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I've just read Douglas Adam's "The Long Dark TeatTime of the soul". I enjoyed it, but finished the book without any clear idea of the explanation for what had been going on. The final chapters, which I'd assumed would explain things, just seemed to open up more questions. So I'm wondering if anyone knows and can explain.

In particular...

  1. I get that Odin sold his soul to the Draycotts, but what exactly did they get from having Odin's soul?

  2. How did that make them so rich?

  3. What was the connection with the people at the mental hospital who were apparently insane and picking up information about other events in the world?

  4. Who was the creature that killed Anstey, and what was in the contract Toe Rag drew up which apparently allowed the creature to kill Anstey?

  5. Above all, how did Dirk deduce what was going on when he was told Odin may have sold his soul? It doesn't look to me like that's nearly enough information to work it out.

  6. Why couldn't Thor fly to Norway at the start of the book but he could later on when Kate was with him?

  7. How did Dirk's wishing the Draycotts would die manage to cause that happening?

  8. How did Kate end up looking after Odin right at the end?

Sorry for so many questions.

Paul D. Waite
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LondonPhantom
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  • Damn, I really need to read it again. I can't even remember Odin selling his soul. I do remember that the book left me wondering about things, like why would Kate's head be filled with penguins. That was never answered. – Mr Lister Jan 19 '13 at 22:53
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    You need to get this down to one question, or at least a group of very related questions. It's inappropriate to have a list of 8. – John O Jan 19 '13 at 23:10
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    Welcome to Science Fiction and Fantasy! If you have more than one question, please split them into multiple posts. This lets one post focus on a single question and answer, helping future users of the site, who have the same question. – AncientSwordRage Jan 20 '13 at 00:07
  • Joining the chorus urging you to break this up into multiple questions. – Kyle Jones Jan 20 '13 at 01:27
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    Have to say I don't agree with the comments claiming this is not a single question. It is a single question asking what the explanation of the events in the story is. The subquestions were clarifications on the particular bits that I found most confusing about the plot. – LondonPhantom Jan 20 '13 at 10:55
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    For the purposes of stack exchange sites a "single question" is one for which it is unlikely that you get your answer in pieces---some from this answer, another bit from that answers and a little note in a thrid. With a list of questions like this that situation is almost guaranteed to pertain. Moreover a through answer to all the parts would begin to push up against the 32k charaacter limit for posts here. – dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten Jan 20 '13 at 21:46
  • "The Long Dark TeatTime of the soul" - is that the porn version? – Paul D. Waite Jan 28 '13 at 17:35
  • You might find some answers here: https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/250390/what-did-dirk-understand-at-the-end-of-the-long-dark-tea-time-of-the-soul – Wade Jun 19 '21 at 08:37

1 Answers1

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I can't answer all of these, but I think you have a few misconceptions.

Firstly, I don't think Odin sold his soul to anyone. On the contrary, the Draycotts sold their souls to him in return for riches, in the normal way, but the thing was that they were modern-day lawyers: they knew about contracts, and Odin's didn't stand a chance against them. They pass the contract on through various people, including Anstey, who was left holding it when it fell due and so invoked the penalty clause, hence the beheading.

There wasn't any particular connection with the mental hospital, it was just a place where strange unexplained people, including Odin, ended up.

Thor's initial attempt to make it to Norway was stopped when he was shot down by the RAF fighter jet, which he managed to turn into an eagle - which Dirk later trapped in his house. At the end, it turned back into a jet: destroying Dirk's house, and crashing into the Draycott's car, killing them.

Kate didn't end up looking after Odin. She simply pointed out to the hospital that they might as well take Odin for whatever was left in his estate until he died, since by all appearances that was imminent, given his state of health - they didn't realize of course that he was immortal and was likely to stay indefinitely.

Daniel Roseman
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  • Ah, thanks Daniel. Yes, putting the contract that way round as the Draycott's selling to Odin makes a lot of sense the way you put it. – LondonPhantom Jan 20 '13 at 10:59
  • This is not true. At the end of chapter 28 the immortal "oh ah" bum explains it to Dirk: "you mean a man has sold his soul to him? What man? It doesn't make sense." "No," said the man, "that wouldn't make any sense at all. I said an immortal soul. Thor said that Odin has sold his soul to Man." As for the ops questions, I am just as confused... – Chrigi Feb 04 '19 at 23:21
  • I agree with @Chrigi, Odin most definitely sold his soul (as is explained in the quotes Chirgi gives). – Wade Jun 18 '21 at 13:58