Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

Unbelievable. I never thought it possible, but Douglas Adams did it again. This book is utterly fantastic, just like The Hitch Hiker's Guide -- maybe even better.

I started reading this book with relatively low expectations -- I knew it would be good, but I thought it would not live up to The Hitch Hiker's Guide. And that assumption only made this experience so much the better. Again, his writings managed to make me laugh, make me think, and deeply move me at some points. And the part about the horse is just plain genius.

Thank you, mr. Adams!

People

The major problem -- one of the major problems, for there are several -- one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them.

To summarize: it's a well known fact, that those people who most want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job. To summarize the summary of the summary: people are a problem.

From "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", by Douglas Adams.

The First Men in the Moon

I just finished "The First Men in the Moon", a novel story by H.G. Wells, and really enjoyed it.

It's a fiction that's very well narrated, to the point where I could really lose myself in the story. The descriptions are vivid, the (few) action scenes are short but fast, and the interaction between the protagonists are very credible and three-dimensional.

Seeing that it was written some 70 years before Armstrong and his companions actually set foot on the moon, Wells obviously had no idea whether or not his depiction of our satellite would hold any truth. Nonetheless, his descriptions are all so strongly supported with sound scientific explanations that one might actually believe his version of the moon to be real, perhaps in some other parallel dimension or something. A classic example of the true meaning of Science Fiction, if you ask me.

Beyond that, the story contains some very interesting philosophical issues, such as the disconnection of mind from body that could occur when one floats alone through space in absolute darkness for weeks on end.

It's so rich in detail and atmosphere, so complete and correct in scientific foundations, but at the same time so naive and filled with a childlike wonder that it's really enjoyable on all levels. And to top it off, the ominous, gritty ending is right up my alley.