Douglas Adams... :D

[Tomb_Raven]

Heya...

Havnt seen a thread like this yet... well that is to say on this topic. So here we idolise discuss Douglas Adams.

He wrote the most amazeing radio show ever The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy. Imo its a work of pure genious. The dialog is so amazeingly balanced and well written.

Who else has enjoyed his works? And why?

Personaly i think i prefered the books to the radio series for hitch hikers...

Also i had an old copy of dirk gentlies lieing around and when i saw it was Douglas Adams i picked it strait up, sadly its very disapointing :( got reeealy bored through the second chapter. Just my opinion

Whats yours?

Raven

[TinSoldier]

Dirk Gently was okay, but The Hitchhiker's Guide was the best. They didn't even screw up the recent movie, bless thier souls.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was a very influential work to me.

[SpoonlessJedi]

I've been worshipping The Great Douglas Adams since I was four years old and read the five books of the Hitchhiker's Trilogy. My pet computer, whom I built when I was seven, is named Douglas, after said lord of literature.

Pretty much everything he did was excellent, even the rough, unedited pieces compiled in The Salmon of Doubt. Dirk Gently was great, but he'll never measure up to the masterwork of Arthur Dent and "What is six times nine?" Seriously, I cried when Douglas Adams died a few years ago. It was more heartbreaking than when James Doohan died last summer.

I smiled when I saw this thread... ^_^ Sorry, but Mr. Adams was the greatest.

[TinSoldier]

Wow! You read Douglas Adams at the age of four? I bow to your superior intellectual capacity, madam!

[Sophistemon]

Well, though I didn't read Douglas Adams when I was four (I was enjoying Stephan King, which explains a lot) I, too, greatly enjoyed the Guide. Adams was a master of dialogue. Plots... not so much. But his dialogue was brilliant.

[Midnight Son]

I have only read his Hitchhiker's Guide series, so I can't speak to anything else. For the most part I found it quite amusing and interesting. I only have two things(one I disliked and one I find uncontinuous) that bug me about the Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy:

1. I disliked almost all of the fifth book.
2. Spoiler When Zaphod climbs out through the window into the universe made especially for him, he never climbs back in. As such, everything that happens after that point does not actually happen.

[SpoonlessJedi]

Well, though I didn't read Douglas Adams when I was four (I was enjoying Stephan King, which explains a lot) ...

I respect your taste and share your joy, but I seriously hope I never meet you down a dark alley...

[Sophistemon]

Aw, I'm not that bad. All it did was give me a morbid sense of humor, also known as 'black' or 'dark' humor. I find funny in things that most people would not.
As to the spoiler, that was the point. Adams was planning more books, even though he Spoiler: killed off most of the main cast in the final book/Spoiler.
Too bad he died before he could.

[Tomb_Raven]

Personaly i think the movie wasnt bad as such too much hmmm.... but it could have been amayeing. Had they left it but not screwed around with the dialog and all time greatest speaches it would have been twice as good. I mean what sort of crap is "freeze, im a robot not a refridgerator". I bet Douglas turned in his grave at that one... Shakes head...

[Midnight Son]

Well, if he didn't want most people thinking he screwed the pooch somehow, he should have found a way to keep writing even after he died. Inconsiderate, I say...inconsiderate.

[Sophistemon]

Well, you know that he was an atheist, right? A form of life after death would have been abhorrent to him.

[Spuddly]

Hmmm, some sort of madlibs program maybe. Teaching robots to be funny can't be that hard, can it?

[Midnight Son]

Does life after death require a god. no wait. don't answer that. I like this discussion too much.

[TinSoldier]

Personaly i think the movie wasnt bad as such too much hmmm.... but it could have been amayeing. Had they left it but not screwed around with the dialog and all time greatest speaches it would have been twice as good. I mean what sort of crap is "freeze, im a robot not a refridgerator". I bet Douglas turned in his grave at that one... Shakes head...

You know that the story continually evolved from radio play to book to movie(s) with each iteration right? And that Douglas was involved in each rewrite?

He never saw it as a static story. As long as the movie was in the making, he was still constantly re-writing the script. And the people who made the movie knew him very well and think the final product would meet with his approval.

[TinSoldier]

Does life after death require a god. no wait. don't answer that. I like this discussion too much.

Yeah, I don't want to get into that because while I don't believe in life after death, I do believe in God. Don't reply here, just let that thought percolate through your brain.

[Sophistemon]

Well, in any case, he didn't believe in an afterlife. He was an environmentalist. He cared about the planet, and he cared about the here-and-now.

[Spuddly]

He also wrote some very good radio shows and later books.

His movie was a travesty. Ugh, it was terrible!

[Sophistemon]

Never say that again. The modern audience just couldn't handle its majesty.

[Tomb_Raven]

But that particular thing imo would have pained him as much as me. It was laaaaame i doubt he would have liekd that. Or the way they cropped the "interesting rhythimic devices which seem to counterpoint the surrealism of the underlieing metaphor etc. " bit. That was one of my favourite bits in all time and they cut it to shreds :(

Also i doubt the world portrayed in the movie, the universe i mean is anything how h imagined it. It seems way too bleak and vogon orientated. In his books its much more colourfull (unless you are on the planet nowhere with the bog hogs (not sure if thats the name)) a lively place full of parties with improbabilit generators flinging underwear around. And the neverending quest for drinks. The movie seems a bit... dull... in that respect.

And most importantly they completely omited the towel entry in the guide, the towels must have been a complete oddity and mistery to people who havnt read the book.

WTF why are those guys running away from a man with a towel.

Also its a nice entry. I dunno... it just didnt portray the universe in the way that i and i think douglas had imagined it.

Raven
EDIT: His movie was amazeing... lovely i loved it :D now remake that with modern technology to flesh out the aliens and gadgets and things and you have perfection

[Tomb_Raven]

Just cos it is very apropriate...

one of my old sig banners...

[SpoonlessJedi]

The thing about Mr. Adams' works that made them so great was the reeking sense of obvious English humour that most Americans fail to grasp. His books were detailed enough that they could include some aspects that Americans find appealing, but mainly revolved around English humour, much like the Monty Python movies.

The recent movie, however, had to be boiled down given the obvious restrictions of a motion picture, and thus really didn't include many "things" for your average American viewer, other than a few nerd-culture references. The rest consisted strictly of what English intellectuals and nerds would find amusing, much like the Monty Python television series.

I love tying different aspects of geek culture together, even if they don't make much sense. Forgive my obscure referencing.

[Tomb_Raven]

I agree.

Most british humour such as Black Adder, monty python, Douglas Adams and the like is lost on your average american.

They prefer Mr. Bean. They find it insanly funny. I dont get it. Sigh nevermind. Im guessing its only geeky or nerdy humour cos its actualy intelectual and witty. Wit being the most important worda nd part of the humour. Not many peole go into that any more. Sad. And guess what? I blame Charley Chaplin. Baldrick balancing a slug is much better than him ;)

Raven

[Spuddly]

The thing about Mr. Adams' works that made them so great was the reeking sense of obvious English humour that most Americans fail to grasp. His books were detailed enough that they could include some aspects that Americans find appealing, but mainly revolved around English humour, much like the Monty Python movies.

The recent movie, however, had to be boiled down given the obvious restrictions of a motion picture, and thus really didn't include many "things" for your average American viewer, other than a few nerd-culture references. The rest consisted strictly of what English intellectuals and nerds would find amusing, much like the Monty Python television series.

Quoted for truthiness.

[TinSoldier]

As an American (US Citizen, that is) I really appreciate most British humor.

I loved the movie, but it looked more like a TV movie than a Big-Screen movie.

Tomb-Raven, I think I was the one who requested to make that sig. Just saying ;).

I do wish they had done a better job about the towel. To this day, a towel is the single most important that I make sure I have wherever I go.

[Tomb_Raven]

Im not trying to insult anyone in particular or general with my comments on americans. im just saying that from personal experiance 2 americans have had a true apreciatin for the humour. Thats to say they didnt only laugh at the the base slap stick and crude jockes.

Oh yeah :D It was you who requested it. One of my old paint jobs :D

I mean the new movie is a bit random and inconsistent which would be fine if it was more intergrated in the movie. For example they just happened to jump to where the coords for magrathea are. Its like a massive coincidence but it looks like a mistake. Had the theme been more extensive like in the books/radio it could have been a funny part/aspect of the movie.

Also for me the movie is too full of things only fans of the books will find funny. The gazelle that the vogon sits on for instance or the jewled scuttling crabs.

Raven

EDIT: Rather than towels, im an avid dressinggown person (bathrobe for those onthe wrong side of the ocean)

[Sophistemon]

Hey, I get British humor! Most of your jokes secretly make fun of your meaningless monarchy!

Kidding. Please don't kill me.

[Midnight Son]

As I have said before, I am an American, but I love me some good British humour. I liked the movie. yes, it wasn't as good as the book, but are movies, which have to be fairly short as a rule, ever as good as the book? You just can't fit everything in that a fan of a book will want to see. Also, studios are apt to make changes based on what they think will make the movie more popular. The fact that they are rarely right just shows that studios are run by Spoonheads.

[Sophistemon]

It's not about the movie to Hollywood. It's about the money. Which is why for every truly innovative idea we'll get a thousand knockoffs and remakes.

[Space-Is-Curved]

The only works of his that I have read are the Hitchhikers series. The books are fantastic, but seem to get worse as they go. I absolutely loved the way the infinate improbability drive was described, something they didn't portray that great in the movie, though I did love that "I think I'm a sofa" line. I don't know how much of the "English humor" I understand, but it's enough to think the books are hilarious.

Douglas managed to put humor in just about every sentance through his writing.

"They floated in the air in the same way that bricks don't" If i completely misquoted that, I'm sorry. I do not have my copy at hand.

I remember at summer camp one year I forgot to bring a towel. I was miserable. Then I read the Guide and now I bring one everywhere.

If anyone doubts my fan-itude, look at my sig. ;D

[Tomb_Raven]

I just want to stress that im generalising... im saying that americans in general. And there is no way you can disagree with that. You live there :P dont kill me either