Talk:Dirk Gently

St Cedd's College

In response to Chnt, it is quite obvious from from the way "St Cedd's College" is described that it is a constituent college of the University rather than simply a college "in Cambridge". Firstly it is old enough to have Newton and Coleridge amongst it's alumni (both of whom were students at Cambridge University in real life). Secondly it has live-in Fellows, a Hall where candlelit dinners are served at High-Table, a Porter's Lodge staffed by a stereotypical Cambridge porter - all characteristics of a traditional Oxbridge college. Thirdly Reg holds a professorial title, which (in the UK at least) would not normally be conferred by any non-University institution. Finally Adams states that he based the fictional college on his own alma mater St. Johns, which is a constituent college of Cambridge University. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 141.241.199.124 (talk) 12:02, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

you're right. although I knew it was based on St. Johns and everything else I was thinking of it in an "americanized" way(st cedds being the actual university replacing cambridge in the dirk gently universe, and not a constituent college of cambridge univ.), I dont know why. my bad--Chnt (talk) 18:32, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

Technically, is Dirk a con man

Technically, is Dirk a con man? If so, would he not be the least successful con man in history, owing to the fact that his 'cons' often turn out to be genuine?

I always intended to come back and put more on that subject. Thanks for reminding me. --Paul A 03:16, 27 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Not in his capacity as detective, though he was at Cambridge. Not that I approve of his methods, but in the one case we see him acquire a client, he's not even dishonest about his methods and expenses. Even if you think he's being dishonest about them, "con man" is not simply a synonym for "dishonest."

—FlashSheridan 22:20, 23 September 2007 (UTC)

I wouldn't consider him a con man. Of course, I can't take the whole "NPOV" position on it, for obvious reasons. Dirk Gently 22:57, 26 May 2004 (UTC)

What would you consider him, then? --Paul A 08:56, 4 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Um... a social engineer ;-) ? But on another note, is this page still considered a stub? I don't really see what else should be added... --Dirk Gently 03:46, 15 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Could someone please expand the "See also" link to I Heart Huckabees to explain how this pertains to Dirk Gently? -DynSkeet (talk) 19:39, Jun 10, 2005 (UTC)

Huckabees is a movie about holistic detectives. It's not properly based on Dirk Gently, but it's the same idea. —thames 20:19, 10 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I didn't mean explain it here, I meant in the article. I've seen Huckabees, and it seems like a pretty tenuous connection. -DynSkeet (talk) 01:20, Jun 11, 2005 (UTC)

Okay, the article has been changed, and I still don't like the link. Could someone please clearly explain the link to Huckabees? The investigators in that movie were existential (and in one case nihilistic), not holistic. Is the connection simply "unconventional/philosophy-oriented detectives"? -DynSkeet (talk) 17:50, Jun 14, 2005 (UTC)

I guess you haven't seen I Heart Huckabees, but the existential detectives essentially operate on a theory that everything in the main character's life is connected together (everything in existence is like a blanket, they say) and that this odd coincidence that he came to see them about is really connected to everything else in his life. In that sense, their method is holistic, just like Dirk Gently's method. —thames 18:50, 14 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Yes. I have seen the movie. I think there's a big difference, however, between a con man who uses a vague concept of holism as an excuse to charge enormous expenses and detectives whose unorthodox methods actually lead people to experience fundamental changes in the way they perceive reality. I don't recall the term "holistic" being used at all in the movie. I believe it's a coincidental overlap of completely different philosophical viewpoints, which is why I questioned the link in the first place. -DynSkeet (talk) 13:03, Jun 15, 2005 (UTC)

Well if you really hate the link, remove it. I don't think it detracts at all from the article to leave it there, since I still think one can make the simple case that it's a "related topic". —thames 13:10, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I originally intended to get feedback from others on whether the link belonged, but it seems like you and I are the only two interested in discussing it at all. -DynSkeet (talk) 13:49, Jun 15, 2005 (UTC)

In that case, I recommend one of the following courses of action, as per Wikipedia:Dispute resolution: talk-page arm wrestling (best 2 of 3), talk-page rock-paper-scissors (best 3 of 5), or a simple fight-to-the-death (one round only).  ;) —thames 16:41, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC)

My innate cowardice compels me to drop the matter altogether. Discretion is the better part of et cetera. -DynSkeet (talk) 17:56, Jun 15, 2005 (UTC)

Dirk Gently is a detective

How is Dirk Gently not a Detective? He never refers to his clients as "marks", for one. at times he even engages in a bit of detective work; he has found at least one missing cat. He offers a service (however unique), and sometimes he actually lives up to the service offered, then charges a fee. I suppose if I was selling bottled water for $400 each, my customers are being conned out of a fair bit of money, but I'm a water seller, not a con artist. They get what they paid for, and they knew what they were getting into when they bought it. Has it occurred to you that he is not merely faking his methods, instead they actually exist, and they happen to be rather expensive? Even if this point of view is no where close to correct, it is shared by a large number of those who have read the book. However, that large number of people, which includes myself, may have completely missed the point of the book and are of the less intelligent variety.

Regardless of the correct interpretation of the book, I will continue to think of Mr. Gently as a holistic detective, not an unlucky con man with a shiny brass plaque on his door that says, Dirk Gently's Holistic Dectective Agency.

I'd say he's partly a detective, but mostly on the look out for a quick buck / free lunch. If in the process of finding the missing cat in Islington he can convince his client that a business trip to a beach in the Bahamas is required then so much the better. I think even at one point he admits to being a con man or at least trying to con the client, but as he has never been paid he doesn't feel too badly for them. JP Godfrey (Talk to me) 14:19, 11 October 2007 (UTC)

Pronunciation

How is "Cjelli" supposed to be pronounced? 71.115.62.215 07:44, 24 December 2005 (UTC)

Adams pronounces it like "jellyfish" in the audiobook, except for the fish part. --map 06:32, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

Interestingly in the first audiobook (Simon & Schuster, 1987) when Adams speaks the name it sounds like 'jelly', and in the later one (New Millennium/Phoenix, 2001) it sounds like "chai-ly" (where ai makes a long a vowel sound). I have no idea why he changed it, but he did, very subtly. --JohnDBuell 23:52, 5 August 2006 (UTC)

Dirk as a psychic

The passage beginning "On one occasion..." appears rather folorn without its set-up. I don't understand why a general comment about a recurring theme is unencyclopedic, but a specific example is not. Daibhid C 18:02, 17 October 2007 (UTC)

Lose the image

This image is ass-ugly. I know wikipedia is moving towards free images only, but that doesn't mean we need to resort to using terrible fan art. This is not encyclopedic quality. 24.196.146.119 (talk) 06:05, 17 September 2008 (UTC)

Please take a look in here: for deletion/2008 June 21. I don't mind taking the image down if we find something better; but at the moment that's all we've got Chnt (talk) 3 December 2008

It doesn't illustrate anything about Gently. That is, there is no information about Gently in the picture that is not in the article. WhyDoIKeepForgetting (talk) 17:53, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

it illustrates his general look, spectacles, detectivating power, nicotine addiction and his dangerously red shirt. 98.210.159.26 (talk) 04:49, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

I've removed the fan-made illustration. It does not illustrate anything that is not in the article; I don't see any precedent for this sort of stuff on any other Wikipedia article. Shreevatsa (talk) 18:22, 16 April 2009 (UTC)

He looks like David Thomas from Pere Ubu —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.193.197.88 (talk) 21:21, 8 March 2010 (UTC)

Dirk Gently, heir to George Gently?

It seems the kind of coincidence that only happens in Dirk Gently novels that this Detective has the same last name as Alan Hunter's George Gently. Did Adams ever mention the origin of the name? 75.36.179.66 (talk) 00:50, 13 September 2011 (UTC)

Croatian

"Svlad Cjelli is Croatian for "master the whole", a clear allusion to his holistic trait." The hell did this come from? I speak Croatian fluently, and it's not true at all. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.92.225.237 (talk) 15:37, 14 March 2014 (UTC)

I have removed this sentence. Mezigue (talk) 15:47, 14 March 2014 (UTC)