"Hitchhiker: A Biography of Douglas Adams" & other DNA related news/Qs.
Just finished MJ Simpsons DNA Biography which some of you will have seen me
toting in the pub on Thursday night.
Bit of a game of 2 halves really - Douglas' early life through to about the
early 80s is described in great detail, lots of stuff about Cambridge, the radio
series, first book, TV series and Doctor Who. Very enjoyable and considerably
elaborates on the detail in Neil Gaimon's excellent Don't Panic.
2nd half is far less detailed and filled with little bits that niggled me - the
writing of Long Dark Teatime of the Soul is condensed to one paragraph not even
including where he was locked up to write it, a chapter concentrating on DNA's
relationship with his wife to be chronicles them splitting up at one stage and
him talking about it on air but makes no mention of them getting back together
and instead just notes the day they got married, ignoring such details as best
man etc. What then follows is a chronicle of a company he was involved in and
their troubles producing Starship Titanic but not actually telling us a lot
about DNA who seems to feature rather as an incidental character who pops up
every so often usually in connection with the HHGttG movie. There's an awful
lot of foreshadowing of Douglas' death throughout the book as well.
The author also has a couple of little digs at Salmon of Doubt (both the book
and the story) "The novel fragment is a sad and unnecessary inclusion in a book
which some people consider to have been rushed out with unseemly haste" Well I
enjoyed both the book & story !
Anyway a couple of things have come from this:
1) I now know the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio scripts are to be
re-released on 21/03/03. They've been unavailable for a very long time, and
looked a good publication on the one occasion I was able to browse a copy.
2) As well as looking out my illustrated HHGttG, I've found my video tape with
Hyperland on it - *VERY* interesting viewing to see what it got right and wrong
(Nick - you'll enjoy it, remind me to bring it down when we have dinner) It
might be worth looking at setting up a private screening of this for interested
parties. I have discovered it's part of a loose trilogy of documentaries with
Horizon: Colonising Cyberspace and Equinox: School's Out. Incredibly while
searching for my A Very Peculiar Practice tapes (now located) I found a
recording of the Horizon program. Given what incredible hoarders of video some
of us are does anyone have the Equinox on tape somewhere ?
3) Similarly has anyone got the South Bank show with DNA on tape ?
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Philip Ayres
philip_ayres@
www.netcomuk.co.uk/~payres
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
toting in the pub on Thursday night.
Bit of a game of 2 halves really - Douglas' early life through to about the
early 80s is described in great detail, lots of stuff about Cambridge, the radio
series, first book, TV series and Doctor Who. Very enjoyable and considerably
elaborates on the detail in Neil Gaimon's excellent Don't Panic.
2nd half is far less detailed and filled with little bits that niggled me - the
writing of Long Dark Teatime of the Soul is condensed to one paragraph not even
including where he was locked up to write it, a chapter concentrating on DNA's
relationship with his wife to be chronicles them splitting up at one stage and
him talking about it on air but makes no mention of them getting back together
and instead just notes the day they got married, ignoring such details as best
man etc. What then follows is a chronicle of a company he was involved in and
their troubles producing Starship Titanic but not actually telling us a lot
about DNA who seems to feature rather as an incidental character who pops up
every so often usually in connection with the HHGttG movie. There's an awful
lot of foreshadowing of Douglas' death throughout the book as well.
The author also has a couple of little digs at Salmon of Doubt (both the book
and the story) "The novel fragment is a sad and unnecessary inclusion in a book
which some people consider to have been rushed out with unseemly haste" Well I
enjoyed both the book & story !
Anyway a couple of things have come from this:
1) I now know the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio scripts are to be
re-released on 21/03/03. They've been unavailable for a very long time, and
looked a good publication on the one occasion I was able to browse a copy.
2) As well as looking out my illustrated HHGttG, I've found my video tape with
Hyperland on it - *VERY* interesting viewing to see what it got right and wrong
(Nick - you'll enjoy it, remind me to bring it down when we have dinner) It
might be worth looking at setting up a private screening of this for interested
parties. I have discovered it's part of a loose trilogy of documentaries with
Horizon: Colonising Cyberspace and Equinox: School's Out. Incredibly while
searching for my A Very Peculiar Practice tapes (now located) I found a
recording of the Horizon program. Given what incredible hoarders of video some
of us are does anyone have the Equinox on tape somewhere ?
3) Similarly has anyone got the South Bank show with DNA on tape ?
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Philip Ayres
philip_ayres@
www.netcomuk.co.uk/~payres
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-