I'm seriously glad I picked up this book. I was told that if I liked King's work I definitely needed to read the Dark Tower series, but its length always put me off. The premise didn't quite grasp me, either. After giving in and picking up the first, I thought I would definitely not be able to read that many books written that way. However, I trusted Stephen King and as one of his Constant Readers knew that he was capable of better, and that The Gunslinger had been written very long ago, by a young man who surely wanted to impress and prove himself. It's also the work he's claimed he is the most proud of, is his most complete, and that made me curious. I decided to give the second book a chance, thinking it had to have gotten at least a little better. And boy, was I right. This book convinces me that Stephen King is more than just a popular writer of violence and sex and murder tales, that he has the intelligence and imagination of a boy who still dreams of parallel worlds and cowboys years after he should have stopped. There's something incredibly magical about this book, about the drawing of the three. All through it, the tale is laced with the usual Stephen King trademarks, subtle reminders that it's still King you're reading. But he could almost make you forget.
The way the characters are introduced to one another, and the way you can almost feel their destinies being binded together solidly like the cement foundations of a cathedral is what did it for me. If I can one day make someone feel and believe that people who were once complete strangers have become as close as blood without stating so, I'll consider myself an accomplished writer. It's not an easy feat, not when you don't realise it's happening until you close the book and you know these people would die for each other if they had to. Maybe not without a fight, but they would die for each other regardless. Completely different in every way: age, world, race, gender. A heroin addict of 23 from 1987, a rich schizophrenic black woman from way earlier than that, and a third that I'll let you discover. Despite this they know, they feel, they understand that even though they don't want to be where they are, in this strange world ruled by questioning lobstrosities and men with guns that can rip a man in half, they belong there at this moment, together, at this time.
This book had parts I could very well see made into another Hollywood blockbuster. The shooting scenes are well written and driven, not boring whatsoever. They could slow the book down but they only carry it further, and I can picture each of them without confusion or fumbling. Everything is clear, everything is tense, and you can feel the urgency in each of the scenes involving a gun. They are, of course, central to the storie and its characters, which only makes sense as the lead is a Gunslinger, the last of his kind. Roland is a strange man, but he's grown on me, and I understand why The Gunslinger was written. I see it as a kind of prequel to the actual story, that very much sets the tone of Roland's character for the second book. We know his motivations, we know how he got there, and why he's there...we can even learn to predict him.
But now Roland's story is on it's way and I can't wait to read on.
Posts
