
Douglas Adams' Last Book 292
mixedbag writes "A BBC news article suggests that a sixth book in Douglas Adams's Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy series will be published next May. It will be unfinished from files found of his computer. The title is to be A Salmon of Doubt."
unfinished art (Score:4, Informative)
Re:unfinished art (Score:3, Insightful)
Maybe not as well as a 'real' book by him, but well enough that publishers will lick their lips over this one. Hell. Even books vaguely connected to a series/world/idea sell. Think of the gazillion Guide To The World Of Foo books that are out there.
Some might argue that this is done so that the world will not be left without a particularly talented author's final contribution or some such. Some people may even mean that.
Personally, I don't like it. It's another man's work. Another man's dream. No matter how much respect you afford it, it's not yours. Leave it be. And, as my sig says,
Re:unfinished art (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:unfinished art (Score:2)
Ok, you're wrong. The radio series existed before the books, and it wasn't him reading anything, it was a radio show with actors and sound effects and all the usual accoutrements. The radio series roughly corresponds to HHGTTG and RATEOTU, but it's s pretty rough correspondence.
Re:unfinished art (Score:2)
This is why the Hagguennons don't exist in any other version of Guide...
Which is a damn shame, as I liked that bit!
So many questions... (Score:2, Funny)
WHAT WAS THE FINAL QUESTION? PLEASE PLEASE TELL ME PLEASE PLEASE...
Re:So many questions... (Score:1)
"What is 6 times 9? 42."
Re:So many questions... (Score:2)
"What do you get if you multiply six by nine?"
That's it. That's all there is.
Re:So many questions... (Score:4, Informative)
Arthur found the WRONG question, because his evolution had been tainted by the Golgafrinchans. It is not a typo, and it is not base 13. It is simply supposed to be wrong.
Re:So many questions... (Score:2)
Re:So many questions... (Score:5, Insightful)
That will be revealed at the end of the unfinished "A Salmon of Doubt".
Aha! (Score:5, Funny)
-grendel drago
Re:Aha! (Score:1)
Re:Aha! (Score:1)
-grendel drago
Re:Aha! (Score:1)
Earth Mark II was in the first book, but the mice cancelled it once they found Arthur.
However, it should be noted that since Earth is in a Plural sector, there are a potentially infinite number of Earths (see for reference books 4 and 5). The vogons eventually used the Guide mark II to destroy all of the earths, but by this time Marvin was already dead.
Multiple Marvin (Score:2, Interesting)
-grendel drago
Re:Aha! (Score:2)
Re:Aha! (Score:2)
Re:Aha! (Score:2)
If we assume that it simply requires **a** brain the size of a planet, not **the** brain the size of a planet that Arthur Dent lived on, the argument holds.
-grendel drago
Re:Are you a moron or what? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:So many questions... (Score:2)
The answer is "What was the final question?"
It is soley this that allows the universe to endure.
Re:So many questions... (Score:2)
Sigh.
hmmmm (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:hmmmm (Score:2)
Very good point. Does anyone have reference material indicating Adams' actual wishes or concerns on this topic?
Perhaps today's influential authors might want to make their wishes on this topic publicly known. After all, we're all mortal, but our work can (and sometimes does) live on for a long time.
It's kinda like organ donation; I'm an organ donor, but in order to take my parts that has to be verified. I can't help but support the notion that Adams' wishes may in fact be acted against through this.
Web hosting by geeks, for geeks. Now starting at $4/month (USD)! [trilucid.com]
Yes, this is my protest to the sig char limit
Funny (Score:1, Offtopic)
Re:Funny (Score:1)
Er... what?
Is this right? (Score:1)
Re:Is this right? (Score:2, Informative)
I do know that Terry Pratchett has included in his will (well, his literary will - apparently you need one of those) that NOBODY is to finish anything he's half way through and any unfinished work is NOT to be published (literally over his dead body)which I think is fair enough... Writing is an odd business and I don't imagine each chapter is carefully crafted and honed before the author moves on to the next... it would be a rough draft/first walk through kind of thing.
Mind you, it could give great insight into the workings of a writer... I'd pay for that I think.
Re:Is this right? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Is this right? (Score:2)
Brilliant? Brilliant???!!! Passionate, yes. Hardly brilliant. Ellison asserts that an author has absolute control over his work, even after his death--but Ellison simply treats that as axiomatic, and gives the skeptical reader not one whit of argument as to why he should accept Ellison's axiom.
I presume Ellison (and all the posters here who oppose posthumous publication without the author's consent) would also deny the world Mozart's Requiem.
But... but... (Score:2, Interesting)
Hitch Hiker series? (Score:1)
Reminds me of... (Score:4, Funny)
"Almost Heroes" is such an abomination that one actually wishes Chris Farley had kicked off long before he got anywhere near this script. The filmmakers would have been kinder to Farley's memory by taking a collective piss on his rotting corpse."
Let's hope that the new Adams book is a better experience. Don't most authors include something in their wills about not publishing unfinished materials?
Re:Reminds me of... (Score:4, Interesting)
Don't most authors include something in their wills about not publishing unfinished materials?
Sometimes, but this isn't necessarily a good thing.
Franz Kafka went one step further and asked his executor of his will to burn all his unpublished work (which is almost everything of his we consider to be a classic today). Luckily the executor didn't go through with this and it was published posthumously. Sometimes authors aren't the best judges of their work.
Re:Reminds me of... (Score:2, Insightful)
Perhaps. I still have mixed feelings about it. I'm not much of a writer, but I am a nature photographer in my off hours, and I think there's an analogy here that bothers me. I have a lot of as yet unpublished photographs. Part of making a quality art print isn't just the pre-exposure and exposure-time work, it's the darkroom work (chemical or digital) in really cleanly establishing tonal relationships in the print, this is a process that takes some time to get right, and may be something I revisit.
Call me a control freak, but I don't feel that something is part of my work until it's finished. It's an intermediate result of my work, but since it doesn't completely represent my intention--it doesn't represent what I wanted from it. It may be enjoyable, it may be saleable, but it isn't really fair to give me the credit or the blame for releasing it.
Ansel Adams had a small number of color photographs that he never wished published, they were published after his death. These photographs, in my opinion, weren't up to the quality of his other work, if I didn't know (as many people don't) that this work was published without his consent, I would think less of the artist and the body of the artists work as a whole.
I'm not an Ansel Adams, I'm not a Douglass Adams, but I very much hope that whatever viewership and following I ever gain will not be confused by the publication of my intermediate work products. (I grant that good labelling of the intermediate prints would be a reasonable way of approaching the "confusion" question--but note that publishers only have an incentive to publish, not an incentive to publicize the nature of the work product.)
In the case of Douglass Adams, I worry that the publication of an unpublished draft of a 6th HHGTG novel, that Adams himself thought was dull, will color peoples impressions of Adams in a negative way, and paint the rest of his work. I'd rather not see that loss--and I am cynical that publishers will do anything to alert readers to the unfinished, incomplete nature of the work. (If they do, I grant that my objections are mitigated or removed.)
--Joe
Re:Reminds me of... (Score:2, Insightful)
Maybe they're not. But Kafka wanted his unfinished work destroyed. It was his material and his right. People may have liked what was later published but Kafka was violated by having his own wishes denied when he couldn't even be around to have a say in it.
Re:Reminds me of... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Reminds me of... (Score:3, Funny)
Okay... (Score:3, Informative)
http://us.imdb.com/Mlinks?0119068
That sort of thing.
-grendel drago
Re:Okay... (Score:2)
And, once you get the joke, you realize he was incomparably brilliant.
--Blair
Douglas' Writing Style (Score:1)
Re:Douglas' Writing Style (Score:2)
So true Adams fans should go find a copy of the radio series and listen to it - most of it will be an entirely new experience. Some very different stuff happens to the characters. BBC-Americas sells CDs of the series sporadically (mine took 14 months to arrive), and if you don't have the patience you can easily find MP3s of it.
Remember the game HHGTTG? (Score:1)
That was my first introduction to Douglas Adams.
The marketing on the PC version of Hitchhikers was so heavy I wonder if a lot of people did like I did, buy the game first, then out of curiosity bought the book. Man what a weird series of books (good weird) I remember picking up Resturant at the end of the universe with one notion of what the title meant, only to discover in the book that it's meaning was something completly different.
I think that is one of the neatest things about Adams books, they really paid homage to that old saying "You cannot judge a book by it's cover" Does anyone remember what the secret of the universe is?
post-mortem publishing common (Score:2)
Re:post-mortem publishing common (Score:3, Funny)
I don't know if it true but I was once told the American Library Association once awarded Hubbard an award for most books written post-humously.
-- Michael
ps for the Scientologists: L. Ron Hubbard now lives in my pants - feel him for 25 cents.
Re:post-mortem publishing common (Score:1)
Re:post-mortem publishing common (Score:1)
Why wont older stuff sort by, uh, well value dammit. Ok, there, I said it. I admit it trolls, I sort by value.
But I usually have time to read to the bottom. Really. Now, can someone tell me how to sort...
Oh, wait! My computer is catching on fire! Agghhh. Guys, guys!
When I die (Score:5, Funny)
"I never thought this could happen to me, but when I saw the six buxom cheerleaders knocking at my door..."
Re:When I die (Score:1)
Keep in mind that moms forgive, but the FBI doesn't.
Re:When I die (Score:2)
I tried to find a link, but a google search turned up nothing.
Publishing anything (Score:5, Insightful)
While almost-completed stories are ok to publish, when the level reaches 10 lines of text and 10 pages of comment by someone else then it's sad.
Re:Publishing anything (Score:2)
Re:Publishing anything (Score:1)
He's probably talking more about the (voluminous) History of Middle Earth series.
Re:Publishing anything (Score:1)
The Silmarillion, Historical Atlas of Middle Earth, Elfish Language/Grammar Book gives you a better point of view what J.R.R. Tolkien had created.
Re:Publishing anything (Score:2)
Re:Publishing anything (Score:2)
Yeah, just look how well it worked with Saudi Arabia. Nobody could possibly disagree with that! (Hint for the clueless: this is one of bin Laden's primary complaints about the U.S.)
Number of Saudi Arabian governments installed by the United States, or, in fact, by anybody other than the House of Saud: 0.
Your number of "hints for the clueless": 1
Your own arrogantly displayed ignorance: priceless.
History for your edification (I like taking away priceless things):
In 1902 Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud, emir of the Wahabi, seized the mud fortresses of Riyadh in Nejd, without U.S. involvment. He forced the abdication of Hashemite king Husein bin Ali in favor of his son Ali bin Husein in 1924, without U.S. involvment. He declared himself king of Hejaz in 1926 and renamed the realm Saudi Arabia, again without U.S. involvment. The British recognized the independent Saudi Arabia in 1927, again without U.S. involvment. And the monarchy and royal family founded by Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is still in charge today.
Yes, the U.S. has aided the Saudi government in staying in power. But even bin Laden didn't object to the Saudi government ruling Arabia until it decided to allow infidels to defend it from Iraq; bin Laden had even offered to lead his own mujahdeen to defend Arabia and the House of Saud against Iraq before he discovered U.S. forces were going to defend the kingdom.
Salmon of Doubt .... or .. ? (Score:5, Interesting)
The new book is not a Hitchhiker's book - there are already five of those - or a Dirk Gently book, but "it will be recognizable in style to anyone who knows those books." It also won't be The Salmon of Doubt.
"I abandoned [The Salmon of Doubt] about halfway through because I just thought it was getting too dull," Adams said. "Since then, I've now got lots and lots of different story lines waiting for me to turn them into books. One of them I shall apply the title Salmon of Doubt to, but I don't know which one yet."
Anyone know if the one being published was the "dull" book he never finished or another one?
-Daniel
Re:Salmon of Doubt .... or .. ? (Score:3, Informative)
The BBC page seems to think that the unfinished bits of novel that have been found comprise the sixth Hitch Hiker novel. This is unlikely, as that interview says. I would have thought it is something completely new, i.e. neither Hitch Hiker nor Dirk Gently, but the BBC article says that the work will be edited - could this mean that bits of separate stories might be merged to produce a novel? In any case, I hope it is done in a way Douglas' family feel he would have wanted.
Re:Salmon of Doubt .... or .. ? (Score:1)
Please Leave the Writings Alone (Score:5, Interesting)
from the article:
"He would take it and then revise it repeatedly so there were many files.
"As soon as he wrote anything he would say, 'Oh, God that's terrible'. He was a very, very self-critical author and so had a lot of trouble writing. He was a perfectionist."
I would rather that they not publish these final stories unless there was any indication from Mr. Adams before his death that he felt the stories lived up to his standards. It's sad, but they don't even know if he had thought of a completely new way to present the story, but just never had the chance to write it down.
Maybe if they include something in the forward saying that he had never reached a final approval point with these writings, it would sit easier with me. One thing I am glad they are doing, though, is to at least publish it in a collection with other writings, rather than selling it as the final novel in the Hitchhiker's collection.
And I will admit some curiosity to see the same story written in different ways. It might provide some insight into his creative process.
whats next? (Score:3, Funny)
oh yea AI.
or half completed software that a developer did not finish.
wait a minute, they dont have to be dead.
Point - its a mistake to publish something that isnt finish. It could have ended up way different that what was recovered on the computer after adams was finished revising it.
This is my fifth lifetime posting to slashdot... (Score:3, Funny)
"Marvin you know we can't allow robots to post to slashdot. This website is for human nerds."
Hear I am. This is my fifth time though the whole expanse of time. I KNOW the secret to cold fusion. I personally talked to Jesus about the afterlife. I've had an XBox 5 TIMES now, and it just keeps pissing me off. Bill thinks he's so cool. Has he ever seen the end of time. I THINK NOT!!!
Tell Taco to let me post! Don't let Taco discriminate against me just because I am a robot.
Re:This is my fifth lifetime posting to slashdot.. (Score:1)
Re:This is my fifth lifetime posting to slashdot.. (Score:1)
F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Last Tycoon (Score:3, Insightful)
For that reason, I'd be tempted to stay away from this book by Douglas.
Original Source (Score:4, Informative)
There is a little more information here than at the BBC.
Read it for what it's worth... (Score:5, Insightful)
On a side-note, Adams was a devout atheist. It doesn't seem fitting that we should be worried that he's looking down on all of us screaming, "No, you idiots! Don't publish that!"
Re:Read it for what it's worth... (Score:1)
So you honestly believe that it takes a god to enable transcendental life? Maybe you could study Buddhism or the like, and realize the world of religions isn't all black and white. Atheism isn't necessarily pure materialism where everything ends at the moment of death.
Re:Read it for what it's worth... (Score:2, Funny)
Speaking as an agnostic, I personally don't know what to believe...other than, "I believe I'll have another drink".
Re:Read it for what it's worth... (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Read it for what it's worth... (Score:1, Troll)
Consider the Christian and the Athiest. All things being equil, if, in the end the Athiest is right and the Christian is wrong, their posisions in the hereafter will be equil. The Christian loose nothing, save the effort required to live a moraly upright life. If, however the Christian is right and the Athiest wrong, then will the position of the Christian be superior!
Before you all jump down my throat on this: Yes, I am aware that more than one religion exists which claims that if you don't belive in it you're phukt. I'm also aware that if hell is exothermic hell will eventualy break loose, but if it's endothermic it will eventualy freeze over.
Sad? (Score:5, Informative)
Doubting this Salmon (Score:1)
Will Salmon be Adams' Simarillion? Remains to be seen, I guess. But anyway, who would want to read an unfinished book?
Deadsplotation (Score:1)
Yuch .. (Score:2)
Re:Yuch .. (Score:1)
By the same token, Adams certainly knew that the process of writing could be permanently interrupted at any moment. Unless he was not just an idiot, but a moron, he appointed a literary executor who was well-acquainted with his wishes.
Mixed feelings.... (Score:2, Interesting)
No matter what form, or shape this is in, I am sure it will be a enjoyable read and will earn its place in my libarary, not for the actual words on the paper, but for the dedication and commitment to his fans.
Zaphod
(since 1979)
But...he's DEAD. (Score:5, Insightful)
As for Mr. Adams, he was a very good writer, and an extremely talented man. He showed quite a bit of intelligence and insight, as well as compassion (I recommend that everyone try to get a copy of Last Chance to See. I think he did a great job of using his fame and talent to do good and have fun.
When he was alive, by all means, one should have shown him complete respect for his work and his rights. Treat him the way you'd want to be treated.
But, the fact of the matter is, now he's dead. You can't embarrass him, make him happy, cause him grief or indignation. You can't because he simply...isn't anymore. And, the fact is, there are people out there who are alive, who do want to read this. Why shouldn't they be allowed to, when doing so hurts absolutely nobody?
I'm sure some people will see this as flamebait, but seriously, many of the big problems in modern society revolve around un-dying "rights" and "wishes" -- be it of corporations, dead "prophets", or the ability of the very rich to pass on their inheritance to those who did nothing to earn it...Do we really need to devote any more "respect" to the non-existent when there are so many that could benefit (albeit in a very small way in this case) by considering the living?
If someone wants to show respect to the memory of Douglas Adams by not reading this unfinished material, that's their business -- personally I'd rather show people respect while they're alive and can appreciate it, rather than by making empty and useless gestures after they're dust.
Re:But...he's DEAD. (Score:2)
Legally you can also cause ingury to the estate by releasing an unautorized/unfinished work. The work of Douglas Adams should be remembered as HE left it. Not some revisonist history where we strive to get a peek at what might have been.
Dead, but his Probate Estate lives on! (Score:2)
Guessing that he left everything to his wife and children, his wife and/or children will own, sooner or later, his unfinished work, and can consent to it's publication. I'd hope that they make money on it.
On the other hand, if someone other than the executor of the estate or Douglas Adams's successors in interest (the wife and children) were to publish the unfinished work without authorization, then that person could certainly be sued by either the estate or the heirs.
Re:Dead, but his Probate Estate lives on! (Score:2)
I'm actually more curious about the movie that was supposedly being worked on. What affect his death has had on any of it's production.
Just an opinion is all.
Re:But...he's DEAD. (Score:2)
At least other than Mostly Harmless. The sad thing about MH is that I really thought he was at the top of his form humour-wise - until the overtly depressing end.
Other than that, though, I don't expect to see something, say, covered with bigoted rants that would destroy his image. I think his future is secure no matter what of his writing is released.
D
Re:But...he's DEAD. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:But...he's DEAD. (Score:3, Funny)
Re:But...he's DEAD. (Score:2, Insightful)
Uhhh -- sure, go right ahead. I'd think that, if it was truly a matter of survival, you should (Donner party, anyone?). Honestly, I don't really care what happens to my body after I'm dead (unless there's a reasonable chance for reanimation, in which case, I'd prefer you wait a bit).
If you're into cannibalism (which, I'd advise against on the basis of medical grounds), you're welcome to your meal.
People with fewer illogical qualms often donate their bodies to science, which -- IMO -- is equally practical and thoughtful as providing food to the hungry.
Re:But...he's DEAD. (Score:2)
I don't know... (Score:2)
Perhaps someone could provide an ending? A close friend perhaps? Meh.. as long as they did it for reasons other than profitability I think I'd take a look.
But without an ending... hmmm.. Imagine what the dictionary would be like if you never found out that the zedbra did it!
And the moral of the story is... (Score:2)
Just be sure to use a Government Approved backdoored cryptosystem, so the goons don't break your door down looking for terrorists.
The book could still be completed ... (Score:1)
Unfinished Works (Score:5, Informative)
"This is P. G. Wodehouse's last -- and unfinished -- book. It is unfinished not just in the sense that it suddenly, heartbreakingly for those of us who love this man and his work, stops in mid-flow, but in the more important sense that the text up to that point is also unfinished."
...
"Will you, anyway, find much evidence of the great genius of Wodehouse here? Well, to be honest, no."
...
"But you will want to read Sunset for completeness, and for that sense you get, from its unfinishedness, of being suddenly and unexpectedly close to a Master actually at work -- a bit like seeing paint pots and scaffolding being carried in and out of the Sistine Chapel."
So I don't think Douglas himself would really object to this.
a proposed ending (Score:5, Insightful)
If I was the editor it would end thusly in mid-sentence.
"...sadly the author of this work is now dead and no one knows what the question is."
and then like 42 blank pages. i would laugh my ass off at that I think Douglas would as well.
Old news (Score:3, Interesting)
a) salmon of doubt was extremely unfinished (to be precise, it's not a case of only being half of a book, it's a case of what there is being early drafts from a writer who did many many many revisions of his work) but that even so...
b)
Very sad indeed. (Score:3, Insightful)
I personally, think that it shouldn't be published. If Adams wasn't happy with it, then his wish should have been respected.
This reminds me of when Freddie Mercury died, and all of a sudden a whole pile of Queen records got released. Most of them were pants. If they hadn't been released, it was for a good reason.
Very sad indeed. This shouldn't just be an excuse to cash in.
not for me (Score:2)
clearly an attempt by his estate to make a few bucks from fans who miss the author, and what the author had contributed to there lives.
Re:Er, which will it be? (Score:1)
Re:When they release the movie. (Score:1)
Re:When they release the movie. (Score:1)
Flamebait.
Re:Not going to read it (Score:1)
I hope Adams would want this published (Score:2)
There, that's on topic.
I can't believe my previous post was modded off-topic, I respond to someone who talks about Adams (meaning I'm talking about Adams' beliefs), but I get modded down?
Time to include an IQ test to allow moderation privledges.
Re:Open source it! [Not off-topic] (Score:3, Funny)
He would take it and then revise it repeatedly so there were many files. "As soon as he wrote anything he would say, 'Oh, God that's terrible'. He was a very, very self-critical author and so had a lot of trouble writing. He was a perfectionist." Which sounds like so many Open Source projects which never make it to rel. 1.0. If we could set it up as an Open Source project, we'd have a chance of getting to 1.0 in maybe 3 or 4 years.