A Good Read
Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency Douglas Adams
When Douglas Adams’ novel was adapted for television, purists complained that the version shown bore little resemblance to the
original. That may be true, but it is perfectly possible to enjoy both.
The ‘detective’ element in the title is not entirely misleading - there is a detective story here, albeit one that doesn’t follow any of the usual patterns of the genre. As might be expected, Adams interweaves humour, science fi ction and a strong sense of the absurd, along with characters who are essentially believable and sympathetic, creating a novel which is much more than the sum of its parts.
The plot is almost impossible to summarise. There is a horse stuck in the bathroom of a Cambridge college for a start. An Electric Monk is on the loose. And Samuel Taylor Coleridge is particularly important.
Early in
the story, electronics entrepreneur Gordon Way, fi nds himself unexpectedly murdered and refuses to accept that death is indeed the end.
soon fi nds that the sofa stuck halfway up the staircase to his fl at is the least of his problems - not least when his old university acquaintance Dirk Gently, telephones him unexpectedly as he is in the middle of breaking into his girlfriend’s fl at...
What follows is often complex, mostly impossible, but always funny.
If nothing
else, it will make you think about time in a completely diff erent way.
30 To advertise in thewire t. 07720 429 613 e.
the.wire@btinternet.com His employee Richard MacDuff ,
Winnie’s Dinosaur Day Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul
It is easy to see how Winnie the Witch has become such a favourite character for young readers everywhere. This is her thirteenth outing and, as always, things don’t go totally to plan. Accompanied by her faithful cat Wilbur, Winnie loves to visit the museum. Not only are there buttons to press and levers to pull, there
are dinosaurs! Not real ones sadly - just bones and skeletons. Winnie would love to see a real dinosaur - Wilbur is not so keen. So when the museum runs a competition to draw or model a dinosaur, Winnie is determined to win...even if she needs some magic to help.
Thomas and Paul work as a perfect team to bring Winnie and Wilbur to life. The words are well judged and often understated, whilst Paul’s illustrations help to draw the reader in, giving depth and detail to the whole story.
Winnie may not always get it right, but it is bound to work out in the end - and children will love returning to the story again and again and again.
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