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Mark
(last edited Aug 25, 2016 01:30PM)
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Nov 02, 2007 06:20AM

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I sort of lost my passion for his books when I learned all this (and I guess I grew out of them to some extent). I doubt I'll read them again, but I can't deny they had a significant influence on my early reading preferences.
If you want to give him another shot, I'd recommend Last Chance to See--non-fiction writing about endangered species that he travelled around the world to write about.

I like many British novels (Graham Greene and others similar), but I can't stand the glibness of Evelyn Waugh. Do you think Adams' glibness is similar to Waugh's? Or maybe even Boyd's (Good Man in Africa, etc) whose writing I cannot get into either?

In spite of a number of differences, I would compare Adams to Wodehouse. Wodehouse was similarly known for slapping out novels as quickly as most people wrote grocery lists, reusing plots, jokes, dialogue. He wrote for the entertainment value, which is why I think Adams is so popular--the jokes and eccentricities, rather than the novel itself, are the best parts. Of course, Wodehouse actually loved to write...



Funny thing about Adam's. In my mind I absolutely adore reading and experiencing the books...however, if I see them on tv, hear them on radio, or watch them in the new movie I HATE them! AGGGGH!





Seth, I didn't mean "slapped out" to be so flippant in regards to Wodehouse. He is probably my favorite humorist as well (but now you have me thinking, and I shall have to shuffle around some files in the ol' noggin). However, you have to admit he churned out an extraordinary number of books (wasn't it more than one per year of his life?) and they all fell into more or less the same pattern. This is not to diminish his quality, just to recognize that he found a niche he had mastered and that people loved, and from which he hardly diversified--ditto for Adams (with the exception of Dirk Gently, which I think is better than all the Hitchhikers combined). Henry Ford made great cars, but he did so within a system that let him "slap" 'em out faster than ever before...if that metaphor even applies...
Personally, I find Wodehouse's short stories more fulfilling than his novels (with a few exceptions). The one about the origin of golf remains a perennial favorite.

I had read them all back in middle/high school, having bought them at a steal of a bargain from a used book store, I think they were a buck or so a book.
When the movie came out I attempted to reread the first one, but didnt quite make it past the first 30 pgs or so, I was not in the scifi frame of mind... and had a to-read pile that was calling my name relentlessly.
Never the less, I really liked Douglas Adams' books at the time I had originally read them. They were far fetched and interesting, and while I never laughed out loud, I did at times find myself grinning and chuckling.....

You may want to give Hitchhiker's a try, Seth, before getting all bummed out about earth being destroyed.

But, the destruction of the Earth isn't the premise of the books (despite that Adams would have liked it to have been). The books are a fast-paced romp through the galaxy (and time), with a befuddled ordinary Englishman (our hero) in tow. In the end, the destruction of the Earth is merely the lever to get him started on his journey.

Somewhere on one of these lists you mentioned your favourite two books, which I printed up somewhere...rustle rustle...sigh, why can't I ever find anything on this desk...?
And it's true. I can't find it. Maybe tomorrow.
So I offer a challenge. I will read your fave two books, I think a Wodehouse and a...starts with A? If you read some Douglas Adams.
One of my favourite lines in his Hitchhiker series is the definition of flying, which goes something like: It is the action of throwing yourself at the ground and missing.

And the way Italian restaurant day-to-day operations have the effect of keeping the universe on an even keel, if my memory serves me right.
And the Babel fish.
And of course the mutated bat coming for revenge against Arthur because...of a whale and a flower pot and...



I also highly recommmend Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series.



The ship hung supseneded in the air in much the same way that bricks don't.
That kind of stuff cracked me up back then.

And does Pratchett pump out the books! Pratchett says he has a three-stage system so he can publish a minimum of 3 books a year. Although maybe he's slowed down, last time I heard him was at least 5 years ago...

Pratchett has been concentrating on his YA work lately--the Wee Free People. However, he just punched out a new novel a few months ago. I usually wait for books to go to paperback before I get them (or try to get them from the library), so I can't give you a review.
I've found that a lot of Americans don't get "British Humour" (and yes, I spelled it with the 'u' on purpose). It's one of those things that you either love or hate. While a lot of humor is universal, sometimes the Brits have a subtlety about their writing and acting that Americans don't understand right off the bat.

I'm not so sure it's a subtlety, more of a something you see out of the corner of your eye.
I knew I was different when I got lost from my big sister, and when she found me I told her I was distracted by something shiny. She didn't get it. She still doesn't get it. We don't read the same books.

My favorite so far is Mort, but that is only one star in a bright galaxy... Wodehouse and Adams are definitely in his general area, but still, he is unique. I have also read his YA books,and they are as interesting and sharp as the Discwork novels.

The series goes pretty quickly downhill. RESTAURANT AT THE END OF THE UNIVERSE is pretty good, but the other books drop in quality pretty drastically. The one joke in the series, that the larger Universe is as screwed up as this silly planet we live on, is a good one, but Adams kind of stretches it longer than he should have.
I have two of Adams' books in my favourites list (Hitchhiker's and Last Chance to See which is non-fiction of a sort) but I didn't like the Dirk Gently books at all. Despite that he is the author I most wish could have lived forever.


My dad was a huge Python fan and it was he who originally turned me on to the Hitchhiker's Guide. By the way, Douglas Adams actually wrote part of a sketch for the Flying Circus.

As for Pratchett, umm, his very first books were chock full of ideas and invention, his next few books were less inventive but much more enjoyable as reads, but all his recent stuff has got longer and longer and less and less amusing. He needs an editor again (this happens to most prolific famous authors, they get carried away with themselves).


WHAAAAAT????? how could u. he's the best. o well everyone's entitled to whatever opinion sooooo cheers u nasty adams haters lol

Interesting point about the British humor. I do tend to find it hilarious. Monty Python. Fawlty Towers. Not all of them though. I've seen some popular sitcoms I so could have lived without.

Otherwise-what can you say?

