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Thread: Why do people have a problem with The Gunslinger?

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    John F. Kennedy Forge of the King is on a distinguished road

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    Default Why do people have a problem with The Gunslinger?

    I've read on this forum how some people would recommend to people to start reading the DT series starting with Drawing of the Three instead of The Gunslinger. I've also seen that some people simply don't like The Gunslinger.

    I was wondering why this is? If you don't like the Gunslinger, why not? It was the first Steven King book I read, and after reading it I continued on and finished the DT series in a matter of weeks. I would never personally recommend somebody to start the DT series with Drawing of the Three. I was hooked from the very beginning.

    So, what's wrong with The Gunslinger?

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    I personally love it as well as the rest of the series but it is different from a usual Stephen King novel. I think some people are turned off by it being a "western" and it can be a kind of dry read at times.

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    John F. Kennedy Forge of the King is on a distinguished road

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    I'm re-reading The Gunslinger right now. I couldn't imagine enjoying the whole Dark Tower series if I didn't enjoy "Westerns", because so much of it exemplifies the western genre.

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    I abhor both westerns and fantasy as genres

    Ask not what bears can do for you, but what you can do for bears. (razz)
    When one is in agreement with bears one is always correct. (mae)

    bears are back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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    John F. Kennedy Forge of the King is on a distinguished road

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    Jean,

    Thanks for the reply. That seems to be what most who don't care for The Gunslinger say.

    Also, I am curious about you and bears. How do you relate to bears? (I know that's off-topic, but I just had to ask)

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    It's a long wonderful prologue to the series and character of Roland. I've read it more than any of the others in the series.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Forge of the King View Post
    Jean,

    Thanks for the reply. That seems to be what most who don't care for The Gunslinger say.

    Also, I am curious about you and bears. How do you relate to bears? (I know that's off-topic, but I just had to ask)
    Abhoring a genre only means getting bored (or annoyed, or both) by what is written in accordance with its canon, provided that the book doesn't have anything else to it. Like, one might argue that my all-time favorites, TWL and Wolves are, respectively, fantasy and western (or a mixture of both); but there was indefinitely more to them than being specimens of a genre. The Gunslinger, though, taken separately from the further cotext, impressed me as a juvenile literary exercise of a young author who wants to try his hand at this and that. Awfuly talented, but not very interesting.

    Quote Originally Posted by skyofcrack View Post
    It's a long wonderful prologue to the series and character of Roland.
    And this, of course, if true. Now I understand it as a perfect (although rather overdrawn) epigraph to the rest - much like the Browning's poem is its true coda.

    P.S. Forge of the King - I relate to bears the most direct way possible: I am one.

    Ask not what bears can do for you, but what you can do for bears. (razz)
    When one is in agreement with bears one is always correct. (mae)

    bears are back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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    My problem with it is, it is boring, to be direct. I love the rest of the series. Maybe the problem is when I read it years ago, it left me feeling empty. Looking back, as a prologue and knowing the rest of the story it may be somewhat better to me. Also understand that I had been reading It, The Stand, Cujo and such, so the mark was set very high by Stephen himself. The genre was not an issue. Eyes of the Dragon was very different for him at the time and I read it in one reading because it was so great to me.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Garrell View Post
    My problem with it is, it is boring, to be direct.
    This is, basically, what I was trying to say.

    Ask not what bears can do for you, but what you can do for bears. (razz)
    When one is in agreement with bears one is always correct. (mae)

    bears are back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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    I hate westerns, which is why I put off reading the DT series for as long as I did. The Gunslinger was definitely a little slow for me, but I loved the rest of the series.
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    I read it when it first came out (showing my age again!!! LOL) and while it was at the time by no means his best work, it was extremely intriguing and I was dying to read the next. I enjoyed it, but no where near as much as other titles available at the time. TDTT was what hooked me for good, though I don't envision starting there.
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    I actually read the second one first, then went back and read the first one. Not intentionally. That's how it happened. And I loved it even more so for starting it out that way. I'm not sure Gunslinger would have grabbed me as much if I hadn't been stuck in the mystery of the second one And this series is WAY more than Fantasy or Western. I totally agree. Everything King makes is outside of a strict genre, and I love him all the more for it.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jean View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Garrell View Post
    My problem with it is, it is boring, to be direct.
    This is, basically, what I was trying to say.
    Slow, yes; defintely not boring.

    sk

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    Stylistically the leap from DTI to DTII is quite ridiculous.

    I remember really loving DTIs dreary, hipped-out western feel and then in DTII slamming suddenly into full-flavoured 80s King and thinking:
    'Wow, I love King's writing, but what happened to the uniqueness of DTI?'

    It's like King decided 'ah the hell with all that' and starting writing the rest of DT with his stock-standard prose (nothing wrong with it at all!)

    DTII is my favourite DT BTW
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    dt1, the unrevised version is very standalone, doesnt fit so well with the rest of the series
    the revised one however is far superior in that respect
    if the worlds gonna end then let's get it over with, i got shit to do

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    Very true flaggwalkstheline!

    The revised edition is much more cohesive with the rest of the series and is stylistically closer - some of the more weighted (clunky?) phrases are rendered more King-like.
    I prefer the revised version, and would recommend it over the original to a new reader, but I do have a soft-spot for the oddball original Gunslinger.
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    Quote Originally Posted by dubrosa22 View Post
    Very true flaggwalkstheline!

    The revised edition is much more cohesive with the rest of the series and is stylistically closer - some of the more weighted (clunky?) phrases are rendered more King-like.
    I prefer the revised version, and would recommend it over the original to a new reader, but I do have a soft-spot for the oddball original Gunslinger.
    I have to agree with you both!!!


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    the original gunslinger, bears a stylistic resemblance to the early bachman books, which I ADORE. so I feel that it works on it's own better than the revised in that regard. if a person was just intending to read the gunslinger I would recommend the unrevised.

    But I don't know of anybody having "a problem" with either one
    if the worlds gonna end then let's get it over with, i got shit to do

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    I dont love The Gunslinger. I dont hate it, either, but i think it does have a slow pace and many things take time to make sense. Like Tull, everything sounded weird, they talked about that old man dying and living again as if it was an everyday thing, i was just like: "what am i missing here?"
    Once i finished it, i was curious for part 2, but i was definitely happy about what King had mentioned that the other books were easier to read.
    I LOVE drawing of the three, i think it's smart, creative and funny as hell, so i also think that The Gunslinger and Drawing dont have much in common and it feels like theres a big gap between them (which there was of course, a big time gap).

    I read the revised edition btw.

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    Quote Originally Posted by dubrosa22 View Post
    Stylistically the leap from DTI to DTII is quite ridiculous.

    I remember really loving DTIs dreary, hipped-out western feel and then in DTII slamming suddenly into full-flavoured 80s King and thinking:
    'Wow, I love King's writing, but what happened to the uniqueness of DTI?'

    It's like King decided 'ah the hell with all that' and starting writing the rest of DT with his stock-standard prose (nothing wrong with it at all!)

    DTII is my favourite DT BTW
    King said that he asked to include The Gunslinger on his credits page when Pet Semetary was published, just because he was fond of it, and this led to a demand he hadn't expected. So it makes sense, what you're saying about how he might have decided to do the rest in a popular style.

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    P.S. -- For those of us who wanted more of that DT1 magic, it's nice that SK did at least write "Little Sisters of Eluria." DT4 fell wide, IMO, and so did the majority of comics and other back material so far, but "tLSoE" is way deep and far-out creepy.

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    Quote Originally Posted by pathoftheturtle View Post
    "tLSoE" is way deep and far-out creepy.
    agreed! Awesomely so!

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    Gunslinger Apprentice mtdman has a spectacular aura about mtdman has a spectacular aura about mtdman's Avatar

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    I really like The Gunslinger. IMO it's one of the best books of the series, along with Drawing. I'd take the style of Gunslinger over the style of the last 3 books any day.

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    Being a bit of a traditionalist, I would recommend to read the books in order, starting with The Gunslinger. Then decide yourself whether you like it or not. For continuity's sake, I would read the revised DT1. It just helps the series make sense that way. I think also it is how the author intended them to be read and I assume he has a method to his madness. Say what you like about him, and I am certainly guilty of complaining about his machinations if I don't like them, but he is the GOD of his DT world, so I give him credit to know what he is doing.

    Personally, I liked the Gunslinger, although as a general rule I don't care for westerns as a genre and agreed the stylistic leap between the Gunslinger and tDoTT was ginormous, but that is why the first one was revised, to be more continous. I think it is a great book, good as a stand alone. But judge for yourself. I really liked the ending too. (Guess I have a love for the tragic!)
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    I love The Gunslinger, it's probably my favorite of the series.

    Haters gon hate.

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