The Long Dark Tea-Time Of The Soul (Dirk Gently 2)
In the end, it was the Sunday afternoons he couldn't cope with, and that terrible listlessness which starts to set in at about 2:55, when you know that you've had all the baths you can usefully have that day, that however hard you stare at any given paragraph in the papers you will never actually read it, or use the revolutionary new pruning technique it describes, and that as you stare at the clock the hands will move relentlessly on to four o'clock, and you will enter the long dark teatime of the soul.[1]
The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul (Dirk Gently 2)
...it was the Sunday afternoons he couldn't cope with, and that terrible listlessness which starts to set in ... as you stare at the clock the hands will move relentlessly on to four o'clock, and you will enter the long dark teatime of the soul...
The first series involves the movement of souls belonging to both animals and people, resulting, at one point, with people being inside the bodies of mice. This is a reference to Frankie and Benjy mouse, who were actually pan-dimensional beings. It is also mentioned that the projects of Blackwing have been loose for fifteen, almost sixteen, years, which is about the same amount of time that Ford Prefect was stranded on Earth.
It also suggests that the 9/10ths of the human mind supposedly unused has penguins in it. Between them, Douglas and Linus have a lot to answer for.Page category: Books Senso Has Read
I like it!1 C!(idea)by Space Butler Sat Mar 11 2000 at 4:15:23The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul is that state which one's soul enters at about 3 o'clock on a Sunday afternoon, when one has had all the baths that one can usefully have that day and no matter how long one stares at an article in the paper one will never actually read it, nor use the revolutionary new pruning technique it describes. --Douglas Adams (paraphrased)Update 2001/08/01: Ah, I see the esteemed flamingweasel has placed the correct quotation here. So I suppose I'd better actually justify the existence of my writeup here.In all likelihood, the Long Dark Teatime of the Soul is actually a reference to an old medaeval belief known as the long dark night of the soul. It was, basically, a period of bad luck or other suffering which a person would be subjected to prior to some sort of divine experience in their life -- being spoken to by God, or what have you. Which fits with the plot of the book fairly well.Page category: Books Senso Has Read
I like it!1 C!(thing)by flamingweasel Thu Jun 14 2001 at 22:36:57In the end, it was the Sunday afternoons he couldn't cope with, and that terrible listlessness that starts to set in about 2:55, when you know you've taken all the baths that you can usefully take that day, that however hard you stare at any given paragraph in the newspaper you will never actually read it, or use the revolutionary new pruning technique it describes, and that as you stare at the clock the hands will move relentlessly on to four o'clock, and you will enter the long dark teatime of the soul. 041b061a72