What do you think?
Rate this book
The Gunslinger
Beginning with a short story appearing in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1978, the publication of Stephen King's epic work of fantasy -- what he considers to be a single long novel and his magnum opus -- has spanned a quarter of a century.
Set in a world of extraordinary circumstances, filled with stunning visual imagery and unforgettable characters, The Dark Tower series is King's most visionary feat of storytelling, a magical mix of science fiction, fantasy, and horror that may well be his crowning achievement.
Book I
In The Gunslinger (originally published in 1982), King introduces his most enigmatic hero, Roland Deschain of Gilead, the Last Gunslinger. He is a haunting, solitary figure at first, on a mysterious quest through a desolate world that eerily mirrors our own. Pursuing the man in black, an evil being who can bring the dead back to life, Roland is a good man who seems to leave nothing but death in his wake.
This new edition of The Gunslinger has been revised and expanded throughout by King, with new story material, in addition to a new introduction and foreword.
Set in a world of extraordinary circumstances, filled with stunning visual imagery and unforgettable characters, The Dark Tower series is King's most visionary feat of storytelling, a magical mix of science fiction, fantasy, and horror that may well be his crowning achievement.
Book I
In The Gunslinger (originally published in 1982), King introduces his most enigmatic hero, Roland Deschain of Gilead, the Last Gunslinger. He is a haunting, solitary figure at first, on a mysterious quest through a desolate world that eerily mirrors our own. Pursuing the man in black, an evil being who can bring the dead back to life, Roland is a good man who seems to leave nothing but death in his wake.
This new edition of The Gunslinger has been revised and expanded throughout by King, with new story material, in addition to a new introduction and foreword.
300 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 1, 1982
147 people are currently reading
1741 people want to read
About the author
Stephen King
2,386 books890k followersStephen Edwin King was born the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his father left them when Stephen was two, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family was at the time, and in Stratford, Connecticut. When Stephen was eleven, his mother brought her children back to Durham, Maine, for good. Her parents, Guy and Nellie Pillsbury, had become incapacitated with old age, and Ruth King was persuaded by her sisters to take over the physical care of them. Other family members provided a small house in Durham and financial support. After Stephen's grandparents passed away, Mrs. King found work in the kitchens of Pineland, a nearby residential facility for the mentally challenged.
Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.
He met Tabitha Spruce in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University, where they both worked as students; they married in January of 1971. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.
Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many were gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.
In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching English at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.
Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.
He met Tabitha Spruce in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University, where they both worked as students; they married in January of 1971. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.
Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many were gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.
In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching English at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 858 reviews
April 26, 2025
3/20/21: 5-stars yet again!!! Who's surprised?
Now the question is, do I continue to read the entire series and actually read the final book this time?
If ka says it is so, it will be.
3/15/21: It's been almost a year. I guess I should pick up The Gunslinger again. Why not!?
I only have 1,100 other books I want to read.
Picking up for the 4th time! 🖤
6/3/2020: ALL HAIL THE KING!!!
Five mind-blowing stars, again.
In contrast to the rest of the books in this series, The Gunslinger, is like the black and white portion of The Wizard of Oz.
By the time you enter The Drawing of Three, you're in Technicolor, baby!!
Earlier
Reread number three.
Also, buddy reading with my dear friend, Shannon. It's her first trip to the Tower and I am so excited to join her at the start of her adventure!
Original Review:
Every once in a while, a reread will come along that completely changes your outlook and opinion on a story.
This was absolutely the case for me and my reread of The Gunslinger.
Originally, I read it in my early 20's, just out of undergraduate school and to be honest:
I didn't get it.
I didn't like it.
I didn't like the atmosphere.
I didn't like the strange dialogue.
I didn't like the ending for one of my favorite characters.
I had read a lot of King books and this was so different for me. Rereading it now, on the cusp of 40:
I loved it.
I love the atmosphere.
I love Roland.
I understand where this is going.
The palaver between Roland and Walter at the end left me in absolute chills. Where once I gave this 3-stars, I now give it a very solid 5.
I put it down and immediately went to my bookshelf and grabbed The Drawing of Three: The Dark Tower II and started reading it, staying up way past my bedtime in order to do so.
Now this thought consumes me:
I need to get to this damn tower!
Now the question is, do I continue to read the entire series and actually read the final book this time?
If ka says it is so, it will be.
3/15/21: It's been almost a year. I guess I should pick up The Gunslinger again. Why not!?
I only have 1,100 other books I want to read.
Picking up for the 4th time! 🖤
6/3/2020: ALL HAIL THE KING!!!
Five mind-blowing stars, again.
In contrast to the rest of the books in this series, The Gunslinger, is like the black and white portion of The Wizard of Oz.
By the time you enter The Drawing of Three, you're in Technicolor, baby!!
Earlier
Reread number three.
Also, buddy reading with my dear friend, Shannon. It's her first trip to the Tower and I am so excited to join her at the start of her adventure!
Original Review:
Every once in a while, a reread will come along that completely changes your outlook and opinion on a story.
This was absolutely the case for me and my reread of The Gunslinger.
Originally, I read it in my early 20's, just out of undergraduate school and to be honest:
I didn't get it.
I didn't like it.
I didn't like the atmosphere.
I didn't like the strange dialogue.
I didn't like the ending for one of my favorite characters.
I had read a lot of King books and this was so different for me. Rereading it now, on the cusp of 40:
I loved it.
I love the atmosphere.
I love Roland.
I understand where this is going.
The palaver between Roland and Walter at the end left me in absolute chills. Where once I gave this 3-stars, I now give it a very solid 5.
I put it down and immediately went to my bookshelf and grabbed The Drawing of Three: The Dark Tower II and started reading it, staying up way past my bedtime in order to do so.
Now this thought consumes me:
I need to get to this damn tower!
February 27, 2017
The man in black fled across the desert and the Gunslinger followed.
That is the line I remembered for years and years that made me think that someday I would revisit THE GUNSLINGER...As a young teenage girl I read THE GUNSLINGER and really didn't like it that much. I didn't hate it- it just confuuuuuused me. And to review this I will have to take you back to when I first read it as a teen...
Stephen King is special to me. Special because when I first discovered him- it was the first time I went out on my own and read something that wasn't influenced by anyone but me. Before then my books were all hand me downs. Books I borrowed from my brother- like John D MacDonald's Travis McGee series, or Nancy Drew from my sister, Agatha Christie from my mother- My dad loved the classics, my friends VC Andrews. I enjoyed them all, but something told me- there was going to be an author that set me apart from the rest of my friends and family- books that were going to be alllllllllll mine.
One night I watched the movie Dead Zone. In the credits it said written by Stephen King- and a whole new world opened up to me. I read Dead Zone, I read Salem's Lot. I read The Shining, The Stand...Firestarter...Carrie. I got used to his writing, and I was thrilled with it!!! Then I picked up THE GUNSLINGER and all hell broke loose. What the hell was this? It didn't fit. I didn't get it. It scared me that this was going to be what the rest of his books were going to be like. As a young girly girl I wanted nothing to do with westerns... I wanted nothing to do with Roland Deschain.
Thankfully more Stephen King came out that made me happy...Christine, Pet Sematary. The Talisman, Thinner, It...and so many others. I forgot about The Dark Tower and THE GUNSLINGER and went about my merry way. But that line always stayed with me...
The man in black fled across the desert and the Gunslinger followed. ...
Fast forward September 2014... two of my favorite Goodreads friends Stepheny and Jeff were reading about Roland- THE GUNSLINGER. I decided it was time I tried to get past my confusion and move forward. "Can I join in?" Of course you can...Let the buddy read begin.
Roland Deschain travels across the desert with his mule in search of the man in black. There he comes across- Brown, a farmer, and Zoltan, his crow. Brown offers to put Roland up for the night...Roland's past becomes clearer as the story is told.
His past in Gilead...
In Tull...
His meeting with Jake- a boy that Roland grows attached to- much to his dismay...
...And his future told by the man in black...
Thank you Stepheny and Jeff for opening my eyes to a book I once dismissed. I look forward to the rest of the series. What a great new beginning. :D
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
That is the line I remembered for years and years that made me think that someday I would revisit THE GUNSLINGER...As a young teenage girl I read THE GUNSLINGER and really didn't like it that much. I didn't hate it- it just confuuuuuused me. And to review this I will have to take you back to when I first read it as a teen...
Stephen King is special to me. Special because when I first discovered him- it was the first time I went out on my own and read something that wasn't influenced by anyone but me. Before then my books were all hand me downs. Books I borrowed from my brother- like John D MacDonald's Travis McGee series, or Nancy Drew from my sister, Agatha Christie from my mother- My dad loved the classics, my friends VC Andrews. I enjoyed them all, but something told me- there was going to be an author that set me apart from the rest of my friends and family- books that were going to be alllllllllll mine.
One night I watched the movie Dead Zone. In the credits it said written by Stephen King- and a whole new world opened up to me. I read Dead Zone, I read Salem's Lot. I read The Shining, The Stand...Firestarter...Carrie. I got used to his writing, and I was thrilled with it!!! Then I picked up THE GUNSLINGER and all hell broke loose. What the hell was this? It didn't fit. I didn't get it. It scared me that this was going to be what the rest of his books were going to be like. As a young girly girl I wanted nothing to do with westerns... I wanted nothing to do with Roland Deschain.
Thankfully more Stephen King came out that made me happy...Christine, Pet Sematary. The Talisman, Thinner, It...and so many others. I forgot about The Dark Tower and THE GUNSLINGER and went about my merry way. But that line always stayed with me...
The man in black fled across the desert and the Gunslinger followed. ...
Fast forward September 2014... two of my favorite Goodreads friends Stepheny and Jeff were reading about Roland- THE GUNSLINGER. I decided it was time I tried to get past my confusion and move forward. "Can I join in?" Of course you can...Let the buddy read begin.
Roland Deschain travels across the desert with his mule in search of the man in black. There he comes across- Brown, a farmer, and Zoltan, his crow. Brown offers to put Roland up for the night...Roland's past becomes clearer as the story is told.
His past in Gilead...
In Tull...
His meeting with Jake- a boy that Roland grows attached to- much to his dismay...
...And his future told by the man in black...
Thank you Stepheny and Jeff for opening my eyes to a book I once dismissed. I look forward to the rest of the series. What a great new beginning. :D
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
May 30, 2017
Dear Stephen King,
I'd like to apologize for the times that I've made fun of you in any way, shape or form, including the kid in my English 2 class sophomore year who would not stop raving about you as if you were the only person to ever write a book.
It's not that I think that kid was justified for only ever reading your books and no-one else's, and it's not that I thought you were a horrible writer and now I think you're amazing.
But, this was really quite a pleasant surprise. I'm not sure what I expected. This was recommended by someone whose taste I trust, so I didn't expect it to be bad, but I don't know that I had anticipated that I would enjoy it quite so much as I did.
Basically, Roland ("the Gunslinger") is chasing "The Man in Black" (which couldn't help but remind me of Johnny Cash, especially considering this whole Western theme) across a desert. In the process of this, he meets a lot of people (major characters include a woman with a scar on her face, a young boy and a guy with a house in the desert), shoots up an entire town, runs away from/kills mutants, talks about his history, and a few different worlds and languages that I still don't really entirely understand. It's all a little confusing and some things were cleared up and some things weren't. I forgive you the confusion, though, because I'm sure that's part of what's supposed to keep us pushing on to the next book in the series.
Roland is an interesting enough character, though a somewhat typical hero type - complete loner, no more connections with anyone he loves (friends, family, romance), continuing on a quest because he's sworn out of some kind of duty and he's unrelenting, even at the sake of others' lives and his own, best on his own, etc. You've sent him through some compelling moral dilemmas and it's just the first book (HOLYSHIT THERE'S SEVEN), so I'm interested to see what you do with the rest of them. And your descriptions are one of the best things about the book - I can picture everything pretty clearly.
Honestly, my biggest complaint is a small one: you use the word "sardonic" way too much! I swear, you use it more than I heard it in my 23 previous years - doubled, and I read some smart shit. You could've just said "everything is sardonic," and it would've achieved the same point. I should've kept a running tally. There were also a couple others words that seemed out of place, like you were trying to say, "I know my way around a dictionary, and here's proof! See, I'm fucking smart!" Which I don't have a problem with if it feels natural, and I can't say that about some of your word choices.
All in all, it's an adventure book, so I can't say I derived any huge themes from it, but also, hey, it's only the first book, and you've got the leisure of stretching your point over many of them, should you ultimately have one (which I would hope you do). It's off to a decent start, though, and I think there really is some good promise contained here, so I'll definitely be checking out the next book in the series.
I liked it enough to not be embarrassed by the fact that I was reading one of your books, so that's a clear victory for you. Congrats!
Best,
Taylor Long
I'd like to apologize for the times that I've made fun of you in any way, shape or form, including the kid in my English 2 class sophomore year who would not stop raving about you as if you were the only person to ever write a book.
It's not that I think that kid was justified for only ever reading your books and no-one else's, and it's not that I thought you were a horrible writer and now I think you're amazing.
But, this was really quite a pleasant surprise. I'm not sure what I expected. This was recommended by someone whose taste I trust, so I didn't expect it to be bad, but I don't know that I had anticipated that I would enjoy it quite so much as I did.
Basically, Roland ("the Gunslinger") is chasing "The Man in Black" (which couldn't help but remind me of Johnny Cash, especially considering this whole Western theme) across a desert. In the process of this, he meets a lot of people (major characters include a woman with a scar on her face, a young boy and a guy with a house in the desert), shoots up an entire town, runs away from/kills mutants, talks about his history, and a few different worlds and languages that I still don't really entirely understand. It's all a little confusing and some things were cleared up and some things weren't. I forgive you the confusion, though, because I'm sure that's part of what's supposed to keep us pushing on to the next book in the series.
Roland is an interesting enough character, though a somewhat typical hero type - complete loner, no more connections with anyone he loves (friends, family, romance), continuing on a quest because he's sworn out of some kind of duty and he's unrelenting, even at the sake of others' lives and his own, best on his own, etc. You've sent him through some compelling moral dilemmas and it's just the first book (HOLYSHIT THERE'S SEVEN), so I'm interested to see what you do with the rest of them. And your descriptions are one of the best things about the book - I can picture everything pretty clearly.
Honestly, my biggest complaint is a small one: you use the word "sardonic" way too much! I swear, you use it more than I heard it in my 23 previous years - doubled, and I read some smart shit. You could've just said "everything is sardonic," and it would've achieved the same point. I should've kept a running tally. There were also a couple others words that seemed out of place, like you were trying to say, "I know my way around a dictionary, and here's proof! See, I'm fucking smart!" Which I don't have a problem with if it feels natural, and I can't say that about some of your word choices.
All in all, it's an adventure book, so I can't say I derived any huge themes from it, but also, hey, it's only the first book, and you've got the leisure of stretching your point over many of them, should you ultimately have one (which I would hope you do). It's off to a decent start, though, and I think there really is some good promise contained here, so I'll definitely be checking out the next book in the series.
I liked it enough to not be embarrassed by the fact that I was reading one of your books, so that's a clear victory for you. Congrats!
Best,
Taylor Long
December 24, 2014
Roland Deschain of Gilead, the Last Gunslinger, is on a mysterious quest for the mysterious Dark Tower. Aside from that, he was also in a quest to follow the man in black, for answers. With his trusty companion, the child named Jake, he sets on an unforgettable adventure.
The synopsis was really short and vague, but once I finished the book, everything seemed to clear up. This novel was about a man's quest for something meaningful to him, and he was so desperate, desperate enough to do unimaginable things.
The main plot of the novel was interesting enough, but King decided to kick things up a notch. This novel just makes you thirst for more. Nothing seems adequate enough, and 6 more books plus 1 novella in the series seems like a good way to quench the thirst. It clearly explained what the quest was about, but not the purpose. I'm not complaining though, because this first novel was more of an introduction to the plot and characters. Most epics are character driven, and The Gunslinger was not an exception. I love character driven novels, as long as the characters are likeable and unforgettable. The Gunslinger himself proved his worth. This novel was a mixture of Fantasy, Western, and maybe Sci-Fi. I can't believe I haven't read much Western. Some of my favorite movies are of the Western genre, I must read more.
The Gunslinger, or Roland Deschain was a man with an obsession problem. He was obsessed with The Dark Tower, and clearly he would continue to be in that state throughout the series. It was a bit sad reading about a man with an addiction problem, but that just sparked my interest even further. What more can the series offer if the first book managed to surpass my expectations? I loved the characters (especially Gunslinger and Jake) and I'm sure that I'll be introduced to more amazing characters throughout the series. Such a terrific first book in a promising series, all I can say is, I can't wait to read more.
I am 100% sure that this will be one of my rereads in the future. Not only was it such an easy read, but it was so enjoyable too. I don't think I ever read so comfortably in the past. This novel felt light, even though it was filled with so many things in 300 pages. A lot of speculations running inside my head right now, and I think I'm slightly going obsessed and mentally insane. I'm hopefully going to devour the series, but we'll see, hopefully I don't jinx things. Stephen King is an absolute genius, and a gift to all readers. Many may not like him that much, but he's my favorite of all time. This early on with the series and I already considered the first as my favorite, what more can happen?!
5/5 stars, and it deserves no less (it deserves more). Such an amazing introduction to an unforgettable world and characters. All I can say is, King did it again. Go read this amazing novel.
The synopsis was really short and vague, but once I finished the book, everything seemed to clear up. This novel was about a man's quest for something meaningful to him, and he was so desperate, desperate enough to do unimaginable things.
The main plot of the novel was interesting enough, but King decided to kick things up a notch. This novel just makes you thirst for more. Nothing seems adequate enough, and 6 more books plus 1 novella in the series seems like a good way to quench the thirst. It clearly explained what the quest was about, but not the purpose. I'm not complaining though, because this first novel was more of an introduction to the plot and characters. Most epics are character driven, and The Gunslinger was not an exception. I love character driven novels, as long as the characters are likeable and unforgettable. The Gunslinger himself proved his worth. This novel was a mixture of Fantasy, Western, and maybe Sci-Fi. I can't believe I haven't read much Western. Some of my favorite movies are of the Western genre, I must read more.
The Gunslinger, or Roland Deschain was a man with an obsession problem. He was obsessed with The Dark Tower, and clearly he would continue to be in that state throughout the series. It was a bit sad reading about a man with an addiction problem, but that just sparked my interest even further. What more can the series offer if the first book managed to surpass my expectations? I loved the characters (especially Gunslinger and Jake) and I'm sure that I'll be introduced to more amazing characters throughout the series. Such a terrific first book in a promising series, all I can say is, I can't wait to read more.
I am 100% sure that this will be one of my rereads in the future. Not only was it such an easy read, but it was so enjoyable too. I don't think I ever read so comfortably in the past. This novel felt light, even though it was filled with so many things in 300 pages. A lot of speculations running inside my head right now, and I think I'm slightly going obsessed and mentally insane. I'm hopefully going to devour the series, but we'll see, hopefully I don't jinx things. Stephen King is an absolute genius, and a gift to all readers. Many may not like him that much, but he's my favorite of all time. This early on with the series and I already considered the first as my favorite, what more can happen?!
5/5 stars, and it deserves no less (it deserves more). Such an amazing introduction to an unforgettable world and characters. All I can say is, King did it again. Go read this amazing novel.
September 11, 2016
I just could not get into this book. It started out good for me but I don't know. I liked some things about it but the rest I felt like I wasn't getting what was going on. I'm not going to give up on the series though, I'm going to read it and I'm going to re-read this book when I can because I want to make sure it wasn't just my mood or what as I love most of King's books. I'm going to re-read a lot of his stuff I haven't read since a child and new stuff.
I never got to read this series and I really want to give it another try for this first book. But, we can't all love each book an author writes, although when I feel a little skeptical about something I like to try it again at a later date. Hopefully it will work out.
I never got to read this series and I really want to give it another try for this first book. But, we can't all love each book an author writes, although when I feel a little skeptical about something I like to try it again at a later date. Hopefully it will work out.
November 8, 2017
This was a Group BR with Mr. Smarty Pants, The bummy bunny who read 36 pages and The guy who gave up on the series. This was a BR that went haywire for me bcz, well, bcz real life! I apologize to the last man standing and I hope the next one would be better.
I have had the pleasure of reading some good authors and a few great authors. I think I am a budding reader and yet, one thing I have noticed from day one, especially when I picked my first book from SK, Mr. Mercedes, was that for me, there are two types of authors, essentially.
Ones who talk AT you. Tell you their story.
And,
Ones who talk TO you. The guy who makes it your story by letting you in and by talking TO you!
This is one of the most important reasons of my love for Stephen King! I happen to have most of SK books as revised and illustrated editions, a complete stroke of luck. I didn’t know how that would enhance my reading experience with him, but it has. Hugely!
In all his books, I read his Forewords and Introduction and Illustrations and I see him telling tidbits about his life. His drinking problems, his accidents, him smoking Pall Malls, the greediness of us readers and so much more. And every time, it’s a conversation. And every time, the way he introduces the book, I have to take a step back after the foreword and stay away for a few hours before I can begin the book bcz it is such a lovely thing. Its like a trailer for a blockbuster movie and it sets up the tone perfectly.
This is a book that you do not get into lightly. Why, you ask? Bcz it’s gonna do this to you:
This book is so very different from anything I have read from SK that it almost feels like its not from him to begin with and yet…yet…when you are reading it, there is that trademark style of SK that you can’t miss if you’ve read a few of his works! There is that craziness that I have only ever read in his books. This book is not gonna answer any questions. It’s not going to be an easy to understand one. It’s not even going to try and maintain a tight hold on to you. It’s gonna make you go all like:
In short, this book is awesome in its own right! As Dean-o would say, “Fun times!”
It had me so confused for the most part but I was still enjoying the ride. But the ending, the encounter of the Gunslinger and the Man in Black was AWESOME! I loved that part and I am now almost questioning the genre of the book. This book is a slow, world building kinda thing and yet it makes sure the story is moving along nicely. I am not even going to try to give out a synopsis for this book bcz I am not sure if I even grasp it completely.
But I can say 2 things for sure:
1. I would never suggest this book as an initiation into the works of SK to anyone. (Sorry Izzy, didn’t know it before we began!)
2. I am invested in this series for now and will be carrying on my journey with the Gunslinger (and hopefully with Mr. Smarty Pants).
Before I sign off on this review, I have a couple things to mention, as an afterthought and as an advice of sorts.
As I have slowly grown as a reader, I have come to appreciate SK more and more and I love him for all his “flaws” that some people out there might like to point out. A few people have been kind enough to taunt me about his “meandering” writing (you know who you are), almost implying I have a bad taste. To all you, I would say this: I do not judge you for the books you read, do not judge me for mine! Just bcz you like to read books about societal issues or nonfiction, it makes you absolutely NO BETTER than me. We are all here for the love of books, not to judge and taunt. And frankly, if anyone of you cannot accept me or my books or my reviews and think I have a bad taste in books, you are welcome to please, very kindly and respectfully, FUCK OFF. And honestly, I suggest you take your hatred to FB or Insta or someplace else and just let this place be a place to be cherished. Ask, not question. Discuss, not disrespect.
Also, I would like to take a minute tocurse thank the person who maintained or created the Wiki page for The Dark Tower movie and very kindly gave out a small, one liner of a spoiler that has essentially spoiled THE WHOLE SERIES for me!
I want totorture you by peeling your skin off and poking holes in your eyelids and then kill you slow thank you, sir/madam. May Karma bless you for this! Fucking Fucktard!
I have had the pleasure of reading some good authors and a few great authors. I think I am a budding reader and yet, one thing I have noticed from day one, especially when I picked my first book from SK, Mr. Mercedes, was that for me, there are two types of authors, essentially.
Ones who talk AT you. Tell you their story.
And,
Ones who talk TO you. The guy who makes it your story by letting you in and by talking TO you!
This is one of the most important reasons of my love for Stephen King! I happen to have most of SK books as revised and illustrated editions, a complete stroke of luck. I didn’t know how that would enhance my reading experience with him, but it has. Hugely!
In all his books, I read his Forewords and Introduction and Illustrations and I see him telling tidbits about his life. His drinking problems, his accidents, him smoking Pall Malls, the greediness of us readers and so much more. And every time, it’s a conversation. And every time, the way he introduces the book, I have to take a step back after the foreword and stay away for a few hours before I can begin the book bcz it is such a lovely thing. Its like a trailer for a blockbuster movie and it sets up the tone perfectly.
“The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.”So begins the tale of the Gunslinger! This has to be one of the most famous openings to a book. Even when I was new to the whole reading circuit and was not a ‘Constant Reader’, I knew about this line. I slowly came to appreciate the SK style of writing and I wanted to read this series from him. But I had no clue as to what I am getting myself in!
This is a book that you do not get into lightly. Why, you ask? Bcz it’s gonna do this to you:
This book is so very different from anything I have read from SK that it almost feels like its not from him to begin with and yet…yet…when you are reading it, there is that trademark style of SK that you can’t miss if you’ve read a few of his works! There is that craziness that I have only ever read in his books. This book is not gonna answer any questions. It’s not going to be an easy to understand one. It’s not even going to try and maintain a tight hold on to you. It’s gonna make you go all like:
In short, this book is awesome in its own right! As Dean-o would say, “Fun times!”
It had me so confused for the most part but I was still enjoying the ride. But the ending, the encounter of the Gunslinger and the Man in Black was AWESOME! I loved that part and I am now almost questioning the genre of the book. This book is a slow, world building kinda thing and yet it makes sure the story is moving along nicely. I am not even going to try to give out a synopsis for this book bcz I am not sure if I even grasp it completely.
But I can say 2 things for sure:
1. I would never suggest this book as an initiation into the works of SK to anyone. (Sorry Izzy, didn’t know it before we began!)
2. I am invested in this series for now and will be carrying on my journey with the Gunslinger (and hopefully with Mr. Smarty Pants).
Before I sign off on this review, I have a couple things to mention, as an afterthought and as an advice of sorts.
As I have slowly grown as a reader, I have come to appreciate SK more and more and I love him for all his “flaws” that some people out there might like to point out. A few people have been kind enough to taunt me about his “meandering” writing (you know who you are), almost implying I have a bad taste. To all you, I would say this: I do not judge you for the books you read, do not judge me for mine! Just bcz you like to read books about societal issues or nonfiction, it makes you absolutely NO BETTER than me. We are all here for the love of books, not to judge and taunt. And frankly, if anyone of you cannot accept me or my books or my reviews and think I have a bad taste in books, you are welcome to please, very kindly and respectfully, FUCK OFF. And honestly, I suggest you take your hatred to FB or Insta or someplace else and just let this place be a place to be cherished. Ask, not question. Discuss, not disrespect.
Also, I would like to take a minute to
I want to
August 6, 2017
This is simply one of the best books of 2017.
The Gunslinger, the first book in the Dark Tower series, is simple but holds so much depth in it, and that depth comes with the writing being so poetic and delicious.
One of my favorite parts in this book was the relationship that connected Roland to Jake, and vice-versa; that friendship and the father-son-like relationship never ceased to make me feel heart-warmed and happy, since both of them completed what the other lacked.
I literally couldn't stop reading The Gunslinger once I started reading it. It is so compelling, addictive, and makes the mind visits a maze of deep thoughts and mysteries. I LOVED every part of the journey.
#BookTube-Thon 2017
The Gunslinger, the first book in the Dark Tower series, is simple but holds so much depth in it, and that depth comes with the writing being so poetic and delicious.
One of my favorite parts in this book was the relationship that connected Roland to Jake, and vice-versa; that friendship and the father-son-like relationship never ceased to make me feel heart-warmed and happy, since both of them completed what the other lacked.
I literally couldn't stop reading The Gunslinger once I started reading it. It is so compelling, addictive, and makes the mind visits a maze of deep thoughts and mysteries. I LOVED every part of the journey.
#BookTube-Thon 2017
October 16, 2016
So maybe you've heard this old story about how to boil a frog. You dump a frog in boiling water, he's going to jump right out. You put cool water in the pot with lil froggie and slowly heat it up while he's inside? Maybe he won't sit there and boil to death. He'll jump out eventually if things get too hot. But he's gonna stay in there a good long while if you play your cards right.
It's a useful little anecdote; can be used for all sorts of fun metaphorical purposes. For instance, I believe I once heard someone say George R.R. Martin boils a good frog in A Song of Ice and Fire. How else you think he got all these normals to read his long-ass books about dragons and ice vampires, huh? You lure 'em in with some cute wolf puppies and fancy people doing violent fancy people things, and then sloooowly you add in the weird stuff.
Which brings us to The Gunslinger, the first chapter in Stephen King's twenty-five-plus years in the making western fantasy horror epic. We're dropped right into it with that famous opening line, and shit gets weird straight away. Uncle Stevie ain't gonna waste time boiling no frog. He dumps us straight into the nearly boiling water and hopes we don't jump straight out. Luckily I'm an idiot with terrible survival instincts. And well, it helps that I trust in the storytelling powers of Stephen King, that even if I'm confused as hell right now, it'll all work out in the end.
I'm not even mad I'm going to have to re-read this after I finish all seven books. It's just a straight up fact. I got the basic gist of the plot, but I'm 1000% sure I missed most of the significance of nearly everything that happened. (Though I do have a guess that came with that feeling you only get every once in a while that means your guess is going to be right, and you're really not going to be happy about it.)
I kind of can't get over how different this was than King's normal stuff. Much more experimental and weird. It's like a fever dream full of all this unconnected imagery, only when you're done reading it, unlike with a dream, the images don't fade into oblivion.
I didn't really like it, but I find it interesting, and I'm willing to lend the rest of the series my trust. For now. (Also, worth noting I read it in less than a day.)
[3.5 stars, rounding up for optimism]
It's a useful little anecdote; can be used for all sorts of fun metaphorical purposes. For instance, I believe I once heard someone say George R.R. Martin boils a good frog in A Song of Ice and Fire. How else you think he got all these normals to read his long-ass books about dragons and ice vampires, huh? You lure 'em in with some cute wolf puppies and fancy people doing violent fancy people things, and then sloooowly you add in the weird stuff.
Which brings us to The Gunslinger, the first chapter in Stephen King's twenty-five-plus years in the making western fantasy horror epic. We're dropped right into it with that famous opening line, and shit gets weird straight away. Uncle Stevie ain't gonna waste time boiling no frog. He dumps us straight into the nearly boiling water and hopes we don't jump straight out. Luckily I'm an idiot with terrible survival instincts. And well, it helps that I trust in the storytelling powers of Stephen King, that even if I'm confused as hell right now, it'll all work out in the end.
I'm not even mad I'm going to have to re-read this after I finish all seven books. It's just a straight up fact. I got the basic gist of the plot, but I'm 1000% sure I missed most of the significance of nearly everything that happened. (Though I do have a guess that came with that feeling you only get every once in a while that means your guess is going to be right, and you're really not going to be happy about it.)
I kind of can't get over how different this was than King's normal stuff. Much more experimental and weird. It's like a fever dream full of all this unconnected imagery, only when you're done reading it, unlike with a dream, the images don't fade into oblivion.
I didn't really like it, but I find it interesting, and I'm willing to lend the rest of the series my trust. For now. (Also, worth noting I read it in less than a day.)
[3.5 stars, rounding up for optimism]
May 24, 2007
I have heard a lot of hype about this book and a lot of my friends are really into it. I saw the paperback cheap at a used book store and decided to pick up the first two in the series. I am probably never going to touch the second book.
I have never been a fan of Stephen King, I don't really like horror books and I really don't understand how many times you can read about a car killing people before you get bored of the man. The reason I read this is because the Marvel comic version of this is really pretty fantastic, they summarize this and what i assume is the second book and throw in some really stellar artwork.
The Gunslinger starts strong and has some really great action in it but it falls completely flat about 3/4ths of the way through. There is a lot of convoluted Freudian sexuality in it that seems thrown in for absolutely no reason. What is interesting is the world that surrounds the characters, the history, and the culture of blending a wester-style gunslinger living in an almost samurai-like society (two movie genres that have been associated with one another for a long time) in a post apocalyptic world. I would assume they get better after the first book but really the first volume sapped any incentive to read further. Maybe later.
I have never been a fan of Stephen King, I don't really like horror books and I really don't understand how many times you can read about a car killing people before you get bored of the man. The reason I read this is because the Marvel comic version of this is really pretty fantastic, they summarize this and what i assume is the second book and throw in some really stellar artwork.
The Gunslinger starts strong and has some really great action in it but it falls completely flat about 3/4ths of the way through. There is a lot of convoluted Freudian sexuality in it that seems thrown in for absolutely no reason. What is interesting is the world that surrounds the characters, the history, and the culture of blending a wester-style gunslinger living in an almost samurai-like society (two movie genres that have been associated with one another for a long time) in a post apocalyptic world. I would assume they get better after the first book but really the first volume sapped any incentive to read further. Maybe later.
June 2, 2017
I am forty-nine years old. The Dark Tower series was completed by King thirteen years ago. The movie adaptation (a sequel according to Mr. King and Hollywood) will be released in August of this year. I have decided to read all the books........barring the unforeseen of course.
I remember when the "The Gunslinger" was published in 1982. I never saw a copy of that now very valuable book, but I recall reading about it in fanzines. When the illustrated edition was re-released in the late eighties I can recall standing in the local Waldenbooks thumbing through it. Alas I was a poor college student ,the book was beyond my personal finances at the time, but it looked very interesting. As the years rolled on I followed the saga ,and the lamentations of the Tower fans, as the installments came out in fits and starts. I read several of King's novels during the fifteen years between the mass-market paperback printing of "The Gunslinger" (1989) and "The Dark Tower" (2004) as well as a couple Bachman books, but none of the Dark Tower books. I'm not sure why.
I cheated (I love searching for spoilers) and browsed through numerous internet cliff notes so that I eventually got a feel for the saga of Roland. I realized that King had brought his many stories and characters together (much like Marvel and DC) and ensured that Roland and his Ka would save them. It sounded intriguing, but still I never ventured into the series...........until now. Life is short and I am not getting any younger. When I came across two beautifully preserved first editions of "The Drawing of the Three" and "The Wastelands" in the used bookstore section of my local library I decided it was time. I borrowed my friend's copy of "The Gunslinger" and began the journey.....even through I already know where it's going. The journey is the point and not the destination.
This first installment (I read the revised edition though I was able to compare it to the first printing) is interesting because it really doesn't sound like the Stephen King that I have come to know over the past thirty-three years. It does have something of a dreamlike quality to it, but as King states in the introduction he was a young man of twenty-two when he wrote the first chapter. A young man who had yet to find his voice and was under the influence of too many writing seminars. The sections that have been revised (added) have that unmistakable "Kingness" to them, but overall the book is different. However it was also very readable and I did enjoy it. It reminded me of the post-apocalyptic/fantasy novels that I devoured when I was a Tween. Like others I do so enjoy an adventure story set among the cyclopean ruins of a long dead civilization (see "Eternity Road" by Jack McDevitt). I guess I've never outgrown that love of adventure stories among the ruins. In particular I felt myself going back to Fred Saberhagen's Empire of the East series and the "Swords" and "Lost Swords" novels. I loved those books and ,as a result, I enjoyed "The Gunslinger". Perhaps nostalgia has worked it's deceptive magic, but I'm intrigued. I'm preparing to start in on "The Drawing of the Three" today as soon as I finish this review. Let 'em rip.
I remember when the "The Gunslinger" was published in 1982. I never saw a copy of that now very valuable book, but I recall reading about it in fanzines. When the illustrated edition was re-released in the late eighties I can recall standing in the local Waldenbooks thumbing through it. Alas I was a poor college student ,the book was beyond my personal finances at the time, but it looked very interesting. As the years rolled on I followed the saga ,and the lamentations of the Tower fans, as the installments came out in fits and starts. I read several of King's novels during the fifteen years between the mass-market paperback printing of "The Gunslinger" (1989) and "The Dark Tower" (2004) as well as a couple Bachman books, but none of the Dark Tower books. I'm not sure why.
I cheated (I love searching for spoilers) and browsed through numerous internet cliff notes so that I eventually got a feel for the saga of Roland. I realized that King had brought his many stories and characters together (much like Marvel and DC) and ensured that Roland and his Ka would save them. It sounded intriguing, but still I never ventured into the series...........until now. Life is short and I am not getting any younger. When I came across two beautifully preserved first editions of "The Drawing of the Three" and "The Wastelands" in the used bookstore section of my local library I decided it was time. I borrowed my friend's copy of "The Gunslinger" and began the journey.....even through I already know where it's going. The journey is the point and not the destination.
This first installment (I read the revised edition though I was able to compare it to the first printing) is interesting because it really doesn't sound like the Stephen King that I have come to know over the past thirty-three years. It does have something of a dreamlike quality to it, but as King states in the introduction he was a young man of twenty-two when he wrote the first chapter. A young man who had yet to find his voice and was under the influence of too many writing seminars. The sections that have been revised (added) have that unmistakable "Kingness" to them, but overall the book is different. However it was also very readable and I did enjoy it. It reminded me of the post-apocalyptic/fantasy novels that I devoured when I was a Tween. Like others I do so enjoy an adventure story set among the cyclopean ruins of a long dead civilization (see "Eternity Road" by Jack McDevitt). I guess I've never outgrown that love of adventure stories among the ruins. In particular I felt myself going back to Fred Saberhagen's Empire of the East series and the "Swords" and "Lost Swords" novels. I loved those books and ,as a result, I enjoyed "The Gunslinger". Perhaps nostalgia has worked it's deceptive magic, but I'm intrigued. I'm preparing to start in on "The Drawing of the Three" today as soon as I finish this review. Let 'em rip.
February 14, 2016
This just didn't work for me! I was never able to get into this book as I was somewhat confused during the entire novel and the whole thing felt like a vague, hazy dream. I feel like there was some sort of underlying metaphor I was suppose to get and connections that I was suppose to make that I just didn't. Looking forward to the next one since it sounds like it's easier to read!
December 3, 2012
The imagery in this novel is awesome. The bulk of the story is in a western style post apocalyptic desert. There's saloons, gun fights and creepy abandoned towns. The Gunslinger also had flashbacks that took us to some kind of medieval-style fantasy world and we even meet a character that took us back to current time New York. I couldn't figure out how they all fit together though. I spent most of this story trying to piece together details to help me figure out the plot. Roland, The Gunslinger, is on the tail of The Man In Black and chasing him through the desert. I think he is chasing him to find some kind of tower. I am not sure why we want to find The Tower. The book is full of creative details that I spent too much time trying to figure out in hopes that they might be connected to the plot. For example, in this futuristic world, poker is called 'Watch Me'. It took me half a chapter to figure this out and it added nothing to the plot! I was starting to have a hard time turning the pages. There wasn't enough back story to explain what was going on. Roland also had a very disconnected character and in the beginning I took this as part of his 'bad ass take no prisoners' persona. Then we get introduce to the kid and I realized that the characters are just underdeveloped. I felt no heart ache in their moments of loss and I should have. The reader spends the entire book chasing after The Man in Black to find The Tower. We never find out what The Tower is and we never find it. Very unsatisfying. Stephen King failed to hook me with this first book and I won't be continuing with the series.
Character Casting:
Roland - The Gunslinger: Hugh Jackman
Character Casting:
Roland - The Gunslinger: Hugh Jackman
August 7, 2017
Well that was an utter disappointment.
March 7, 2010
In the last 3 years, I've begun to read pretty much constantly. I've always got one or two novels on the go but recently, I've realized that I had never read anything written by Stephen King. On a recommendation from the internetz, I decided to give the Dark Tower series a go. A pretty ambitious first attempt, I thought where better to start than one of the most widely acclaimed series of all time?
Early after deciding that he wanted to pursue a career as an author, King decided that he wanted to write an epic - something akin to Tolken's Lord of the Rings series. Writing "The Gunslinger" in 5 parts, King had them published in "The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction". In total, it took King 12 and a half years to finish the first novel when it became published in 1988. Since then, most specifically in 2003, King reissued the novel "revised and expanded" which included several edits and an additional 9000 words. King did this in an effort to make the book more accessible to a new audience as well as clear up some inconsistencies in regards to the later novels.
Taking place in an alternate universe similar to the Old West, Roland of Gilead continues his quest to catch "The Man in Black". Roland pursues "The Man in Black" as he believes the Man holds the key to his destiny in reaching The Dark Tower itself; his ultimate destination. Along the way, Roland meets various characters that will shape his journey in ways both good and bad.
I'm not actually aware of what King has changed from the original; I couldn't seem to find many glaring changes online in terms of differences from the original story other than the fate of a major character. It seems to be mostly due to what he considered an amateurish writing style in his early days.
I will say this; I loved "The Gunslinger". I did find the writing style a little challenging at first. I've got limited experience when it comes to works of fantasy and science fiction, so a lot of the places and characters were a bit strange and hard to pin down. However, after really getting into the novel, I found it hard to put down and a pretty quick read.
King does a masterful job painting a picture of Roland's world; his descriptive nature is pretty impressive. He gives you the ability to develop a detailed mental picture without going overboard - which is pretty important. As someone who's never read a King novel, it's hard to believe that I somehow avoided him for so long. Roland's battle in the city of Tull around the middle of the novel was riveting, King is easily able to control a battle involving dozens of townsfolk - it's clear why he's so respected and revered, even this early in his career.
It's hard to imagine this successfully transitioning into a movie; it seems too big for film. Then again, you have Peter Jackson's adaptation of Lord of the Rings and James Cameron's recent epic, Avatar. It's pretty clear that we're living in an age where entire worlds can be created out of nothing; it could work. Despite saying that he would rather keep The Dark Tower series within the literary world, King sold the rights to Star Trek director, J.J. Abrams recently and the project is in its beginning stages. It'll be interesting to say the least.
I'm very intrigued to take on the other 6 parts in the 7 part series. Sooner than later, they'll be sitting on my book shelf ready to go. I kind of wish I had purchased the box set; it would have been a lot cheaper.
Early after deciding that he wanted to pursue a career as an author, King decided that he wanted to write an epic - something akin to Tolken's Lord of the Rings series. Writing "The Gunslinger" in 5 parts, King had them published in "The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction". In total, it took King 12 and a half years to finish the first novel when it became published in 1988. Since then, most specifically in 2003, King reissued the novel "revised and expanded" which included several edits and an additional 9000 words. King did this in an effort to make the book more accessible to a new audience as well as clear up some inconsistencies in regards to the later novels.
Taking place in an alternate universe similar to the Old West, Roland of Gilead continues his quest to catch "The Man in Black". Roland pursues "The Man in Black" as he believes the Man holds the key to his destiny in reaching The Dark Tower itself; his ultimate destination. Along the way, Roland meets various characters that will shape his journey in ways both good and bad.
I'm not actually aware of what King has changed from the original; I couldn't seem to find many glaring changes online in terms of differences from the original story other than the fate of a major character. It seems to be mostly due to what he considered an amateurish writing style in his early days.
I will say this; I loved "The Gunslinger". I did find the writing style a little challenging at first. I've got limited experience when it comes to works of fantasy and science fiction, so a lot of the places and characters were a bit strange and hard to pin down. However, after really getting into the novel, I found it hard to put down and a pretty quick read.
King does a masterful job painting a picture of Roland's world; his descriptive nature is pretty impressive. He gives you the ability to develop a detailed mental picture without going overboard - which is pretty important. As someone who's never read a King novel, it's hard to believe that I somehow avoided him for so long. Roland's battle in the city of Tull around the middle of the novel was riveting, King is easily able to control a battle involving dozens of townsfolk - it's clear why he's so respected and revered, even this early in his career.
It's hard to imagine this successfully transitioning into a movie; it seems too big for film. Then again, you have Peter Jackson's adaptation of Lord of the Rings and James Cameron's recent epic, Avatar. It's pretty clear that we're living in an age where entire worlds can be created out of nothing; it could work. Despite saying that he would rather keep The Dark Tower series within the literary world, King sold the rights to Star Trek director, J.J. Abrams recently and the project is in its beginning stages. It'll be interesting to say the least.
I'm very intrigued to take on the other 6 parts in the 7 part series. Sooner than later, they'll be sitting on my book shelf ready to go. I kind of wish I had purchased the box set; it would have been a lot cheaper.
January 5, 2018
Overall, this book was mostly what I was expecting it to be: A very long prologue. So, don´t get me wrong. I really enjoyed it. I liked Roland as a character and I enjoyed reading about his search for The Man in Black, his interactions with Jake and the parts of his backstory which were interluded a few times within the book. However, I already heard from a lot of people that this first book would make perfect sense in retrospect when you finish the series but that it would feel mostly like an introduction when you first read it. And I found out that this is very true. The plot feels more like a succession of weird happenings than like an actual plot and this book raised probably more questions than any other first book I ever read in a series. But that´s not a bad thing because I hope to read the rest of the series next year to get answers to a lot of these questions.
4 of 5 stars
4 of 5 stars
March 5, 2016
*3.5 out of 5 stars*
I've read my fair share of Stephen King novels, but this one was by far the strangest.
Riddled with odd arrangements of sentences and weird descriptions, "The Gunslinger" was, at times, incredibly hard to follow. However, that amazing ending and the hope that the rest of the series will be better is pushing me to pick up the second installment!
I've read my fair share of Stephen King novels, but this one was by far the strangest.
Riddled with odd arrangements of sentences and weird descriptions, "The Gunslinger" was, at times, incredibly hard to follow. However, that amazing ending and the hope that the rest of the series will be better is pushing me to pick up the second installment!
April 10, 2012
An awesome fan based movie trailer @ my webpage along with the review>>>http://more2read.com/review/the-gunslinger-the-dark-tower-1-by-stephen-king/
The Gunslinger
"The Interloper, The Lord of Flies, The Man in Black cometh!"
Stephen King our modern day Charles Dickens takes you on beginning of an epic journey with Roland 'The Gunslinger' in this poignant tale. The story takes us through the past and future and the coming of age of a man and a boy in search of The Tower.
'The more you eat the more you toot!' or should I say the more you re-read it the more you will appreciate it, that's what I felt second time round reading the novel and also third time via audiobook. I felt I picked up more clues to the whole Dark Tower experience.
One person from the past and one from the future pitted together against the man in black in searcheth of The Tower.
A Hawk pays no coinage to love or morals is The Gunslinger a Hawk?
Is The Man in Black a priest?
Verily as The Gunslinger walketh in the shadow of The Man in Black he feareth no Man!
Movie and Mini-series news..
Akiva Goldsman is going to be writing the screenplay for the mini-series of The Dark Tower and the movie also. He is also going to produce the movie, that looks good as he is a consulting producer for Fringe TV series, which is really good. Akiva has written screenplays for many good books I am legend, Da vinci code, I robot, a beautiful mind, angels and demons, a time to kill, the client and batman and robin. This looks promising.
Director is going to be Ron Howard who has directed many good movies he directed the two Dan Brown adaptations and A beautiful mind. Stephen King is also going to co-produce.
At the moment they have Javer Bardem from No country for old men to play Roland.
November 11, 2008
I liked "The Gunslinger" well enough to read straight through in a couple of days. However, it really seemed too hard to be something, but I couldn't figure out what. I'm sure it's meant to be enigmatic, but a good enigma should never be pointed out. There were several points in the novel where the gunslinger wonders if he's really dead. I, for one, couldn't figure out whether this was a post-apocalyptic novel, a religious allegory, a fantasy quest or what. Why is there a dead kid from New York City in it when the gunslinger is clearly from some sort of medieval-style fantasy world? What the heck is that setting? Can anyone talk straight?
This book was engaging and the writing style was good. I just thought it was trying too hard to be too many things and it ending up being nothing.
This book was engaging and the writing style was good. I just thought it was trying too hard to be too many things and it ending up being nothing.
April 20, 2017
Oh, so delicious.
August 24, 2021
Finished it off with an audiobook instead (thanks, Jake, for the tip!). It was alright. It was… it was alright. It was okay. It was good. Was it great? Well, it was fine.
September 29, 2021
Hey, I have a booktube channel (youtube for book reviews, etc.), and I include The Gunslinger in my Dark Tower Ranking list here. Please subscribe if I've earned it!
You ever find that you like a book more and more the longer you think about it? I didn't overly love The Gunslinger (1982) when I finished it, but the more I keep thinking about it, the more I really like what King has done here.
I read that Stephen King considers The Dark Tower series to be his magnum opus and The Gunslinger is quite an enjoyable start to a series that, word has it, gets a bit wordy toward the end.
After putting The Stand down at around 300 pages last year I really can't believe I entered King's mind again so soon. I hated almost all of the characters in The Stand and had a terrible time moving forward. Luckily, The Gunslinger is only 300 quick pages, instead of the massive 1100 or so in The Stand. Not to mention, a couple of blogs and SFFWorld forum members have been talking up the series, so here I am.
First, I have to say I love the cover art. It not only speaks of the story, but automatically gets you in the right mood for The Gunslinger. This tale is ominous and vast, it's desolate and post-apocalyptic and the cover says it all.
Told in five parts that were originally published separately in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, this is the tale of the last gunslinger pursuing "the man in black" through a parallel world that echoes our own world in many ways. Some of those being old, run-down gas pumps, train tracks and memories of singing "Hey Jude".
At first it was difficult to see what the gunslinger's motivations were in tracking the man in black and they aren't really made clear until we have a few flash-backs to the gunslinger's earlier travels and his youth. This made moving forward through the novel a bit labored, but the last 50 or so pages are definitely worth it as we're given more and more glimpses into the gunslinger's life.
Each new place in the gunslinger's travels, we find people desperately clinging to life in any way they can. Each time, the gunslinger finds subtle traps which have been put in place by the man in black to keep the gunslinger at bay.
Although slow at times and almost as confusing as Erikson's Malazan series (but more linear), The Gunslinger has some great moments that stick with you. The overall tone of the novel is very dark and ominous and I think King is one of the only authors I can excuse for not having a map, which would only detract.
When Should You Read This?
Read The Gunslinger when you're ready to start a huge series and I mean "huge" in terms of page count and world. While The Gunslinger could probably be read as a stand-alone (if you ignore the last couple pages), it is definitely a springboard to the rest of the series with several unresolved and newly created elements coming in at the very end.
Rating
3.5 out of 5 Stars (really liked it)
You ever find that you like a book more and more the longer you think about it? I didn't overly love The Gunslinger (1982) when I finished it, but the more I keep thinking about it, the more I really like what King has done here.
I read that Stephen King considers The Dark Tower series to be his magnum opus and The Gunslinger is quite an enjoyable start to a series that, word has it, gets a bit wordy toward the end.
After putting The Stand down at around 300 pages last year I really can't believe I entered King's mind again so soon. I hated almost all of the characters in The Stand and had a terrible time moving forward. Luckily, The Gunslinger is only 300 quick pages, instead of the massive 1100 or so in The Stand. Not to mention, a couple of blogs and SFFWorld forum members have been talking up the series, so here I am.
First, I have to say I love the cover art. It not only speaks of the story, but automatically gets you in the right mood for The Gunslinger. This tale is ominous and vast, it's desolate and post-apocalyptic and the cover says it all.
Told in five parts that were originally published separately in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, this is the tale of the last gunslinger pursuing "the man in black" through a parallel world that echoes our own world in many ways. Some of those being old, run-down gas pumps, train tracks and memories of singing "Hey Jude".
At first it was difficult to see what the gunslinger's motivations were in tracking the man in black and they aren't really made clear until we have a few flash-backs to the gunslinger's earlier travels and his youth. This made moving forward through the novel a bit labored, but the last 50 or so pages are definitely worth it as we're given more and more glimpses into the gunslinger's life.
Each new place in the gunslinger's travels, we find people desperately clinging to life in any way they can. Each time, the gunslinger finds subtle traps which have been put in place by the man in black to keep the gunslinger at bay.
Although slow at times and almost as confusing as Erikson's Malazan series (but more linear), The Gunslinger has some great moments that stick with you. The overall tone of the novel is very dark and ominous and I think King is one of the only authors I can excuse for not having a map, which would only detract.
When Should You Read This?
Read The Gunslinger when you're ready to start a huge series and I mean "huge" in terms of page count and world. While The Gunslinger could probably be read as a stand-alone (if you ignore the last couple pages), it is definitely a springboard to the rest of the series with several unresolved and newly created elements coming in at the very end.
Rating
3.5 out of 5 Stars (really liked it)
August 23, 2019
3.5 stars
This is one of those books I read by accident. I mean, I've heard about this epic series from the legendary Stephen King but never planned to read it. I was in the library last week with some time to kill while my daughter played and I noticed the paperback on a book carousel so I sat down with it thinking I'd read the first chapter.
But then suddenly the librarian was giving the ten minute warning to close and I realized I was 100 pages in!
In The Gunslinger, we're introduced to Roland of Gilead, the mysterious last gunslinger who is traveling across the desert toward his destiny: capturing the Man in Black (no, we're not talking Johnny Cash) and finding the Tower.
Readers are thrown into this apparent post-apocalyptic world where there are vague mentions of the past (songs like Hey Jude remain but words like 'subway' are remembered though not understood any longer). We are given Roland's history and how he came to be a gunslinger as he searches for the Man in Black, who can bring the dead back to life. Unfortunately Roland leaves nothing but death behind in his pursuit.
He meets an oracle who tells him three is the number of his fate and at the heart of his quest, though another number will come later:
1. "The first is young , dark-haired. He stands on the brink of robbery and murder. A demon has infested him. The name of the demon is HEROIN."
2. "She comes on wheels. I see no more."
3. "Death . . . but not for you."
When Roland finally catches up to the Man in Black, time loses meaning as they discuss the mysteries of the universe and how they're connected to the Tower. Roland wants answers but the man in black speaks in riddles like the oracle and when the night is over, ten years have passed. He knows he will arrive some day at the Dark Tower where there will be some sort of final battle though he doesn't know with whom or what for.
I was invested in this story from beginning to end but honestly, this is just a set-up for the series and we have way more questions than answers! We have so many vague riddle-like prophecies, lots of Bibilical references, and plenty of sci-fi/horror Western fantasy vibes.
What is the Dark Tower? What caused the collapse of the world as we know it presently? Is this going to be a Biblical good vs. evil story?
I'm curious enough to pick up the second book hoping for at least a few answers!
If you like sci-fi/fantasy/horror/post-apocalyptic Westerns, this is definitely a book for you!
For more reviews, visit www.rootsandreads.wordpress.com
This is one of those books I read by accident. I mean, I've heard about this epic series from the legendary Stephen King but never planned to read it. I was in the library last week with some time to kill while my daughter played and I noticed the paperback on a book carousel so I sat down with it thinking I'd read the first chapter.
But then suddenly the librarian was giving the ten minute warning to close and I realized I was 100 pages in!
In The Gunslinger, we're introduced to Roland of Gilead, the mysterious last gunslinger who is traveling across the desert toward his destiny: capturing the Man in Black (no, we're not talking Johnny Cash) and finding the Tower.
Readers are thrown into this apparent post-apocalyptic world where there are vague mentions of the past (songs like Hey Jude remain but words like 'subway' are remembered though not understood any longer). We are given Roland's history and how he came to be a gunslinger as he searches for the Man in Black, who can bring the dead back to life. Unfortunately Roland leaves nothing but death behind in his pursuit.
He meets an oracle who tells him three is the number of his fate and at the heart of his quest, though another number will come later:
1. "The first is young , dark-haired. He stands on the brink of robbery and murder. A demon has infested him. The name of the demon is HEROIN."
2. "She comes on wheels. I see no more."
3. "Death . . . but not for you."
When Roland finally catches up to the Man in Black, time loses meaning as they discuss the mysteries of the universe and how they're connected to the Tower. Roland wants answers but the man in black speaks in riddles like the oracle and when the night is over, ten years have passed. He knows he will arrive some day at the Dark Tower where there will be some sort of final battle though he doesn't know with whom or what for.
I was invested in this story from beginning to end but honestly, this is just a set-up for the series and we have way more questions than answers! We have so many vague riddle-like prophecies, lots of Bibilical references, and plenty of sci-fi/horror Western fantasy vibes.
What is the Dark Tower? What caused the collapse of the world as we know it presently? Is this going to be a Biblical good vs. evil story?
I'm curious enough to pick up the second book hoping for at least a few answers!
If you like sci-fi/fantasy/horror/post-apocalyptic Westerns, this is definitely a book for you!
For more reviews, visit www.rootsandreads.wordpress.com
November 22, 2008
I've been wanting to read the Dark Tower books for a long time. The Gunslinger is an interesting start to a series, but I don't know quite what I think of it, yet. The non-Tolkienesque fantasy is good, and the fact that the details are so sparse makes it more intriguing -- but also perhaps less hooking, since there's less to hook you. The Gunslinger feels far too short to be setting up an epic series, really. At the same time, it seems rather long for the little that actually happens in it. It didn't help me get into it that Roland is so... unemotional. The storyline with Jake could have been heart-rending, but somehow I just took it on board with the same coolness that Roland seemed to. He's an interesting character, but I hope we learn more about him and get more depth as things go on.
February 26, 2016
It took me a while to get through this, but I will keep going.
July 27, 2017
Sometimes I start my reviews with a “skinny”, which is where I very briefly explain what happened in the book. I can’t really do that with this book because for approximately half of it I had no idea what the f*ck was going on.
So, if I didn’t really get some of it, how could I give the book 3 stars? I think in some weird way I sort of liked the book. I liked how little breadcrumbs were dropped along the way and how towards the end, some of the story started to make sense. I kept reading because I was waiting for the glorious moment that all would be revealed. SPOILER ALERT: That most definitely did not happen. Although there were still A LOT of questions unanswered, the bits and pieces that were answered were satisfying enough to keep reading.
This book is probably one of the stranger books I’ve read. It was in turns boring, frustrating, captivating, and mind-bending. It is hard to say if I will read the next book or not. I mostly read this one because I wanted to do so before the movie came out. This is the first Stephen King book I’ve read in its entirety. It definitely didn’t make a fan of me, but it interested me just enough that perhaps there will be more Stephen King in my future.
July 27, 2010
"The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed."
There's really not much more you need to know about this story except what's right up there. That's the essence of the whole thing - a chase. A man in black, who has obviously done something terrible, and a gunslinger, who is obviously going to set things right.
If, by "set right," you mean "kill a whole lot of people," then you're pretty much on target.
This is the beginning of Stephen King's Dark Tower series, a story told in seven volumes that manages to be the lynchpin for all the worlds that he has created. It's a story that was 22 years in the writing, and almost never got finished. It's an epic story, all about the endless quest for the Dark Tower, the center of all reality, the axle upon which the wheels of creation move.
Roland, the gunslinger, is hunting for this tower. He wants it more than anything in the world. He has lost everything in pursuit of this tower - his friends, his family, his world - and yet he pressed on. The man in black has information for him, can set his path towards his goal. If only Roland can catch him.
On his way to the man in black, Roland finds a small town taken over by a mad preacher woman, a sympathetic hermit, and a boy who doesn't look like he's terribly local to this world. All of them help point the way to the man in black, and none of them make it to the end with Roland. Even he is unprepared for the terrifying reality that awaits him when he and the man in black finally have their palaver....
There truly is something magical about this book. Even if there were no other Dark Tower books, it would stand out as a good story, well told. Part of this is its deceptive simplicity - moving from point A to point B, with only a few flashbacks to fill in the backstory. Well, quite a lot of flashbacks, actually, seeing as how King did set this story in a featureless desert with a singular protagonist, and there's only so much you can work with without dipping into the well of the past from time to time.
The glimpses of Roland's past that we get to see are tantalizing - they tell of a rich and cultured world that is nonetheless hard and merciless. The gunslingers are all that stand between civilization and chaos, and there are precious few of them left. Roland and his friends know they may be the last of their kind, but that doesn't deter them from pursuing their guns and growing up to honor their fathers.
The fact that we know from the beginning that they all fail just makes it all the more poignant to watch them try.
It's hard to talk about this book without trying to talk about the rest of the series, and it's even harder to convey the feeling of reading it when the series was still ongoing. My father, a huge Stephen King fan, had these books when I was a kid, and I eventually got into them, and was - like so many others - immeasurably frustrated by the pace at which King was writing them. I finished this book, which does not necessarily have a happy - or easy-to-understand - ending, and I wanted more. I wanted to know what Roland was going to do now that he'd had his palaver with the man in black, and I wanted to know if he would ever find the Dark Tower. Whom would he enlist in his quest, as the oracle had suggested? Whom else would he sacrifice, as he did young Jake?
Speaking of which, the relationship between Roland and Jake is an interesting one, especially as I got older and re-read it. When I first read the book, I was probably around Jake's age - eleven years old [1:]. Reading Jake's story of how he came to Roland's world was horrifying enough, but to see how their relationship would eventually end was even worse. The idea that there might be something more important to, say, my parents [2:] than I was - well, that was horrifying. To think that a purpose might exist for which they would let me fall to my death.... That's not the kind of thing an eleven year-old boy wants to think about.
From the point of view of an older person, a grown man, I found something uncomfortable about their relationship. The bond that formed between man and boy was instant, and intense, and having grown up in a culture where a strange man being that friendly to a young boy would be automatically colored with the taint of pedophilia, well, I had to work a little harder to stay in Roland's head. The fact that I know that wasn't where King was going with the relationship helps a little, but every reader brings his or her hang-ups along when they read and some of mine are a little more persistent than others. I'm sure any psychologist who needs to put a down payment on a yacht would be happy to help me work on it.
All in all, it's an excellent beginning. What follows is a massive tale, a great quest that spans time and space and reality, culminating in Roland's final understanding of who he is and why he exists. Not all of it is as good as this book, but it's still worth reading, I say ya true.
So put on your good boots, don't forget your hat and horn and donkey. It's a long trip to the end....
----------------------------------
[1:] This is another example of the Eleven Year-Old Boy Rule: if you have a major character in your book who is not an adult, chances are that it will be an eleven year-old boy. King is a master of this.
[2:] Because if Roland isn't a father-substitute then I don't know who is.
There's really not much more you need to know about this story except what's right up there. That's the essence of the whole thing - a chase. A man in black, who has obviously done something terrible, and a gunslinger, who is obviously going to set things right.
If, by "set right," you mean "kill a whole lot of people," then you're pretty much on target.
This is the beginning of Stephen King's Dark Tower series, a story told in seven volumes that manages to be the lynchpin for all the worlds that he has created. It's a story that was 22 years in the writing, and almost never got finished. It's an epic story, all about the endless quest for the Dark Tower, the center of all reality, the axle upon which the wheels of creation move.
Roland, the gunslinger, is hunting for this tower. He wants it more than anything in the world. He has lost everything in pursuit of this tower - his friends, his family, his world - and yet he pressed on. The man in black has information for him, can set his path towards his goal. If only Roland can catch him.
On his way to the man in black, Roland finds a small town taken over by a mad preacher woman, a sympathetic hermit, and a boy who doesn't look like he's terribly local to this world. All of them help point the way to the man in black, and none of them make it to the end with Roland. Even he is unprepared for the terrifying reality that awaits him when he and the man in black finally have their palaver....
There truly is something magical about this book. Even if there were no other Dark Tower books, it would stand out as a good story, well told. Part of this is its deceptive simplicity - moving from point A to point B, with only a few flashbacks to fill in the backstory. Well, quite a lot of flashbacks, actually, seeing as how King did set this story in a featureless desert with a singular protagonist, and there's only so much you can work with without dipping into the well of the past from time to time.
The glimpses of Roland's past that we get to see are tantalizing - they tell of a rich and cultured world that is nonetheless hard and merciless. The gunslingers are all that stand between civilization and chaos, and there are precious few of them left. Roland and his friends know they may be the last of their kind, but that doesn't deter them from pursuing their guns and growing up to honor their fathers.
The fact that we know from the beginning that they all fail just makes it all the more poignant to watch them try.
It's hard to talk about this book without trying to talk about the rest of the series, and it's even harder to convey the feeling of reading it when the series was still ongoing. My father, a huge Stephen King fan, had these books when I was a kid, and I eventually got into them, and was - like so many others - immeasurably frustrated by the pace at which King was writing them. I finished this book, which does not necessarily have a happy - or easy-to-understand - ending, and I wanted more. I wanted to know what Roland was going to do now that he'd had his palaver with the man in black, and I wanted to know if he would ever find the Dark Tower. Whom would he enlist in his quest, as the oracle had suggested? Whom else would he sacrifice, as he did young Jake?
Speaking of which, the relationship between Roland and Jake is an interesting one, especially as I got older and re-read it. When I first read the book, I was probably around Jake's age - eleven years old [1:]. Reading Jake's story of how he came to Roland's world was horrifying enough, but to see how their relationship would eventually end was even worse. The idea that there might be something more important to, say, my parents [2:] than I was - well, that was horrifying. To think that a purpose might exist for which they would let me fall to my death.... That's not the kind of thing an eleven year-old boy wants to think about.
From the point of view of an older person, a grown man, I found something uncomfortable about their relationship. The bond that formed between man and boy was instant, and intense, and having grown up in a culture where a strange man being that friendly to a young boy would be automatically colored with the taint of pedophilia, well, I had to work a little harder to stay in Roland's head. The fact that I know that wasn't where King was going with the relationship helps a little, but every reader brings his or her hang-ups along when they read and some of mine are a little more persistent than others. I'm sure any psychologist who needs to put a down payment on a yacht would be happy to help me work on it.
All in all, it's an excellent beginning. What follows is a massive tale, a great quest that spans time and space and reality, culminating in Roland's final understanding of who he is and why he exists. Not all of it is as good as this book, but it's still worth reading, I say ya true.
So put on your good boots, don't forget your hat and horn and donkey. It's a long trip to the end....
----------------------------------
[1:] This is another example of the Eleven Year-Old Boy Rule: if you have a major character in your book who is not an adult, chances are that it will be an eleven year-old boy. King is a master of this.
[2:] Because if Roland isn't a father-substitute then I don't know who is.
July 11, 2012
The Gunslinger was a pretty darn good novel that I found very difficult to put down. From the very first line, which I consider to be among the best in literature, King hooks his reader and begins the long task of reeling the reader in all of the way along the beam to the Dark Tower.
The only way that this novel fails in any regard is that, from the beginning, this is obviously a set-up novel for much more to come and as such it feels at times (very few times, but there none-the-less) that King forces the story along at a hell-bent pace to get things moving on towards the next installment in the tale. I think that due to the pacing of the rest of the novel, that the end suffers a bit as it slows things down again and then goes a bit off track. The final confrontation, to me, was a bit disappointing, but things quickly move forward and we are left eagerly awaiting The Drawing of the Three.
It's been a LONG time since I first read this novel and that was in it's original form. I don't really remember well enough to be able to tell what was added or changed, but for the most part, I think that the story was much more clear and concise and there was a lot less confusion than when I read it the first time. On the other hand, there were passages and events in the book that I remember as clearly as if I had read them yesterday, so the original version was extremely powerful in it's own right. The one thing that I missed while reading the revised and expanded edition
were the beautiful full-color illustrations. However, I have the original trade paperback version, so I could flip through from time to time and catch up on the artwork that I had missed. One last note on this edition, I found it odd that with all of the changes and edits that were made, there is still on character that is referred to by two names without really clarifying that it is indeed the same person. I guess Allie could be a nickname for Alice, but when the name Alice is introduced it's well after we've been dealing with the character and I thought that King was talking about a different character for a bit.
The only way that this novel fails in any regard is that, from the beginning, this is obviously a set-up novel for much more to come and as such it feels at times (very few times, but there none-the-less) that King forces the story along at a hell-bent pace to get things moving on towards the next installment in the tale. I think that due to the pacing of the rest of the novel, that the end suffers a bit as it slows things down again and then goes a bit off track. The final confrontation, to me, was a bit disappointing, but things quickly move forward and we are left eagerly awaiting The Drawing of the Three.
It's been a LONG time since I first read this novel and that was in it's original form. I don't really remember well enough to be able to tell what was added or changed, but for the most part, I think that the story was much more clear and concise and there was a lot less confusion than when I read it the first time. On the other hand, there were passages and events in the book that I remember as clearly as if I had read them yesterday, so the original version was extremely powerful in it's own right. The one thing that I missed while reading the revised and expanded edition
were the beautiful full-color illustrations. However, I have the original trade paperback version, so I could flip through from time to time and catch up on the artwork that I had missed. One last note on this edition, I found it odd that with all of the changes and edits that were made, there is still on character that is referred to by two names without really clarifying that it is indeed the same person. I guess Allie could be a nickname for Alice, but when the name Alice is introduced it's well after we've been dealing with the character and I thought that King was talking about a different character for a bit.
September 1, 2015
Read for the Good Reads Choice Award Book Club -- Series
A very un-Stephen King-like book. Well, at least the Tommyknockers Stephen King.
Not as enjoyable as Joyland, it was still a nice read. The edition I read was "revised and expanded throughout". I don't know if the original was better or worse. However, I really did enjoy King's introduction to this edition.
(He had some great anecdotes of cancer patients and death row inmates begging him to tell them the end of the series. They promised to take it to their graves.)
Back to the book. I really liked it. But I find it very hard to explain just why. The setting is still a little vague. The characters are still a little fuzzy. In many ways, I didn't think much of Roland. The evil was even a little vague.
Still, it was a wonderful introduction to a series I feel will only get better.
A very un-Stephen King-like book. Well, at least the Tommyknockers Stephen King.
Not as enjoyable as Joyland, it was still a nice read. The edition I read was "revised and expanded throughout". I don't know if the original was better or worse. However, I really did enjoy King's introduction to this edition.
(He had some great anecdotes of cancer patients and death row inmates begging him to tell them the end of the series. They promised to take it to their graves.)
Back to the book. I really liked it. But I find it very hard to explain just why. The setting is still a little vague. The characters are still a little fuzzy. In many ways, I didn't think much of Roland. The evil was even a little vague.
Still, it was a wonderful introduction to a series I feel will only get better.
March 3, 2019
This book was just... So, incredibly, boring. The first line is interesting enough: "The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed." Iconic. It made me think that right away I was going to be thrown into an action-packed chase scene, but it ended up being the complete opposite. Who thought that starting a book off with the main character just walking through sand would be interesting? The entire first chapter was such a huge slug-fest, and honestly it didn't get much better from there.
The main character--we'll call him Roland because that's shorter to type out than "the gunslinger" (sorry my writing won't be as edgy and pretentious as King's was in this book)--stumbles through the desert, talks to a hermit, and then stumbles through the desert some more. The story is told by alternating between the current stumbles of the gunslinger, and his past which is revealed as Roland retells his story to people he encounters during his stumbles.
The grand majority of his stumbles (okay I'll stop abusing that word now) were incredibly uninteresting. Literally because he was just vaguely following the man in black. That's not interesting, sorry. In the second last chapter is when things finally heat up, and it has what I found to be the most compelling of Roland's backstory. But that's really just a sorry consolation prize for everything else I had to go through for the entire book. (Hmm... Reminds me of The Shining, actually. Not to the same extent as this book though.) After the backstory in that chapter it goes right back to vague and boring stumbling after the man in black, save for one tense encounter.
If there is one thing I've always been able to count King on, no matter whether I was actually invested in the story or not, it has been his writing. I love when he writes in a third person limited perspective that's always so rich with the character's personality that it's hard not to enjoy myself while reading, or when it at least has some other enjoyable quality to it (I can't remember exact details from his books I've read longer ago). But in The Gunslinger... The writing was the opposite of enjoyable.
Since Roland is from some sort of alternate dimension (or something else to that effect), he speak funny. He speaks kind of old-timey, I guess. And since the narrative is from his limited perspective... THE WHOLE BOOK "SPEAK FUNNY" TOO! The whole she-bang is written in the same weird oldish way that is honestly nothing but a bore and a bother to read.
What I like most is when King writes the narrative in a way that lets the character's personality really shine through to carry the story (ie. It, Mr. Mercedes). But honestly? Roland? Him? What personality? I didn't find it. He's a gunslinger. He... Slings guns. He had no personality and therefore the narrative had no personality and therefore the writing was almost as dry as the desert that half of this novel took place in.
And, you know what, I'll admit it: It was also very annoying how many words I didn't know. There were so many weirdo fricken words that I couldn't even bother looking them all up because then I'd have to stop reading basically every other sentence. I still ended up looking up a bunch of words, but often times it was to no avail because they still didn't make much sense in the context. And just skipping over the words was also annoying because that didn't really fix anything either. Great. Love it. Immerse me in the narrative daddy, I love it when I can't understand a single fricken word you're saying because in the end it's worth it because I'm so IMMERSED. IN THE. NARRATIVE. CAN'T YOU TELL HOW IMMERSED I AM RIGHT NOW? (SUPER FRICKEN IMMERSED.)
I can so very easily understand why not many people have actually read this series compared to its length and the effort King put into it. This first book, man. It just kills all the readers off, and I don't blame them. If I wasn't previously familiar with King's work I don't even know if I would have finished this. But I already bought the first four books in this series so there's no going back for me now!! Not that I'd actually want to quit, though. All this said and done, I do still have high hope for this series being good. I have a really bad track record with first books in series, so this is just going along with the trend.
The main character--we'll call him Roland because that's shorter to type out than "the gunslinger" (sorry my writing won't be as edgy and pretentious as King's was in this book)--stumbles through the desert, talks to a hermit, and then stumbles through the desert some more. The story is told by alternating between the current stumbles of the gunslinger, and his past which is revealed as Roland retells his story to people he encounters during his stumbles.
The grand majority of his stumbles (okay I'll stop abusing that word now) were incredibly uninteresting. Literally because he was just vaguely following the man in black. That's not interesting, sorry. In the second last chapter is when things finally heat up, and it has what I found to be the most compelling of Roland's backstory. But that's really just a sorry consolation prize for everything else I had to go through for the entire book. (Hmm... Reminds me of The Shining, actually. Not to the same extent as this book though.) After the backstory in that chapter it goes right back to vague and boring stumbling after the man in black, save for one tense encounter.
If there is one thing I've always been able to count King on, no matter whether I was actually invested in the story or not, it has been his writing. I love when he writes in a third person limited perspective that's always so rich with the character's personality that it's hard not to enjoy myself while reading, or when it at least has some other enjoyable quality to it (I can't remember exact details from his books I've read longer ago). But in The Gunslinger... The writing was the opposite of enjoyable.
Since Roland is from some sort of alternate dimension (or something else to that effect), he speak funny. He speaks kind of old-timey, I guess. And since the narrative is from his limited perspective... THE WHOLE BOOK "SPEAK FUNNY" TOO! The whole she-bang is written in the same weird oldish way that is honestly nothing but a bore and a bother to read.
What I like most is when King writes the narrative in a way that lets the character's personality really shine through to carry the story (ie. It, Mr. Mercedes). But honestly? Roland? Him? What personality? I didn't find it. He's a gunslinger. He... Slings guns. He had no personality and therefore the narrative had no personality and therefore the writing was almost as dry as the desert that half of this novel took place in.
And, you know what, I'll admit it: It was also very annoying how many words I didn't know. There were so many weirdo fricken words that I couldn't even bother looking them all up because then I'd have to stop reading basically every other sentence. I still ended up looking up a bunch of words, but often times it was to no avail because they still didn't make much sense in the context. And just skipping over the words was also annoying because that didn't really fix anything either. Great. Love it. Immerse me in the narrative daddy, I love it when I can't understand a single fricken word you're saying because in the end it's worth it because I'm so IMMERSED. IN THE. NARRATIVE. CAN'T YOU TELL HOW IMMERSED I AM RIGHT NOW? (SUPER FRICKEN IMMERSED.)
I can so very easily understand why not many people have actually read this series compared to its length and the effort King put into it. This first book, man. It just kills all the readers off, and I don't blame them. If I wasn't previously familiar with King's work I don't even know if I would have finished this. But I already bought the first four books in this series so there's no going back for me now!! Not that I'd actually want to quit, though. All this said and done, I do still have high hope for this series being good. I have a really bad track record with first books in series, so this is just going along with the trend.
Please give this review a "Like" if you've made it this far, and follow me if you want more!
March 26, 2008
This reviews the REVISED AND EXPANDED edition of the first book. New readers should be careful to see if they are reading impressions of one or the other, as they are quite different.
Wow, does the revised edition ever read smoother. It took King decades to write this whole series, so it stands to reason he would have a better understanding of the opening chapters later. The culture of his world seems far more accessible this time, while the sense of Roland's purpose is as salient as ever. I like to joke that Lord of the Rings was Fantasy fed on mythology, and this is Fantasy fed on Spaghetti Westerns. Both are more complex than mere imitations of their source material, but they feed and create based on their influences. Fantasy readers don't have to worry about machismo and guns ruining everything - King is too smart for chauvinism and working firearms are rare treasures in this world. Heroism is a harder ideal in this wasteland world, with more Clint Eastwood than Merlin behind things. The magic is much more part of the environment, resting in nightmarish creatures and peculiar areas or items, rather than as a sorcery that characters can call up at will. This universe is in many ways a bleached (and perhaps apocalyptic) reflection of our own, and the reflection of elements of modern culture within the wasteland world are really treats to read, rather than bitter reflections on consumerism or existentialism or whatever other hip crap lesser popular writers would try to frame them as. I give the Revised edition of this book a high recommendation to any Fantasy readers who would like to experiment with something away from Swords and Sorcery or Science Fantasy. If you like it, there are six more where this came from.
Wow, does the revised edition ever read smoother. It took King decades to write this whole series, so it stands to reason he would have a better understanding of the opening chapters later. The culture of his world seems far more accessible this time, while the sense of Roland's purpose is as salient as ever. I like to joke that Lord of the Rings was Fantasy fed on mythology, and this is Fantasy fed on Spaghetti Westerns. Both are more complex than mere imitations of their source material, but they feed and create based on their influences. Fantasy readers don't have to worry about machismo and guns ruining everything - King is too smart for chauvinism and working firearms are rare treasures in this world. Heroism is a harder ideal in this wasteland world, with more Clint Eastwood than Merlin behind things. The magic is much more part of the environment, resting in nightmarish creatures and peculiar areas or items, rather than as a sorcery that characters can call up at will. This universe is in many ways a bleached (and perhaps apocalyptic) reflection of our own, and the reflection of elements of modern culture within the wasteland world are really treats to read, rather than bitter reflections on consumerism or existentialism or whatever other hip crap lesser popular writers would try to frame them as. I give the Revised edition of this book a high recommendation to any Fantasy readers who would like to experiment with something away from Swords and Sorcery or Science Fantasy. If you like it, there are six more where this came from.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 858 reviews