I decided to reread this before the BBC show started, which turned out to be totally unnecessary. I thoroughly enjoyed the first episode of the show, but it has nothing to do with the book, except for one line about the “fundamental interconnectedness of all things,” and maybe some passing references to pizza and Thor. Still gonna watch, still gonna enjoy the book.
Dirk Gently doesn’t actually show up in his own book until page 85, and then he disappears again for a while. This is really Richard’s story, and we follow him as his life gets weirder and weirder (magic tricks, ghosts, hypnotic suggestions, breaking and entering). Dirk shows up to attempt to explain the weirdness and how it’s all holistically tied together, but only succeeds in confusing the plot even more. This Richard reminds me a bit of Neverwhere’s Richard – bumbling, basically good-hearted, flummoxed by finding out there’s so much more to the world than he thought, and dragged along into events against his better judgment. (Actually, now that I type that out, it’s very Arthur Dent as well.) Dirk, however, jumps gleefully into those events, making demands of everyone around him and expecting to be obeyed due to his cleverness and what he probably thinks is charisma. He lives by force of will, and it seems to work for him.
The plot is a little meandering, and I remember liking the second book better, and of course Dirk could never beat Hitchhiker, but Douglas Adams is never not fun. Plus, my mom brought me my old copy to read from her basement, and I found a picture cut from my high school newspaper of (one of) my high school crushes. So that was fun! Hi, Brandon!
I love this book and need to reread it!! I’m kind of glad the show isn’t too connected to the book. I want to enjoy both & I have a feeling a close adaptation just would not work.