'The Dark Tower' - Stephen King

[Homyrrh]

Yes, yes, yes.


Anyhow, several friends at my boarding school read 'The Gunslinger' and loved it; a buddy gave me his worn, read, coverless copy of the novel, and I read the first chapter or so before having to put it down for other reasons (though I forget at the moment...it was six or so months ago).

Anyway, I've literally been in an ENORMOUS reading lapse lately---I've not finished anything worth mentioning in nearly five months...ugh. To get some momentm going, Iwant to delp deep into a substantial series because it essentially forces me to read a number of books in order, and, along the way, hopefully get hooked.

So I came up with the 'Dark Tower' series and wanted to gather some thoughts and opinions from anyone who's read some or all of it.

[aeroport]

I've read a few of the Gunslinger comic books. Very cool.
But I haven't read the books.

[PeterL]

I listened to the audiobook of the Darktower series, and i didn't think much of it.King wrote several books to cover the same material that Browning covered in a single poem. I think that the poem was much better. I especially disliked the ending of the Darktower.

[metal134]

I read the Dark Tower series. I think it's pretty decent, but it's like a lot of other Stephen King books in that if you look at the concept as a vague outline, it is a fascinating story. But he just has a tendency to use some really lame plot devices and the Dark Tower series is no exception. For the most part, I greatly enjoyed the Dark Tower series, but there were no shortage of instances where I had to roll my eyes at the way he chose to move the story forward. Probably the biggest point of controversy about The Dark Tower series is the ending (don't worry, I won't spoil it). The majority of people seem to hate it, but I for one thought it was a brilliant ending.

[papayahed]

I've read the first couple but haven't made it to the rest of the series yet.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

I've read the first four books twice, and have read the rest. I still consider it my all time favorite series, and I think it is brilliant. It is imaginative and deep, and I don't really know what plot devices metal134 is referring to, I didn't find it to be like that, but my opinoin is a bit biased I guess. Also, I loved the ending and thought it was very fitting. Also, the books are inspired from the poem, the whole series is not just a retelling of Browning's poem, and to compare the two is a rather ridiculous notion if you ask me.

[cral]

I enjoyed the first three books, The Drawing of Three specifically. But beyond those, to say them tedious wouldn't be enough. I don't think it's a spoiler to say that Wizards and Glass is almost entirely composed of flashback, and I really did try to read it but agreeing reviews I found online urged me to skip past it all after the first two hundred pages or so. I read the last chapter and hoped to move on to a better book, but I didn't enjoy the next either and having already given up on Wizards and Glass, I felt no guilt doing the same for Wolves of the Calla. I'd already bought the last two books before realising all this though, so soon I'll probably force myself to try the series again.

[metal134]

I don't really know what plot devices metal134 is referring to, I didn't find it to be like that
Well, then I feel obliged to share them with you! :)


SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!!!












I liked the Odetta/Detta, but the manner in which he brought them together was ridiculous. She watches the guy who pushed her in front of a subway train get smacked by one himself and it causes this big crazy fusion into one person? It just seemed like a really dumb way to do it.

I didn't at all like the story line involving the bringing back of Jake in "The Waste Lands". When I read it, my feeling was that he knew he f'd up by killing of Jake in the first book and now he had to come up with an extremely forced story line to bring him back. And low-and-behold, I read an interview where he said that he messed up by killing off Jake in the first book and had to find a way to bring him back.

The whole brining himself into to the story just didn't do it for me. It seemed, to me at least, like he got stuck and couldn't think of any other way to move the story forward and I just didn't like the way it came out within the context of the story.

There were a bunch of little ones, too, that escape my mind, as it's been a few years since I read them. Overall, I enjoyed it, but sometimes King just has a way of doing things that make me wonder if he didn't just write himself in a corner and now he needs to dig his way out.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

Spoilers here too!





Damn you, because I do agree with some of your comments, lol. I also agree that Jake seemed forced back into the story, but I really enjoyed the story of Jake coming back, and found it imaginative. I honestly don't remember the Odetta/Detta fuson in detail, I might has to go back and read that.

I have mixed feelings on him bringing himself into the story. One part of me likes it and finds it interestingm and another part of me sees at as very pretentious and arrogant (even though he says himslef in the afterward it was not meant to be that way).

And, as much as I hate to admit, I do think he (King) loses his way in stories, and finds himself going, oh ****, what do I do now? In a way though, I think it improves the story in some ways, as it brings a very imaginitive narrative, but sometimes a weak resolution - and weak esolutions have always been a cornerstone of King.

My largest dislike in the series is whe King brings in the Ruby slippers, even with Oy. This seemed like an attempt to get a laugh with a sickeningly over done cuteness akin to the Ewoks in Return of the Jedi (though, don't get me wrong, I love those Ewoks.)

Even with these complaints, it is still my favoirte series. With its use of infinite worlds and the incredibly intricate story, the pros vastly outweigh the cons.

[metal134]

Oh yeah, the slippers. That was another one that I didn't like.

[capek]

I read however many books were out when I was a kid, like in middle school; I think it was the first three. I loved them at the time, thought they were absolutely great. Then last year, I was planning some big time road trips, and wanted to compile some stuff to listen to while driving. I had downloaded the complete series, and figured it was a great opportunity to not only finish the series, but to see how much my conception of "good" writing had chanced since I was a kid. So I listened to the entire series, a discovered they were the worst, most cliche-filed, trite, contrived and just plain silly books I had ever come across.

Though I guess the one benefit I got from the experience was that it totally removed any romantic notion I might have had as to the verity of childhood impressions.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

well, that is depressing capek, and not true. I've read way worse than the DT series, even though I don't consider DT bad. I wouldn't reccomend reading Harry Potter.

[Nighteyes5678]

I've actually heard that they're making this into a movie... what part of it, I'm not sure. I think it could do better as a mini-series, personally.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

I have not heard that, but i hope it isn't true. It is way tooling to work as a movie, but a mini-series may be interesting.

[SirRaustusBear]

I think I may be able to explain some of King's terrible plot devices. He said in his book On Writing that he doesn't like to plot his novels out, but rather comes up with a general idea and then lets his characters go where they will. This can understandably lead to him digging pits that he can't reasonably write his way out of.

I haven't read the Dark Tower series, mostly because if I read one I would want to read them all just to finish it, and that is way to ambitious a project for me right now. I did read a lot of his stuff in middle school though (I'm from Maine, and I assume every kid from Maine who can read goes through an obligatory Stephen King phase) and most of it was rife with these twists that felt like cheating. The worst one I remember was in The Stand when...

SPOILER


The bomb kills Nick, who had been the most likely protagonist up to that point. I did enjoy King's characterization in that novel, though, and I read somewhere that King inserted that twist because he was suffering from major writer's block and couldn't come up with a way to continue the story on its current path.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

Personally, I read King for his writing style more than his plot techniques. e always seems to paint such vivid pictures in ways that cn be terrifying or hilarious.

[ben.!]

I read the first two books in the series while on a farming camp for five weeks. It was what hooked me on Stephen King novels. Awesome reads, especially the second book in the series. I laughed so hard I remember at what a black guy says to get out of airport security.

The gunfights were also interesting from the second one, had the real grip of an action film.