Arthur Dent vs Dirk Gently

Douglas Adams' two series of books each have heroes (anitheroes, perhaps) of note. What I'd like to find out is who the Dopers believe to be the better hero. And I'll jump in later with my opinion, if somebody else wants to get the ball rolling.

Dirk Gently was much less a whiner...

Yeah, Dirk seemed to have a better grip on life generally. But Arthur was more fun to laugh at, and I think Dirk was in denial a bit too. I dunno. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't date either one.

And Arthur is a knee-biting jerk.

C) Ford Prefect

d) Marvin the Paranoid Android.


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'They couldn't hit an Elephant from this dist...!'

Last words of General John Sedgwick

NEITHER! The REAL hero of the Douglas Adams series was the coolest, most hippest dude in the history of the universe, Galactic President ZAPHOD BEEBLEBROX!!!

Well, just look at the sig I've been using and you tell me what you think...

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Chaim Mattis Keller
ckeller@schicktech.com

"Sherlock Holmes once said that once you have eliminated the
impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be
the answer. I, however, do not like to eliminate the impossible.
The impossible often has a kind of integrity to it that the merely improbable lacks."
-- Douglas Adams's Dirk Gently, Holistic Detective

Dirk Gently, without a doubt. One of the cooledt characters in all literature.

Your Quadell

E) Reg.

Well, here's my line of reasoning.
Arthur Dent is not as good as Dirk Gently.
Dirk seems to me a more complete character, possibly because when Adams started work on the Dirk novels, he had already made his millions off the Hitchhiker's series, so he could spend more time. (And I like Mostly Harmless the best of the HH sequels... that bit with the perfectly normal beast cracks me up). I only wish there were more Dirk novels. Unlike the HH ones, there's no need for interconnectivity.
Arthur, on the other hand, is a doddering, harmless, simian-decended Earth creature who thinks that digital watches are a pretty neat idea.

Really.

Uff. Da.

Alex
Alex

My vote goes to Arthur. Though a whiner, he repeatedly demonstrated adaptability and resiliance. (Remember, he was almost completely unphased by the Vogon poetry torture.) Plus, he can fly.

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Carpe hoc!

Once again, we are reduced to comparing the proverbial fruit in a basket...
Arthur Dent is the guy you might really know, and may or may not pick up the phone if he called you...Dirk Gently is the kind of fellow everyone claims to know, but would never accept a collect phone call from.


Marvin was my favorite, actually.

I think I'd accept a collect call from Dirk before I would from Ford Prefect. After all, Ford's the kind of guy who dials up to a timeclock from the farthest reaches of space. Can that sort of person be trusted making collect calls?

And Marvin is depressing. If funnily so. And the inspiration for a Radiohead song. Are there any other Douglas Adams related songs?

I would probably take that call from Ford Prefect, as he may have important news. Dirk on the other hand, probably wants money.

Marvin is crushingly funny. Arthur is a great character because it takes him so damn long to learn anything. Which I can identify with.

Marvin is everyones favorite but I was a big Zaphod fan. Dirk puts me to sleep.

The mice, let's hear it for the mice. I'm on Arthur's side because, even though he was a whiner and a bit of a loser he was more human than all the others, pardon the pun.

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It only hurts when I laugh.

[The Ryan]

Marvin is kinda funny, but he seems like a rip-off on Eeyore (sp?) to me. In fact, Arthur Dent seems a lot like Pooh, and Ford Prefect like Rabbit. Hmmm...
But as for the central question: I'd vote for Dirk. After all, he manages to stay in control even when dealing with time machines, pagan gods, and (horrors!) really annoying couches.

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" 'Ideas on Earth were badges of friendship or enmity. Their content did not matter.' " -Kurt Vonnegut, Breakfast of Champions

[Powers]

Ford is Rabbit? Not quite, if you ask me. =) Maybe Tigger. Always causing trouble, always has a comment on everything. Rabbit is more cynical and straight-laced than Ford. Zaphod would be Owl, perhaps... he thinks he's a lot more important than he really is. Not sure about Trillian. =)


Powers

[GoSensGo]

On the strength of Mostly Harmless, I'd be tempted to call Trillian and Random Kanga and Roo.

Alex

[Powers]

"On the strength of Mostly Harmless..."

*ahem*

Strength?


Powers

[GoSensGo]

I thought Mostly Harmless was better than So Long and Thanks for All the Fish...

I quite like the Perfectly Normal Beast.

And Elvis.

And I've been to Stavro Mueller's Beta... hang on, I've slipped into my BBQ Pit voice...

Alex

[Powers]

I thought Mostly Harmless was better than So Long and Thanks for All the Fish...Well of course, but that's not saying a whole lot. =)


Powers

[Mojo]

What I'd like to find out is who the Dopers believe to be the better hero.

42.

[GoSensGo]

Sorry, wrong question. As your consolation prize, have a free night's stay on a Vogon Constructor Ship, complete with poetry reading!

Which book series has better overall writing, in everyone's opinion?

Alex

[cmkeller]

GoSensGo:

Which book series has better overall writing, in everyone's opinion?

I really can't answer that. The Dirk Gently books have a subtlety to them that the Hitchhiker's books, with their gag-a-minute pacing, don't, but I enjoy both types of comedy.

I will say, though, that as far as individual books go, I didn't like Mostly Harmless. Unless I misread it (and please correct me if I did...those who have not read it may consider this a spoiler warning), all of existence is destroyed at the end. It felt to me like it was book that Adams didn't want to write. As if he wanted to end with So Long and Thanks for All the Fish, with Arthur having found happiness and Marvin's suffering finally ended and the inherent absurdity of a trilogy having four books, and leave some things, such as Earth's survival, to the imagination. Instead, he found himself being pestered for an explanation of Earth's survival (parallel universes) and for a sequel in general. So he wrote Mostly Harmless, and made it sequel-proof.

I do not come to this with any special knowledge of Douglas Adams's mental processes. It just felt to me, from reading the book, that this was how and why the book was conceived.

Chaim Mattis Keller

[Kamino Neko]

I prefer the Guide. Not that I think it's of a higher quality (I consider them to be about equal) - I just enjoy it more.


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'They couldn't hit an Elephant from this dist...!'

Last words of General John Sedgwick

[GoSensGo]

My personal theory (for what it's worth) is that after having written the HH series, Adams has earned enough to live comforatbly for the reset of his life. Hence, the Dirk Gently books, which strike me as being books that he wanted to write, rather than contractual obligation books, as the later HH books seemed to be. HH has brighter moments, but DG has better overall focus.


problems? questions? flames?

Alex

[palmolive]

arthur dent is how i am, while dirk gently is what i would like to be in future years. i don't know what that says about my ambitions. i think ford prefect vs. dirk gently is more fair. and you know who else i liked? trillian. and i think the dirk gently books are better written than the guide but it may just be that i read the gently books more recently. i think "the long dark tea-time of the soul" is a masterpiece.



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palmolive*

[DougC]

- - - I read an article about the books and the videogame, got interested and found the books in a store. I didn't have a computer at the time. An uncle had a computer and the game, but the game had an error and wouldn't run past the "bulldozer coming up the hill towards your house". - Anybody seen the Starship Titanic videogame? It oughta be in the computer flea market bargain bins by now. What's it really worth? $20? $10? $5? - MC