Dirk Gently Ending

[Gus Fraser]

A couple of days ago I read a FAQ here which included some stuff about the
ending of Dirk Gently. I meant to add this stuff to that thread, but it
seems to have disappeared.

If the author of the FAQ is reading this, there are a couplr of points that
you might like to add.

1/ Coleridge always said that Kubla Khan was the result of a strange dream he
had. When he awoke, he started to write the poem, but was disturbed by a
mysterious 'man from Porlock' calling at his door. By the time the stranger
left, Coleridge had forgotten the rest of the dream. [This info comes from
a friend who was an Eng. Lit. major].

2/ The other difference between the two worlds was that the original world
(the one where Kubla Khan was finished) didn't have the music of Bach.
Before the spaceship was destroyed, Reg transcribed as much of the music in
the spaceship as he could and presented it as the work of a composer called
Bach. Anyone unfamiliar with the mathematical precision of Bach's work
should read Douglas Hofstadtler's book 'Godel, Esher, Bach - the Eternal
Golden Braid'.

Hope this is useful or interesting or even both...

Share and Enjoy...

Dave Cross

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
..not really gfraser (for reasons that may never become apparent)

The opinions presented above are mine, not my company's - hell, the company
doesn't even know who I am!!

[Zot]

1/ Coleridge always said that Kubla Khan was the result of a strange dream he
had.

If you read the intro to the poem it implies an Opium Dream and talk
about the poem being but an intro to the real poem which was 100's of
lines long. My english professor thought that this was a crock since
it was just the kind of thing that was popular to say at the time.
Seems kinda Warholish..

But was it Kubla Khan or the Ancient Marnier that reg interrupted? I
am in the middle of rereading it....

--
Later, ZOT z...@crl.com
Gravity is a myth, the Earth sucks.

[Nigel Scott - Sun UK - Sandwich Student - Coventry]

In article m...@crl2.crl.com, Zot writes:
>But was it Kubla Khan or the Ancient Marnier that reg interrupted? I
>am in the middle of rereading it....

reg?

dirk, methinks; and twas kubla khan - in this time line, there is NO SECOND PART
TO KUBLA KAHN

sorry for shouting but this andy wardley explained this some time ago and it makes
such perfect sense i am just so happy i could shout . . . and did

glad to be of service
scott

[Jarred P. Prejean]

Zot wrote:

: 1/ Coleridge always said that Kubla Khan was the result of a strange dream he
: had.

: If you read the intro to the poem it implies an Opium Dream and talk
: about the poem being but an intro to the real poem which was 100's of
: lines long. My english professor thought that this was a crock since
: it was just the kind of thing that was popular to say at the time.
: Seems kinda Warholish..
: But was it Kubla Khan or the Ancient Marnier that reg interrupted? I
: am in the middle of rereading it....

I think it was Kubla Khan. I think the interruption was something along
the lines of "You know, you should write a poem about this sailor who
kills this albatross..."

I can't be sure, since I haven't read the book in a while and I don't have
my copy with me.

Jarred Prejean

: --

[Andy Wardley]

scott writes:
>
>sorry for shouting but this andy wardley explained this some time ago
>and it makes such perfect sense i am just so happy i could shout . . .

And as if by magic, Andy appears....

---- widely acclaimed "Dirksplanation" follows ----

When they are at the dinner, you hear the Director of English read
"The second and altogether stranger part of the poem (Kubla Khan)",
but there *IS NO* second part of Kubla Khan, at least not in our
timeline. This is because Dirk interrupted Samuel Taylor Coleridge
in the middle of writing it and gave him a really good idea about a
mariner and an albatross. This became The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

So why did Dirk interrupt him? Well, the second part of KK gave the
ghost instructions on how to return to the past and right his wrong,
i.e by finding Reg and using the time machine. The ghost had tried
to do this by possessing him (Reg commented that he had caught STC
poking around in his room) but had presumably failed. Because ghosts
have waxing and waning periods, he wanted to make sure that he (the
ghost) remembered about the time machine next time he became "strong"
so he had STC (in his possessed state) immortalise it in KK part 2.

So the ghost, in one of his future powerful states, read KK part 2,
(or perhaps heard it read by the Director of English while possessing
Richard) and found out (again) how to travel back and not blow up his
ship. He then attempted to possess anyone he could who might help him
achieve it. He finally succeeded with Michael Wenton-Weakes and went
back to pre-historic Earth and didn't blow up his ship by accident.

Dirk realised that it was the ship blowing up that had triggered the
sudden genesis of life on Earth and that in helping the ghost, they
had changed the past meaning that life would never evolve. This was
not good. So they went and found Coleridge as he was writing KK and
distracted him. Part 2 never got written and the ghost never found
out about the time machine. Thus, everything was OK *retrospectively*.

Time travel is a very confusing thing. Or may having been to was be.

---- end of "Dirksplanation ----

Hope this helps

Cheers
Andy

: , , This Spot (Not Allowed) is in no way dedicated
Andy Wardley : -o o- to anyone called Derek, Dave or Terry, Lemurs,
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