I needed a light and silly read to start off the new year, so I picked up Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency. This story falls into the same sort of category as The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, in the sense that it is absurd and quirky sci-fi. I’d put him into the same realm as writers like Terry Pratchett and Kurt Vonnegut, though I do think Vonnegut tries to say something with his work while the others are overall trying to have a good time writing, and give you one to boot.
I like Douglas Adams’ way of incorporating the random, bizarre and new into his work without it seeming like it doesn’t fit. Because his thing is that nothing really does fit. The whole point, perhaps, is how absurd something can be before you stop caring about it. Successfully, Adams and even Pratchett find a way to combine enough peculiarities together that people can giggle, sip their tea and turn the page.
The wilderness is vast and full of cosmic cheerios. Um, I mean…
Dirk Gently’s features a small cast of characters, all of whom have their own strange features and behavioural eccentricities. You’ll likely find the first half to be a bit slow as you’re mostly reading about Richard. At the half-way point everything speeds up, and um, happens. You can then expect:
- Ghosts
- Time travelling
- A Sherlock Holmesian Dr Whoesque sort of lad
- Space? Aliens? Something like that
- Possible witchcraft
- Robots
For the most part, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency is an enjoyable little ride into the comedic and absurd. I suggest it as a palate cleanser before diving into some more serious or heart felt works.
If you’d like to purchase a copy you can get it at Bookshop.org and support independent bookstores across the USA. You can also get a copy at Booksio, which is a charity-driven and woman-owned online book company.
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