A little bit of woking
November 10, 2007
I really love Douglas Adams. I realize that afresh each time I read some of his small essays from The Salmon of Doubt. In so, so many ways, there was a guy who really knew where his towel was.
The particular thing that touched me this time round is the incredible sense of humility that radiates from what he writes. You’d expect that someone who wrote so many best-sellers could, after a while, let it go to his head. No so with Douglas, as it seems that every best seller or well-received thing he did just made him more likeable.
[...] and though I try my best to bestride the world like a Colossus, writing
best-selling books... (well, that's about it, really, I suppose), [...]
-- Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt
I find reading his books reassuring, because it helps remind me that all these secret fears and quirks are actually things that the rest of humanity also experiences, but is just too embarassed or busy to talk about. Such is the case of ‘woking’, the act of standing in the kitchen wondering what you came in here for.
I wish I could have met him before he died. I have this embarassing feeling that I missed someone truly rather unique.
Oh, and if you haven’t read The Salmon of Doubt, two things. First, you should read it. Well, you should first read the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and the Dirk Gently series, and then read The Salmon of Doubt. Trust me, all are eminently worth it.
Second, within the Salmon, besides reading it all and being awestruck by Douglas’ ability to find just the right words to convey such a wide range of strange and wonderful settings, I would ask you to take particular note of the section entitled The Book That Changed Me. Read his explanation of why that book struck him so. As usual, he came up with just the right metaphors and wording to convey the emotion of reading the book that changed him. Then, go read that book that changed him. I’ll bet it will also change you (unless you are an expert biologist, I suppose; if you are, please leave a comment, because I’m curious as to how you ended up reading this!).
For those people out there who are too busy to go through this sequence of books, another couple of points for your consideration. First, a quote which I think may apply:
Who has time? But then if we do not ever take time, how can we ever have time?
-- The Merovingian, The Matrix Reloaded
I’m sure you can make time, but have just forgotten that you have that power. Please, make time, then go read that sequence of books. It’ll be fun and enlightening, I promise. Second, if you fail to make time and need to selectively cut from the above list of books, despite my advice against doing so, the book that changed Douglas Adams is The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins. Unfortunately, I cannot provide you with a reduced list to read, since I really believe that all should be read. Please try making time again.
Do you ever get that feeling that you started writing a blog post knowing exactly what you wanted to say, only to have that specific and powerful point erode and slip through your fingers as you go? Someone should make up a name for that.