Thursday, May 18, 2017

The Dark Tower, book 1


The Gunslinger is the first book in the Stephen King Dark Tower series. I'm re-reading the first two books and completing the series in preparation for the upcoming film.

from the back of the book:
In the first book of this brilliant series, now expanded and revised by the author, Stephen King introduces readers to one of the most enigmatic heroes, Roland of Gilead, the last gunslinger. He is a haunting figure, a loner on a spellbinding journey into good and evil. In his desolate world, which frighteningly mirrors our own, Roland pursues the man in black, encounters an alluring woman named Alice, and begins a friendship with the boy from New York named Jake. Both grippingly realistic and eerily dreamlike, The Gunslinger leaves readers eagerly awaiting the next chapter.
one of my favorite quotes:
Above, the stars were unwinking, also constant. Suns and worlds by the million. Dizzying constellations, cold fire in every primary hue. As he watched, the sky washed from violet to ebony. A meteor etched a brief, spectacular arc below Old Mother and winked out. The fire threw strange shadows as the devil-grass burned its slow way down into new patterns -not ideograms but a straightforward crisscross vaguely frightening in its own no-nonsense surety. He had lain his fuel in a pattern that was not artful but only workable. It spoke of blacks and whites. It spoke of a man who might straighten pictures in strange hotel rooms. The fire burned its steady, slow flame, and phantoms danced in its incandescent core. The gunslinger did not see. The two patterns, art and craft, were welded together as he slept. The wind moaned, a witch with cancer in her belly. Every now and then a perverse downdraft would make the smoke whirl and puff toward him and he breathed some of it in. It built dreams in the same way that a small irritant may build a pearl in an oyster. The gunslinger occasionally moaned with the wind. The stars were as indifferent to this as they were to wars, crucifixions, resurrections. This also would have pleased him.
*******

6 comments:

  1. Was absolutely the most disappointing series ending of any I've ever read. Interesting, unique premise, waited years and years for additional books, and then the final pathetic last book. No spoilers from me. Some people were not as aghast as I, but then Stephen does often have disappointing endings. The ending was so ridiculous to me that I've had no desire to read anything by Stephen King since. Did not know they were making a movie.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The movie is an overt admission of how horrible the series ending was. It's a sequel lol. I need to finish the series before the movie comes out as I've no idea how it ended.

      Delete
  2. Stephen king is a great writer. I haven't read these but should I guess. Happy weekend. Hugs Erika

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm motivated by the sequel, or honestly I'd never have gone back after the 2nd one.

      Delete
  3. I've read most everything by King, but when the Dark Tower books first came out the release schedule was so erratic that I gave up on reading them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've read few by him, and I gave up this series after the 2nd book years ago. I'm really wanting to finish these before the sequel film comes out. I think Idris Elba is miscast in the main role, but I like him so much I will get over that issue.

      Delete