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View Full Version : Blaine - and your feelings about it



Letti
01-22-2008, 11:56 PM
I see that many folks like Blaine very much moreover there are people who feel sorry for him.
For my part I liked the character because it was interesting and new but I felt no sorry for it at all. For me it was hard to think of me as a train and when I was first reading it I couldn't. Now I can.
What did he do what he had done with the people in Lud? Was he lonely? Was he insane? Can a robot be insane at all? Have feelings?

Let's talk about our choo-choo Blain.

ManOfWesternesse
01-23-2008, 01:48 AM
Blaine was great as a character. It's weird is'nt it that we talk of this train as a 'character' in the book! - very skillful/creative of SK to suck us into that.
Was I sorry for him - not at all.
Yes Letti, I believe he was indeed crazy. I think Blaine went well beyond our concept of 'robot'. Of course we are told anyway that 'Blaine' was not just the train we saw, but also (and mainly?) the banks & banks of computers back in Lud (& elsewhere??) that linked to the train.
Blaine had acquired emotions, and that is what made him more than robot & therefore enabled him to go crazy. (Just as Patricia had emotions & that drove her to suicide (with Blaine's help of course)).

Would this work in the 'real' universe - No. Does it work in King's universe - hell Yes!

jayson
01-23-2008, 09:57 AM
Blaine was great as a character. It's weird is'nt it that we talk of this train as a 'character' in the book! - very skillful/creative of SK to suck us into that.
Was I sorry for him - not at all.
Yes Letti, I believe he was indeed crazy. I think Blaine went well beyond our concept of 'robot'. Of course we are told anyway that 'Blaine' was not just the train we saw, but also (and mainly?) the banks & banks of computers back in Lud (& elsewhere??) that linked to the train.
Blaine had acquired emotions, and that is what made him more than robot & therefore enabled him to go crazy. (Just as Patricia had emotions & that drove her to suicide (with Blaine's help of course)).

Would this work in the 'real' universe - No. Does it work in King's universe - hell Yes!

All very well said Brian. I thought Blaine an ingenious creation on King's part. A psychopathic super-computer personified by a super-luxury monorail... brilliant! As for Letti's question... no, I did not feel a shred of sympathy for Blaine. Crazy or not, there is no excusing what he did to the people of Lud twice-over with the God drums and the going-away present. My feelings echo Jake's, Blaine is a pain.

Darkthoughts
01-23-2008, 12:58 PM
And that is the truth!

Matt
01-23-2008, 01:11 PM
I had sympathy for the poor thing during the riddles--he really seemed like he was once the height of service to those who built him.

As time went on, he got lonely and it drove him crazy. Seems kind of tragic to me.

That's not an excuse, he was a pain when our Katet met him for sure. :lol:

Malficeus
01-23-2008, 03:28 PM
i liked him he was my favorite character in the series and i felt some remorse for him. his action of lud before his departure i think was right due to how he had been misleading them for so long and completely destoing all life of lud

Woofer
01-24-2008, 04:11 PM
How could I not? He was made both sentient and powerful, then "abandoned" first by his makers, then by those who at least knew how to use/interact with him, and finally by Patricia. Tragic, tragic. I think I most felt for him when Roland shows Blaine that he can be rude.

Still, I think it's quite possible to feel a mix of hate and pity. I also hated Blaine, and I believe he deserved what he got.

Letti
01-24-2008, 10:41 PM
How could I not?

I don't know but for me it's quite easy. :)
I might be evil but I felt no pity no sorry at all.
It was a damn great character but just a big speaking crazy toaster.

Jean
01-24-2008, 10:47 PM
I might be evil but I felt no pity no sorry at all.
It was a damn great character but just a big speaking crazy toaster.
I am inclined to feel the same

Candice Dionysus
01-24-2008, 11:02 PM
Normally I would keep my feelings on something like this to myself, but its late, and I feel like admitting this.

I loved Blaine. Really. I mean, Blaine was indeed a pain, and a jerk to boot, but I think that is why I loved it.

I agree that the character itself seems very tragic, Matt. That seems a good assessment for a hyper-intelligent super-computer/monorail repeatedly abandoned and finally driven to insanity and unspeakable acts.

And while I do not agree with its course of action, I do feel sadness that it was ever forced to come to that at all. A creation like Blaine should not be left to itself, which was a mistake on the part of its makers. So in that case, I don't believe it was entirely Blaine's fault that it lost the mind (and was able to have festered negative emotion) which it had gained over the years.

But of course, that does not excuse Blaine of what it did, and was willing to do simply on a whim. It should still be held responsible for its actions, because at one point it did know that such actions were not tolerable or proper.

Armand St Pierre
01-24-2008, 11:05 PM
I might be evil but I felt no pity no sorry at all.
It was a damn great character but just a big speaking crazy toaster.
I am inclined to feel the same

"My name plate medallion Says never trust a hal 9000"

and on to Andy......

The A.I. just doesn't seem to get a fair shake in the literature does it?
Although the Wachowski brothers warned us of our intolerant behaviors towards consciousness (in whatever form it might take).

ATG
01-24-2008, 11:18 PM
He didn't present himself as a like-able to me, but he was a unique character. Imean...a talking insane train. Whoda thunkit.

Letti
01-24-2008, 11:22 PM
Can, I am so happy you wrote down your opinion. Why would you keep your feelings?
Anyway, you are absolutely right. It wasn't Blaine's fault, of course not. I think we can never blame a toaster or a car or any robots for this or that. That's why I can't hate Blaine, either. Because it wasn't his fault he had no responsibility.

Storyslinger
01-28-2008, 12:51 PM
Nope, it was ka.

Letti
01-28-2008, 01:06 PM
Nope, it was ka.

Brian... isn't it way too easy?? http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p237/Lettike/smiley/cry.gif

Storyslinger
01-29-2008, 09:55 AM
Probably, but, he still was sadistic

Letti
01-29-2008, 09:58 AM
I meant it's too wasy to always say "ka" to a question.
But yes of course Blaine was sadistic.

Storyslinger
01-29-2008, 10:00 AM
Tell that to Roland, it does make it easy to answer any question, though. :lol:

obscurejude
01-29-2008, 10:02 AM
Letti,

I think he deserves a little blame for being a douche. He's a little more advanced than a toaster and thus capable (to some extent) of making decisions with moral consequences that he understood. I'll give you another example. Andy (messenger robot and many functions) was also a douche. But Nigel (domestic) was really nice to Susannah in Fedic and she felt really bad about shooting his eyes out. King even describes her remorse by noting that Susannah began to think of Nigel as "him" rather than "it" after he helped her to the New York/Fedic door.

Letti
01-29-2008, 10:02 AM
I wish I could tell him. :)

obscurejude
01-29-2008, 10:06 AM
kaka

jayson
01-29-2008, 10:13 AM
I'll give you another example. Andy (messenger robot and many functions) was also a douche. But Nigel (domestic) was really nice to Susannah in Fedic and she felt really bad about shooting his eyes out. King even describes her remorse by noting that Susannah began to think of Nigel as "him" rather than "it" after he helped her to the New York/Fedic door.

exactly OJ. how 'bout stuttering bill as well. both of those showed that not all A.I. in the multiverse are sadistic sociopaths.

Darkthoughts
01-29-2008, 10:15 AM
"My name plate medallion Says never trust a hal 9000"
My computer is called Hal, I sometimes wonder if thats tempting fate ;)

obscurejude
01-29-2008, 10:17 AM
Yeah R of G. Another good example. Nigel was cool as hell.

obscurejude
01-29-2008, 10:19 AM
"My name plate medallion Says never trust a hal 9000"
My computer is called Hal, I sometimes wonder if thats tempting fate ;)

That would scare the hal out of me.

Darkthoughts
01-29-2008, 10:26 AM
:lol:

I can't believe I laughed at that, it was like one of my dad's jokes :rofl:

obscurejude
01-29-2008, 10:29 AM
My humor can be an aquired taste. I'm usually the only one rolling. I'm glad you liked it.

LadyHitchhiker
01-30-2008, 11:07 AM
I voted I felt sorry for him a little bit. I'm very empathetic...

HanzouNorak
02-08-2008, 01:13 PM
he was a bastard that fucked up his only friend and let her kill herself. theres no reason for me to feel sorry for him, he seemed content activating the ZZ top every once in a while and seemed even more content sitting where he was and watching what happened when he played the drums.

Blaine was probaly one of the greater characters King has created.

LadyHitchhiker
02-25-2008, 08:36 AM
I feel sorry for him because he was a victim of mental disease... It's wasted emotion to hate someone who isn't sane...

And yes, he was one of the greatest characters ever!

Letti
02-25-2008, 01:09 PM
Victim? How can a coke can be a victim?

Woofer
02-26-2008, 04:14 AM
But Letti, a coke can is not a good analogy because a coke can doesn't have artificial intelligence (AI), and understanding AI is the key to understanding Blaine (also Andy, Nigel, and Bill). AI elevates it from machine to something else. And where do we draw the line with intelligent machines? All of the mechanical beings in TDT certainly have self-awareness and, apparently, feelings. How much intelligence is enough to call it "living"?

Have you ever read any of the stories in Asimov's I, Robot? If not, I strongly urge it. I think it will help to understand quite a bit about the mechanical beings in TDT.

jayson
02-26-2008, 04:21 AM
But Letti, a coke can is not a good analogy because a coke can doesn't have artificial intelligence (AI), and understanding AI is the key to understanding Blaine (also Andy, Nigel, and Bill). AI elevates it from machine to something else. And where do we draw the line with intelligent machines? All of the mechanical beings in TDT certainly have self-awareness and, apparently, feelings. How much intelligence is enough to call it "living"?

Have you ever read any of the stories in Asimov's I, Robot? If not, I strongly urge it. I think it will help to understand quite a bit about the mechanical beings in TDT.

don't asimov's robots, as a rule, never turn on their makers? i agree that blaine is more complex than a coke can, he's more like a coke machine.

Woofer
02-26-2008, 04:28 AM
Correct, but that's because of the Three Laws of Robotics. Just read TDT mechanical beings as like the robots in Asimov's work but without the failsafe.

ETA: Also, sometimes the robots in Asimov's stories could defy their masters by taking an order too literally. For example, there is one story where a robot is irritating a human worker and the worker tells him to get lost. The robot then hides in a shipment of identical robots, literally "getting lost" per his master's order.

LadyHitchhiker
02-26-2008, 02:37 PM
Blaine kind of reminds me of Terminator. bash him in the head too many times and he'll revert between his new progamming and his old programming...

Matt
02-26-2008, 02:47 PM
I would think that if I was building a robot, that rule would be first on the list. :lol:

LadyHitchhiker
02-26-2008, 02:49 PM
Absolutely!

Bad guy
*bash*
good guy
*bash*
Bad guy
*bash*
good guy
*bash*
Wait! how many times did I bash his head? Oh he's still trying to kill me.. I'll bash him over the head again!

Brainslinger
03-18-2008, 04:31 AM
I liked Blaine. I thought he was a great character.

I voted the middle one, (as in partly sorry). That is mainly the influence of 'little Blaine' who seemed to be Blaine's lost morality encapsulated in another personality.

As for whether or not Blaine is to,er, blame...!?!... that's difficult since he is insane. The fact that he became insane isn't his fault, but he could still choose whether or not to act, and for that he is to blame.

(By the way, if these trains consciousness are mainly in the computer systems of Ludd, would the destruction of the train reallly kill them?)

Matt
03-18-2008, 06:14 AM
I've often considered that last bit. The poison gas sure wouldn't have killed the main computer at Lud and if the train is just an extension of that...I would say no.

Wuducynn
03-18-2008, 06:21 AM
I've often considered that last bit. The poison gas sure wouldn't have killed the main computer at Lud and if the train is just an extension of that...I would say no.

Agreed. Plus, remember, the computer Blaine was probably protected from any corrosive effects of the gas by the same super technology that built it.

jayson
03-18-2008, 06:32 AM
I've often considered that last bit. The poison gas sure wouldn't have killed the main computer at Lud and if the train is just an extension of that...I would say no.

Agreed. Plus, remember, the computer Blaine was probably protected from any corrosive effects of the gas by the same super technology that built it.

yes, blaine the mono died, not blaine the computer brain controlling the mono

MonteGss
03-18-2008, 07:48 AM
So, you don't think it was Blaine the computer brain that Eddie killed with his stupid humor?

Matt
03-18-2008, 07:53 AM
Its an interesting question because Blaine's logic centers were under lud and if what Eddie did to them fried him back to his origin--that could have been the end.

So now I'm on the fence again.

Wuducynn
03-18-2008, 07:54 AM
No, I think Blaine died from it. But I do think the aparatus wouldn't be effected by the lethal gas, thats all.

MonteGss
03-18-2008, 07:56 AM
No, I think Blaine died from it. But I do think the aparatus wouldn't be effected by the lethal gas, thats all.

This is how I felt about it. The gas and the destruction of Lud did nothing to Blaine the Computer. Eddie killed the Computer with his silly questions which in turn caused the computer system to fry and the Mono to crash.

Wuducynn
03-18-2008, 07:57 AM
No, I think Blaine died from it. But I do think the aparatus wouldn't be effected by the lethal gas, thats all.

This is how I felt about it. The gas and the destruction of Lud did nothing to Blaine the Computer. Eddie killed the Computer with his silly questions which in turn caused the computer system to fry and the Mono to crash.

Word Up, homeslice.

MonteGss
03-18-2008, 07:58 AM
For shizzle. :cool:

Matt
03-18-2008, 07:59 AM
Seems like two different things to me though. If "blaine the computer at Lud" didn't die, only his train extension...that is one thing.

What was brought up is weather or not the logic problem fried him all the way back to the source, in that case the computer brain would be dead as well no?

Or perhaps it only fried the circuits that run Blaine, in that case I would consider him fully dead.

MonteGss
03-18-2008, 08:01 AM
Blaine completely died. Eddie completely killed the computer in Lud, which made the mono crash. The mono wasn't really Blaine at all...only a train that he was sending to Topeka. That is how I see it. :)

Matt
03-18-2008, 08:03 AM
Well there you go.

My first reaction was that it only killed the train, and not what was up the digital line. But it was so severe, it makes sense that it would have got the whole thing.

Although, its a fun idea that Blaine still lives in the forum of a dim light somewhere on a computer bank under Lud.

Wuducynn
03-18-2008, 08:04 AM
Well there you go.

My first reaction was that it only killed the train, and not what was up the digital line. But it was so severe, it makes sense that it would have got the whole thing.

Although, its a fun idea that Blaine still lives in the forum of a dim light somewhere on a computer bank under Lud.

There you go. What I said in the first place, if you just had been paying a little more attention... fucker.

Matt
03-18-2008, 08:07 AM
I understood completely--just not sure I agree yet.

MonteGss
03-18-2008, 08:08 AM
:lol:

Matt, I always always hope that things/people don't really die in The Dark Tower. Then I can always hope for their creepy return! :)

Wuducynn
03-18-2008, 08:09 AM
I understood completely--just not sure I agree yet.

Well you better make up your mind right or I'll have to come out to Colorado and take advantage of that sexy wife of yours...

MonteGss
03-18-2008, 08:10 AM
Well there you go.

My first reaction was that it only killed the train, and not what was up the digital line. But it was so severe, it makes sense that it would have got the whole thing.

Although, its a fun idea that Blaine still lives in the forum of a dim light somewhere on a computer bank under Lud.

I do believe there is a passage from W&G that says something to the extent that "Blaine, in reality, was stuck back in Lud....and the train was just an extenstion." Something along those lines, anyway.

Wuducynn
03-18-2008, 08:11 AM
I do believe there is a passage from W&G that says something to the extent that "Blaine, in reality, was stuck back in Lud....and the train was just an extenstion." Something along those lines, anyway.

Hmmmm....

Wuducynn
03-18-2008, 08:13 AM
Are you talking about when Blaine says that his main frame was actually back in Lud and the antenna he was extending was connecting to it?

MonteGss
03-18-2008, 08:16 AM
Yes, that one. I think there is another one too though, not entirely sure though.

Brainslinger
03-25-2008, 05:59 PM
I suppose it's possible that Blaine switched off the computer system or transferred his consciouness entirely to the train before he set out...

I'm not entirely convinced though considering the way it is described.

I also wondered about Patricia. Obviously the train was destroyed but was she also part of the computer system too? I guess Blaine could have just destroyed her computer systems when the train commited suicide.

Letti
03-25-2008, 10:37 PM
I think Blaine wanted to die. It wanted to exist no more. I think it would have been able to save itself but it didn't.

Wuducynn
03-26-2008, 05:38 AM
I think Brian wanted to die. He wanted to exist no more. I think he would have been able to save itself but he didn't.


Who is Brian?

Storyslinger
03-26-2008, 05:38 AM
I think Brian wanted to die. He wanted to exist no more. I think he would have been able to save itself but he didn't.

Careful with that spelling dear. :lol: Thats a little harsh. :huglove:

Letti
03-26-2008, 06:04 AM
*laughs out loudly*
I am just about to correct it. Sometimes it's incredible what I can write...

Wuducynn
03-26-2008, 06:05 AM
Cutie-pie

Storyslinger
03-26-2008, 06:06 AM
*laughs out loudly*
I am just about to correct it. Sometimes it's incredible what I can write...

:huglove:

Vasagi
03-26-2008, 07:28 AM
I don't see how anyone can feel sorry for Blaine. I mean sure, he achieved a sort of consciousness, making him a true artificial intelligence, but look at the atrocities he committed. How many millions of luddites died at his hands? He had a routine of firing up the "god-drums" just to make the people kill themselves. Anybody who tried to approach one of his terminals got fried on the spot. He was in a position of great power during a time of great war when the world was passing on, and he didn't use it to help. He used it to harm others for his own amusement.

Blaine didn't feel any remorse for the people that died because of him, and he set himself on a pillar above the people. He had no conscience, and was antisocial and dangerously aggressive toward anybody that approached him. There's a term for that kind of behavior: sociopath/psychopath.

Should I feel bad for Ted Bundy because he was a product of a broken home? Or should I be horrified at the acts he committed?

http://www.mugshots.com/IMAGES/P__ted-bundy.jpg=http://www.mugshots.net/jeffrey_dahmer/jeffrey_dahmer.jpg=http://wiki.stephen-king.de/images/thumb/a/ae/Blaine_in_Lud.jpg/230px-Blaine_in_Lud.jpg

obscurejude
03-26-2008, 07:35 AM
I think you should consider why Ted Bundy did the things he did. To disregard environment is to dichotomize the human condition in a way that disregards the means in light of the end. We've already determined that Blaine is a psychopath, but for King, these are always made, and not created. King's villains are so interesting because they are complex. You might find the threads on Mordred and the Crimson King interesting.

Brice
04-02-2008, 05:32 AM
I think you should consider why Ted Bundy did the things he did. To disregard environment is to dichotomize the human condition in a way that disregards the means in light of the end.

...and why is that a bad thing, Ryan?

obscurejude
04-02-2008, 07:20 AM
Brice, I'll send you a pm or just tell you when I see you next week. I don't want to derail the thread.

Jean
04-02-2008, 07:40 AM
why do the most interesting things go to PMs instead of to off-topic threads?

Brice
04-02-2008, 09:07 AM
why do the most interesting things go to PMs instead of to off-topic threads?


I'll PM you the answer to that. :P

John_and_Yoko
04-03-2008, 12:38 PM
I kind of saw Blaine as a cross between HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey and Gollum from The Hobbit.

I felt sorry for both of those, even though they were supposed to be villains, and I felt the same way with Blaine. The way Eddie kept killing Blaine with his jokes made me think of a funnier version of Dave Bowman, and Blaine's "I hate you" talk reminded me of Gollum's last lines from The Hobbit.



What's wrong with me? I feel sorry for the villains!

obscurejude
04-03-2008, 12:51 PM
Nothing is wrong with you dude. Most of us feel the same way.

John_and_Yoko
04-03-2008, 12:53 PM
Nothing is wrong with you dude. Most of us feel the same way.

That's good to know, because I really don't want to harden my heart in that way....

mia/susannah
04-03-2008, 12:58 PM
I had sympathy for the poor thing during the riddles--he really seemed like he was once the height of service to those who built him.

As time went on, he got lonely and it drove him crazy. Seems kind of tragic to me.

That's not an excuse, he was a pain when our Katet met him for sure. :lol:

I tend to agree with you Matt. I liked Blaines character although I really don't like what he did to the people of Lud

Míchéal
04-03-2008, 04:28 PM
At times Blaine bored me to tears...

LadyHitchhiker
04-04-2008, 12:08 PM
Making holographic entertainment for himself.

Letti
04-04-2008, 12:13 PM
At times Blaine bored me to tears...

When and how? His part wasn't so long.

LadyHitchhiker
04-04-2008, 12:26 PM
That's an interesting outlook I never had myself. I found him quite entertaining.

Letti
04-04-2008, 12:27 PM
Yeah, Blain was very interesting to me, as well. Insane robots... they can always catch my attantion because they seem very dangerous.

obscurejude
04-04-2008, 12:31 PM
I can't think of a boring scene with ol' Blaine either. Hmmm...no I really can't.

Fathers Face
07-19-2008, 10:21 AM
Blaine was a great Character A Super Computer loosing its mind due to the loneliness of the world and its people it once served having moved on also i believe Blaine said that parts of his system were malfunctioning
" REPEATED DIAGNOSTIC CHECKS HAVE FAILED TO REVEAL THE SOURCE OF THE PROBLEM. I CAN ONLY CONCLUDE THAT THIS IS A SPIRITUAL MALAISE BEYOND MY ABILITY TO REPAIR"

"SUCH MALFUNCTIONS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE IMPOSSIBLE WITH SLOTRANS TECHNOLOGY, BUT OF COURSE THE WORLD HAS MOVED ON...HAS IT NOT, ROLAND OF GILEAD?"

I also like that we see Blaine as mostly the pink mono train but were as his network stretches all the way to END WORLD and who knows were else.


"YOU DON'T WANT TO GET THE IDEA THAT IM NOTHING BUT A TRAIN"

Whitey Appleseed
12-28-2008, 07:38 PM
Yeah, Blaine gets his moment(s) of grace. Roland is able to reason with him. There's that. There's some things in the next book that provide, as well. I wonder if he's a mechanic of the brain, riddling, he "emancipated" Patricia, his only friend, by allowing her to die. Seems like the people of Lud were looking for death, lining up at the stamping press. I don't think there's a form at the hospital that says, KEEP ME ALIVE!...but there are forms for pulling the plug. There's that bit about Guyana, as well, Jim Jones. Like he said, he only provided what his servants wanted, made it easier for them,

Anastasia
02-26-2009, 12:38 AM
I admit that the whole idea of Baine was interesting and the scenes ivolving him were entertaining at some point. But I didnt like him at all. All that robots with rudiments of intellect are just so not interesting...

mikatile
04-15-2009, 03:42 PM
I think Blaine is representative of humanity's increasing dependence on technology, and where it could lead, he reminds me a little of hal 9000 from 2001.

AlishaRiley
04-15-2009, 03:48 PM
I thought that Blaine was a pretty cool character. A clever invention of King, I have to say. I didn't find him boring whatsoever, quite the contrary. I enjoyed his part in the book rather a lot. :)

Letti
04-15-2009, 11:06 PM
I thought that Blaine was a pretty cool character. A clever invention of King, I have to say. I didn't find him boring whatsoever, quite the contrary. I enjoyed his part in the book rather a lot. :)

Right. I always loved trains but after I met Blaine... they became even more fascinating.

Jean
04-15-2009, 11:46 PM
I thought that Blaine was a pretty cool character. A clever invention of King, I have to say. I didn't find him boring whatsoever, quite the contrary. I enjoyed his part in the book rather a lot. :)

Right. I always loved trains but after I met Blaine... they became even more fascinating.
I think Blaine is one of Sai King's greatest achievements, and my favorite minor villain by far.

Munchausen
04-16-2009, 07:58 AM
Here's what I got: Blaine is the extention of every King bully from Ace of "The Body" right on out. How he came to the hideous solutions to amuse himself until the arrival of Roland's ka-tet baffles me. I will never understand this cold brand of malice. Thus when Eddie blew terrific holes in the digital map, it was very cathartic for me.
As for his true passing, it is not too clear to me if the computer in Lud was still functioning after the mono's departure. But then again this might be a metaphorical opportunity. Consider the mono as corporeal existance and the computer under the city as ethereal consciousness. If you dig the vibe I'm sending...help me clarify.

Chain BladeO9
04-22-2009, 06:03 PM
While I felt no sympathy for Blaine, he is still one of my favorite characters. I think I love him so much due to the combination of his riddles and his cruelnature..

Jon
04-22-2009, 08:31 PM
The dude loved riddles...what's not to love about him????

Letti
04-22-2009, 09:25 PM
The dude loved riddles...what's not to love about him????
*laughs*
everything else ;)

sleeplessdwarf
06-05-2009, 10:11 PM
Maybe odd that I find this character amusing, but I do. I have just finished The Waste lands and I can now say thank God I did not read the series as it was published. My patience is nill and the way that one ended would have killed me to have to wait for the next. I am sure as I read on, I will learn more about the machines and how they fit, but so far Blaine has been my favorite non-ka-tet character. I know that tick tock man or others should stand out more, but so far this is where I am at. The kids have kept us very busy lately so I have had to resort to doing some of Waste Lands on audio. That could be an influence I guess. As for the group, I love em all, but I was very interested in Detta as I was married to a black woman and being around her family I heard many stories about the civil rights times. (12 years of being together you tend to learn alot)

I stick to my side of being glad I waited. When I see some of you talking about upccoming stories I can only imagine myself waiting to see how the train ride ended. A valium or two may hve been required for a day till it was released. :evil:

Crow
06-17-2009, 07:17 PM
I certainly felt bad for little Blaine. Saw him as a sort of alternate personality, a little brother if you will, to Big Blaine. Trapped in with and terrified of the dominant version.

And yeah, Blaine was not boring in the least. Completely lacking in compassion and totally insane, definitely. But not boring. :)

Letti
06-17-2009, 08:53 PM
For me little Blaine and Blaine were always the same. I felt little Blaine was another way for Blaine to play with the ka-tet,

Brainslinger
06-18-2009, 02:50 PM
For me little Blaine and Blaine were always the same. I felt little Blaine was another way for Blaine to play with the ka-tet,

Really? I never interpreted him that way. I thought Little Blaine was like the moral part of Blaine's personality, something that had become compartmenatlised, segregated from the main personality as he went insane.

Brice
06-18-2009, 04:42 PM
Yeah, I though of Little Blaine as separate as much as I thought Odetta and Detta were separate and for much the same reasons.

Letti
06-26-2009, 12:36 PM
I can understand where you are coming from. Maybe I am the minority with my thoughts about little Blaine.

Woofer
06-28-2009, 08:07 AM
I also saw little Blaine as a part that had segmented itself from the crazy Big Blaine part, like the tiny sane part of a brain that may metaphorically brick itself into a safe niche from the insanity raging through the rest of the brain.

BillyxRansom
06-29-2009, 07:53 AM
At times Blaine bored me to tears...


At times Blaine bored me to tears...


At times Blaine bored me to tears...

this.

ola
06-29-2009, 09:42 PM
I also saw little Blaine as a part that had segmented itself from the crazy Big Blaine part, like the tiny sane part of a brain that may metaphorically brick itself into a safe niche from the insanity raging through the rest of the brain.

Yeah. Blaine was crazy from being super intelligent and having nothing to do for centuries...but I don't think he had a dissociative identity disorder. Little Blaine was more Blaine than Detta was Odetta. It was a voice in his head, not another personality entirely, and it manifested itself as a separate part of the same entity. Just like how he used a lot of different voices to talk.

pixiedark76
06-30-2009, 12:27 PM
I felt sorry for Blaine because he reminds me of a spoiled 3 year old! He seemed like a very smart, but very immature person. (Kind of like my son!) Blaine also seemed very lonely and scared. He was neglected and alone for thousands of years! Being lonely can definitely make a person go insane! I have always thought that if the Ka-tet would have tried to understand Blaine better and tried to make friends with him, Blaine would have acted differently.

ola
06-30-2009, 06:10 PM
I have always thought that if the Ka-tet would have tried to understand Blaine better and tried to make friends with him, Blaine would have acted differently.

I think that Blaine was beyond making friends by the point they encountered him. He'd decided that he wanted to die, and there wasn't anything they could have offered him to look forward to by 'living' - maybe if he was a really old human instead of a really really old robot, they could have shown him some sort of meaning in life with their friendship. But being an ancient, bored machine without a purpose, he was beyond finding even other smart machines interesting to talk to. Otherwise he wouldn't have killed Patricia.

Letti
07-07-2009, 12:27 PM
I felt sorry for Blaine because he reminds me of a spoiled 3 year old! He seemed like a very smart, but very immature person. (Kind of like my son!) Blaine also seemed very lonely and scared. He was neglected and alone for thousands of years! Being lonely can definitely make a person go insane! I have always thought that if the Ka-tet would have tried to understand Blaine better and tried to make friends with him, Blaine would have acted differently.

What a positive attitude but I couldn't disagree more. I feel Blaine didn't want any understanding but revenge. Bloody revenge.

cody44
07-07-2009, 05:53 PM
I felt sorry for Blaine because he reminds me of a spoiled 3 year old! He seemed like a very smart, but very immature person. (Kind of like my son!) Blaine also seemed very lonely and scared. He was neglected and alone for thousands of years! Being lonely can definitely make a person go insane! I have always thought that if the Ka-tet would have tried to understand Blaine better and tried to make friends with him, Blaine would have acted differently.

What a positive attitude but I couldn't disagree more. I feel Blaine didn't want any understanding but revenge. Bloody revenge.

I agree with Letti, I don't think Blaine would have been able to make friends. He was very unstable, and wanted nothing more than to kill as many people as he could.

And I don't think you could be understanding to a insane train who wants nothing more that to kill himself, the citizens of Lud, and the Ka-tet.

The Dancing Clown
08-24-2009, 11:52 AM
I liked the concept of a character like Blain, not Blain himself (he's a pain).

The only thing I didn't like about him was "Little Blain". Just felt a bit tack-on and I think the character would've been more interesting if King hadn't, like many other writers, tried to humanize an AI.

Sickrose
11-22-2009, 07:56 AM
I didnt have sympathy for Blaine - he is an example of the mahciens the Old people made going wrong or bad.

I think little Blaine was Blaine messing with the Ka-tet - another part of his degenerative state of mind. A great character and totally suspensful part of the book!

What did he do what he had done with the people in Lud?
I think the poeple of Liud were like the people in Mejis - ready to resort to superstition and,therefore, worship the God-drums.

Was he lonely? Was he insane? Can a robot be insane at all? Have feelings?
He did seem to have feelings maybe especially anger and spite! I think he had evolved to some point but the environment he was in made him spiteful and horrible!

Delacroix
11-22-2009, 08:46 AM
Blaine wasn't that mad. He knew. He knew what he was and where he was. He knew what had happened and what would come next. He had all the fact and the perfect logic to make the best choices. Suicide was his only option and I don't think he was glad about it. He also set the Lud dewellers free. They were in the same situation as he was, but they didn't know it and didn't know how to escape it.

Of course he could have tried to make things better and build a new world...but he was a bit mad for that. Blaine is a pain and that is the truth, Blaine is wrong and that is the truth.

l0rdhelmet223
06-04-2010, 12:02 AM
I don't really think blain was crazy at all... he just wanted to die, being left alone for thousands of years had made him bitter perhaps. but he wasn't crazy. he had the presence of mind to formulate a plan and gave the ka-tet a choice to follow with it or not, as I remember... it's been a while. As for what he had done to the people of Lud, with the GOD drums, I'm pretty sure that was just for his amusement, but as I said he was bitter and lonely... as for killing them all, looking back I see it as more of a release for them... The world had moved on, and the people of Lud were going mad as it was. Even tho blain may have been driven to the decisions he made I can't say I felt sorry for him... he was a pain and homicidal to boot........ not really even suicidal because if I remember right the banks of computers that was actually his brain or consciousness would continue to live on and just get more lonely and more bitter..... well shit... maybe he was crazy LOL.

Charyou Tree
06-05-2010, 07:47 AM
I also saw little Blaine as a part that had segmented itself from the crazy Big Blaine part, like the tiny sane part of a brain that may metaphorically brick itself into a safe niche from the insanity raging through the rest of the brain.

Yeah. Blaine was crazy from being super intelligent and having nothing to do for centuries...but I don't think he had a dissociative identity disorder. Little Blaine was more Blaine than Detta was Odetta. It was a voice in his head, not another personality entirely, and it manifested itself as a separate part of the same entity. Just like how he used a lot of different voices to talk.

I like this. I agree with this 100%. That and the fact that Blaine was a pain....in the ass....if it do ya.


I don't really think blain was crazy at all... he just wanted to die, being left alone for thousands of years had made him bitter perhaps. but he wasn't crazy. he had the presence of mind to formulate a plan and gave the ka-tet a choice to follow with it or not, as I remember... it's been a while. As for what he had done to the people of Lud, with the GOD drums, I'm pretty sure that was just for his amusement, but as I said he was bitter and lonely... as for killing them all, looking back I see it as more of a release for them... The world had moved on, and the people of Lud were going mad as it was. Even tho blain may have been driven to the decisions he made I can't say I felt sorry for him... he was a pain and homicidal to boot........ not really even suicidal because if I remember right the banks of computers that was actually his brain or consciousness would continue to live on and just get more lonely and more bitter..... well shit... maybe he was crazy LOL.

Yeah...he was. Remember, his mental state was wearing down. Curayyyyyzah!

Brainslinger
06-06-2010, 08:19 AM
not really even suicidal because if I remember right the banks of computers that was actually his brain or consciousness would continue to live on and just get more lonely and more bitter..... well shit... maybe he was crazy LOL.

I wondered about that too, but I think he probably transferred his consiousness (for want of a better word) to the train. Or copied it then deleted the original. Computers are nothing without the programs running on them and I think that is essentially what Blaine's personality was. A very advanced computer program. When the train died, so did Blaine. At least that's my take onit, but maybe you're right and he is still cackling away in the circuits of that city far away.... brrrr.

And I do think he was crazy. He even had a dual personality thing going on with 'little Blaine'. An insane person can still scheme. Insanity takes different forms. It's not just someone running around gibbering like a gibbon and shouting "RHUBARB!" (Actually it's very rarely that, I'm obviously exaggerating, but I'm sure you get what I mean.)

lowdown
06-06-2010, 10:28 PM
And that is the truth!


:orely::lol::lol:
i voted for no remorse for blaine....><

but hell yea Blaine was a great character in the book

but in the long run he was computer ....super computer but still a computer

he was beat by human ridiculous bullshit .......courtesy of Eddie Dean :cowboy:

weakness if you ask me

haunted.lunchbox
10-30-2010, 11:38 AM
I didn't feel sorry for him, but he was an awesome villain.

RainInSpain
10-30-2010, 12:07 PM
Same here - not a bit of pity, but it was very interesting to read about him (it?)
Especially because I'm facinated by a combination of intelligence and craziness that he possesses. Nothing like a creative, merciless, 'omnipotent', mad machine to add a generous bit of suspence to the story.

Roland of Gilead 33
01-18-2011, 06:32 PM
i felt a little bit of sorry for him cause i think at one point he was prolly a LOT more friendly & as the years went on he i think became more human.

& with the change in Roland's world it made him lose to put it best his sanity. after that he lost pretty much his mind. but he was i agree a great vililan. i always found it funny that he didn't notice "Little Blaine" still in him, or hear him talk to the gang. i realize he asked them once or twice if they said anything. but that was just once or twice.

Versalina
08-29-2012, 01:43 PM
I loved Blaine! He's my favorite character, as strange as that sounds. I also like all the other robots/cyborgs, but he was just great!

sgc1999
08-29-2012, 02:53 PM
about as bad as i did for andy. not at all:)

Jean
08-29-2012, 11:48 PM
I loved Blaine! He's my favorite character, as strange as that sounds. I also like all the other robots/cyborgs, but he was just great!he is definitely my favorite villain

fernandito
04-03-2013, 08:06 AM
Just finished my Wastelands reread.

Wow, Blaine is just as great as I remembered. Such a wonderful, menacing villain. The part where he tells Eddie that he voluntarily blew out the circuits that monitors whether or not his tracks are still intact just to 'make things interesting' .. amazing.

jsmcmullen92
07-22-2015, 05:10 AM
Does any one else feel that Blaine is misrepresented by all the reprint covers of the book? The first time I ever saw Wastelands was the viking edition so in my mind I have this classic old coal engine with Rose eyes and a skull face in my mind every time I hear his name and then you learn he is a pink mono... it was a little of a let down for me with everywhere you look you always see a train. Not sure if this is due to the publishers laziness to create a cover that represents the story or if they were trying to give you a different mental image. My thoughts are just because it is a train doesn't mean just put a train.

stroppygoblin
07-22-2015, 07:33 AM
Does any one else feel that Blaine is misrepresented by all the reprint covers of the book? The first time I ever saw Wastelands was the viking edition so in my mind I have this classic old coal engine with Rose eyes and a skull face in my mind every time I hear his name and then you learn he is a pink mono... it was a little of a let down for me with everywhere you look you always see a train. Not sure if this is due to the publishers laziness to create a cover that represents the story or if they were trying to give you a different mental image. My thoughts are just because it is a train doesn't mean just put a train.

I never liked that image, it just doesnt fit the description of Blaine in the book - he's an ultra modern slick mono, not a steam billowing locomotive.

My favourite is this by Darek Kocurek (http://www.darekkocurek.com/en/gallery/subcategory/the-dark-tower) - love this piece of art.

http://www.darekkocurek.com/uploads/gallery/71aaf1234b80fc1cb76d13a9fcc9c3a0f1734ee6.jpg

Xerrand
07-22-2015, 08:20 AM
How can you feel sorry for an insane mass murderer?!? :lol: also he wasn't even human. Great character though.

killjoy72
07-22-2015, 08:45 AM
Blaine is a pain.

Xerrand
07-22-2015, 09:11 AM
Blaine is a pain.

And THAT'S the truth!!!

RainInSpain
07-22-2015, 11:32 AM
I never liked that image, it just doesnt fit the description of Blaine in the book - he's an ultra modern slick mono, not a steam billowing locomotive.

My favourite is this by Darek Kocurek (http://www.darekkocurek.com/en/gallery/subcategory/the-dark-tower) - love this piece of art.

http://www.darekkocurek.com/uploads/gallery/71aaf1234b80fc1cb76d13a9fcc9c3a0f1734ee6.jpg

Yes, fantastic artwork! And a much, much closer representation of how Blaine is described in the book.
I never really "got" the steam locomotive cover - and just sort of pushed it out of my mind as irrelevant to the narrative.

Incidentally, every time I ride the speed train from St.Petersburg (Russia) to Helsinki, I cannot help but think of Blaine. Not that I have to solve any riddles to board it - just come up with good reasons to justify making a day trip there :lol:

jsmcmullen92
07-23-2015, 05:38 AM
Does any one else feel that Blaine is misrepresented by all the reprint covers of the book? The first time I ever saw Wastelands was the viking edition so in my mind I have this classic old coal engine with Rose eyes and a skull face in my mind every time I hear his name and then you learn he is a pink mono... it was a little of a let down for me with everywhere you look you always see a train. Not sure if this is due to the publishers laziness to create a cover that represents the story or if they were trying to give you a different mental image. My thoughts are just because it is a train doesn't mean just put a train.

I never liked that image, it just doesnt fit the description of Blaine in the book - he's an ultra modern slick mono, not a steam billowing locomotive.

My favourite is this by Darek Kocurek (http://www.darekkocurek.com/en/gallery/subcategory/the-dark-tower) - love this piece of art.

http://www.darekkocurek.com/uploads/gallery/71aaf1234b80fc1cb76d13a9fcc9c3a0f1734ee6.jpg

I have never seen this one before! I Love it. That should have been on the cover of the slipcase for Knowing Darkness rather than the Viking Locomotive..

Jon
07-23-2015, 07:51 PM
Blane was driven insane by loneliness. But the loopy bastard had to go!

SpyGuy
08-07-2017, 10:31 AM
Well, speaking of Blaine the pain (and that is the truth!), I found this interesting tidbit over on Reddit. Want to fry your circuits a little? Try this theory: Blaine is the BLUE monorail.

(Original post from Reddit starts here)
-----------------------
r/FanTheories
(The Dark Tower) Blaine was the blue train monorail.
u/JamesRennerSep 13, 2013, 6:43 AM
Remember the looooong wait between Dark Tower 3, The Waste Lands and Dark Tower 4, Wizard and Glass? Well I was a teenager at the time and while I waited I reread book 3 about a bazillion times and what I discovered was that the whole book is about riddles. The riddles they tell on the mono at the end, yes, but also all the conversations of riddles leading up to that moment: ie, Samson and the bees.

I think Stephen King intentionally hid a big riddle in the book which was never revealed. I think Blaine was the blue mono we see crashed into the River Send.

Roland and his friends enter the pink mono (by breaking the riddle of the train's door code) and Blaine's voice welcomes them. The voice is loud and booming, a man's voice. They see another monorail in the river below, a blue one and Blaine explains that it is Patricia and that she was a computer program, like him, who became depressed and jumped off her rail. Then, of course, Blaine begins driving through the Waste Lands as Roland and crew tell riddles in order to get off.

Along the way, another voice comes through the train's speakers to try to warn them about Blaine and help them escape. This one is described as timid and possible the voice of a young boy. I believe this voice is actually Patricia, herself. Think of all the voice talents on cartoons that do boy's voices. They are mostly women, right? Because if we only hear the voice a woman's voice can sound exactly like a boy's.

Then, Patricia would actually be the pink monorail and Blaine would be blue, as in the colors of their gender.

I think that scumbag Blaine was on a track that was failing and as he plummeted to the river bottom, he uploaded his personality into the pink monorail and basically took her over, pushing Patricia down to some sub-level inside herself.i

That is the true riddle of Blaine the mono.



-------------
And that, ladies and gentlemen, seems like the REAL truth about Blaine.

Randall Flagg
08-11-2017, 01:12 PM
I think the theory is hogwash. The theory doesn't even say what the riddle is. It just presents an incoherent babble.

TowerofRoses
08-22-2020, 02:50 AM
I loved Blaine and now that i have read through the series again, i fell in love with that batshit crazy bastard of a Mono again. From his personality to his more than silly end, Blaine was one of the better characters King created. And yes, i felt sorry for him in the end :emot-hydrogen:

George at C-Springs
09-04-2020, 08:00 PM
Loved that book so much that I had some art commissioned and a case designed for my Dameron-remarqued copy some years back:

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/500/medium/George_the_Mono_1.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/500/medium/Blaine2revised_3.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/500/medium/Blaine_is_a_Pain_4.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/500/medium/Final_with_Map_Frame_High_Tower_Text_8_10.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/500/medium/Blaine_Inkfinal_7.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/500/medium/Waste_Lands_Case_Art300dpi_11.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/500/medium/Traycase_1.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/500/medium/Traycase_with_Remarque.jpg

Jean
09-06-2020, 03:39 AM
wow, this is absolutely fantastic!

George at C-Springs
09-06-2020, 12:39 PM
wow, this is absolutely fantastic!

Thank you jean, I love it too. Needed a good home for that Dameron #XX Blaine remarque showing where Blaine makes the floor disappear and they see all the mutant creatures down in the canyon below.