The Gunslinger: The Dark TOwer 1 by Stephen King
This is a surreal fantasy. The entire book is a setup for the rest of the series, which I haven't read (yet?). It is an interesting read and should be encourging to all us starting writers. It is also interesting to read the introduction and forward. I haven't read anything else by King except for "On Writing" so can't say if this is his usual quality or not. To me it seemed like a first novel which it was.
The edition I read is a revision of the original written in 1970 and published in parts starting in 1978. For this edition he cleaned it up both logically and stylisticly. It would be interesting to read a first edition it see what changes he made.
I do reccomend reading it if surrealistic fantasy is acceptable to you.
- Login to post comments
Wanting to read this.
I've been meaning to read this book for a while. King has always written what he has wanted to write. He has written some very "literary" fiction (see The Green Mile, or Shawshank Redemption) and he's also written plenty of pop horror crap.
I always wanted to read the "The Dark Tower" series because I thought it would be more along the lines of his "literary" fiction (which I prefer).
What's the story actually about, Dave?
----
Life is a lot like caving: Most of the time you grope around in the dark.
Re:The Gunslinger: The Dark TOwer 1 by Stephen King
I must have the original because I got it right after it came out. I didn't know there was a re-edit. Maybe mine is a collector's edition now!
The Dark Tower series is just what Dave said, a surreal fantasy. It is set in an alternate universe that is semi western, semi post-apocalyptic. The main characters all come from our world at various times, except for Roland the gunslinger himself.
If you like King's writing you might like these books. The characters and descriptions are top-notch, as always. I love King's writing but I only kind of mostly like these books. :roll:
I have read the whole series up to the most recent. King himself said he is mostly rambling and you can tell. Since that is (apparently) how he writes all his books it makes sense, but in a single book he will go back to tighten everything up. In a series he can't do that.
Also, these books take forever to get anywhere, because they are mostly about the characters, not the plot or the setting. This is another King trait.
I'm not a complete idiot -- some parts are missing.
Re:The Gunslinger: The Dark TOwer 1 by Stephen King
I think Eddy summed it up, there is not much plot. Roland, the gunslinger is chasing a man in black across the desert and meets a few people along the way. There are few, very few, insites into why and a few allusions to a greater story.
I think that they are reissueing the early books in the series because King finally finished the series. I don't know if he plans to re-edit all early books. It would be interesting to compare.
Re:The Gunslinger: The Dark TOwer 1 by Stephen King
I forced my way through the four books he had written earlier so that I could read the new one. I read about 200 pages in the latest one Volume V Wolves of the Calla and I can't force myself to read any more. It is too rambling, he writes in some dialect that I have to work at to understand, and I don't care. I'm glad I got these from the library and didn't waste my money.