Original Gunslinger
Revised Gunslinger
Yes. It does. It could* make me feel as if all that excitement or wondrous feelings I experienced while reading the Original were misplaced. As if I was trusting a fake love letter. We get too attached to the series, you see. It isn't just another piece of fiction, it is part of our lives. Now I could* find out that the basic part of that part was counterfeit. I personally would* feel betrayed.Originally Posted by MonteGss
* if I chose the Revised as canon.
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Clung to obstinate--
Like an old love letter
Boxed in her back pocket
. . .
--Jolly Jolly Jolly Ego, Dirty Projectors.
Anywho, Jean, I do agree with that statement. I consider the Revised Edition this footnote to the series more--not canon.
My favorite bands can kick your favorite bands' asses.
The horizon is right and motionless like the EKG of a dying woman.
You have a good point here Jean. I don't agree with you, but your point is fair. I however can't believe that those (what I saw as) minor changes that he made in the Revised could have the effect of a misplaced excitement. I can't see how those said changes could fall in the realm of what you call counterfeit.Yes. It does. It could* make me feel as if all that excitement or wondrous feelings I experienced while reading the Original were misplaced. As if I was trusting a fake love letter. We get too attached to the series, you see. It isn't just another piece of fiction, it is part of our lives. Now I could* find out that the basic part of that part was counterfeit. I personally would* feel betrayed.
* if I chose the Revised as canon.
Jean you haven't even read the revised edition yet am I right?
"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
no, for the reasons beyond my control.
Monte: that's why all my speculations are merely theoretical. I am not criticizing the Revised which I haven't read, I'm just making some statements based on my general reading experience.
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes. It does. It could* make me feel as if all that excitement or wondrous feelings I experienced while reading the Original were misplaced. As if I was trusting a fake love letter. We get too attached to the series, you see. It isn't just another piece of fiction, it is part of our lives. Now I could* find out that the basic part of that part was counterfeit. I personally would* feel betrayed.
* if I chose the Revised as canon.Jean:no, for the reasons beyond my control.
Monte: that's why all my speculations are merely theoretical. I am not criticizing the Revised which I haven't read, I'm just making some statements based on my general reading experience.
I thank you for your theory. It does me well.
I am wondering how the revisions of The Gunslinger would cause someone to believe his feelings for the saga were misplaced. Also, how can those minor revisions be considered counterfeit since I truly don't believe they changed the overall DT story in any significant way. I know you are not in the best position necessarily to answer Jean, not having read that edition, but I do want to understand. I want to understand how the revisions changed DT canon or even the canon of The Gunslinger. Tell me folken, I beg.
Hmmm, thread killer.
I wish I had the original on audio, read by Muller.
I meant to jump in on this earlier.
I don't personally think it alters the canon, I just think the original was better. I just don't feel like the revised added anything to the series. As a matter of fact, it feels like a...I don't want to say hack job, but I can't think of a better term. I just felt like it was a quick fix that didn't really help matters any.
"People, especially children, aren't measured by their IQ. What's important about them is whether they're good or bad, and these children are bad." ~ Alan Bernard
"You needn't die happy when your day comes, but you must die satisfied, for you have lived your life from beginning to end and ka is always served." ~ Roland Deschain
The original reader was Stephen King. That's the one you should hear.Hmmm, thread killer.
I wish I had the original on audio, read by Muller.
Anyway, I voted for the revised version of the book. The original version would win if it were a standalone book, but it isn't. The revised version works much better with the series.
Jean, with all due respect, I think you're making way too big a deal about the changes - some words may have changed but the love is still real.
"...that Siren which called and sang and promised so much and gave, after all, so little." ~ Ray Bradbury
The original reader was Stephen King. That's the one you should hear.
I want to hear the King version! So, there is no Muller recording of the original?
there is
I don't know. As I said, I was merely speculating theoretically. Sooner or later I will be able to get the Revised, and then I can speak more specifically.Jean, with all due respect, I think you're making way too big a deal about the changes - some words may have changed but the love is still real.
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 have very recently finished the revised ed and I am ambivalent...
It does fill some holes but in some ways it seems hurried and doesn't flow as easily as the original.
Additionally, I think that Sai King tried too hard to foreshadow more in the revised ed (the intro to nineteen was cheesy imo). But regardless, the revised ed IS good and still fits the story.
XIX
Last edited by Chassit; 06-22-2007 at 07:54 AM. Reason: signed it twice ;)
"See the TURTLE of enormous girth,
On his shell he holds the earth.
If you want to run and play,
Come along the BEAM today."
NFA JJG 42-95
I want to hear the King version! So, there is no Muller recording of the original?The original reader was Stephen King. That's the one you should hear.Ruki is correct.there is
Stephen King read the original version, then later Frank Muller read the original version.
Then George Guidall read the revised version (as well as the last three books)
"...that Siren which called and sang and promised so much and gave, after all, so little." ~ Ray Bradbury
I've looked for the King readings on eBay before with no luck. I'll have to look for the Muller reading of DT1 there...
Thanks for the info, friends!
Are you planning to read it? Oh it's a bit new to me. Last time when I read your posts you said you were not planning to read it at all.I don't know. As I said, I was merely speculating theoretically. Sooner or later I will be able to get the Revised, and then I can speak more specifically.Jean, with all due respect, I think you're making way too big a deal about the changes - some words may have changed but the love is still real.
Have you changed your mind or is my memory bad?
Roland would have understood.
No, I didn't say it. I said I wouldn't kill myself trying to get a copy, which I indeed won't do (as opposed, for example, to the last volume of Harry Potter). It is difficult for me to get books in English here, you see, and, as I said before, the mail doesn't work so my friends can't send me any. I have to wait till:
a1. I go abroad and find a cheap copy (at a charity shop or the like)
a2. One of my friends who live in London or Paris and come to St.Petersburg time to time finds a cheap copy (even they can't afford new books, you see) and brings it to me here.
Nether is going to happen in the next future.
When a book I dearly want to get is concerned, however, I can:
b1. Download it in text format (and murder my eyes, which I already did with The Dark Tower, volumes 5, 6, and 7)
b2. Find an expensive copy here at a store that sells books in foreign languages and buy it, ruining my family budget.
I am going to do b1 or b2 for Harry Potter 7, but The Revised will have to wait till I can do a1 or a2.
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Aha. I see.
For my part I didn't want to read it but it was present. So I read it.
But if it hadn't been a present I wouldn't have read it.
Roland would have understood.
so, i finally unwrapped my Revised Gunslinger CDs... )they've been
on my shelf unopened since 2004...)
with George Guidall reading it and i must say....
i'm sort of HATING IT!which i never expected.
i find the revisions to be very annoying, even if they
are interesting... it's like.. they just don't fit.
and some of them are so incidental and just... i don't know
dumb! how he adds thankie sai and do ya ken.. bleah.
like in the very beginning, Roland is thinking about
the idiograms left by the man in Black and instead of
the random message being "Maybe even 'Eat At Joe's" (which i always
thought was so cool and random...)
it's "Come and get me" ? huh?
why would that kind of change make any difference
other than to get on my nerves.
maybe it wouldn't be so bad except that i have the original all but memorized...
also, Guidall's reading is not up to snuff.
it just isn't
King simply did a better job.
i guess i will push through this version
but, i will most certainly have to re listen to the original immediately after
to cleanse my ears...
There are other worlds than these.
"You brought your bitch to the Waffle Hut?"
"(859): You were wearing a sombrero. And a crown. And told me to use the nerf gun to protect your room from the cat. You don't have a cat."
~ texts from last night
here's why i'm amused by this conversation:
for years, (prior to the release of the final three volumes) whenever i would convince someone to read the dark tower, i had to tell them to just push through the first one, cos it wasn't all that great in comparison to what came next. most people that i met/talked to about the subject agreed with that. now, suddenly, everyone is saying that it's their favourite. maybe it's just cos there are so many people who came into it late in the game. i don't know. what i do know is that i think the additions to the revised edition are fun. it's kind of like a bool hunt, you know? i don't think it feels forced at all. but that's just my 2¢.
exactly! those revisions were unnecessary and they feel silly and cheap.
Have just read Tamez's post. I understand that I have to read the book myself to be able to come up with my own opinion, but it sounds just like what I was most afraid of: turning a unique, unparalleled book into something fitting the consumer's expectations and easy to swallow.
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For my part this is what makes me absolutely suprised.
Not to read the first one??? It's so damn strange to me.
I would be interested in King's feelings.. is he really satisfied with the revised one? It's so hard to imagine it.
Last edited by sarajean; 06-25-2007 at 02:12 PM. Reason: two posts within 2 minutes of each other. consolidation, baby.
Roland would have understood.
no, that's not what i said. what i was saying is that most people are turned off while reading the first one, and don't want to continue.For my part this is what makes me absolutely suprised.
Not to read the first one??? It's so damn strange to me.
I have actually heard that before. That of them all, 1 is the hardest to get close to and that was a problem because it was where most people started.
I think one of the reasons for the revision was not for us, those die hards that pushed through anyway, but to those just beginning the series.
The kindness of close friends is like a warm blanket
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
