Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency
by Douglas Adams · first published 1987
38% recommend60% neutral2% critical
Why HN recommends it
Funny, genre-blending comic mystery mixing detective story, time travel and ghosts, with clever ideas like the Electric Monk and the Sofa Problem; suits Hitchhiker's fans. The audiobook is read by Adams.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Zitat Klappentext: Eine mordsmäßige Detektiv-Gespenster-Horror-Kriminal-Zeitreisen-Romanzen-Musikkomödien-Geschichte von Douglas Adams, dem Autor des Bestsellers »Per Anhalter durch die Galaxis«.
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If anyone hasn't read or has forgotten Douglas Adams 'Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency' then I warmly recommend it. It includes, iirc, The Sofa Problem and the solution is classic Adams and all HNers will love it! :)
on “The moving sofa problem” ↗got to love Hitchhikers, I also enjoyed Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul by adams too.
on “Ask YC: favorite books” ↗Have you by any chance read both Douglas Adams' "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency"[1] and Douglas Hofstadter's "Gödel Escher Bach"[2]? If not, meet some kindred spirits! I love the fact that so much of Bach's music explores numerical relations and patterns. And I've still not heard…
on “All of Bach” ↗…me laugh out loud. Larry Niven's "Destiny's Road" points out the difficulty of interstellar colonization. "Ringworld" blew my mind. Gene Wolfe's "The Book of the New Syn" taught me to pay attention; "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" by Douglas Adams reinforced the lesson. There are a lot of good ones; I could go on for ages...
on “Ask HN: What's your favourite sci-fi/fantasy book?” ↗I first came across the story when reading Douglas Adams' "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" many decades ago. It spurred me to learn a bit more about philosophic science. Now it appears that every man and his cat spouts on about Mr. Schrodinger and his hapless kitty at the drop of a decayed…
on “How Schrödinger’s Cat Became Such a Violent Fable” ↗Fiction: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams. This was fun and unexpected time travel novel. Non Fiction: Siddhartha by Herman Hesse. This was a great read that resets you and puts things in perspective.
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?” ↗Those books immediately came to mind when I saw the submission title. In my opinion Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency is Adams's best work.
on “The moving sofa problem (2016)” ↗If you don't know it already, you might be interested in 'Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency' by Douglas Adams and/or the funnier second part 'The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul'.
on “The control group is out of control (2014)” ↗Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, especially enjoyable because it is read by Douglas Adams, the author, himself.
on “Ask HN: Favorite audio book for long drives?” ↗Thank you! What a silly slip of the fingers Although, now that Douglas Adams has been brought up, I think I should also recommend his lesser-known book, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, which I believe has some connection to Dr. Who.
on “They're Made Out of Meat” ↗I learned this from Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, which I strongly recommend.
on “Claude, change the “Add to Cart” button to blue” ↗This is the problem Richard MacDuff was wrestling with at the beginning of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. I love it when sci-fi from my childhood becomes reality.
on “Software engineers have figured out how to turn charts into music for the blind” ↗Douglas Adam's "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency". Probably the finest work of fiction ever written, and my favorite book of all time. You kind of have to read it twice, the end completely changes the interpretation of the entire rest of the book.…
on “Ask HN: Which books have you read more than once?” ↗If you're into rainy days, you might also want to try Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
on “McDonald’s unreliable ice cream machines reportedly under FTC investigation” ↗…couple listens, and a third listen was just for comfort food. The Altered Carbon trilogy has depth and sublime world-building that I have now enjoyed at least a half dozen times. I second mentions of Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency (and will mention The Long, Dark Tea Time of the Soul as well). Ender’s Game is also comfort food for me. Breaking from the speculative fiction reco’s above... The Power of Vulnerability (Brené Brown)…
on “Ask HN: Which books have you read more than once?” ↗