Sunday, December 19, 2010

The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed..



 After over a decade of being part of this Ka-tet, my journey has come to its end
The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed..
This was the 1st line of the 1st book in the greatest adventure I've ever read and quite possibly one of the best opening lines in a book ever. The Gunslinger, the 1st book of 7 in the epic tale of  the Dark Tower was written by Sai Stephen King back in 1970. He wrote 7 DT books from 1970- 2004.
I should've prefaced this with how big a SK fan I am. I have read 90% of his works. I must admit though that I never had any interest in the Dark Tower series. Then I read 'The Stand', one of King's best books, quite possibly the best he's ever written and one of my all time favourite books. I found out that the DT books had a connection to 'The Stand' and also one of my other favourite SK books, 'The Eyes of the Dragon'.  Loving those books as much as I did, I decided I had to give the DT tale a try.  I started reading them in the mid 90's.  After reading the 1st 4 books, I was so mad at myself for having waited so long to start.  From page one of the 1st book I was no longer a reader, but a participant in a fantastical journey of obsession, murder, intrigue, betrayal, undying friendship, pure love, monsters (both human and fantastical), devotion, death (both warranted and necessary of both good and bad characters), villainy, heroism and destiny. An adventure that enslaved me and drew me into, as if I had no choice in the matter.  Whenever the new tale came out, I bought it and read it immediately, greedily, like a junkie getting his overdue fix.  It sounds silly, yes?  But if you've read this tale then you know what I am talking about. If you haven't, I suggest you began. But I caution you, you will not ever want it to end.  I've been reading the last book for 6yrs.  Not because it's terrible, but because to read that final page was like coming to the end of a special relationship.  You know it's coming, but you don't want to face it.  I am both sad and elated that I have come to the end of the journey and not be disappointed with its finale.  Truly remarkable epic tale and may it do ya, I say thank ya Sai King.

5 comments:

  1. I think a lot of people were disappointed with the end, they felt it was a cop out. But you really have to look at the story. I think he chose his ending very well and without divulging into it, think about the journey. The Gunslinger felt that Ka-tet happened based on something you did and throughout the story Roland felt that if he had a certain something his story would have changed and it may have, which is left to your imagination.

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  2. I agree 100% Susan. I thought the ending was perfect. What did people expect??
    Plus **SPOILER***
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    The ending where Susannah leaves, the Artist leaves, Oy dies and the Gunslinger enters the tower and it ends is perfect. But King wrote even more after that, but begged readers to leave well enough alone. I read the Epilogue and it was good, but I prefer the ending of him entering the Tower and it ending there. He even wrote people may be upset with the ending, he himself wasn't thrilled with it, but the story dictated that ending and it Ka willed it, and to me I was satisfied with that.

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  3. ***SPOILER***
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    And I thought he tied up the Susannah, Eddie, Jake storyline quite nicely as well. No sappy happily ever after b.s. that just wouldn't have fit this tale

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  4. He did tie up Susannah, Eddie, and Jake's story very well and I'm glad they were together. I like the fact that he picked up his horn and the story just goes on and on....

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  5. Again agreed Susan. Tied up everything nicely with them and with Roland picking up the horn, it gives hope that he may one day finally and trully end his quest in the Tower

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