i've been reading this, & also reading these comments, & i have to agree, the book starts off strong with the continuation from "The Waste Lands"
& it slows down, so far i'm only where "Susan" is 1st going to meet "Rea" the coo" i think is name is? & they are talking buisness. so it's so far going slow. but as you can see i'm not that far into the flashback yet. just at the start of it.
I'm just finishing up The Wastelands and this post showed up today. I was already concerned with what I heard about the next book and this thread makes me worry. I'm also a slow reader but have read the first three books really quickly, for me anyway.
I just hope this book doesn't get me off track.
The first time I read WaG I didn't enjoy it much, simply because I was all too eager to hear more about the quest for the Dark Tower.
Second time around I enjoyed it heaps more. Still eagerly anticipating what will happen next, but with a much better understanding of why that part needed to be there.
I thought it interesting to see how life had been in Roland's youth, as well as understanding more of the past, that made him the cold blooded killer he came to be later on.
yes i just started this last week. & i also read the various comments about it. & i've really just come to the conclusion that some people like it & some don't. but it is nice to know why people didn't like it & why they also did like it or love it. but i am giving it a chance though. i'd love to skip it
at least at the moment cause nothing's really happening yet. but that's cause as someone here already posted i want to know where the Ka-Tet is going to go next! so it's strange to read about "Roland's" past. but i can't know where they are going next until i read this book. so what are you going to do ya know?he he
Josh have you started "Wizard & Glass" yet? i'm going at a decent pace so far anyways. since this really isn't really a spoiler i can say it. Susan hasn't met Roland yet. but she did leave "Rhea's" little hut. if you are reading that part man, don't read it while eating it's just gross. & ONLY "SK" would write something like that.
anyways i hope to actually finish this book this time. that's my hope anyways
don't worry about W&G spoilers in W&G forum; you only have to mark spoilers for later DT books
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
oh ok good, i wasn't sure about that. as for the later books not counting the last one which of course will have to be marked as a spoiler well certain parts anyways, what's the 1st book that i really need to start worrying if i post any spoilers? i mean not on purpose of course.
anyways i read more, & i've got the Plume Trade Paperback edition that's pink & has the Glass with the castle inside it version. cool cover though
though i don't much care for the artwork for "Wizard & Glass" i prefer how the rest of the series pictures are to be honest. anyways i'm up to where "Roland" is just walking with "Susan" their 1st meeting in short. & it's actually pretty slow page 152 so far.
& one more question & i really didn't know what section to ask this in to be honest. where in the hell do find a "DT" avatar for free? i'd love to post one on here. but i don't really see any online. i'd be much grateful. thanx you.
when i got to W&G my first time around, i was not happy at all to see that the flashback seemed to last nearly the entire book (i thumbed ahead after reading about 10 pages to see how long i had to put up with it). after about 50 pages or so later, i was completely hooked into the story, and the book became one of my favorites of the whole series.Originally Posted by bettinas.ashes
from what i can tell, people either love this book or place it on the "bottom rung" of the series.
[/quote]I thought it interesting to see how life had been in Roland's youth, as well as understanding more of the past, that made him the cold blooded killer he came to be later on.
i think this was exactly why King wrote that story right smack in the middle of the series. I think that he woke up one day and realized he had a character that was supposedly a hero, but generally was not likeable because no one could connect with him on any level of understanding. W&G gave us more insight into Roland, which was critical in moving forward with the series. While the story does not excuse Roland's cold nature, it does offer some reasoning beyond "this is what he was trained to be". Whereas before W&G, it was easy to hold Roland a little further away--a sort of mental "keeping your distance"--this book allows us to be more open to him. Personally, after i read it i started to feel a lot like the others in the ka-tet: "Man, i love this guy, but i wonder if he will sell me out for his damn Tower?" Essentially, it forces us to become emotionally involved with him.
Time is a face on the water.
This is very true and very well put. Personally, though, I feel that my feelings would have evolved this same way without the addition of W&G: King put enough of stronger, better, cleaner cut, more convincing stuff all around the first three volumes.
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can see what you are saying for sure, but i suppose it is a more personal matter when it comes to the characters themselves. For me, I needed the understanding of his nature before I could stop observing his quest and start emotionally participating in it. again, I'm quite sure these differences are personal and specific to each reader. The amazing part is that the author eventually ends up connecting with pretty much everyone in his audience, and i suppose this is why he is so successful in his craft.This is very true and very well put. Personally, though, I feel that my feelings would have evolved this same way without the addition of W&G: King put enough of stronger, better, cleaner cut, more convincing stuff all around the first three volumes.
Time is a face on the water.
Agree with Jean. WaG is good in terms of giving the (anti)hero's backstory, and it does make him closer to the reader.
But, DoTT and TWL have enough 'moments' in them to show that Roland is not just a cold-blooded a monster. (The Gunslinger, too, but they are not as obvious there.) You know what specific part of TDTSpoiler:had me in tears? When in The Waste Lands, after having been told to do so by Jake in his dream, Eddie hands Roland the unfinished key to silence the voices in his head. That description of how Roland listens to himself and then screams "Gone! The voices are gone!" made my heart ache.
If you are going through hell - keep going
yes... actually, TWL is full of such moments... So is TDotT...
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
a little derailing of the conversation, but the part that got me all welled up the most in the series was
DT 7
Time is a face on the water.
for me the 1st book he does seem like a robot somewhat. & he opens up a little bit when Jake eventually does come into the book. but part of that i think was cause it had been eons since he had traveled with ANYBODY! & he was used to being alone. & by opening up i meant emotionally.
it made him more human. & not just someone who kills an entire Town! but i also think that he than became more of a lovable character slowly but surely anyways, when in "The Drawing of the Three" him & Eddie & "Suze" are finally together & had gone through all they did. plus it's kinda nice that "SK" had both "Roland" & "Eddie" both sick in that book & both slowly getting better. though i wish they "SK" had "Roland" Keep his fingers though. that part i never did like. or understand why he had that happen to "Roland" but oh well ya know?
my guess is that the reason he FINALLY told "Jake & The rest" his story of the love of his life "Susan" & kinda explains why he is the way he is.
my guess is that he had gone through a LOT of emotions with Jake his son in a way. being kidnapped by "Gasher" & even though 'SK" never wrote in that Roland had these emotions, i'm not saying he wrote him like a robot by than no.
but he wrote him as a guy who was able to keep his emotions in check. & through all that & with Putting up with "Blaine" the mono plus all the crap they went through before that. i think he had to open up about his past or else it would have driven him insane again. plus by than i think that he knew quite a bit about each of his "ka-tet" that he felt comfortable enough around them to tell them his life story. & he pretty much said you
can judge me all you want afterwords but this is what happend & i'm this way because of it. i've had a heavy burden to live with for all these years.
& you can judge me by it, or accept me of who i am, just like i accept you as who you are. but i'm not going to force you into deciding which one to choose.
at least that's what i took from it. well something along the lines of that anyways. he though didn't put it that way but as he told 'Susan" when he 1st met her. i'm not much of a talker. in short he was telling them he's had it pretty rough as well & they weren't the only ones who has had it rough. at least this is how i view it. does anyone agree or disagree?
when i got to W&G my first time around, i was not happy at all to see that the flashback seemed to last nearly the entire book (i thumbed ahead after reading about 10 pages to see how long i had to put up with it). after about 50 pages or so later, i was completely hooked into the story, and the book became one of my favorites of the whole series.
from what i can tell, people either love this book or place it on the "bottom rung" of the series.
I thought it interesting to see how life had been in Roland's youth, as well as understanding more of the past, that made him the cold blooded killer he came to be later on.I think it's interesting that WaG seems to make people so divided. Either they love it or they hate it, there isn't many who's just sort of in between.i think this was exactly why King wrote that story right smack in the middle of the series. I think that he woke up one day and realized he had a character that was supposedly a hero, but generally was not likeable because no one could connect with him on any level of understanding. W&G gave us more insight into Roland, which was critical in moving forward with the series. While the story does not excuse Roland's cold nature, it does offer some reasoning beyond "this is what he was trained to be". Whereas before W&G, it was easy to hold Roland a little further away--a sort of mental "keeping your distance"--this book allows us to be more open to him. Personally, after i read it i started to feel a lot like the others in the ka-tet: "Man, i love this guy, but i wonder if he will sell me out for his damn Tower?" Essentially, it forces us to become emotionally involved with him.
Like you, WaG was really what made me feel more involved with Roland, more so than the previous books in the series made me.
I cared about his quest, I cared about Eddie, Susannah and Jake, but I didn't quite feel the same kind of connection with Roland, and I think in large parts that was because I couldn't quite get past looking at him a bit like a machine.
To be sure, he did change somewhat in the first three books, and I think once he saved Jake from Gasher that made a big difference in the way I saw him, but I still did need the background story.
But I guess we all have different needs. Jean, you don't seem to like WaG much at all. Is it just because you felt the long background story wasn't necessary or do you have other reasons?
Oh yes, me too! There was many moments, but that one for sure really got to me.
Off topic, I really need some more practice with this quoting stuff, doesn't look quite right to me.
Last edited by bettinas.ashes; 01-22-2011 at 10:06 PM. Reason: Tried to fix up some quote issues.
Cam-a-cam-mal, Pria-toi, Gan delah
i think when "Eddie & Suze" met up with him he was still a robot. but once Jake came back to him, even though i know he cared for "Suze" & "Eddie"
i think when he was able to see "Jake" again & basically forgive himself in time anyways, for dropping him when he 1st met him. he grew into a more character. anyways i'm on "Chapter 5: Welcome To Town" where the boys go to the mayor's house to meet him for the 1st time.
at the moment, all your quotes look perfectly right to bears
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
quoting somebody isn't really something i'm good at either to be honest. anyways, now i'm at the mayor's party. is it just me or is this over-long ?
i understand that the boys need to meet the town & get a feel on if they can trust anyone & all that. plus Roland gets to see his girl all dolled up.
but i think it's overlong to be honest. their 1st meeting while slow, did serve more of a purpose since this one is basically a love story to be honest.
Stick with it. The book gets more exciting later on.
i am, i've so far read 247 pages of it. where "Roland & Susan" meet for the 3rd time. i did LOVE the guys getting the fix or however ya want to call it? on the big coffin hunters though.
it's also made me wonder if his original Ka-Tet had lived. what the story would be like compared to what it ended up being. i would have loved it if Cuthbert & Alain would have been around when "Eddie,Susannah & Jake" came around. but i also realize that the intention of Roland is that he's
the last gunslinger & all that. in short the man with no name since it was based of that series of films.
it also would have been interesting if Susan was with him as well later on. but again that i know & realize wasn't the intention of the idea of "Roland" it just would have been cool if "SK" hadn't killed off his original Ka-Tet that's all.
anyways, it's hehe takes one awhile to get used to all the lingo that is from "Roland's" world well his past anyways. Josh have you started "Wizard & Glass" yet?
i've read more since i last posted here!
I imagine thinnies to looking something like the puddle type mirages you can see on roads when travelling by car. Except much bigger and with a lot of mist.And glowey of course.
it's actually kinda hard to imangine what to imangine to be honest. but i did think of 'The Mist" when the boys were looking straight at it
i'm now on page 335. the well the interlude. so it's been a pretty fast read now for me. it started out fast than when it got to the flashback it was slow for awhile. now it's starting to get fast again. in short i've got no complaints on that. my only hope is that i can finish this book before i get "DT" burnout! he he & mayhap start the next novel in the series.
i'm now on page 382. this book has picked up steam but like all of "King's" books he he. it hasn't had any REAL action scenes yet. i'm of course talking about the flashback story Not the intro of "Blaine The Mono" 'Jonas" just found "The Lookout" which i just LOVE it would have been great if "Roland" still kept it when 1st meet him & hell even leave him!
i can't wait until 'Roland" & "Jona's Duel that no doubt will happen soon enough.
Last edited by Roland of Gilead 33; 02-01-2011 at 11:12 PM. Reason: fixed spelling error
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