not what i was expecting from the description

i enjoyed it.
but its not another hitchhiker book
more a good tribute to adams, thats ok but its not decribed as such.
there is about a hour of material and its such a shame it wasnt made into i finished book.
the tributes are good though and i would recommend it. just be nice to know what your buying.

17 people found this helpful

A mix of emotions

Being a collection of old letters, notes, lectures and unfinished stories, The Salmon Of Doubt feels a little like a wake for the late Douglas Adams. But if it is a wake, it's a knees-up, jolly Irish style remembering and celebration of his life and work.

Needless to say, his wit, intelligence and knack for story writing shines through here, despite the longing for more when the audiobook comes to a close.

Simon Jones (Arthur Dent in the radio and TV Hitchhikers series) does a good job of portraying Adams in his notes and interviews, though maybe less so as some of the characters in the later stories. That's no fault considering the wide range of characters he has to contend with here. Despite this, it's a highly recommended listen even if, like me, you've previously read the book several times.

5 people found this helpful

Holistic tribute to the ultimate galactic hitch-hiker

This is one for the hardcore Douglas Adams fans. It’s a collection of his journalism, fragments including speeches and even faxes, as if the content of his desk drawers has been raided and committed to audio. The overall effect is varied: it does give an insight into Adams’ philosophy and world-view. But it’s perhaps a little too unfocused, a kind of sprawling miscellany of Adams-related trivia. The draft of the unfinished Dirk Gently novel - The Salmon of Doubt - is relatively short. It’s an intriguing premise, and there are some very good jokes. At secondary school, Adams responded to a letter I wrote to him, looking for a contribution to a charity joke book. He replied with: ‘What do you call a chicken that only goes halfway across the road? A Rhode Island Red.’ Not all of the celebs I tried did respond (Peter Cook sent a blueprint of some very detailed plans for a toilet block for the CIA headquarters, full of spying jargon; I asked for his picture and he declined, saying one joke was enough ...) This is a warm tribute to a fantastic writer, and worth sticking with to the end: it’s also likely to inspire you to revisit the Adams canon, which is perhaps its greatest strength.

2 people found this helpful

So long and thanks for all the words

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

If that friend loved the work of Douglas Adams, I absolutely would. Possibly not for the unfinished quality of the Dirk Gently story included, but more for the wonderful collection of articles and thoughts that take up the first few hours. There are some real gems in there that any fan of Adams needs to read. They contain his thoughts on a variety of subjects and every single one of them has that unmistakable Douglas Adams touch that simply no other author could have. Noone will make you look at Bach, The Beatles or exciteable dogs the way Adams does.

What did you like best about this story?

Each little snippet of thought in the collected material from the harddrive of Douglas Adams is like a friendly wave from a long lost friend. He left us far too soon and it's such a wonderful thing to have all these articles of writing together in one great audiobook. Many of these collected works had me giggling my head off in public places, just as the Hitchhiker books did. It was a real pleasure to read them all.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Simon Jones is literally the only person who I see as Arthur Dent. Not only that, but he was also one of Adams' friends and worked with him closely, so if anyone has the ability to read these things how they should be read, it's him. He does a wonderful job and I am looking forward to visiting this book again in the future.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

I wouldn't. because films that aren't done by the bbc have a history of screwing up his work. Leave it alone, damn it!

Any additional comments?

This audiobook is just all kinds of wonderful. I grew up listening to the hitchhikers radio plays and the books as well. I and my friends could quote them word for word in some places, so for me this is a wonderful treasure and I am so glad it was performed so brilliantly in audio. Thank you!

2 people found this helpful

A hint of what was still to come

Sequels to THHGTTG seek, not too successfully, to expand upon the 70's mindset of Adams. This book gives a hint towards what Adams himself would have done. His humour had definitely moved on and showed his obsession with the frustrations of computers (although he was obviously an Apple bore). I'm sure this would have fed into a sequel to keep the franchise fresh.
As the blurb points out, this is a collection of bits & pieces taken from letters, magazine articles etc and therefore is best listened to in small parts.
It's rather odd that Simon Jones is now the voice of Douglas Adams, but it's very fitting and evokes the unique atmosphere of Adams' humour in the character of Arthur Dent.
I'd have given it 5 points but for the misleading impression that there is more than one narrator. There isn't. Dawkins, Fry & Cerf, however, do provide amusing introductions to the book.

8 people found this helpful

Like listening to the inside of Adam's head.

Funny, poignant, funny, a little disjointed at times , a very familiar narrator and lastly very funny.

1 person found this helpful

Interesting posthumous collection of adams leftovers

Probably worth consuming non leftovers first, but this was interesting. Near the end we had about a quarter of an unfinished dirk gently book. Mostly comic opinion pieces by Adams otherwise.

a good insight

a good book and a good insight to the author, it is not a 'hitchhikers guide' book but a series of essays, interviews and discussions and half a 'Dirk Gently' stoty

good but confusing?

I was rather confused, when the book started with lots of interviews with D. Adams. But it was actually really good. then suddenly characters from hitchhiker's was introduced and it didn't really make sense. the same thing when dirk gently was introduced. The stories were good, but it would have made more sense to keep them separate.

D.n.a

Not too bad,though I though it may have been more of an i insight into his thoughts about liff,the universe and everything.shame he died