Discuss.

Also, if I weren't high, would his name still sound like he should have been one of the Founding Fathers?

I'm a huge fan. I've read all 5 books in the HHGTTG trilogy, and I own the original TV series. The HHG film was pretty good as well, but left a lot of stuff out (although it pretty much had to).

I keep meaning to read his other books, but thus far I've only read "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" and "The Long Dark Teatime Of The Soul."

Oh, wow....probably my favourite author.
So incredibly funny, yet deeply intelligent.
It's no wonder he was involved briefly with Monty Python, a very similar marriage of intellect, humour and general silliness.



You pretty much have read it all then.
(btw....I think I may like the Dirk Gently books just a wee bit more than the over-hyped HHGTTG books.
If anybody hasn't read those books - get them right now! - They are classic Douglas Adams.)

"The Salmon of Doubt" is an unfinished manuscript that is padded with additional material - notes, essays and some comments from his friends and peers. It was bittersweet for me, because the new material included wasn't yet polished up to his usual level of talent and what is there is taken out of context - it just makes you want to read more, but sadly he died before he could finish it.

The only one of his books that I don't have that I'd like to read is "Last Chance to See", which I understand is very good.
This is a good reminder for me to finally track it down and get it.

Dirk Gently is one of the best humorous novels ever, definitely his best. And considering how funny Hitchhiker series is, that's saying a lot.

Douglas Adams is in my top two favorite authors along with Terry Pratchett. I can't decide who's first and who's second. I love DNA (not the forum mod-though I do love him, too, in a different way) so much. My son's middle name is Douglas after Adams.


Last Chance To See is fantastic. It was out of print but it may have been published again. My husband (before he was my husband) and I bonded over Adams and he brought this book into the nudey bar where I worked to loan it to me. People looked at us funny. He had procured a copy from a used shop or something because I hadn't heard of it until he mentioned it.

Salmon of Doubt has a bunch of speeches and book dedications Adams wrote during his life and finishes with the beginning of what was going to be an amazing novel. When I got to the last page he wrote, I was terribly dismayed.

The Dirk Gently novels are hilarious. If you've read the Hitchhiker series and liked it, read the Gently's. You'll never move your sofa again without thinking of Teatime.

I'm currently reading a biography of Adams called Hitchhiker. It's a little involved so it moves slowly, but I'm enjoying it. I'm at the part where it talks about his collaborations with Graham Chapman and the Pythons and since I love Monty Python, this is the best of both worlds for me.


When Adams died, I mourned. His passing was completely unexpected. I hope he had his towel with him for the journey to the other side.

RIP, DNA.

_sorry

Hahahahaha!

Every time I unexpectedly find a horse in my bathroom, I think of him. Probably my favourite author.

Quite Possibly my favorite author aswell! Someone who died far too young with a great deal of novels that could have been done. There are some really cool CD recordings of him doing readings of HHGTTG. Also there is a rare sixth book to the series, it's a short story entitled 'Young Zaphod Plays it Safe" It's in a black leather fold leafed hard cover that i bought a few years back, just after he passed.

The original TV series was amazing! The movie...meh it sucked IMO left out way too much of the good stuff! Apperently in the early 90's he was working on a computer game!

I'm a little surprised by the response, but happy, enough. I hadn't read him since high school (at least), and assumed he wasn't as funny as I'd recalled. He was.

I'm surprised Dirk Gently doesn't really get a lot of attention. I like it more than most of the HH stuff.

I was talking to GK the other night, and we were wondering if comedy like that, as a genre, is still written today? The only thing even close that I've seen is like your Neal Stephenson-type stuff.

i have no idea what anybody is talking about here ( except of Monty Python) and i feel like I am missing out on something I would love. Same thing about the Kurt Vonnegernut thread there was a while back also.


I should read some of that stuff.

Two similar authors. Arguably the English and American versions of each other. As such, Adams tends to be a lot sillier and more irreverent. Adams also embraced Sci-fi, while Vonnegut defended his legitimacy as a literary figure, which is a big part of why he's taken seriously, while Adams generally isn't. Adams also writes with an extremely elegant, almost out-dated prose, that really isn't as critically respected as it should be.

If you're interested in Adams, read HHGTTG. It's a lot wackier than Vonnegut, and a lot of people think funnier.

If you want to get into Vonnegut, check out Slaughterhouse-5. It's funny, sharp, and stands as Vonnegut's most coherent if not most complete literary statement.

I wouldn't swear on my life that it's true, but I vaguely remember playing the video game. It was one of those early text adventure type games (pick up the match; light the match; "The room is now well-lit"). It was lame, so I never went far in it.

I also picked up Young Zaphod, but never got around to reading it -- live got tumultuous, and it got buried in my mountain of books.

"take the analgesic"

Yeah I remember playing that and I remember laughing at that...

Samuel Adams

sorry wrong one


Kinda sounds like douglas adams so i guess there was a little bit extra there then just being high

Douglas Adams was the nuts.

Terry Pratchett, to me, is a fantasy author version of Adams. Good stuff. Start with The Color of Magic. If you like Arthur Dent, you may enjoy Rincewind.





Slaughterhouse-5 is the only Vonnegut I've read. I enjoyed it.




Starship Titantic was the video game. There is an accompanying book (by Terry Jones and Adams I think??) I have it, but haven't yet read it.


Dave said Adams was the nuts. This is coming from a man who generally avoids fiction with a few rare exceptions. It's a big compliment. Dave doesn't gush over stuff very often.

Oh yeah, I have Starship Titanic around here somewhere. I should dig it up, I don't think I ever played it...

has anyone read "good omens" by err i believe Neal Gaiman and Terry Pratchert? i can't find it in my stacks right now...very similar type of writing, dry whit, about the apocolypse! amazing book!