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View Full Version : Why I love DOTT and Favorite Moments. *Spoilers*



Spencer
05-27-2007, 07:13 PM
The Drawing of the Three has everything, time travel, the mafia, naked gunfights, the drama of getting out of a drug bust, the simple joys of Pepsi and Hot Dogs and how they are experienced by someone who's never known them, schizophrenic paraplegics, the civil rights movement, a race against death, a love story, how, by following your path, you can get back what you thought was lost, and of course, a great unimaginable quest.

Yeah. :D

Baradin
05-27-2007, 07:26 PM
Umm..

Fiction?

LMAO Actually I agree that Drawing was the best of the series, no question.

Spencer
05-27-2007, 08:03 PM
:lol:

I just love everything about the book. I'll read or listen to it as a stand alone thing often.

Daghain
05-28-2007, 10:49 AM
This was the one that really got me hooked. I liked The Gunslinger, but I absolutely loved The Drawing of the Three. I think this is the book where you really start to get a feel for Roland's personality.

Jean
05-28-2007, 11:04 AM
Yes. I think I've already mentioned it elsewhere, but I'll gladly do that again. I was in hospital when my best friend brought to me The Gunslinger and The Drawing. If it had been only The Gunslinger, I might have never ever come back to that series again, or maybe not for a long time. If I hadn't been in the hospital, I might have quit reading after first ten pages of The Gunslinger and picked something different, and, again, either never have returned to the series, or not in years. But, luckily, both conditions combined propitiously... I am not sure TDOTT is the best, but certainly one of the best (for me, along with The Waste Lands and Wolves... with Song close behind, by the way)

Letti
05-28-2007, 01:06 PM
Does it mean Jean that you didn't like the Gunslinger?

Jean
05-28-2007, 01:15 PM
Does it mean Jean that you didn't like the Gunslinger?
Precisely. Didn't like it then, and don't like it now.

Letti
05-28-2007, 01:18 PM
Does it mean Jean that you didn't like the Gunslinger?
Precisely. Didn't like it then, and don't like it now.

Wow.

sarah
05-28-2007, 03:44 PM
I really really love TDotT. It isn't my favorite but it's hands down a book i like to keep close by. You can just open the book anywhere and start reading. It is a good time.

VolsToTheWall
05-28-2007, 09:12 PM
This was the one that really got me hooked.
Same here, this book is where the series really sunk its hooks into me. A DT junkie ever since. :thumbsup:

Matt
05-29-2007, 08:53 AM
I was the same of course. I wanted to find out what happened to Roland after that bastard dropped Jake. :lol:

(weird to think Jake was actually gone for a while during that time--like dead to me)

But the story itself is so cool--the whole thing with forcing Detta and Odetta to realize each other was huge for me and I agree that the story could flat stand alone.

MonteGss
06-27-2007, 09:36 AM
This was the book that hooked me as well. The Gunslinger was/is a good book but not a "hook me" book. I was a bit surprised on my first reading of TDotT that Jake appeared again. I thought for sure he was done, regardless of the "other worlds than these" line.

Spencer
07-24-2007, 10:43 AM
I didn't think he was done, but I didn't think he'd come back so soon, either.

Jean
07-24-2007, 10:56 AM
If I thought anything at all, if was, WTF? What is this - overdrawn exercise in symbolism? A poem in prose? That damned long???

... and then there was the Drawing Of The Three, and it was a real King novel, and God was in His heaven and all right with the world!

Darkthoughts
07-24-2007, 11:03 AM
^ yes, it was very Ray Bradbury-ish!

Ikilledthecrimsonking
10-09-2007, 11:40 AM
I thought that TDOTT was the best DT book but that Wolves... could be a close tie but why is every one taking about TDOTT when The Stand is better than every single DT book ever.

Letti
10-09-2007, 12:05 PM
I thought that TDOTT was the best DT book but that Wolves... could be a close tie but why is every one taking about TDOTT when The Stand is better than every single DT book ever.

Check the name of the site, traveller. ;)

Wuducynn
10-09-2007, 12:08 PM
I think we've got ourselves a troll Letti my love.

Matt
10-09-2007, 12:27 PM
Nah, he's not a troll. :lol:

I can understand the "love of Stand" but it would have been impossible to make a whole site around it. :lol:

As a group, the DT books are nearer and dearer to me but that is my favorite King book I think.

Storyslinger
10-10-2007, 07:31 AM
Near and Dear does sum up DT books

MonteGss
10-10-2007, 01:40 PM
I thought that TDOTT was the best DT book but that Wolves... could be a close tie but why is every one taking about TDOTT when The Stand is better than every single DT book ever.

Check the name of the site, traveller. ;)

Not to mention the location of the thread. The Baronies: The Drawing of the Three. :) ;)

Randall Flagg
10-14-2007, 01:48 PM
DOTT is my favorite of the series. It just blazes along. I get the feeling King wrote it on some "high" artificial or otherwise-possibly in one 40 straight hour sitting.

Wuducynn
10-14-2007, 01:50 PM
It just blazes along. I get the feeling King wrote it on some "high" artificial or otherwise-possibly in one 40 straight hour sitting.

Yeah, and Song of Susannah also feels that way to me.

Sinistar
11-28-2007, 06:24 AM
"The Gunslinger" was great, but when I read "The Drawing Of The Three", it had a totally different feel from the first and it had everything that you could ever want in a book (the mafia, drug bust, a blazing gun battle - like what Spencer brought up).

I pretty much think that the books complement each other, although some books are better than others.

Ruthful
11-28-2007, 11:01 AM
I agree with most of the comments above. It's definitely the adhesive that holds most of the series together, IMO. It's the book that got me hooked-after the somewhat curious, plodding structure of The Gunslinger-and which motivated me to want to see what happened to Roland, Susannah, Jake, and Eddie. In a sense it's the most important book in the series, even if it is not my absolute favorite and has a host of contradictions. I also think it has the single best action sequence in the entire series, which would make for a kick-ass scene if this is ever adapted to film.

TerribleT
11-30-2007, 01:19 PM
I'm right at the part of the book where Eddie is about to go into the bathroom to get Balazr's coke. They've just finished inspecting both Eddie, and the bathroom. One of the things I love about this book is the way Roland fucks everything in our world up (magda-zeens, astin, tooter fish popkins, profaning the ritual of clearing customs, army stewardess), and his sense of wonder at our world. I'm still pissed at Sai King for destroying such an incredibly perfect character by taking Roland's fingers. I'm thoroughly enjoying my 5th or 6th reading of this book.

LadyHitchhiker
12-03-2007, 12:02 PM
Drawing of the Three made me fall in love with reading again.

Matt
12-03-2007, 02:45 PM
That's a good way to put it Lady, I feel the same way. I may have been lost to books for a while if it had not been for this book.

My only problem with it is how he said (upon seeing the flight attendants) he had never seen a woman in pants before.

Then Susan obviously wore pants along with many other women in Mejis. :lol:

LadyHitchhiker
12-03-2007, 03:37 PM
Unfortunately, it making me fall in love with reading again put it on such a pedestal that it is hard to find books that are even worth reading... :(

Sympathy For The Devil
12-11-2007, 05:58 AM
Unfortunately, it making me fall in love with reading again put it on such a pedestal that it is hard to find books that are even worth reading... :(

Lol, i know how you feel.

This was the book that got me hooked aswell. After reading the first 20 or so pages the book took over my entire life.

Wuducynn
12-12-2007, 02:44 PM
For some reason there wasn't a favorite moments thread for this book so I decided I would make one.

One of my favorite moments is when Mort realizes he has no control over his own body and Roland is going to run him in front of a train. :thumbsup:

jayson
12-12-2007, 02:47 PM
One of my fav scenes is the trap that Detta has rigged for Eddie.

Wuducynn
12-12-2007, 02:47 PM
Another favorite of mine is Jane Dorning's perception of Eddie that he was a terrorist and getting herself all ready to fight him if he pulls a gun or a bomb. Gutsy chick.

Letti
12-12-2007, 03:09 PM
My favourite moment is when Eddie and Odetta are hugging each other and Roland is watching them and he thinks he wants to love.

MonteGss
12-12-2007, 04:43 PM
The Prisoner is my favorite part. :) His drawing and his story.

jayson
12-12-2007, 05:09 PM
The whole shoot out at Balazar's place. I have always loved mafia stories, and this part of Drawing would make for some great movie stuff. Like Roland, I knew Eddie was born to be a gunslinger when he fought Balazar's army completely naked. Not that pants are much protection from bullets, but still!:shoot: :panic: :shoot:

JasKo
12-13-2007, 03:37 AM
I love the story about Eddie and how he got out. We also meet "our" world for the first time. :)

jayson
12-13-2007, 04:14 AM
We also meet "our" world for the first time. :)

Very important for me. I loved how NYC was a character in this book as you got to see it in three different "whens".

Storyslinger
12-13-2007, 06:43 AM
The whole shoot out at Balazar's place. I have always loved mafia stories, and this part of Drawing would make for some great movie stuff. Like Roland, I knew Eddie was born to be a gunslinger when he fought Balazar's army completely naked. Not that pants are much protection from bullets, but still!:shoot: :panic: :shoot:

This^

Matt
12-13-2007, 02:55 PM
For me, it was the end. What amazing suspense.

I won't put it here but its the last time I remember being seriously on the edge of my seat reading a book.

NeedfulKings
12-19-2007, 01:47 PM
Ah yes, DotT is "the" beginning for me. I wasn't in Jean's position when I started The Gunslinger and did actually close it up less than halfway through. It was several years before I picked it up again. I had snagged a copy of DotT and decided to start a series. Little did I know, it would change my literary mind forever. I truly became a reader and my love for King was rekindled forever!!!

Everything Spencer mentioned in the first post is why it's a great book. I often say that if King had gone for broke and added Book 1 of The Waste Lands to DotT, it would have been MORE than perfect.

The Waste Lands spoiler

When Jake (and Roland) are struggling with the "I'm dead/I'm alive" parts, it's some of King's best writing!!! And the drawing of Jake is a fun fucking ride!!!

I love each book in the series for different reasons. I love this one for the most reasons.

Matt
12-19-2007, 02:50 PM
I totally agree and can't say enough how every single element of this book worked so well with the rest of its parts.

Just amazing.

Malficeus
01-26-2008, 06:45 PM
when eddie has to fo through customs and they search him and his comment about it.
whoever had the boney finger i dont know what you call that but it was a fucking safari

LadyHitchhiker
02-03-2008, 05:47 PM
I thought it was a great story altogether and thought all my favorite parts included Roland and Eddie...

Lance
02-12-2008, 03:03 PM
I just finished rereading it today and I have to go with Matt. Even though I've read it a lot the end still has me in suspense every time. And Detta Walker has to be one of the coolest King villans ever.

dante
03-25-2008, 08:29 AM
I actually really like the intro with Roland at the lobstrosities on the beach. I remember when I picked it up, about two or so days from finishing The Gunslinger, which seemed so different in how it was going to lead into the next installment, that I was like 'what the hell?!!?' when I started reading about crazy lobsters.

But then it all becomes clear and starts kicking ass. I love this book most so far, closely followed by WaG :). I love how Roland has to search his new Ka-tet's memories for the right words to fit in in our world - like when he orders a popkin rather than a sandwich on the plane to begin with.

Tooter fish will forever make me laugh :lol:

obscurejude
03-25-2008, 08:03 PM
My favorite moment in the whole series is the "final shuffle" at the end when Roland finally ceases to be the last gunslinger. It gets me every time. I re read The Drawing of the Three late last year, and I openly wept at the end. The time of drawing is finished (at least for the time being) and Roland is forced to depend on others for the first time in ages.

MonteGss
03-25-2008, 10:03 PM
Yeah, that part was great. Roland is allowing himself to love people again...great stuff! :thumbsup:

Storyslinger
03-26-2008, 05:44 AM
My favorite moment in the whole series is the "final shuffle" at the end when Roland finally ceases to be the last gunslinger. It gets me every time. I re read The Drawing of the Three late last year, and I openly wept at the end. The time of drawing is finished (at least for the time being) and Roland is forced to depend on others for the first time in ages.

That is a great part. It shows that the whole trip and story is going to go in a different direction. For once the self-relying gunslinger must let others into his life.

John_and_Yoko
04-03-2008, 12:21 PM
I enjoyed seeing Roland's attempts at understanding our world, but I guess my favorite part was when Roland posed as Jack Mort and set that trap for those guys, in the 1977 New York City.

Is there something wrong with me? Even knowing what he did to Odetta and Jake, I didn't feel like Mort quite deserved the fate Roland gave him, for some reason....

Letti
04-03-2008, 11:46 PM
I love the part where Eddie and Susannah are hugging on the beach and Roland thinks he wants to love. Such a touching part. I didn't know Roland much at that part he was a new person in my life still I felt it was a big thing from him.

JQ The Gunslinger
04-29-2008, 06:21 PM
I had heard of the DT series,so i bought the first 2 books, The Gunslinger I wasnt very impressed with, and then this book I read and I was Blown Away!

Letti
04-29-2008, 11:48 PM
I had heard of the DT series,so i bought the first 2 books, The Gunslinger I wasnt very impressed with, and then this book I read and I was Blown Away!

And it will get even much better step by step.

Letti
05-25-2008, 09:26 PM
That part rocks where Roland attacks and scares the hell out of a whole pharmacy for keflex. Wow.

Indigo_Seven
05-25-2008, 10:34 PM
Roland seeing through Eddie's eyes for the first time. Seconded by the Gun-shop scene.

fernandito
05-26-2008, 07:22 AM
The gunshop scene, and the part where Andolini see's a "ghostly pale figure" after he's pulled through the door by Eddie.

bandito0
05-26-2008, 08:53 AM
The series of events on the airplane and what happens in the airport following that. I enjoyed watching Eddie react under pressure and learn to trust Roland.

And seeing Roland actually take damage at the start of the book was cool. I went into this book thinking that Roland was your typical "nothing harms me" kind of hero. I was mistaken.

And "astin" cracked me up. I don't know why.

ladysai
05-26-2008, 08:58 AM
Is there something wrong with me? Even knowing what he did to Odetta and Jake, I didn't feel like Mort quite deserved the fate Roland gave him, for some reason....

I thought that was wonderful poetic justice.
Maybe there's something wrong with me.;)

Ves'Ka Gan
06-03-2008, 07:14 PM
Tooter fish will forever make me laugh :lol:

That was my first laugh out loud moment in the whole series. I tried to explain to my boyfriend how entertaining it is to have Roland trying to come to terms with our world, and I kept coming bak to Tooter fish and cracking myself up!

He needs to hurry and end with school so he can start on the stack of books I have waiting for him!

Letti
06-05-2008, 11:02 PM
Is there something wrong with me? Even knowing what he did to Odetta and Jake, I didn't feel like Mort quite deserved the fate Roland gave him, for some reason....

There is nothing wrong with you. I felt some pity as well but I do think hedeserved what he got. If you ask me he got an easy and quick death.

theBeamisHome
06-06-2008, 04:17 AM
My favoritest part of tDotT was one of my favorite parts of the whole series.. When Eddie gives Roland the airport food to take back to through the door and Roland tastes the soda... "Gods! So sweet!". It was so funny to me and I loved seeing Roland discover things that we took for granted in our world that they didn't even have in his anymore.

Letti
06-06-2008, 11:25 PM
Roland always reminds us that there are so many cheap but still valuable treasures in our world.

JQ The Gunslinger
06-30-2008, 05:34 PM
My fav part is when Eddie is descriping what Baked Goose is. Pg. 45. Lol too long to right but its really great writing.

BillyxRansom
09-22-2008, 01:55 PM
You people who "didn't care for The Gunslinger" are CRAZY! In fact, I may be crazy, but I found this to be my least favorite book of them ALL!

Brainslinger
09-22-2008, 06:02 PM
It just blazes along. I get the feeling King wrote it on some "high" artificial or otherwise-possibly in one 40 straight hour sitting.

Yeah, and Song of Susannah also feels that way to me.

(Just checked the date, and this is pretty old, but never mind.) Agreed. They're twin books in that way. And look where they're placed, this one is second, SoS second to last.

Or maybe I'm just easily fascinated...

Jean
09-23-2008, 12:13 AM
You people who "didn't care for The Gunslinger" are CRAZY!
I can't remember ever denying this deplorable fact...

Wooshmeister
10-07-2008, 09:18 PM
I'm currently on Wizard and Glass, but Drawing of the Three's still my favorite. And you failed to mention the star characters of the book. LOBSTROSITIES! Dam-a-cham? Did-a-chick? *claws Roland's finger off*

at_one
11-22-2008, 01:19 PM
I find the greatest books are the ones that you refuse to put down. I mean to the point where you wake up and find yourself nose down, drooling in between pages (thank god for the softcover editions). This is precisely what happened to me while reading TDotT. I read it in one sitting over an 18 hour period. This book, as previously mentioned, has it all and it's tempo is right on. Not a lull in the action at all. So far I consider it one of the best by SK and I have read a majority of his work, save for the rest of the DT series.
I am on vacation this next week, so my opinion may change......time for me to start on The Wastelands!

Letti
11-22-2008, 11:10 PM
I find the greatest books are the ones that you refuse to put down. I mean to the point where you wake up and find yourself nose down, drooling in between pages (thank god for the softcover editions). This is precisely what happened to me while reading TDotT. I read it in one sitting over an 18 hour period. This book, as previously mentioned, has it all and it's tempo is right on. Not a lull in the action at all. So far I consider it one of the best by SK and I have read a majority of his work, save for the rest of the DT series.
I am on vacation this next week, so my opinion may change......time for me to start on The Wastelands!

I tell you something.
It will become even better.

Whitey Appleseed
12-23-2008, 04:03 AM
Just started another re-read of this story. Someone else mentioned it, but I LOL when Eddie is with the priests of Clearing the Customs, the safari, I was scared to look down. I thought I'd see that guy's fingernail sticking out of my cock. Reminded me of a time I was lying on a table in a VA hospital and one of the internists decided to go on safari, really enjoying it. The state of my prostrate really made his day. If all the fantastic stuff that happens in Book I didn't grab you by the short hairs, what happens in Book II does the trick.

mate211
12-30-2008, 07:09 AM
My favourite momment was that when Roland and Eddie killed Balazar's gentlemans.
A pic from the book:
http://sk.fps-hq.hu/pics/books/dt2.jpg

wag117
06-01-2009, 10:55 PM
I read this book probably 10 years ago or the like, when i was around the age of twelve, and it was the first of the dark tower stories i read. I then could not wait to read onward, and read the next two books in the series, which was all that was out at the time. It wasn't until later that I went back and read The Gunslinger.

To me, this is the best book in the series, really strong with the characters, and at the time for me, the doors and magic was a completely new concept. It was really the first adult fantasy I had ever read. While not the first Stephen King book I had ever read by far, it is the one that I look back on with most fondness, for the book itself, as well as ushering me into the dark tower and adult fantasy as a whole.

Now that I have shared my experience, anyone else feeling talkative?

Matt
06-02-2009, 03:41 PM
I'm sure they will wag--welcome to the site.

I feel much the same way about DoTT :wub:

Darkthoughts
06-11-2009, 02:17 AM
Hey there Wag :D

I've changed the title of your thread to make it more self explanatory and open it up to more discussion from other members.

For me, DOTT was when the story really began. I appreciate The Gunslinger more with every reread, but I struggled through it first time round and moving on to this book was like a breath of fresh air. It has everything you need in a story and then some. I felt instantly connected to the characters and could literally not put it down.

flaggwalkstheline
06-11-2009, 05:16 AM
Drawing of the three is a very different book from the gunslinger, the first time I read it I was shocked at how different, its alot more fun to read than the gunslinger

Jean
06-11-2009, 05:43 AM
Drawing of the three is a very different book from the gunslinger, the first time I read it I was shocked at how different, its alot more fun to read than the gunslinger
Hear, hear.

DoctorDodge
06-11-2009, 06:02 AM
Drawing of the three is a very different book from the gunslinger, the first time I read it I was shocked at how different, its alot more fun to read than the gunslinger

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!

flaggwalkstheline
06-11-2009, 06:32 AM
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

candy
06-11-2009, 07:09 AM
Drawing of the three is a very different book from the gunslinger, the first time I read it I was shocked at how different, its alot more fun to read than the gunslinger

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

Woofer
06-11-2009, 08:12 AM
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

Exactlly. And I think that for that book, that style works. It's one of the reasons that the Revised version causes my eyes to begin melting when I try to read it.

jayson
06-11-2009, 09:23 AM
I love that such a great deal of TDoTT is set in NYC, my favorite place in the world.

flaggwalkstheline
06-11-2009, 12:04 PM
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

Exactlly. And I think that for that book, that style works. It's one of the reasons that the Revised version causes my eyes to begin melting when I try to read it.

I actually prefer the revised because the writing is much more similar to the other books
though the unrevised one stands on its own better

Jon
06-12-2009, 04:37 AM
A lot of death and dismemberment as well as dismemberment threats!

pathoftheturtle
06-13-2009, 08:16 AM
Yar. I mostly love it for the action. Best thing about it are the new characters. I guess I'd agree that
...its alot more fun to read than the gunslinger...however, I really cannot agree that
... It has everything you need in a story and then some. ...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.:clap:

Letti
06-15-2009, 12:09 PM
To sum up: this book turned my whole life and world up side down.

Jon
06-15-2009, 01:09 PM
To sum up: this book turned my whole life and world up side down.


ditto

The Gunslinger had me hooked and DOTT reeled me in on a 25 year journey.

flaggwalkstheline
06-15-2009, 01:45 PM
A lot of death and dismemberment as well as dismemberment threats!

I'm flattered:excited:

Brainslinger
06-15-2009, 02:35 PM
To sum up: this book turned my whole life and world up side down.

Bottoms up!
;)

Twilights Fire
07-28-2009, 03:55 PM
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...

John Blaze
07-28-2009, 06:39 PM
Hey there Wag :D

I've changed the title of your thread to make it more self explanatory and open it up to more discussion from other members.

For me, DOTT was when the story really began. I appreciate The Gunslinger more with every reread, but I struggled through it first time round and moving on to this book was like a breath of fresh air. It has everything you need in a story and then some. I felt instantly connected to the characters and could literally not put it down.

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.:borg::P

Letti
07-28-2009, 09:45 PM
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 thought: Damn, what a story. Anything can happy anytime.
And I got hooked on it. :)

TheRedKing
07-29-2009, 12:25 PM
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.

pathoftheturtle
07-29-2009, 01:43 PM
The first time I read The Gunslinger was like wading thru mud, slow and slogging and just dry.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.

Rambo, John J
08-26-2009, 02:20 PM
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.

Rambo, John J
08-26-2009, 02:23 PM
Drawing of the three is a very different book from the gunslinger, the first time I read it I was shocked at how different, its alot more fun to read than the gunslinger

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

Where's your quote sig from Candy?

Boots
01-12-2011, 06:00 AM
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.

Brainslinger
01-15-2011, 05:12 PM
Detta can be pretty irritating,(although some of her comments were funny) but I came to really like the amalgamated version Susannah that emerged later. She still has her annoying moments, but that's true for all of them.

Kidd Ikarus
01-15-2011, 05:49 PM
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.

mystima
01-18-2011, 03:53 AM
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.by delving back into her inner demon to get the code for Blain

LeahFaye
01-18-2011, 05:32 PM
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 =)

LeahFaye
01-18-2011, 05:36 PM
Oh yes, and you cannot forget the lobstrosities! Dad-a-Chuck! Dad-a-Chee! I laugh out loud every time I read about their defensive postures and their inane inquiries.

CamiDeschain
02-08-2012, 06:02 PM
I think the book has REALLY funny parts. All the parts when Roland was inside Eddie were amazing. I laughed my ass off, seriously. He makes so many funny comments, and his thoughts on our food and our world are really interesting. I LOVE it.

That was the one that got me hooked. Best one for sure, followed by Wolves imo.

beam*seeker
02-15-2012, 04:05 PM
Why I love DOTT, was the suspense of wondering whether Roland would make it to all the doors or die of infection. I mean you kind of know he won't die, but it keeps you in suspense as to how it will get resolved and how Eddie will make it through customs, etc. The interplay between the 2 worlds is interesting also, and of course the lobstrosities. I find it humerous that they get eaten and taste like lobster.

I still crack up over Tooderfish sandwiches too.

This book really "hooked" me on the series.

Merlin1958
02-15-2012, 11:09 PM
Why I love DOTT, was the suspense of wondering whether Roland would make it to all the doors or die of infection. I mean you kind of know he won't die, but it keeps you in suspense as to how it will get resolved and how Eddie will make it through customs, etc. The interplay between the 2 worlds is interesting also, and of course the lobstrosities. I find it humerous that they get eaten and taste like lobster.

I still crack up over Tooderfish sandwiches too.

This book really "hooked" me on the series.

Yeah, me too. It was the "Lynch-pin" of the series for sure!!!

rico567
10-22-2014, 11:00 AM
You people who "didn't care for The Gunslinger" are CRAZY! In fact, I may be crazy, but I found this to be my least favorite book of them ALL!

I think the arguments both ways re: Vols. I & II are misplaced. Oh, people will like one or the other for myriad reasons, but the two can't exist apart, just as the series as a whole isn't King's tour de force if taken one volume at a time. Gunslinger takes place wholly in Roland's ("Mid") world. It doesn't take a close reading (all one need do is read the flashbacks) to see that much of it establishes Roland's character. Start the series with DotT, and he's merely incomprehensible, Clint Eastwood bewildered and speaking malapropisms, lost in a volume that takes place largely in our world.
Could things about both volumes be criticized? Sure. You can criticize Moby Dick, or Recherche du Temps Perdu, but before I'll go there, I'll write my own book....

Jon
10-25-2014, 10:24 PM
Yeah...D3 was my favorite. I loved how the lobstrosities were such good game but yet caused such such infection. It reminded me of the early 70's when we'd hit every infection with a broad spectrum antibiotics... Ampicillin..Amoxicillin...Penicillin

I wondered, throughout the book, if the infection was a result of the lobstrosities or the environment.