I remember The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (H2G2) came out at exactly the same time as when I was asking myself the great questions about life, the universe and everything. How improbable is that?
It was a sad day when I heard about Douglas Adams' death in 2001. At that time, I had already read all five volumes of the H2G2 trilogy and the two Dirk Gently novels. Although I loved the original radio series of H2G2, I was more than underwhelmed by the Dirk Gently novels and the last two installments of H2G2. So when this posthumously published volume came out in 2002, I had no desire to read it. Fifteen years later, at the prompting of a
sweet nostalgic twinge for Douglas Adams, I tracked down The Salmon of Doubt.
I am glad I did, because I became acquainted with a side of Douglas Adams I did not know: Adams the non-fiction writer. This book contains a large selection of essays and writings on various matters, such as science, technology, religion and education. Each is written with a great deal of clarity and varying amounts of seriousness and humour, and each demonstrates that Adams was a man capable of deep thought.
The The Salmon of Doubt also includes some short fiction as well as a draft of the unfinished Dirk Gently novel from which this volume derives its name. These are less successful works.
Overall verdict: Mostly Serious.
