THIS IS NOT THE LONG DARK TEA TIME OF THE SOUL

This audio "RETELLING" completely butchered a very good book. I made a horrible mistake of thinking this was the audiobook of The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul and it is NOT. I wasted an audiobook credit on this, thanks to Audible. This is a version that sounds like listening to a terrible slapstick play, missing 100 percent of the things about Douglas Adams writing that makes this story good. Please don't make the same mistake I did. THIS IS NOT THE BOOK IN THE SLIGHTEST.

4 people found this helpful

Improving series, but still no Guide

Dirk Gently is still not on the level of Hitchhiker's Guide, obviously, but this sequel is a better read than the first. Easier to follow, and very funny, the story is intriguing. Can't lose with mythological consumerism!

I do wonder though, with the irreverent Norse gods hanging around, did this or American Gods come out first?

2 people found this helpful

Clever, Creative, Engaging and Imaginative.

A tale with enough wit and plot twists to give the mind's eye a colorful story to visualize. Intelligent details. Captivating dialog, with enough respect for the reader to avoid polluting the text with profanity. Delightful storytelling. An author that dances with the intellect of his audience. An under appreciated style of humor. I hope to discover another similarly brilliant author. Thank you , Mrs. Ann H.

2 people found this helpful

More to say about 'Rubbish'

It's so strange to find the first installment of this series (Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency) so incredibly good and this one so Incredibly Bad. But whoever rewrote the book for THIS dramatization seemed to forget what should be completely plain from the title of the first book- i.e.- this is a DETECTIVE story, like the Hitchiker's Guide Books are road stories (kind of). And the point of a detective story, even one with such an odd detective, is to not give the game away Until The Very End. Among other things, there is a scene in here of a meeting which basically explains (gives away) the whole book-in the first five minutes of chapter 1! So the plot is shot, the suspense is gone, and what's left? One dimensional, tired, forced slapstick. In the original book, there's a buildup of strange events intruding into a familiar world that lends a depth to the story, but this version's just irritating. Maybe this is just a case of cashing in on a sequel. Just don't blame Douglas Adams, someone mauled a good story. On the bright side, this one made me realize that the good Mr. Adams was more than just a comedy writer (although he was VERY funny), he could really WRITE.

5 people found this helpful

More to enjoy!

For those of you who are fans of Dirk Gently, be prepared for a wonderful aural experience that will amaze your inner mind (or at least the part that isn't full of penguins). This adaptation of the late Douglas Adams' second Dirk Gently story offers wonderful insights into the many characters introduced in this story. It also offers an excellent look at the characters we came to know and love in the first Dirk Gently dramatization.

2 people found this helpful

A laugh a minute.

I was glad to hear of the BBC's adaptations of the Dirk Gently novels. After listening to and being thoroughly impressed with their handling of holistic Detective Agency I took a listen to the sequel, Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul. Again I found myself laughing so hard I was surprised when I didn't pee my pants. They made some changes to the story to bring it into the modern age, and while I generally hate it when people make such changes, it worked surprisingly well here. It helped that they picked an excellent cast for these whacky characters.
It all started while Kate Schechter was waiting to catch a plane to Norway. Already running late as it was, she's delayed even more by a big, angry Nordic man who also wants to catch the flight but is prevented from doing so by is lack of a credt card, bank account, passport or any kind of identification. Any chance of either of them making the flight is irrevocably lost when the check-in desk suddenly shoots up through the ceiling engulfed in a ball of orange flame.
Meanwhile, holistic investigator Dirk Gently is forced by poverty to make ends meet by putting his frustratingly accurate powers of clairvoyance to use as a cross dressing fortune teller. Things get hectic when Dirk is retained by a rich record company executive who claims to be pursued by a gobblin waiving a contract signed in blood and a giant, hairy green-eyed monster with a sythe. Though initially skeptical of this excentric's story, Dirk begins to take it seriously when he arrives several hours late for an appointment with his client only to find him brutally decapitated with his head sitting squarely in the center of his record player's turntable, which happens to be playing a copy of a record he helped get released. As Dirk digs deeper he discovers shocking truthes behind his client's murder, truthes that may even have a bearing on the bizarre incident at the airport as well as the disappearance of the girl working at the exploded check-in desk and a fighter pilot who went missing during a mission over the North Sea.
All in all this is an excellent adaptation well worth adding to your library, particularly if you like British humor. And despite his absence from the actual novel I actually liked how they brought Richard MacDuf back for this presentation since it gives a bit more of a sense of continuity. I also got to wondering if the Kate from the original novel of Holistic Detective Agency is the same Kate who features prominently in this presentation, now carrying a different name. If you havent given this a listen yet I wholeheartedly recommend it. You might just be in for a good time.

3 people found this helpful

Excellent, Reminds me of BBC sitcoms.

This more fun to listen to then most audiobooks. The full cast really made it a lot of fun.

The book was better?

Not to sound cliche, but this version of the story wasn't bad, but the actual book is better.

Douglas Adams and Dirk Maggs with another winner.

Dirk Maggs does a brilliant job adapting this sequel to Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.

Smart humor.

Seriously funny. Brilliant combination of terrific writing and a fabulous cast of narrators. Loved it!