Talk:The Salmon of Doubt

It literally sent chills down my spine when I read that last note regarding the appearance of 'salmon of doubt' on the cover of a 1988 edition of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective agency. Douglas Adams was more incredible and talented than any of us may ever know. He really knew where his towel was.

It spooked me perhaps even more when, having finished The Salmon of Doubt, I pulled my copy of Dirk Gently off the shelf so I could read it and saw the blurb on the cover. I thought time had looped back on itself. --Ashibaka 03:30, 26 Mar 2004 (UTC)

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I seem to recall some controversy around the publication of Salmon of Doubt, as it was basically his hard drives, printed and bound, including a great deal he nver had published for a reason.

Of course, Franz Kafka asked in his will that his (largely unpublished -- I think all but Amerika) works be destroyed, too. --Charles A. L. 14:29, Mar 11, 2004 (UTC)

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I've toned down the suggestion that DNA was planning to have this story link the two series together - I'd never heard that speculation before, and have certainly seen no sign that this was what he "promised". The Salmon of Doubt was purely a Dirk Gently book, but he couldn't make it work, so he was going to reuse the ideas for a Hitchhiker's book instead - he actually says in the title that the result might not even have the same title. It's a fun idea, though; I wonder if anyone will ever write a completion of the story, as a tribute... - IMSoP 12:15, 24 Jun 2004 (UTC)

This isn't at all impossible, if his estate can find the right writer (Lloyd, maybe?); Robert "Spenser" Parker has done this a couple of times; finishing and writing a sequel to a classic detective novel whose name eludes me for the moment. --Baylink 04:23, 17 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I don't think this should be listed as a Dirk Gently book because: 1) Most of it isn't the "Salmon of Doubt" part. 2) It's not realy known if that would have been a Dirk Gently book, a Hitchhiker's book, or maybe something else entirely.

German title

German title of the book is "Lachs im Zweifel" (literally: salmon in doubt), dunno if that fits in here anywhere (clem 19:46, 7 May 2005 (UTC))

It may also be worth noting that the German paperback doesn't have "The private life of Genghis Khan" either. --JohnDBuell | Talk 03:21, 1 September 2005 (UTC)

Thor

wasn't Kate mentioned by name in the book? why the speculation about trillian? Morwen - Talk 09:26, 12 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I just reread the 11 chapters and the only woman I saw mention Thor was Kate. (unless there's a serious change in another edition?) --JohnDBuell | Talk 16:22, 12 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Through a rhinoceros

"As promised in the beginning, we do not go through a rhinoceros.". Huh? That is probably too obscure for those who have not read the book.

Yes, I found that sentence a bit puzzling, too - mostly because it's rather ambiguous. What it actually means is that the summary (the fax reprinted in the book) promised we would go through a rhinoceros (or "through the nasal membranes of a rhinoceros", to be precise) but that this never happens in the existing text. I've tried to tidy up the plot info a bit. - IMSoP 14:55, 5 August 2005 (UTC)

Origin of the name?

Does anyone know the origin of the name The Salmon of Doubt? It seems reminiscent of the Irish folk tale of the Salmon of Knowledge. Angr/talk 08:16, 13 February 2006 (UTC)

I believe it was meant as a parody of that name. We'd probably have to search Google's archives of alt.fan.douglas-adams or the douglasadams.com forums to verify. --JohnDBuell 17:53, 13 February 2006 (UTC)

The statement that Kate Schecter's appearance in Salmon of Doubt is the only time a character other than Dirk has creappeared in the series is false. Gilks appears both in Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and in The Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul.