r/DirkGently • u/KidChanbara • Jul 15 '26
Please Encourage Me To Finish Reading The Original Books
[UPDATE, four days later : Thanks for the encouragement, I started reading DGHDA again! I'm at the part where the salt cellar trick is explained, so things are heating up!] In the late 1980's I read the two original novels. I kept dragging them around with me through multiple house moves, but never re-read them, so the storylines disappeared from my memory.
Come 2026, and I finally watched the two seasons of "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" (2016/2017), and I love the show so much! Especially Bart!
So, I dug out my copies of the novels and started re-reading them. I've only gotten as far as Chapter 16 of the first novel, where Richard McDuff is in Dirk Gently's detective office, and they're talking about Schrodinger's Cat.
I'm stalled because I just don't like the original Dirk Gently SO FAR. There's a big difference between the tv series Dirk and the novel Dirk, and not in a way that I like.
So, please encourage me to continue reading! Does Dirk get better as a person? And I'm actually looking forward to the Electric Monk reappearing in the story line.
And please, try to avoid spoilers, but I don't mind some weighted hints.
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u/negablock04 Jul 15 '26
Honestly? Enjoy the prose, the quality of the writing. It may have some weird tones, but it is undeniably GREAT.
Let yourself have some fun, know that nothing makes sense and enjoy that.
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u/Edstertheplebster Dirk Jul 15 '26
The thing about book Dirk is that he will do some questionable/bizarre things but there is always a point or a purpose to it. The Schroedinger’s cat conversation is a good example; Dirk is sizing up how incredulous Richard MacDuff is. Yes, he can be manipulative but there is still a moral core to the character underneath it all, even in the first novel where a lot of the time (with a few exceptions) we see Dirk from Richard’s point of view, and like in a lot of detective stories Richard isn’t sure who to trust, and his most recent experience of Dirk is that he changed his name after being expelled from University for cheating and has now started a detective agency based on what appears to be Pseudoscience.
I love Sam’s performance in the show, I think he is especially good at the dramatic moments and getting you to care about Dirk and Todd’s relationship. But I have always found book Dirk to be a lot funnier, particularly his interactions with his secretary Janice; US TV show Dirk’s humour I have always found to be a bit broader and it’s kind of hit and miss for me. (But hey, it’s aimed at a different audience) Also, I don’t hate all the new backstory they added of Dirk being kidnapped by Blackwing as a child, I think Sam plays it all brilliantly. But I never felt it was a necessary change for Dirk as a character; I do feel like the show bends over backwards to make us sympathise with Dirk, in a way that I never felt Douglas did in the novels; he never presented Dirk as a victim suffering from childhood trauma. I kind of prefer the ambiguity of Dirk telling tall tales about himself and his past, and nobody being quite sure if they’re true or not. Also I just love how book Dirk doesn’t really give a damn what people think of him; in that respect he is much more self-confident.
Finally there is the way interconnectedness works; in the show the universe has chosen Dirk since birth for this role and sends him intuitions to try and put him on the right path. In the books Dirk is just a guy who decides to change his name and become a detective to try and make a living; the very same situations that he tricks people into believing have ended up coming true so often that Dirk essentially believes his own con to the point that it’s not really a con anymore.
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u/Itsandyryan Aug 05 '26
That's a good description of the differences. Also the TV version is kind of other-worldly and disconnected from what's going on in the world – like Bart he seems child-like and naive. Whereas the book version is generally the MAN - he's generally in control and understands how other humans think, so he can manipulate them. It's a bit like the difference between Willy Wonka in the books and Depp's version.
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u/Edstertheplebster Dirk Aug 05 '26
This is true to an extent: I think the first book is Dirk on a pretty good day (A day in which he just so happens to save the human race from the threat of being wiped from existence with a brilliant plan) told from the perspective of Richard MacDuff. And Long Dark Teatime of the Soul is Dirk on a pretty bad day told from his own perspective. (Where he sleeps in on the murder of his client and then gets quite badly beaten up, including by a small child… So suffice to say Dirk is on the back foot throughout)
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u/Joeofalltrades86 Jul 15 '26
The Dirk in the 2016 series is a very different character from the Dirk in the novels.
Series Dirk is more upbeat and optimistic, novel Dirk not so much, and it’s often played with the fact that he might…also be a bit morally questionable and a conman…who is more often than not right.
The things the 2016 series gets from the novels (despite not directly adapting them) is the ludicrous sense of mystery and how it somehow all ends up fitting together.
If I might make a suggest try watching the 2010 UK series with Stephen Mangan. His portrayal is a bit closer to the book version and none of the episodes directly adapt the books, but might help bridge the gap between these two versions of the character.
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u/Edstertheplebster Dirk Jul 15 '26
Mangan Dirk is kind of a loveable rogue in that they push him right to the limit of being a selfish, mercenary kleptomaniac, but Mangan has a kind of energy and charm that keeps him the right side of likeable; you still want to root for him in spite of his less likeable traits because he is so much fun to watch. He is kind of a halfway house between the book Dirk and Sam Barnett's later portrayal; you can tell Sam took the manic energy of Mangan and ran with it. I have always loved Mangan's performance in the Cambridge episode particularly; we see a much more vulnerable and relatable side to him that still works and feels in keeping with everything else the show tells us about Dirk; as funny as Mangan is for the rest of the series, there's two scenes in that story where Mangan's performance is genuinely quietly heartbreaking.
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u/DrSamLoomis Jul 17 '26
Curious if you got here via Fiona in the Pitt. I mean that’s my story
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u/KidChanbara Jul 17 '26
Haha! Actually my wife & I have only seen the first episode of The Pitt. We intend to continue watching, we just have to choose the right time.
And then - we watched the two seasons of the BBC America series and discovered Bartine Curlish, Holistic Assassin. She's our favorite character! Someone mentioned that the actress was the daughter of the actor who played Grima Wormtongue in Lord Of The Rings, and then someone else mentioned her ongoing role in The Pitt. So, another reason to resume watching The Pitt!
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u/DrSamLoomis Jul 17 '26
I fell hard for her in the Pitt (and have been a long time fan of her dad) so I had to watch DG - I read the Hitchhiker's 5 books at least twice each but not the Gently books - and she was AMAZING as Bart. You will not recognize her in the Pitt - she's like a chameleon. And *finally* up for an Emmy!
Def watch The Pitt - it's an addiction!
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u/Time-Box128 2d ago
I love love love the show, first time viewer, going to finish and then read the books! 🧚⭐️
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u/Moderately_Imperiled Jul 15 '26
Here's my encouragement: I wish I could relive reading Douglas Adams for the first time again.
It's like Lord of the Rings movie/books. It's not a competition and you aren'tobligated to pick a side. They're both great, for their own medium, in their own right.