Cogito
02-17-2002, 04:08 AM
I caught the tail end of a great programme called something like "Great Minds" on the idiot box tonight. Don't know what channel. This episode was about Douglas Adams. I doubt they'd do him, if he was still alive, but from what I saw, he certainly is a very worthy subject-matter.
They were talking about Starship Titanic when I caught it. Adams said he had envisioned himself and one other person spending six months doing it, but instead there had been 20-30 people involved, for two and a half years... And with that much work being done, that was not done by himself, it was difficult to ensure that his "touch" remained in all parts of the game. He didn't try to excuse himself or anything -- he still insisted it was a good game, in spite of the lack of commercial success.
They proceeded to talk about one of my favorite amongst Adams' books: LAST CHANGE TO SEE. This is about endangered species, but unlike most people who talk about this subject, Adams does not get into the typical "Humans are bad an evil and we are destroying the world and we should feel ashamed and guilty" thing. And this makes it FAR more compelling, and to be honest, I think a message in that format is more likely to be heard, and understood, and agreed with, than the traditional, aggressive, alarmist message. And most amazing of it all, the book was nearly as funny as his humor books.
The biologist that travelled with Adams was interviewed also, and it was extremely charming to hear what he had to say about Adams: That he had such an amazing intellect, that it was scary, and exceptionally humbling, to be in his presence. And that was from a professional biologist, speaking of the amateur biology-enthusist Adams. Pretty darn impressive.
Adams spoke a little about fame, and said it was a double-edged sword, in the sense that it created pressure on him, to continue to be good, funny, successful, and that this pressure could make it hard to do things...
I read a little report that he made some time after his Hitchhiker's radio-show, books, and TV series had gotten him some success and money... People wondered how the fame and fortune had changed his life, but he didn't have anything much to report, really. Nothing too impressive -- the only two things he could mention, was that he had purchased a Porche, and gone on a short vacation in Franche with his girlfriend. But he had only owned the Porche for a few hours, before he wrapped it around a lamp-post, and he'd gotten so badly food poisoned in Franche, that he was out of comission the entire time. Poor guy, I sorta think I envy people for such a great success, but Adams, I felt always deserved whatever success he ever got.
One of the last bits in the show was Adams explaining his main characters, that they were these odd, older gentlemen who didn't quite know what was going on, who weren't ever quite on top of things, and had extraordinary things happen to them. He laughed a lot, and said he thought that he would become one of these odd, older gentlemen one day.
That was a very sad, and touching moment. The show ended shortly after this, and a message was displayed, saying that Adams had died only 8 days after this had been taped. :(
He didn't write a whole lot, I don't think, after Last Chance To See. He did the four Hitchhiker's books, the two Dirk Gently books, Meaning of Liff, and then Last Chance. Then, ages later, he did the fifth Hitchhiker book, Mostly Harmless. (At least that's all that I'm aware of). But I found it very sad to think, about the great stuff he could still have created, had he lived. Last Chance was a unique and fantastic book -- if he could do that, then imagine how much other cool stuff he could make... And he certainly deserved to live out his life in comfort, in return for all the laughter he has brougth people.
They were talking about Starship Titanic when I caught it. Adams said he had envisioned himself and one other person spending six months doing it, but instead there had been 20-30 people involved, for two and a half years... And with that much work being done, that was not done by himself, it was difficult to ensure that his "touch" remained in all parts of the game. He didn't try to excuse himself or anything -- he still insisted it was a good game, in spite of the lack of commercial success.
They proceeded to talk about one of my favorite amongst Adams' books: LAST CHANGE TO SEE. This is about endangered species, but unlike most people who talk about this subject, Adams does not get into the typical "Humans are bad an evil and we are destroying the world and we should feel ashamed and guilty" thing. And this makes it FAR more compelling, and to be honest, I think a message in that format is more likely to be heard, and understood, and agreed with, than the traditional, aggressive, alarmist message. And most amazing of it all, the book was nearly as funny as his humor books.
The biologist that travelled with Adams was interviewed also, and it was extremely charming to hear what he had to say about Adams: That he had such an amazing intellect, that it was scary, and exceptionally humbling, to be in his presence. And that was from a professional biologist, speaking of the amateur biology-enthusist Adams. Pretty darn impressive.
Adams spoke a little about fame, and said it was a double-edged sword, in the sense that it created pressure on him, to continue to be good, funny, successful, and that this pressure could make it hard to do things...
I read a little report that he made some time after his Hitchhiker's radio-show, books, and TV series had gotten him some success and money... People wondered how the fame and fortune had changed his life, but he didn't have anything much to report, really. Nothing too impressive -- the only two things he could mention, was that he had purchased a Porche, and gone on a short vacation in Franche with his girlfriend. But he had only owned the Porche for a few hours, before he wrapped it around a lamp-post, and he'd gotten so badly food poisoned in Franche, that he was out of comission the entire time. Poor guy, I sorta think I envy people for such a great success, but Adams, I felt always deserved whatever success he ever got.
One of the last bits in the show was Adams explaining his main characters, that they were these odd, older gentlemen who didn't quite know what was going on, who weren't ever quite on top of things, and had extraordinary things happen to them. He laughed a lot, and said he thought that he would become one of these odd, older gentlemen one day.
That was a very sad, and touching moment. The show ended shortly after this, and a message was displayed, saying that Adams had died only 8 days after this had been taped. :(
He didn't write a whole lot, I don't think, after Last Chance To See. He did the four Hitchhiker's books, the two Dirk Gently books, Meaning of Liff, and then Last Chance. Then, ages later, he did the fifth Hitchhiker book, Mostly Harmless. (At least that's all that I'm aware of). But I found it very sad to think, about the great stuff he could still have created, had he lived. Last Chance was a unique and fantastic book -- if he could do that, then imagine how much other cool stuff he could make... And he certainly deserved to live out his life in comfort, in return for all the laughter he has brougth people.