Tag: Listening

Douglas Adams – Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency | Review

Title: Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency

Author: Douglas Adams

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 248

Rating: 4*/5

 

Douglas Adams - Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

Douglas Adams – Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency

 

I’ve been looking forward to reading this for a while now, but I’ve been holding it back so that I’d have it to look forward to. I’ve not been enjoying reading as much of late and so I thought it was about time for me to pick this one up. I made a good call.

I’ve read Adams’ Hitchhiker’s books before and I’ve also seen the adaptation of Dirk Gently starring Elijah Wood on Netflix, but I also knew that the original book had a different plot to the series and so I had that to look forward to. I also feel like I’ve somehow gone full circle by reading the Hitchhiker’s books before listening to the radio show and then reading Dirk Gently after watching the adaptation. It makes a sort of “original book” sandwich.

The humour here was excellent and it’s what the book is really all about, but the plot itself and also the characterisation are spot on, if not exceptional. I also enjoyed reading the way that Adams wrote about technology, bearing in mind that this book was published before I was born. He future-proofed it pretty well. It had a joke about Excel that still works just as well today, which I think is a sign of how seriously savvy he was. This is definitely one worth reading.

 

Douglas Adams

Douglas Adams

 

Click here to buy Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency.


Terry Deary – The Rotten Romans | Review

Title: The Rotten Romans

Author: Terry Deary

Type: Non-Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 128

Rating: 9/10

 

Terry Deary - The Rotten Romans

Terry Deary – The Rotten Romans

 

The Rotten Romans has always been one of my favourite Horrible Histories books, on a par with the Vicious Vikings. Considering I was a keen reader and I grew up in the golden age of contemporary children’s fiction (Terry Deary, R. L. Stine and J.K. Rowling just for starters), that’s not a bad accolade!

As always, Deary’s writing does a great job of teaching you the history of one of the world’s most fascinating civilisations, and it’s got great visuals, too. I imagine there’s even an audio book, so your kids are sorted whether they learn by reading, listening or looking. It doesn’t get better than that.

 

Terry Deary

Terry Deary

 

Click here to buy The Rotten Romans.