A look into an awesome mind
|
|
If you have read every Douglas Adams book but still don't feel close enough to the great man himself, this is the book for you. You can see how the master thinks, how his everyday musings were written with the same wit and wisdom as his greatest works of fiction and read a wonderfull work in progress. As he says of 'Sunset at Blandings' (unfinished due to the author's death) by PG Wodehouse, you can see in DNA's first Chapters of his new Dirk Gently novel, the craftsman at work, the sentences are unpolished, the work has not even been through its first proof-read and it is all the more wonderful because of this. This book is fact, fiction and autobiography all rolled into one. Read it. It will blow your mind.
|
|
Be aware of what you're getting
|
For those who know Douglas Adams' work, chances are you are aware that The Salmon of Doubt is the last of Adams' work before his untimely death and is incomplete. Thus for those with an interest in Adams' work this is your last insight into what would have been the third book in his Dirk Gently series. Or perhaps the sixth book in the Hitchhikers series? Who knows what this may have ended up as.
This book will give you your last Adams' fix but be aware. Although the book is listed as 336 pages, the actual in-progress novel The Salmon of Doubt is tucked away at the very end of the book and constitutes only a small portion of the entire book. The majority of the content is a compendium of Adams' work ranging from speeches to columns to random notes. It's a chance to see a little more of Douglas Adams for those who are fans, but for those who just bought it for the novel you may feel a bit ripped off.
|
|
|
Don't um, don't ah, just buy and read.
|
|
This lunchtime I finished reading The Salmon Of Doubt, the first work of Douglas's I've read since he died all those years ago. I've not really put off reading it, books often stay in my teetering/tottering piles books for *years* before passing the rubicon of my having read them and getting filed on the bookshelves/book-chest-of-drawers like so many hunting trophies, but I have to say that I didn't relish the prospect of reading a book that I'd never get to see finished. I was wrong: this is possibly my favourite of all his books, not because of the Dirk Gently novel-in-progress, but because it's a treasury of Douglas writing as-himself about things that interest or annoy him. That makes it feel more personal than any other work of fiction, and the Salmon chapters are added on the end of the book like coffee and mints after an excellent meal, rather than presented as a main course where their unfinished state would have disappointed. This book is an ideal tribute to a wonderful man.
|
|
|
A look into the personality of DNA, + a weird story
|
|
I got this book from my step-brother, and although ithe story in it was unfinished and a little confusing, the short stories and intos that Douglas Adams had written through the many years of his writing career were entertaining and made me wish i'd started reading his books before. If you're a DNA fan then you should definitly get this
|
|
|
Not quite what was promised, but excellent nonetheless.
|
If you are a fan of Douglas Adams' fiction, then this book is well worth getting. Although it contains mostly non-fiction essays, articles and interviews, they are very entertaining, and have the same sharp, witty and informative voice as his fiction works.
Adams was clearly an extremely intelligent and perceptive man, and his ability to make wry but penetrating observations in a clear, concise and entertaining way is displayed here again and again. These essays run the gamut from the hilarious to the deeply moving - sometimes within the same article.
The unfinished novel, The Salmon of Doubt, is interesting, but somewhat frustrating to read, as none of the disparate elements quite come together. As a work in progress, it sadly needed a lot more work done to it to bring it up to Adams' usual standard.
I deduct one star because the collection is not *quite* what was promised. Initially, we were told in press releases that this book would contain much of the unpublished material found on Adams' laptop after his death. However, apart from the novel excerpt, nearly all the material has been published before, either in magazines, newspapers or online. It's great to have it all in one place, but a lot of it we've seen before.
Nevertheless, as a tribute to Adams' life as a novelist and journalist, this book is as close to perfect as it can be. After reading The Salmon of Doubt, I both marvelled at Adams' genius, and mourned his untimely passing.
Ah Douglas, you left us far too soon.
|
|
|
United States | 
United Kingdom | 
Canada