The Gunslinger

by Stephen King

238 pages, Paperback

Published November 23, 1982

About the author

Stephen 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.

Reviews

[Sacha · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger

(Deutsche Review weiter unten👇🏻)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5*)

Now (about two decades too late... 😉) I have also started with Roland on his epic journey to the Dark Tower. Although I've already read a few Stephen King books, I want to experience this journey with as much depth as possible and try to take in all the relevant works that belong to the Dark Tower universe. You can find out more about my reading plan and how I'm relating the books on my blog: Link! 😁

After hearing from many that the first volume was hard to digest and that you really had to fight your way through it, I was prepared for the worst. So it was all the more surprising that I really enjoyed the book. There was no question of "struggling through" for me! Of course, there are the typical King moments that are not stingy with pathos and wit: be it the guns that beat their "heavy, atonal music" into the air or the man in black who proclaims "Let there be light" and Roland then remarks that "the light is relatively good"... 😂 But it's precisely these peculiarities that we love so much about King, isn't it?

„«The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.» The iconic opening line of Stephen King's groundbreaking series, The Dark Tower, introduces one of his most enigmatic and powerful heroes: Roland of Gilead, the Last Gunslinger. Roland is a haunting figure, a loner, on a spellbinding journey toward the mysterious Dark Tower, in a desolate world which frighteningly echoes our own. On his quest, Roland begins a friendship with a kid from New York named Jake, encounters an alluring woman and faces an agonising choice between damnation and salvation as he pursues the Man in Black.“

The writing style is very different from what we're used to in his later works. But despite a certain roughness, you can recognize the unmistakable King in almost every sentence. The story, the characters and the overall development of the plot are brilliantly interwoven and create a fascinating overall picture. For me, this first volume was definitely not a compulsory program that you have to "get through", but a pleasure that makes you want more. I'm looking forward to continuing with Roland and his Ka-Tet - the Dark Tower is calling! 😁👍🏻

*************************************************************

Der dunkle Turm 1 - Schwarz von Stephen King

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5*)

Nun bin ich (etwa zwei Jahrzehnte zu spät… 😉) ebenfalls mit Roland auf seiner epischen Reise zum Dunklen Turm gestartet. Obwohl ich bereits einige Bücher von Stephen King gelesen habe, möchte ich diese Reise mit größtmöglicher Tiefe erleben und versuche, alle relevanten Werke, die zum Dunklen-Turm-Universum gehören, mitzunehmen. Mehr zu meinem Leseplan und wie ich die Bücher in Verbindung setze, findet ihr auf meinem Blog: Link! 😁

Nachdem ich von vielen gehört hatte, der erste Band sei schwer verdaulich und man müsse sich regelrecht durchkämpfen, war ich auf das Schlimmste vorbereitet. Umso überraschender war es, dass mir das Buch richtig gut gefallen hat. Von „durchkämpfen“ konnte bei mir keine Rede sein! Natürlich gibt es die typischen King’schen Momente, die mit Pathos und Witz nicht geizen: Sei es der Revolver, der seine „atonale Musik donnert“, oder der schwarze Mann, der ein „Es werde Licht“ verkündet und Roland daraufhin bemerkt, dass „das Licht relativ gut sei“… 😂 Aber genau diese Eigenheiten sind es doch, die wir an King so lieben, oder?

„«Der Mann in Schwarz floh durch die Wüste, und der Revolvermann folgte ihm.» Diese ikonische Eröffnungszeile von Stephen Kings bahnbrechender Serie Der dunkle Turm stellt einen seiner rätselhaftesten und mächtigsten Helden vor: Roland von Gilead, der letzte Revolvermann. Roland ist eine eindringliche Gestalt, ein Einzelgänger, d😆er sich auf eine fesselnde Reise zum geheimnisvollen Dunklen Turm begibt, in eine trostlose Welt, die auf erschreckende Weise an unsere eigene erinnert. Auf seiner Suche beginnt Roland eine Freundschaft mit einem Jungen aus New York namens Jake, begegnet einer verführerischen Frau und steht vor der quälenden Wahl zwischen Verdammnis und Erlösung, während er den Mann in Schwarz verfolgt.“

Der Schreibstil unterscheidet sich deutlich von dem, was man aus seinen späteren Werken gewohnt ist. Doch trotz einer gewissen Rauheit erkennt man den unverkennbaren King in nahezu jedem Satz. Die Geschichte, die Charaktere und die gesamte Entwicklung der Handlung sind brillant miteinander verwoben und ergeben ein faszinierendes Gesamtbild. Für mich war dieser erste Band definitiv kein Pflichtprogramm, das man „hinter sich bringen“ muss, sondern ein Genuss, der Lust auf mehr macht. Ich freue mich darauf, mit Roland und seinem Ka-Tet weiterzugehen – der Dunkle Turm ruft! 😁👍🏻

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve heard this can be a confusing book to start this series with, and I can definitely see where that is coming from. This is an interesting world it is set in, but I feel like there is a ton still to learn to fully grasp what is going on. I’m looking forward to continuing the series and finding out where it goes.

[Jersy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I´m confuced but very intruiged. It´s King´s most artistic work I´ve read so far and I totally understand why it doesn't work for a lot of people, but I really liked it.

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another trip along the beam!

King's epic fantasy masterpiece is so good, that I couldn't resist revisiting them all this summer.

In truth this first instalment is a bit of a mishmash of five stories that had previously been published.
Once the epic quest was completed, King revised this novel - help fixing continuity for what's to come, which in turn makes this feel like a series of flashbacks in episodic nature.

It flows well and is a great introduction to the series, those that struggle with this style should definitely stick with the series.

[Bas · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5/5 stars

One of Stephen King's great talents as a writer is that he can immerse and engage you very fast in his stories. Here though , it was a different experience for me. The writing felt quite different and it didn't really succeed in making me connect with the story. It's almost as if the book wanted to repel me and I never got a total grip on the story.
That being said when I continued pushing through , I started to see a lot of interesting elements and flashes of genius. Roland is a fascinating main character with a lot of backstory elements that seem very interesting and promising. I sure want to experience more stories with him. There were a lot of very cool worldbuilding elements in this book and I can't wait to find out more about them. Reading The Gunslinger was a very weird and at times frustrating experience. But it also has convinced me that I want to continue my Dark Tower adventure. There are other worlds than these, let's explore them !

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

- 8.9 / 10 -

Absolutely loved this book! A perfect setup for the series & left me wanting to know more about the Tower, the Man In Black & the journey that awaits Roland.

Can’t wait to continue this series & see where all of this goes.

Surprisingly my highest rated King book (so far).

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall I enjoyed this. First four parts are a very slow burn, which I don’t mind too much normally, but the last part is what really convinced me that I’d be continuing with this series. Really nice introduction to what’s going to be a long journey and I’m here for it.

[Lauren Molyneux · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got 53% through this book before I had to say "No thank you Mr King" for my sanity. Out of the 23 Stephen King books I've read up until now, this is my first DNF ( ´･･)ﾉ(._.`) I'm calling this genre "weird sff western frontier x apocalypse" and I just don't think that it's for me. Someone more well-read than me might find the language choices and plot devices clever and super engaging but alas... I'm simply just a girl

[Jason Dark · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.3

[Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/10

This was fine, it really did just feel like an intro chapter, I didn’t really get near enough of the setting and character of Roland and The Man in Black as I would’ve liked.

who know maybe King didn’t have much of a plan and just painted a broad stroke.

I am reading one a month. Very keen for the next one.

[Pantelis Andreou · Rating 4 out of 5]

The beginning of King’s magnum opus serves as a strong entry into the series and makes it even better on a reread, offering a unique and intriguing foundation.

Though it can be a bit tough to get through at times, its rich atmosphere and slow-burning narrative pay off. It feels like a futuristic western somehow.

4/5

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was quite nervous to jump into a big series for the first time especially one this big but it was amazing. The first half rather slow the but the second half is amazing.

[Tom Pounds · Rating 5 out of 5]

A strange read but a good read. Looking forward to carrying my journey to the dark tower.

[Alfur M · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn’t sure that I would write a review about The Gunslinger because I could not tell you what happened in that book. So please anyone enlighten me. But yet here I am talking about it because I was like wtf the whole time. The Gunslinger is an interesting book with an interesting concept, it is evident that he started writing this at 19 despite it not being properly published in 1982.

As Stephen King would like to describe The Dark Tower series as the ‘Spaghetti Western’. The Gunslinger is the first book of the series and is basically used to set up the rest of Roland's journey.
The book follows Roland, the last Gunslinger, following The Man in Black to catch him. He has to go through many trials to reach him, where The Man in Black tells him his fate/future with tarot cards. It's a mixture of a western, apocalyptic, horror, fantasy and ultimate universe/space? Which is a lot. But because it's Stephen King, it kinda works. This is not biased by all means because Stephen King is popular, but he comes up with some out of pocket ideas that shouldn’t work but they somehow do.

The Gunslinger has multiple of my fixactions combined and that's why I picked it up in the first place: Cowboys, sects/cults and horror. But um yeah it was a surprise, let's talk about the things I did like about it.
I actually quite like Stephen King's writing style. I've had conversations with people who aren’t fans but I like it. It's very unique in the way he waffles about random stuff but is still able to tie it into the book and how his sentences flow differently from most grammatically correct ways (which my guy I totally agree with, they sound way better that way).
I really like the aesthetic of the book, especially the first half where it had more of a focus on the wild west and the settlers. Settlers were religiously driven when traveling to the west and I’m glad that King highlighted some correct aspects of life there, including womens work as prostitution. The horror and gore element in the first half as well was really enjoyable and had a balance of emotion, spooky and gore. I also like the tarot card aesthetic towards the end.
I did like Rolands past, I think it was really good for character building and world building. It made it a little clearer about what the hell was going on. The relationship with Jake was okay, but kinda wasted by building up the child's death so much and then being such a little thing.
The second half is when I lost the plot. I keep reading everyone's reviews and the majority of people prefer the second half, but I literally couldn’t tell you what happened apart from the ending. It was trying to pile so much into one novella and kinda lost track of the simplicity, gore and religiosity that it started with. It was a bit messy and confusing. It felt like a fever dream, that I wouldn't be surprised if the idea came from a dream. It has a lot of elements in it and I’m not sure they all work, most of them did but not all. I was struggling to follow towards the end, maybe it's because I’m dumb but there was a lot happening in a short amount of time.

Overall, I like the concept and the aesthetic of the book series. I’m not sure if I want to read the rest but I have heard the other books are better so if I have time I might give it a go.

[Magnolia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let me start by saying, that I don't want to yuck anybody's yum. In retrospect, I should have known that this novel was not for me. I have tried reading King's writing before and failed, I am not a big fan of short stories and episodic writing, did not grow up with Spaghetti Westerns, therefore don't think particularly much of Clint Eastwood and I am reading this story over 40 years after its publication. I am aware that the series gets much better from here.

Yet, I rated The Gunslinger with only 1 star. The Gunslinger was neither engaging nor sympathetic to me in any way. Introducing him as a mass murderer is one thing, but the constant remarks he makes about women and the 10-year old boy side kick ("very handsome", "Nice-looking", "I loved him.", "I realized I loved him", "Young boy, I loved you!") made me very uncomfortable.

The premise of a Gunslinger hunting down a man in black is as simple as it can be. That's why I was surprised, when the story did not end in a duel nor a shoot-out, but a teaser-like tarot reading illustrating the future of the series. The esoteric description of the Dark Tower did not fit the very straight-forward enter-a-place,-shoot-the-mutant-narrative of literally all the other chapters. This is not the only problem in the novels pacing. For a series called the Dark Tower, it takes a long time for the location to even get mentioned and then a much longer time for anyone to explain what it actually means to the character. And the conclusion is a whole lot of nothing.

There are so many unanswered questions, that I would have greatly profited from, if I had gotten the answers now rather than having to commit to reading the next novels. It boils down to questions as simple as: Why is there a boy from New York in the fictional fantasy desert?

It's a quick read and an achievement for a young author, but I can not see myself recommending this book to anyone. I am more likely to outright dissuade them from reading it.

[Jack Grimshaw · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was ok in parts. Largely tho was absolutely shite. Tempted to go 1* but dunno. Think I’ll still read book 2 eventually as everyone says it’s better

[Pontus Wallberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

”The Man in Black fled across the desert, and the Gunslinger followed”

I första tredjedelen av boken förstår man inte vad som händer, varför de händer eller vart det är på väg men det visar sig att det här bara är början på en mörk och intensiv resa i en öde apokalyptiskt värld.

Första boken i The Dark Tower serien känns i första hand främst som en prolog till kommande böcker, hur välskriven och intressant den än är. Huvudkaraktären Roland kan nog vara en av Kings mest välskrivna karaktärer såhär långt (för min del) och det ska bli kul att fortsätta den här serien.

Men kan inte ge den mer än fyra stjärnor pga att hela boken kändes mer som en uppbyggnad inför framtiden

[Tomas Jonkus · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the least enjoyable books from Stephen King for me. Perhaps I didn’t get all the metaphors, but it was a hard read in some sections. However, I am planning to continue the Dark Tower series, as I heard it should get better.

[Jacob Gilchrist · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty slow book that mostly poses a lot of questions and answers none of them. But the build up to catching up with the man in black was definitely worth it even though my head hurts a little.

[Olivia Bagshaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of short stories forming a cohesive whole, an introduction towards The Gunslinger - Roland Deschain's - and his quest for the man in black, and by extension, The Dark Tower. Stephen King wrote this collection in his 20s when he was still developing a writing voice that was mirroring much of his key influences - Bradbury, Lovecraft, Matheson, Stoker - and ultimately crafts a prose concoction dissimilar to his later works. King's approach to story here is told with a arid earthiness, a mystical comprehension, and a folkloric quality that reminded me a lot like Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea books (if Le Guin had written those books for a brutal fantasy audience).

The Gunslinger is cold and isolating on the surface, but underneath we understand Roland to be vulnerable, his gunslinger exterior an expectation thrust onto him when he is often haunted by his past, his guilt, and despite his tenacity, rarely has the foresight to look beyond his central goal. Befriending the young boy Jake offers a mixture of warmth and unexpected tension as backstories are revealed, and suspicions always linger on the horizon.

While the prose can be a challenge to navigate at times, King creates such beautiful images and wisdom within this short book that I truly loved it. Its thematic ideas about how nothing truly ends, and the conflict between self-preservation and selflessness, demonstrates a wit I wish I had in my 20s. What a marvellous start to The Dark Tower series, and I can only imagine how The Gunslinger will become more rewarding on my second journey.

[Lucia Guzman · Rating 3 out of 5]

*** 3,5 stars***


I have a bit of mixed feelings about the book.

I loved the western fantasy style and Roland is a great protagonist (badass, determined, stoic - yet with a soft heart - or maybe not). His obsession with the man in black and the Tower makes you want to know more. It's like if you could feel the painful, and slow desert yourself.

By the end of the book there are so many options available for the story to continue, that I understand why he needed 8 books to finish.

However the book presents two major pain points in my opinion:

- My advice to anyone would be to read the book in their own language (I am not a native English speaker). I have missed out plenty of details and nuances in the descriptions because of the vocabulary used. A friend told me that King's books are usually accessible but this one wasn't.
- If I had read it back in the day, before you could check fandom sites for additional info, I would probably have given up. Stephen King introduces plenty of concepts/words but does not really bother to explain them as fantasy authors usually do. This leaves the reader a bit puzzled and confused.

I am still undecided about whether I will read the next book or not. (But if I do, it will be in Spanish for sure!)

[Melanie ~ melsbookishescape · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Gunslinger is the first book in a post-apocalyptic fantasy story. This world has an almost Old Western vibe to it, and the writing style is incredibly atmospheric. These stories were originally published separately, as short stories, making this book feel almost like a prequel.

There are multiple different stories within one overarching storyline, which confused me at times and took away some of my general enjoyment of the book. This book is also clearly meant to set up the rest of this 8-book series, so do let me know if you think it is worth it to continue, and that I will enjoy the further installments in this series!

[Mikael Cerbing · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as a teen thinking it would be horror and got confused and disappointed. Now I know it should be more seen as a fantasy(/urban fantasy?) and as a prologue to the series as a whole. And its a good book, or rather a couple of short stories that are stitched together. King knew how to write back then as well. But if it wasnt the start of something bigger, I wonder if I would have given it three stars. 2.5 -> up to three.

[Hannah Porter · Rating 3 out of 5]

First try with Stephen King and I think I’ll keep going on this series since I’ve heard great things and since many say this book is the least popular of them. It wasn’t bad, just way too slow for me. Picked up in the last quarter but the payoff didn’t feel quite worth it. Kind of feels like it was an intro for the rest rather than a story of its own.

The writing was great, just slow pacing made me have little desire to pick it back up for days at a time. We’ll see how the next goes 🙂‍↕️

[Samer · Rating 4 out of 5]

9/10

I really enjoyed this! I can also tell Stephen King intentionally presented the tip of the iceberg to us as readers. Super excited to see where this wild ride heads in the future and delve more into his fantasy work.

[Sam Flory · Rating 3 out of 5]

First 75% - 2 stars
Last 25% - 3.5 stars

[Yannick · Rating 4 out of 5]

8.6/10

[Evan Morrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating 3.5 🌟

[Lewis Hart · Rating 3 out of 5]

The greatest mystery the universe offers is not life but size.

[Kika]

Es que no se que decir!!! pero hey te tengo un emoji perfecto para esto!

😟