It's so much more than the initials, but we'll start there: DNA. Douglas Noel Adams. Deoxyribosenucleic acid.
The essence of life, speaking directly, giving us a truth wreathed in coded humour. Truth: Prak, doomed to tell
"the Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing but the Truth". Was this a subtle reference to his creator's secret mission,
a mission so secret even he didn't know it? A little like Zaphod Beeblebrox operating on his own brain so that he
wouldn't be able to bungle his own secret mission. Already the plot has thickened from a light gruel to a
pourable bechamel. But let's turn it to custard. Set custard:
From the 'Hitchikers' books:
The 'Total Perspective Vortex' failed to fry Zaphod's brain as he was at that time inhabiting a simulated universe in
which his own role was of paramount importance. I contend that most people inhabit such universes, those of their own
creation, and that this is the hidden meaning in the piece.
The dolphins in 'So long...' represent a kind of cheerful bunch of psychonauts, tolerantly indulged by humans as having
a degree of intelligence and great entertainment value, but not recognised for the knowledge they possessed concerning the
planet's fate. Indeed, their attempts at communicating this were grossly misinterpreted as playfulness. As more people tune
into the planetary and entheogenic consciousnesses, will their voices be heeded, or will their messages be casually passed
over as the rantings of a bunch of old hippies? The answer, sadly, is already known...
In 'So long...', we meet John Watson, a sane man who saw the future vector of humanity arcing down into the madness we
have today: compensation/blame/litigation culture, a minefield of petty rules. Watson: James, the co-discoverer of, wait
for it, DNA! The epiphany for this Watson was found on toothpick packaging, a tiny fact with a giant result. Thus is Chaos
Theory: extreme sensitivity to starting conditions. Also holographic theory: the whole is deducible from one tiny part.
From the 'Dirk Gently' books:
The character of Gently wholeheartedly denies any belief in 'supernatural' phenomena (Adams' own public position),
yet he inevitably gets drawn to cases involving the most bizarre connections (time-travel, Norse deities...). Also, he pulls
off magnificent flukes like the student examination paper debacle.
Parallel dimensions and their interelationship are nicely explored in the world of the old Norse Gods, the most telling
instance of which is the equivalence of the St. Pancras rail station and the great banqueting hall of Valhalla. The
description of moving between the dimensions is superbly described as a subtle turning in a particular spot, with
tantalising cross-dimensional leakage of sounds.
Evil in its most modern guise is distilled into the form of the Draycotts: no maniacal paedophiles, nor
population-purging arms magnates but bland, relentlessly self-satisfied bourgeois complacents, putting their own trivial
lifestyle concerns before all, making their pact but shying from the consequences.
