I thought it was like someone trying to write like Douglas Adams, but not being Douglas Adams, falling a bit flat. I watched it all, liked some of it, but it really just created a desire to go back and read HHGTTG again. (If you like Douglas Adams, I thought the newest Dirk Gently was reasonably good, but it just seems no one can get it quite right and we continue to be left with uncompleted thoughts… sadly like Mr. Adams himself, an amazing but incomplete catalogue)
I’m an Episcopalian and didn’t find it any more heretical than most British humour. However like most British humour, it’s hit-or-miss - and in this, if you can’t overlook a lot of misses so you can enjoy the occasional hits, you’re not even going to be groaning a lot of the time. IMHO the beginning was the funniest bit, the ending was stupid and embarrassing, and in between there were a few funny bits (some of the raising-Warlock bits were funny, the witchfinder bits were kind of funny slapstick).
I almost always get a hoot and a half out of David Tennant, who I thought did a great job here, but although I often like Michael Sheen, he was pretty annoying in this one. And I admire Frances McDormand, but again - let’s just say it’s the fault of the script more than her.
I’ve not watched the show but I loved the book and I am a huge fan of the author Neil Gaiman. I didn’t notice the similarities to HHGTTG until it was mentioned in this forum. TBH, it has been decades since I’ve read HHGTTG. Perhaps I should read it again.
As far as the Biblical aspect, yes it is full of heresies and plays a bit fast and loose with the Bible. But, as a seminary educated Lay Leader in the US Methodist Church and a devout Christian. I thought it was brilliant and hilarious! I think when one reads books like this, it helps to keep in mind one of my favorite quotations. It is attributed to Ghandi, but I don’t have an original source and I am quoting it from memory. It says something on the order of: “I like this Christ, but I do not like these Christians.”
I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.
This quote has actually become popular in some Christian circles to implore followers that they should “be like Jesus.” But there’s no evidence that Gandhi ever said this.
A similar quote appears to be from an Indian philosopher named Bara Dada, brother of Rabindranath Tagore. The full quote from Dada appears to be from the mid-1920s: “Jesus is ideal and wonderful, but you Christians, you are not like him.”
The book is better but the show is pretty true to the book. I found them both hilarious. If you hate the show you probably shouldn’t bother with the book.
Among my problems with the teevee version of Good Omens (not that I’ve read the book) is that the demon implies that Bach (all the Bachs!) are in Hell, and the angel doesn’t protest. This is vile. If you’re going to write Biblical (anti-)fan-fiction, play fair.
What sort of angel doesn’t have a poster of the Bach boys on his ceiling?
It’s one of my favorite books, but I also really enjoyed the show. If you hate the show, you’re not going to like the book. You’re probably also not going to like anything else by Terry Pratchett, although you may enjoy some of Neil Gaiman’s work. Much of it isn’t absurdist.
Did you try watching it because of this?
https://www.vulture.com/2019/06/christians-petition-netflix-to-cancel-amazons-good-omens.html
@rtjhnstn I’m a Christian, I watched it.
It’s full of heresies but I’m treating it as entertainment only, I know the truth.
Perhaps it’ll cause others to want to read the Bible and what it actually says.
@rtjhnstn
I thought it was like someone trying to write like Douglas Adams, but not being Douglas Adams, falling a bit flat. I watched it all, liked some of it, but it really just created a desire to go back and read HHGTTG again. (If you like Douglas Adams, I thought the newest Dirk Gently was reasonably good, but it just seems no one can get it quite right and we continue to be left with uncompleted thoughts… sadly like Mr. Adams himself, an amazing but incomplete catalogue)
@enville
This. Exactly. As I was watching, I kept thinking “someone has read Hitchhikers a few too many times.
@enville @ruouttaurmind I just found this recently. It’s the BBC radio program of HHGTTG in mp3’s.
https://archive.org/details/hhgttgall6/1-01.mp3
@rtjhnstn @ruouttaurmind thanks, gonna check those out!
I’m an Episcopalian and didn’t find it any more heretical than most British humour. However like most British humour, it’s hit-or-miss - and in this, if you can’t overlook a lot of misses so you can enjoy the occasional hits, you’re not even going to be groaning a lot of the time. IMHO the beginning was the funniest bit, the ending was stupid and embarrassing, and in between there were a few funny bits (some of the raising-Warlock bits were funny, the witchfinder bits were kind of funny slapstick).
I almost always get a hoot and a half out of David Tennant, who I thought did a great job here, but although I often like Michael Sheen, he was pretty annoying in this one. And I admire Frances McDormand, but again - let’s just say it’s the fault of the script more than her.
I’ve not watched the show but I loved the book and I am a huge fan of the author Neil Gaiman. I didn’t notice the similarities to HHGTTG until it was mentioned in this forum. TBH, it has been decades since I’ve read HHGTTG. Perhaps I should read it again.
As far as the Biblical aspect, yes it is full of heresies and plays a bit fast and loose with the Bible. But, as a seminary educated Lay Leader in the US Methodist Church and a devout Christian. I thought it was brilliant and hilarious! I think when one reads books like this, it helps to keep in mind one of my favorite quotations. It is attributed to Ghandi, but I don’t have an original source and I am quoting it from memory. It says something on the order of: “I like this Christ, but I do not like these Christians.”
@jelliott04 From Memory as well, but:
I like your Christ, but not your Christians, they are not very much like your Christ.
huh:
check this out -
https://gizmodo.com/7-gandhi-quotes-that-are-totally-fake-1716503435
This quote has actually become popular in some Christian circles to implore followers that they should “be like Jesus.” But there’s no evidence that Gandhi ever said this.
A similar quote appears to be from an Indian philosopher named Bara Dada, brother of Rabindranath Tagore. The full quote from Dada appears to be from the mid-1920s: “Jesus is ideal and wonderful, but you Christians, you are not like him.”
@earlyre Thanks for the clarification. So, not Gandhi, but still very much on point!
The book is better but the show is pretty true to the book. I found them both hilarious. If you hate the show you probably shouldn’t bother with the book.
Among my problems with the teevee version of Good Omens (not that I’ve read the book) is that the demon implies that Bach (all the Bachs!) are in Hell, and the angel doesn’t protest. This is vile. If you’re going to write Biblical (anti-)fan-fiction, play fair.
What sort of angel doesn’t have a poster of the Bach boys on his ceiling?
I’m with you…I’m going to try again…but so far I’m not getting the hype…
For some of us, it’s also a bonus to see Michael Sheen and David Tennant play the lead roles.
@Labuda I’ve only watched an episode or two, I don’t like or hate the show, I basically came and will stay for Tennant. He’s my guy!!!
It’s one of my favorite books, but I also really enjoyed the show. If you hate the show, you’re not going to like the book. You’re probably also not going to like anything else by Terry Pratchett, although you may enjoy some of Neil Gaiman’s work. Much of it isn’t absurdist.