You took the words out of my mouth, flagg. Whilst the Gunslinger was alright, and did have that kind of cool sphagetti western feel, it was a lot more...surreal and empty compared to DOTT.
That, plus the character of the indestructible gunslinger getting his fingers cut off in the prologue was a twist that guaranteed that the book was gonna be hard to put down!
Never be cruel and never be cowardly. And if you ever are, always make amends.
You are a walking talking Doctor Who encyclopedia to me. - Melike
the gunslinger is a very minimalist novel, alot of sai kings' early works are in fact. Drawing of the 3 fits in with his "everything and the kitchen sink" very rich detailed writing style that he developed later on after the gunslinger
if the worlds gonna end then let's get it over with, i got shit to do
a lot more fun, and also i love the fact it entwines mid world and our world so easily. most SK books are set in Maine, so another reason i loved this book and the whole DT series is that Sai King took the step to move out of his comfort zone, and he did bloody well
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 love that such a great deal of TDoTT is set in NYC, my favorite place in the world.
A lot of death and dismemberment as well as dismemberment threats!
All that's left of what we were is what we have become.
Yar. I mostly love it for the action. Best thing about it are the new characters. I guess I'd agree that ...however, I really cannot agree that It does have some thoroughly enjoyable scenes and memorable points, but DoTT is not my favorite book of the series. Have to admire the tight plot and neat structure, though... and some of the depths it suggests actually turn out to be most profound when one looks back over the whole of TDT.
To sum up: this book turned my whole life and world up side down.
Roland would have understood.
I was actually pretty stunned / pissed off when Roland lost his fingers...
I was like why the hell did that happen! Ohh shit how will the last remaining Gunslinger manage without the use of some of his fingers...
I felt the same way. The first time I read The Gunslinger was like wading thru mud, slow and slogging and just dry. I forced myself to finish it. Then I read DOTT, and it was as if I was breathing free after almost having drowned. The characters are so rich, the stories so addictive, that I literally read it cover to cover in one night. The next day I went out and bought The Wasteland's thru Song of Susannah (TDT wasn't out yet at the time) and locked myself in for the weekend. If it had been like The Gunslinger, I wouldn't have continued. I love The Gunslinger now, because I see it as more of a pre-meal glass of wine than part of the meal. As with a glass of good wine, you have to savor it, and it makes the meal more enjoyable and complete.
Now I'm just waiting for The Gunslinger: The College Years to be released, and I'll be set.
"So many vows. They make you swear and swear. Defend the King, obey the King, obey your father, protect the innocent, defend the weak. But what if your father despises the King? What if the King massacres the innocent? It's too much. No matter what you do, you're forsaking one vow or another."
I'd agree that while Gunslinger was good and all and hooked me with it's mysterious flashbacks and random encounters it was really DotT that sold the story to me and made want more and more.
This is my second favourite book and that is almost entirely due to Eddie's section alone, this is the only book too with a real part played by ace villain Detta Walker, perhaps the series most loathsome baddy.
Kind of mixing metaphors there, aren't you? Dry mud?
I first read DotT when it came out, and no others were yet written. I did love it, of course, but I seem to be alone in having wished that it were just a tiny little bit more like The Gunslinger. However, when The Waste Lands came out, I felt as though my prayers had been answered.
My memory of reading DoTT for the first time (back in '91) is one of dread. As a kid, I had no real understanding of story structure and progression.
When those damn lobstrosities cut off his fingers I was right there. When Roland was staggering along the beach, gradually becoming more and more ill, I was hooked. I had no idea how he was getting out of it. To paraphrase Samwise Gamgee, I had no idea how the story could end well because it all seemed so hopeless, futile and dark.
When he got those few pills of 'kheflin' from the drugstore in our world and it seemed there was a chance he could recover from the posion I allowed myself a breather.
And the final confrontation between 'Detta and Odetta - wow. Blew my tiny little mind. DT junkie for life from that point on.
I feel so Johnny-come-lately to all of this, but thought I would tack on a few thoughts.
Drawing of the Three convinced me to pursue the series despite a lot of negative flummalung all over the internet about the myriad ways in which the Dark Tower turns into a navel-gazing root canal in latter books (haven't read them yet, so I continue to reserve judgement).
Loved: the lobstrosities cutting off Roland's fingers ~ it's brilliant. Our hero is mortal and his incapacity drives us along (will he ever get well and be able to kick ass again???). The whole Jack Mort sequence is beyond awesome ~ and invites the promise of finding Jake again. While I was reading this book it was still all about Roland and Jake for me.
Hated: sorry to say it, but Odetta/Detta nearly ruined this for me. Her romance with Eddie was absurd, her schizoid personality dreary and exasperating, her willful impediment of the journey obnoxious, and her "joining" to become Susannah actually felt like a corrective move on King's part. One I agree with whole-hearted, but gad, why suffer her at all? And it's lame to see the hand of the writer in this way. I've never liked King's female characters, I don't think he writes them well, and this one least of all.
That said, Jack Mort's insane spree at the end more than made up for Odetta/Detta. It was King at the top of his game, and just page-turning thrilling all the way.
Detta can be pretty irritating,(although some of her comments were funny) but I came to really like the amalgamated versionSpoiler:that emerged later. She still has her annoying moments, but that's true for all of them.
Without a shadow of a doubt, this was my favorite book of the series. I happened to read the last 100 or so pages in a sitting and when I finished I literally jumped out of my chair.
Are sins ever forgiven?
For those who loved this world... and knew friendly company therein. This Reunion is for you.
http://www.zazzle.com/Kidd_Ikarus*
I liked this story because of the 'Detta/Odetta story. when she was good she was really good...and when she was bad she was really bad. I like the way she slinked her way here and there. You didn't know who was who until she talked. The language that she used between the two personalities was just mind boggling. And then to have the personalities finally merge into Susanna was awesome. In the next book when they are in Lud she impressed me even more.Spoiler:
Does whatever a spiderman does.
The Drawing of the Three is by far my favorite, although I can't just read one of the books. It's all or nothing. But in Drawing, I love Eddie's internal battles (with himself and Roland) and his external ones with heroin, his brother, and his mother. I feel like at this point Eddie is at his base level which really sets the stage for his over all evolution. Also, this is the book that contains the phrase "Junkie shuffle," (I think...) and I adore this phrase =)