The Salmon of Doubt (2002)

This posthumous collection gathers interviews, articles, essays, short stories, and the incomplete beginnings of what was to be the third Dirk Gently Novel. All of that along with an introduction, prologue, epilogue, and the order of his funeral services makes for a wonderful tribute to a beloved author which serves to give a sense of closure to fans. ( )

Don't be fooled, this is much more than simple the third instalment of the Dirk Gently series. The Salmon of Doubt contains a great collection of short stories, interviews, speeches, columns, insights, jokes and thoughts by the late Adams, including a great foreword and epilogue by Stephen Fry and Richard Dawkins respectively.

Oh, and then it has eleven chapters of the unfinished third Dirk Gently book.

Incidentally, I loved each and every bit of this collection, *except* the part on Gently. But then again, however much I love the HHGTTG, I was never fond of the holistic detective agency. ( )

This book is a collection of interviews with, articles by and story thoughts of Douglas Adams. The last part also includes a posthumous attempt at a draft of a novel Mr. Adams had been working on.

Perhaps if I had picked this up right after Mr. Adams died and I was also still a teenager, I might have enjoyed it. I loved the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy when I was a teen. I didn't so much go for the eventual Hollywood movie that was made. At the time, I attributed it to a poor screen implementation. Upon reading the draft novel in this book, I wonder if I have just changed to much (gotten older, wiser, dumber, erratic?) to appreciate Douglas Adam's rhetoric anymore.

Further, writers keep journals and notes, often to jog memories, write down ideas that came to them during the night/day, etc. I have kept several journals myself. However, these are internal ideas, and while fans might love to get their hands on them, they can't contribute to the larger dialogue between a writer and his/her audience. Writers craft, they don't just blurt out every thought (well, most don't). E.g., when you look at a beautiful piece of art or architecture, you don't see the sweat and tears, underlying supports, etc. You see the finished product. You know a lot went into it, but that's not the point, just the final product. That's my opinion, as a writer. ( )

I really enjoyed this read. I liked all the other Hitchhikers but not as much as this one. This one seemed special, very funny, not quite so mad. I would have loved to find out more about Gusty Winds, he had the makings of another five part trilogy.
So long, Douglas, thanks for all the laughs. ( )

This partially posthumous volume consists of a collection of magazine articles, newspaper columns, interviews and such like, along with one short story (about a young Zaphod)originally published in the Utterly Utterly Merry Comic Relief Christmas Book...a copy of which I own...and the (very) incomplete conflated text of three versions of the third Dirk Gently's novel. This novel was abandoned whilst Adams was still alive, in favour of a 6th Hitchhikers' novel. Adams had decided that the material/theme was better suited to the latter. Personally, I think a 3rd Gently's would have been much more fun than a 6th 'Hikers'. The Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul is my favourite Adams novel and The Salmon of Doubt looked to be very much in a similar vein, structurally and stylistically. It's a great shame that we will never see an end to this fragment.

THIS REVIEW HAS BEEN CURTAILED IN PROTEST AT GOODREADS' CENSORSHIP POLICY

See the complete review here:

http://arbieroo.booklikes.com/post/334996/post ( )