Lady Luck had taken an instant dislike to Jane from the moment she was born.
A
series of complications ensured she plopped out of her mum prematurely,
resulting in being trapped in the incubator for a good couple of
months. Then followed a series of incidents that can only be put down to
pure bad luck. A sleepy nurse had handed her to the wrong parents; as a
result, she had grown up with an alcoholic father and a bulimic mother.
Jane
was almost always picked last in school for games owing to her small
frame, was a wallflower when it came to parties, and being
underdeveloped at seventeen ensured she still hadn’t gotten her first
kiss yet.
Jane
ran away from home at nineteen, hooked up a ride with a some hippies
and, when their truck was stopped by a policeman for speeding, was
promptly arrested along with the group for drugs and whatnot. Lady Luck
perhaps decided to throw the poor kid a bone here, since the policemen
who took the hippies in gave Jane a once over, checked her belongings,
and told her to get the hell out of there before they changed their
collective minds.
The first town she chose had a sleepy little population of 400 people.
Prosecutors would later argue that the murders started exactly two days after she entered town.
Jane just smiled.
May 28, 2012
May 15, 2012
The Long Dark Tea-Time of The Soul - Douglas Adams
(Might contain some spoilers)
The Story
Strange things are happening in London. Police are baffled by a mysterious death - a man is found dead in a room, all doors and windows securely locked from the inside. The police would gladly term it as suicide; only, the man's neatly severed head is sitting a few feet away.
Around the same time, an explosion at a check-in counter of Heathrow airport has the authorities puzzled - no one has gotten seriously hurt, and there are no explosives to be found at the place that would actually explain how the explosion happened.
Dirk Gently, holistic detective and lazy bum, decides to look into the matter.
Just so you understand what kind of detective you're dealing with here, let
us get to know Mr. Gently better, shall we? It has been a full 3 months since
Dirk has opened his fridge, and, afraid of what unspeakable things might be
taking life inside, he opts to throw it out and buy a new fridge instead. If Dirk
Gently's in his car heading someplace and needs to ask for directions, he
doesn't. No sir. He just chooses a car that looks like it knows where it's
going and follows it.
So, anyway, Dirk Gently starts his investigation and runs into Kate Schechter.
Kate Schechter has gotten herself involved in the matter purely by an unfortunate coincidence. She is waiting at the check-in counter for her Oslo flight, minding her own business, when she notices the man before her is being impossibly obtuse. First, he doesn't have a ticket; when the check-in girl asks him to buy a ticket, he doesn't have the cash; he opts to pay by cheque instead, and gets deeply roused when the check-in girl tells him they don't accept cheques.
On the verge of missing her flight, and exasperated beyond endurance, Kate offers to pay for his ticket, and will he please write the cheque over to her –
At this point he thoughtfully replies
he doesn't have a cheque book. Kate pays nevertheless, but the last straw is
when the girl asks for his passport and he slowly replies he doesn't have that
one, either.
Kate walks away then leaving the man and the check-in girl to argue in peace, and moments later the explosion happens. The obtuse guy happens to be none other than Thor, the God of thunder and a lot of other things, as he introduces himself to Kate at a later stage (unfortunately for him, when she’s in a foul mood) –
The
plot also includes Odin, Thor's dad, Toe Rag, Odin's weasly side-kick
not unlike Gollum of LOTR fame, a green monster, and a couple of others
who are unimportant, so I've forgotten their names.
You've got to read the book to uncover the mystery of the death, the explosion, and other things - it wouldn't be fun if I wrote everything here.
My Take
Douglas Adams had already wowed me with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, so when my husband suggested reading The long Dark Tea-Time of The Soul, I didn't need to think twice. Since Douglas Adams had already achieved perfection with The Hitchhiker's Guide, I consciously had somewhat low expectations from this one. I was pleasantly surprised - he dealt with the serious topics of death and explosions and father-son relationship strain with due respect, and he had me in splits at the same time.
Some parts of the book are particularly funny. At one point along the way, Dirk picks up a newspaper and turns to the horoscope page, and reads his horoscope for the day -
The horoscope for that paper is
written by The Great Zaganza, an old friend of Dirk’s who knows his birthday :P
Whatever his plot might be, Douglas Adams manages to infuse a hilarious riot of humor into all his lines. The only complaint I have with this book is, he ended it much too abruptly. He could easily have gone on for another 50 pages or so without boring anybody, but he chose instead to end it with an abruptness that must’ve surprised him as well.
If you found the plot and the story gripping, go ahead and read the book. If you haven't - well, read it anyway because it is so awesome :D
The Story
Strange things are happening in London. Police are baffled by a mysterious death - a man is found dead in a room, all doors and windows securely locked from the inside. The police would gladly term it as suicide; only, the man's neatly severed head is sitting a few feet away.
Around the same time, an explosion at a check-in counter of Heathrow airport has the authorities puzzled - no one has gotten seriously hurt, and there are no explosives to be found at the place that would actually explain how the explosion happened.
Dirk Gently, holistic detective and lazy bum, decides to look into the matter.
Just so you understand what kind of detective you're dealing with here, let
us get to know Mr. Gently better, shall we? It has been a full 3 months since
Dirk has opened his fridge, and, afraid of what unspeakable things might be
taking life inside, he opts to throw it out and buy a new fridge instead. If Dirk
Gently's in his car heading someplace and needs to ask for directions, he
doesn't. No sir. He just chooses a car that looks like it knows where it's
going and follows it.So, anyway, Dirk Gently starts his investigation and runs into Kate Schechter.
Kate Schechter has gotten herself involved in the matter purely by an unfortunate coincidence. She is waiting at the check-in counter for her Oslo flight, minding her own business, when she notices the man before her is being impossibly obtuse. First, he doesn't have a ticket; when the check-in girl asks him to buy a ticket, he doesn't have the cash; he opts to pay by cheque instead, and gets deeply roused when the check-in girl tells him they don't accept cheques.
On the verge of missing her flight, and exasperated beyond endurance, Kate offers to pay for his ticket, and will he please write the cheque over to her –
"My name is Kate Schechter. Two 'c's, two
'h's, two 'e's, and also a 't', an 'r', and an 's'. Provided they're all there
the bank won't be fussy about the order they come in, they never seem to know
themselves."
Kate walks away then leaving the man and the check-in girl to argue in peace, and moments later the explosion happens. The obtuse guy happens to be none other than Thor, the God of thunder and a lot of other things, as he introduces himself to Kate at a later stage (unfortunately for him, when she’s in a foul mood) –
"I am Thor. I am the God of Thunder. The God
of Rain. The God of the High Towering Clouds. The God of Lightning. The God of
the Flowing Currents. The God of the Particles. The God of the Shaping and the
Binding Forces. The God of the Wind. The God of the Growing Crops. The God of
the Hammer Mjollnir."
"Are you?" simmered Kate.
You've got to read the book to uncover the mystery of the death, the explosion, and other things - it wouldn't be fun if I wrote everything here.
My Take
Douglas Adams had already wowed me with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, so when my husband suggested reading The long Dark Tea-Time of The Soul, I didn't need to think twice. Since Douglas Adams had already achieved perfection with The Hitchhiker's Guide, I consciously had somewhat low expectations from this one. I was pleasantly surprised - he dealt with the serious topics of death and explosions and father-son relationship strain with due respect, and he had me in splits at the same time.
Some parts of the book are particularly funny. At one point along the way, Dirk picks up a newspaper and turns to the horoscope page, and reads his horoscope for the day -
"You
are very fat and stupid and persistently wear a ridiculous hat which you should
be ashamed of."
Whatever his plot might be, Douglas Adams manages to infuse a hilarious riot of humor into all his lines. The only complaint I have with this book is, he ended it much too abruptly. He could easily have gone on for another 50 pages or so without boring anybody, but he chose instead to end it with an abruptness that must’ve surprised him as well.
If you found the plot and the story gripping, go ahead and read the book. If you haven't - well, read it anyway because it is so awesome :D
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