"What do a dear cat, a computer whiz-kid and an Electric Monk who believes the world is pink have in common?"

Very funny & highly recommended.

Released on Tuesday, May 13, 2003 at to fellow bookcrosser.

Posted to gerbie7 in the Netherlands

Got this book in the mail today from Kittiwake. Thank you and I will certainly try reading it, even though I said it isn't my genre. Got to try to really judge and I hope I will enjoy it as much as you have.

Douglas Adams – Dirk Gently’s holistic detective agency (03-026)

My first swap on BookCrossing gave me this book by the author of the very famous Hitchhikers galaxy. I have to admit I was reluctant to read this one, this is completely not my genre. I just do not get fantasy and sci-fi, perhaps it is my lack of imagination, though my opinion is that I’ve got too much imagination to adapt to other’s. I want the image to appear in my mind, not someone else decide for me. Thanks to Kittiwake, who I got this book from, I started anyway.

Up until now the only three books in this genre I managed to finish (and appreciate!) were 1984, Brave new world and This perfect day. The first two have proven to be classics, with a lot of predictions coming true within half a century, the last one hopefully will be proven wrong, though I’m afraid Levin was as right as Huxley and Orwell.

This time I was pleasantly surprised to notice that you can use the genre with a sense of humour as well. It took me a bit to get into it, but I immediately liked the way some conversations went. An example:

- We’ve got one of your computers down the station, buggered if I can get it to work
- Which model do you have?
- I think it’s called a Quark II
- Well, that’s simple. It doesn’t work. It never has done. The thing is a heap of shit. I suggest you use it as a paperweight.
- I wouldn’t like to do that sir, the door would keep blowing open
- What do you mean officer?
- I use it to keep the door closed, nasty drought..

I opened the book at random to find this conversation, there are dozens like these in the book. I read another book at the same time, but found myself more and more often drawn towards the adventures of Dirk. In the story Dirk is trying to solve a murder, in the meantime saving the entire human race from extinction (at no extra charge).

I enjoyed reading this, though some of the twists in the second half of the book got me frowning a bit, I think I could read more by Adams. This doesn’t mean I’m drawn towards the whole genre though.

Released on Monday, July 28, 2003 at in the mail to fellow bookcrosser. in Ede, Gelderland Netherlands.

Mailed it to dutch-flybaby who wanted to give this one a go.

Found this book in the mailbox today. Thanks Gerbie7!
You'll never guess what happened when I opened the enveloppe... : this book looked kind of familiar. I went to the bookshelf where my husband keeps a few books... Never guessed he would have an english book on his bookshelf, the exact same one at that!!!
My husband and I have agreed to simultaneously read this book on our next foreign holiday.

I read this book (simultaneously with my husband who has his own copy of the book) on holiday in Turkey.
I have mixed feelings about this book. The story is ok and I loved the Electronic monk (he's hilarious!), but hated Dirk. The story was tediously slow at times, but I also laughed out loud several times because of the vivid descriptions.
It was nice talking with my husband about what we had just read.
I'm not sure I'll easily take another book of this author to read, maybe I'll try the hitchhikers guide (very) sometime.

RELEASE NOTES:

Mailed this book at the postoffice this afternoon as all the mailboxes here are already fireworkprotected which means a book does not fit in the slot anymore :-( I have traded this book for Robot visions by Isaac Asimov. Happy reading bookieboy!

Got this in the mail from another bookcrosser.

(edit: teveel andere dingen te doen. Staat nu als offer in een bookrelay).

Dit boek gaat nu naar Rotterdam, als onderdeel van een relay.

Arrived yesterday by mail! Thank you, Bookieboy, for putting it in the relay!

edit 30-06-2009: Forgot to make a JE when I finished this book. I enjoyed it very much, but I just didn't understand the ending... :(
It was really funny how every loose thread ended up in one big knot! I liked it!

picked up at OBCZ Zoomers

Got this from maid-of-kent as a partial viva-gift. Thanks very much!

What an obsolutely random story! Time travelling meets ghost stories meets computer geeks meets Cambridge. Add in a sprinkling of Douglas Adams's brilliantly funny style (as already shown by gerbie7) and you end up with a book that is a delightfully funny, if utterly pointless romp. (I know a romp has to go through something, but I haven't got the foggiest through what this one romps...)
I really loved the idea of the ghost of Gordon Way trying to drive his car, or working out how to relax and use a comfy chair (but failing miserably at both). But surely, the best invention ever (to mankind or any other society) is the Electric Monk, a robot that believes for you. It doesn't believe in anything specific, it just Believes. How cool is that? I want one of those!

A lovely read this book: funny, not really engaging the brain, but not quite stupid either. I loved it! I'll have to see if DJgib wants to have a go at it, too.

Really enjoyed this - especially the bits about the horse - but can't shake the feeling that I didn't quite get about half of it. Maybe I should give it another go :-)

It's the Cambridge Winter Ale Festival at the USC tonight. While we will enjoy this immensely, we are already hugely excited about the forthcoming summer beer festival, which will be the 42nd Cambridge Beer Festival. And hey, there's only one theme you can pick for number 42. So, it seems fitting to release this book tonight, so we can start getting in the spirit of things. I won't say where - you'll have to hunt.