which made his name, and his fortune. But Douglas Adams had other stories to tell. This book is the second 'Dirk Gently', the adventures of the 'holistic' detective.
The ideas that Adams explores in this book have a very 'Hitch Hikers' feel to them (suitably, warmly silly). And every time I take a trip to London I'm reminded of this book as I arrive in St. Pancras station. It's recently been restored to its former glory, and I love t...more
The ideas that Adams explores in this book have a very 'Hitch Hikers' feel to them (suitably, warmly silly). And every time I take a trip to London I'm reminded of this book as I arrive in St. Pancras station. It's recently been restored to its former glory, and I love t...more
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Read in July, 2007
Long Dark Teatime of the Soul is the second of Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently books, the first of which I reread about a month ago. Like the first, this is the story of an average person (in this case, a woman) to whom extraordinary things start happening. This time, it is the gods (Norse gods, for some reason) who are acting up - but fortunately, Dirk Gently is there to unravel the events in his own way. Much hilarity ensues. Although this is maybe not quite as strong a book as DG's Holistic Detect...more
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Very funny, if you like this sort of thing, and a decent plot as well.
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Adams wrote more than the "Hitchhiker" series, and this is a very good read.
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I was going to write something flippant about how my sense of humor about the gods probably explains why I didn't make a good Southern Baptist or how my agnosticism got in the way of converting to Judaism. But then I realized that although I just read the story for laughs, it is about what happens to the characters when they are no longer relevant to others. The fact that these characters are gods is of little importance. The book is in a way a reminder to remain alive, involved and relevant whi...more
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Read in January, 2003
The only reason it gets two stars is because it was a disappointed the follow up to the first one, which was so damned good. Still, it's hilarious and I wish Adams had finished the third one.
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Read in January, 1990
There are some days where you wake up and everything seems to be headed in a downward direction. Where everything is kind of confusing and you aren't terribly sure that you are currently in step with the rest of the world. Dirk Gently is like this in the good way, although at several times in this book you will be certain that I am a liar. Once you figure out that you are right, and that I am right, you will likely have finished this book and be as fully puzzled by it as I was.
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Read in May, 2007
Starts out as though it's going to be better than the original 'Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency' was, but ends on a low point. Overall a satisfying read, but it shouldn't be read by anyone who hasn't done Dirk Gently itself yet.
Basically, it feels like Adams ran out of energy and just quit at the end, because it's a horrible, horrible ending. The rest is quite entertaining, however, particularly the crime scene at the house, and all scenes involving Thor.
Basically, it feels like Adams ran out of energy and just quit at the end, because it's a horrible, horrible ending. The rest is quite entertaining, however, particularly the crime scene at the house, and all scenes involving Thor.
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in November, 2008
This was just simply too silly. Not absurd in the manner of Hitchiker's Guide, but just silly. Nothing much to keep my attention, and I gave up.
I have other things to read. . .
I have other things to read. . .
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