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The opening of the article so over gushes Douglas Adam's writing, it leaves me critical of everything that follows. > "He was one of the most wildly imaginativ

The opening of the article so over gushes Douglas Adam's writing, it leaves me critical of everything that follows. > "He was one of the most wildly imaginative writers of any generation..." No, he was not, he was typical of a pop culture humorist, with a nice writer's voice. Not much else. Yes, he's a good author, but "great"? No, he was very average and will not be remembered as anything special. He's funny, in an obvious way.

soulofmischief 6y ago
It's fascinating that you would in one breath condemn the author of the article for sharing their opinion on Adams, and in the next breath try and pass off your own opinion as objective fact.
SyzygistSix 6y ago
This is true but his works are much loved, very funny, clever, and brought a lot of people joy. More so than other writers who were better and others who were more popular.
argvargc 6y ago
When, pray tell, is his "not be[ing] remembered as anything special" scheduled to begin? It would appear you have been waiting almost twenty years, and with potentially no end in sight, I do feel for you. I too have stood at a station for too long before realising the train had been cancelled. (I must say though, it did turn out to be a fantastically good opportunity to try my hand at hitch-hiking.)
JohnBooty 6y ago
No, he was not [great - ] he was typical of a pop culture humorist You're presenting "great" and "pop cultural humorist" as mutually exclusive terms. It feels fundamentally incorrect to compare him to writers producing conspicuously deeper and denser stuff. If you judge him by standards and goals to which he never aspired then I'd agree he comes up awfully short. Reminds me of the old days when people derided the Beatles and other rock and roll acts because they didn't meet the standards of classical music. Or when people derided e.g. Shigeru Miyamoto because video games didn't measure up to the narrative achievements seen in the best movies. It's true: The Godfather and Super Mario Brothers are both things that appear on your television screen. Just like Hitchiker's Guide To The Galaxy and Lolita and Finnegan's Wake are all books. Not sure they're trying to be the same thing, though.
blacktriangle 6y ago
On the one hand, I kinda agree with you. On the other hand, I cannot think of any other author who solely with the written word has made me physically laugh out loud, page after page, book after book. No other writer comes even close. Maybe he was funny in an obvious way, but he did it with such consistency and volume that it became something special.
arethuza 6y ago
I've found if I read this comment to myself in the voice of Marvin this comments becomes rather superbly and obviously funny.

soulofmischief 6y ago

It's fascinating that you would in one breath condemn the author of the article for sharing their opinion on Adams, and in the next breath try and pass off your own opinion as objective fact.

SyzygistSix 6y ago

This is true but his works are much loved, very funny, clever, and brought a lot of people joy. More so than other writers who were better and others who were more popular.

argvargc 6y ago

When, pray tell, is his "not be[ing] remembered as anything special" scheduled to begin? It would appear you have been waiting almost twenty years, and with potentially no end in sight, I do feel for you. I too have stood at a station for too long before realising the train had been cancelled. (I must say though, it did turn out to be a fantastically good opportunity to try my hand at hitch-hiking.)

JohnBooty 6y ago

No, he was not [great - ] he was typical of a pop culture humorist You're presenting "great" and "pop cultural humorist" as mutually exclusive terms. It feels fundamentally incorrect to compare him to writers producing conspicuously deeper and denser stuff. If you judge him by standards and goals to which he never aspired then I'd agree he comes up awfully short. Reminds me of the old days when people derided the Beatles and other rock and roll acts because they didn't meet the standards of classical music. Or when people derided e.g. Shigeru Miyamoto because video games didn't measure up to the narrative achievements seen in the best movies. It's true: The Godfather and Super Mario Brothers are both things that appear on your television screen. Just like Hitchiker's Guide To The Galaxy and Lolita and Finnegan's Wake are all books. Not sure they're trying to be the same thing, though.

blacktriangle 6y ago

On the one hand, I kinda agree with you. On the other hand, I cannot think of any other author who solely with the written word has made me physically laugh out loud, page after page, book after book. No other writer comes even close. Maybe he was funny in an obvious way, but he did it with such consistency and volume that it became something special.

arethuza 6y ago

I've found if I read this comment to myself in the voice of Marvin this comments becomes rather superbly and obviously funny.