i was actually wondering who you were talking about... yeah Bert was cool i guess, but i just didn't like W&G. i could've done without a huge book containing Roland's backstory, but that's just me. I guess it was good for the reintroduction of Sheemie later, but besides that... *shrug*
Human kind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one and only truth.
I adore Cuthbert. He's one of my absolute favorite characters in the series. And I hate W&G.
BTW, all you other W&G haters: don't feel bad. There are far more of us out here than you think. Just follow the light of reap fire to our gathering.
It'll take a lot more than words and guns,
A whole lot more than riches and muscle.
The hands of the many must join as one.
And together we'll cross the river.
Puscifer, "The Humbling River"
we don'tOriginally Posted by Woofer
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hehe. I know you don'twe don't, but I was trying to offer support to others who are newer, like Tatts4Life. Srsly. We don't bite. Friends, anyway.
Last edited by Woofer; 08-22-2008 at 01:19 PM. Reason: ETA: To hug the bear!
It'll take a lot more than words and guns,
A whole lot more than riches and muscle.
The hands of the many must join as one.
And together we'll cross the river.
Puscifer, "The Humbling River"
Oh I do.
"It's his eyes, Roland thought. They were wide and terrible, the eyes of a dragon in human form" - Roland seeing the Crimson King for the first time.
"When the King comes and the Tower falls, sai, all such pretty things as yours will be broken. Then there will be darkness and nothing but the howl of Discordia and the cries of the can toi" - From Song of Susannah
Yes but you like this book. I meant those of us who band together to sing of our dislike are the ones who don't bite. Each other, anyway. I kind of pity anyone who agitates me in RL right now because I am one very angry wolf. Okay, I lie. I am TWO very angry wolves.Oh I do.
It'll take a lot more than words and guns,
A whole lot more than riches and muscle.
The hands of the many must join as one.
And together we'll cross the river.
Puscifer, "The Humbling River"
I'm so happy to see someone else having him as their favourite ever character
I had Song of Susannah as my least favorite. To be honest, there really isn't a good answer as to why. None I can really consider not good. I loved them all. And as the series went on, it seemed the better the books got.
I've thought about this now and have an answer but not one that satisfies me right now so I will give it more thought.
I think this was further down my list because maybe I had more of a fascination of the ka-tet as it was forming in the prior books. Each character was being introduced and you didn't know what would happen.Spoiler:
I'm starting over again and will have see what resolution I can find the 2nd time around.
It's my least favourite as well (however I love it as it is but still the others are a tiny bit closer to my heart) and soon I will reread and I am really curious if I like it better this time.I had Song of Susannah as my least favorite. To be honest, there really isn't a good answer as to why. None I can really consider not good. I loved them all. And as the series went on, it seemed the better the books got.
I've thought about this now and have an answer but not one that satisfies me right now so I will give it more thought.
I think this was further down my list because maybe I had more of a fascination of the ka-tet as it was forming in the prior books. Each character was being introduced and you didn't know what would happen.Spoiler:
I'm starting over again and will have see what resolution I can find the 2nd time around.
Roland would have understood.
be careful letti. remember what happened on my last reread? all the books got flipped around so drastically. i really think it depends on your frame of mind and place in life when you're reading them. that really determines where the books sit in your heart and mind.
of course, i could just be high.
I do remember.be careful letti. remember what happened on my last reread? all the books got flipped around so drastically. i really think it depends on your frame of mind and place in life when you're reading them. that really determines where the books sit in your heart and mind.
of course, i could just be high.
We will see. I really cannot wait to restart it but there are so many other books as well I would like to read.
Anyway usually when I reread a book I get to love it even more. I was surprised, too that I can love W&G as much as I did as a 13-year-old kid. Of course I changed my mind about lots of things but the feeling is still strong if not stronger. I love it.
I hope SoS will find a more comfortable place in my heart after the rereading.
Roland would have understood.
Have you finished this re-read of the series and is SOS still at the bottom for you?
"It's his eyes, Roland thought. They were wide and terrible, the eyes of a dragon in human form" - Roland seeing the Crimson King for the first time.
"When the King comes and the Tower falls, sai, all such pretty things as yours will be broken. Then there will be darkness and nothing but the howl of Discordia and the cries of the can toi" - From Song of Susannah
SOS (heh im sure sai king made the initials like that on purpose, sos lol) is my least favorite because unlike most of the other books its plotline isnt somewhat self contained, all the other other books have a feeling that they r episodic in nature, but sos, while a very good read, feels to be a sort of bridge between WOC and DT7, thats why its my least favorite
if the worlds gonna end then let's get it over with, i got shit to do
I have just finished it and I do love it. I love it even more... I must think about this question.Have you finished this re-read of the series and is SOS still at the bottom for you?
Roland would have understood.
SOS low on my list
As I've said elsewhere W+G was my least favourite, but after that it's SoS.
01) This is not because of Susannah herself, as I actually enjoyed the multiple complexities of this character.
02) It is because of Mia, whose 1 dimensional and profoundly irritating insistence was hugely annoying.
03) Mia was such an obvious plot device to force matters along that the lack of subtlety alienated me.
04) SoS was a bridge as others have said, a scene setter for Dark Tower.
05) Mia spoiled the end of WotC and my irritation with her persisted into SoS.
06) I loved the conversation on Castle Discordia.
07) I had no interest in Mia's backstory whatsoever.
You're not alone with your dislike of Mia (I loved her character), but I don't understand what you feel made her an "obvious plot device to force matters along"?
"It's his eyes, Roland thought. They were wide and terrible, the eyes of a dragon in human form" - Roland seeing the Crimson King for the first time.
"When the King comes and the Tower falls, sai, all such pretty things as yours will be broken. Then there will be darkness and nothing but the howl of Discordia and the cries of the can toi" - From Song of Susannah
So we can say that you are not satisfied with some (or many?) DT books?
Roland would have understood.
this is my least favorite of the series. in fact, i have a hard time getting through it. i didn't have a hard time getting through it the first time i read it because of the rivetting story of susannah and Mia but the second time i knew what was coming. stephen king himself.
i love the story and i placed it in a special place above all other stephen king works but when i have an almost constant reminder that the story is just a story it really dampens it for me. i fairly annoyed with this constant reminder. since i'm too tired to put it in any better sense i'll just say, if this book wasn't a part of the dark tower series i would never have read it again.
Hi Letti,
So we can say that you are not satisfied with some (or many?) DT books?
Yeah, although I never really thought about that until I started posting here.
Taken as a whole, I enjoyed the DT series.
However, as I've said elsewhere I invested a lot of myself into it.
Reasonably or unreasonably I began to have expectations, demands if you will about how things would develop.
At the very least I wanted things to develop in a way that entertained and made sense to me.
I didn't want to see the Deus ex Machina.
Mia was a plot device, a 1 dimensional character who forced the plot to sidetrack so that Susannah and therefore baby Mordred, would find themselves in the Dixie Pig.
When SK develops a plot that unfolds naturally, it does not feel forced. This felt forced.
To specifically answer your question about being satisfied with books in the series.
I loved the Gunslinger. I loved the character of the man, the metaphysical stuff and the oddness.
I disliked DOtT, because it broke away from the mould of Gunslinger.
I like TWL because I accepted that we were in a new game now, and the characters of Eddie and Susannah grew on me. The evocation of River Crossing etc was also very cool.
I disliked W+G because I was not interested in Roland's lost love, also the whole Wizard of Oz thing seemed forced.
I loved WotC because it got everything right. It was my favourite in the series by a mile.
I disliked SoS as I say.
I loved TDT, all of it, start to finish, although I had an image for a different ending, it has grown on me.
I hope that answers your question Letti
For me, SOS was my least favorite. When I re-read the series, I have started skipping it altogether. I think it flows real nicely from Wolves over into Dark Tower 7.
I don't hate the book, it had some good parts in it, like the "God bomb". I found that stuff hilarious. And Roland and Eddie's fight at the gas station. To me it's like a bad Star Trek episode. There is no bad Star Trek, cause even bad Star Trek is good Star Trek.
I think instead of skipping next re-read, I'm going to sit down and just edit out the parts I have trouble with. Use a black marker and write myself notes on which chapters to skip and which to read.
Why I don't love the book:
1. Just a little too much legalese for me. The rose is on Calvin's lot. He is in financial trouble. Yada yada yada, we gotta set up a corp to take care of this mess. We gotta get him to sign. I guess it's all part of the plot that Calvin is an ass, but I started getting cranky feelings to-wards the guy. Plus, I didn't really see the point of all the corp stuff, why did the powers of darkness have to own the lot to destroy it, why not just send in some goons to take out the rose.
I understand it was protected a little by supernatural forces, but why would owning the lot all of a sudden make it possible for them to take out the rose?
I never really got that part, but even if I did, I was emerged in Roland's world, robots and gunslingers and tower and crazy backward Calla speak, the book brought us back to New York with quasi normal people, and it made me feel uprooted.
2. King inserting himself in the book.
Well, I think he did a good job of doing it, it made sense, it flowed well, I almost believed it. But almost and 100% are not the same thing. Though skilled beyond belief with word-slinger power, when you insert yourself in the book, it just makes it hard to stay on message.
They say schizophrenics have trouble telling the difference between make believe and reality. I'm not a skitzo, but like most people who like movies and books, I immerse myself in the story, and before long it's like it's really happening to real people. Not that I believe there is a tower, but I allow myself to think it's true as I'm reading.
King putting himself in, that kept bringing me out of the story. I kept having thoughts about why he was doing it, or the guy is writing about himself right now, what's he thinking?!?!?!
3. All the keystone earth stuff, and there are no do-overs. I didn't understand the concept. Why this world was so different from the rest. I found it kind of a downer.
4. Susanna and Mia. I don't really relate to either one of them.
Sounds like a nightmare.
Roland would have understood.
Sounds like a nightmare.
It'd only be a nightmare if I ever sold it to some poor sap in a yard sale. They'd probably hate my guts!
I'll sequester the book, make sure it never goes public.
(I bought a book like that once, some Nimrod had done some edits, I was like What the?!?!!?)
That sounds a bit drastic, so I am assuming you are being facetious in that post. In which case...
To take that literally, how sad.
This reminds me of the Episode I fan edit that eliminated Jar Jar completely from the film.
Why this one just isn't my favorite is this. In the the general arc of Dark Tower 1-7 it reads like a "Comma" and not a "Song". I felt it was a lot of plot-building for the conclusion of the series. The "Song" of Susannah felt like a crescendo on an unresolved chord ("O, Discordia"). But maybe that's what SK wanted. I like everything that happens in it, sometimes I just think the end book cover could have fallen about 150 pages into DT 7.
So I have a very nit-picky reason for not liking it the most. An opinion which doesn't even seem that sound to me. It was in fact the fastest read for me. So I can't say it wasn't a page-turner. But I tell you, I wanted more resolution such as katet togetherness. That's what I was turning the pages for. The end. The resolution. I guess I'm one of those who...
DT 7 Coda SpoilerSpoiler:
Do You Folks Like Coffee?
Real Coffee,
From the Hills Of Colombia?
The Duncan Hills awake you
from a thousand deaths.
A cup of blackened blood.
(Die, Die)
You're dying for a cup.
W&G just didn't do it for me. SoS wasn't really that bad. I wonder if all the waiting did not affect my point of view. I read The Gunslinger in 1983 and I just wonder how all the stopping and starting affected me.
I just wonder how all the stopping and starting affected me.
I just wonder how all the stopping and starting affected me.
I just wonder how all the stopping and starting affected me.
I just wonder how all the stopping and starting affected me.
I just wonder how all the stopping and starting affected me.
I just wonder how all the stopping and starting affected me.
All that's left of what we were is what we have become.
I loved W and G. Favorite of the series.
Sloth Love Chunk
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