Talk:Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

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I intentionally did not put a plot synopsis of the book in the article. I feel that a spoiler warning would not be sufficient to stop people from reading the synopsis, and that it would be a shame to ruin a book that is this complex. (Summarizing up to the canal scene might be acceptable.) Besides, with the way the book is written, every detail begs to be summarized (especially if the summary reaches the end, where all the details come together), so the book is its own best summary.

I also think that the character descriptions serve the purpose of a plot synopsis -- to get the tone and character of the book across. Paullusmagnus 13:50 25 Jul 2003 (UTC)

Hi. I added a detailed plot synopsis to the article before seeing your note on the Talk page. I see your point, but would argue that a detailed synopsis that does show how the apparently disparate strands of the book's convoluted plot are connected (especially by the back story) is of use. If people don't want to read it, they don't have to. Conversely, if a synopsis is absent or removed, they don't have a choice! Any corrections are welcome. I couldn't work out exactly when the Salaxan ghost shifts to Richard. Even Dirk's comments are guesswork, as he wasn't factoring in the Electric Monk. Vivamancer 15:39, 9 April 2007 (UTC)

I was under the impression that the poem of import in the book was Rime of the Ancient Mariner, not Kubla Kahn. --Jherico 23:16, 2 Jul 2004 (UTC)

They're both relevant, but "Kubla Khan" is the really significant one. --Paul A 02:40, 20 Jul 2004 (UTC)
Corrected article to reflect this.--jet57 (u∴t) 10:56, 24 April 2007 (UTC) 14:59, 14 May 2005 (UTC)

I have no idea what is meant by the end of this line: 'Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency has been compared to Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid because Dirk Gently is actually based on the "fundamental interconnectedness of all things"—which is virtually the same thing as the chaos theory.' Godel Escher Bach was certainly not about chaos theory, it explored mathematical formalism, truth, proof and the emergence of meaning and possibly consciousness from self-reference. Chaos theory describes the unpredictable behaviour of a system with total sensitivity to initial variables, a totally different topic. --Remy B

See here: http://www.forum2.org/tal/books/dirk.html The reviewer Tal Cohen e-mailed Douglas Adams about this, and he said that although he had read Hofstadter's book, he didn't feel it was connected really.
I agree that the "connection" to GEB seems both tenuous and not terribly relevant. "Has been compared to" is misleading as it stands, because the comparison isn't from a noteworthy source. I'm going to take this out. Bombyx 04:31, 13 February 2006 (UTC)
SPOILERS TO FOLLOW?
One thing that, as far as I know, none of the discussions of the ending of DGHDA have mentioned is the true significance of the "albatross" - i.e. the new editor of Fathom magazine, described in the book as "A.K. Ross" or "Al", i.e. "Albert Ross". The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, following Dirk's conversation with Coleridge, attains the structure we know today, with the part about killing the albatross. However, Wenton-Weakes is already heard complaining about "the part with the bird" making no sense, before Dirk goes back and plants the albatross idea in Coleridge's mind. How is this, I wonder? Umop ap!sdn 11:31, 29 Apr 2005 (UTC)
It would seem from the context that the albatross was already in the poem. Otherwise why would Richard tell Dirk to ask about it? I think it's just a joke on the fact the no one knows what the albatross means, and no one ever will.67.85.254.111 18:30, 4 July 2007 (UTC)

I've moved the section on the sofa from Richard's bulletpoint in Characters to Notes, since it was out of place when you included the reference to Adams' RL experience. Tyrhinis 18:30, August 30, 2005 (UTC)

Should the salmon of doubt be mentioned here too? 131.111.8.99

You COULD mention Salmon of Doubt, in the context that that was slated to be the third Dirk Gently novel, never finished, etc etc. --JohnDBuell 12:28, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] How many it sold

Is it at all possible to get some figures as to how well this, as well as it's sequel, sold? Especially compared to The Guide? I've never had a clue as to how popular this was in relativity and can't imagine how to get such numbers myself.

Probably your only choices would be to contact the publishers (William Heinemann in the UK, and Pocket Books/Simon and Shuster in the US) and ask for figures. Another possibility would be to contact Nielsen Bookdata, http://www.nielsenbookdata.co.uk/nbd/index.asp - but be prepared to pay for figures received from the latter service. There are also ways to track Amazon's sales data, including the book's Amazon rank.... --JohnDBuell 12:01, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Calculator

Wasn't the weird calculator that Dirk bought called the I Ching? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Deathgecko (talk • contribs) 14:54, 6 December 2006.

Yes, but that was in the second book. --JohnDBuell 22:19, 6 December 2006 (UTC)
Oops, sorry. I knew that. --ArtifexCrastinus 18:31, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Removed links to common words

I've removed many of the extraneous links (to words like "cat," "bathroom," and so on, and will get to the layout in a week or so unless someone beats me to it.

Fabulous Creature 17:21, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Output of the "Lazy peer review" program

The following suggestions were generated by a semi-automatic javascript program.

You may wish to browse through User:AndyZ/Suggestions for further ideas. Thanks, Kweeket 21:49, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

"It has been" is used twice.
  • Due to these malfunctions, it has been ejected from civilisation with only a horse, as horses are rather cheap to produce. — Clearly not weasel words, but a statement of the plot.
  • Chaos theory, as it has been popularized, is therefore an appropriate context for this novel. — Not weasel words, per se, but it is an unsubstantiated opinion due to the second half, "Is therefore an appropriate context for this novel". I'm not sure what to do about it. Does that need a source?
In either case I crossed that line out of the review, as weasel words are not the issue.67.85.254.111 18:49, 4 July 2007 (UTC)
  • Chaos theory, as it has been popularized, is therefore an appropriate context for this novel. - I changed this line to read, Chaos theory, in its accessible form popularized by writers such as James Gleick, is therefore an appropriate context for this novel. Gleick wrote those books that made chaos theory a household word. Kweeket 00:49, 6 July 2007 (UTC)
  • That's that then, but I take it there is more to do? —67.85.254.111 01:31, 6 July 2007 (UTC)
  • Well, there is redundancy in the plot introduction and the plot summary that could be eliminated, as well as "Vague terms of size" somewhere... Kweeket 07:29, 6 July 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Instructions in Kubla Khan

What were these instructions? The book certainly doesn't say, other than that the ghost will never be able to end his torment and destroy life without them. Kubla Khan would also not be of much help here, as our version contains no instructions.

Clearly the plan involved going forward in time to change Kubla Khan before Wenton-Weakes went back 4 billion years in the past. But what he needed in Coleridge is purposely vague. Did Adams ever mention anything more specific? Right now we have two competing hypotheses. 1) That Kubla Khan was used to control Wenton-Weakes or any possible future host or 2) That the instructions for averting the disaster were in Kubla Khan, and Weakes wouldn't be able to change the past, by averting the launch and properly fixing the lander, without them. Is there any definitive proof for either of the hypotheses. 67.85.254.111 00:59, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

It's a joke that you don't get to find out. They go back and interrupt the poet in mid-flow so he can't recall all of his dream in the changed time-line at the end of the story (ie, our reality). It's not just the instructions that get erased, but also the reading at the collage that Richard and Reg have heard which is just referred to in passing. It's Douglas having a good old joke on the reader.  BRIANTIST  (talk) 18:33, 14 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] New BBC Adaptation

In the article it says

"o make an 18 x 30 minute adaptation of Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently books. It will run over 3 series of 6 episodes and will begin in October of 2007"

There are only two completed books, which are this book and Long Dark. The Salmon of Doubt is unfinished. The press release BBC - Press Office - Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency opens for business. Retrieved on 2007-08-14. makes clear that there is a "first series of six 30-minute episodes" but I thought that "and we've finished the last book too!!!!" would be an important element of a Press Release? Otherwise the page needs some trimming.  BRIANTIST  (talk) 18:38, 14 August 2007 (UTC)

http://www.abovethetitle.com/hda_home.php/hda_home.php states there will be three series. The third will presumably be Salmon of Doubt. It does not state that each series will be 6 episodes long. Perhaps series 2 and 3 will be shorter, as were the Qandary and Quintessential phases of H2G2.71.205.219.229 17:14, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

ah, but the amazon.co.uk product synopsis states this is the first of three 6X30-minute series - so 18 episodes it is, at least by their info. 71.205.219.229 02:36, 13 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] The sofa

I got the impression that they prevented the sofa from getting stuck at the end, rather than causing it to get stuck, because if they'd caused the sofa to get stuck then that contradicts the entire rest of the book. The novel shows examples of changing the past, and alternate timelines - but if they caused the sofa to get stuck then that'd mean they were destined to time-travel and change the past... well, you get it. It's a contradiction.

Of course, if they prevented the sofa from getting stuck then it leaves unexplained how the sofa got stuck in the first place. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.239.97.10 (talk) 02:26, 21 March 2008 (UTC)