Dustin’s Comments (group member since Aug 10, 2018)

Dustin’s comments from the Reading with E. group.

I fell way off. Just started up again recently, but I'm only maybe 1/4th into Wizard and Glass.

Edward wrote: "Dustin, I finally found a copy of SHARDIK. Plan to read it once I'm done with THE WASTE LANDS."

Nice, let me know how it is. Maybe it'll motivate me to finally read my copy.

I'm not very far in, but you gotta love Shardik's parasite snot!

Wayne wrote: "Has anyone else read 'Shardik' by Richard Adams?"

I own a copy, but have never gotten around to reading it.

I finished a few days ago, and I had a lot of fun with this one. It was a lot better than I remembered it being, but I last read it as a teenager. I guess I was a dumb teen, lol.

I’m into the Detta section now. Fuck, she was crazy as hell, haha.

I’m travelling, which affords me some time to read, but I’m only about 100 pages in so far. Haven’t gotten to Detta yet, but I’m looking forward to it. I do have a pretty good memory of how crazy she was at first. Actually, for some reason I have much clearer memories of this whole book, than I did of The Gunslinger, even though I read them both together, back in the day.

Sarah wrote: "I guessed this would be unpopular, but didn't think I'd be the only one who actually enjoyed it."

I didn't hate it. I thought it was so-so. There were a few elements I liked, but overall I felt like it just didn't need to exist.

Shawn wrote: "I just finished. It was ok. I think King had more pages than story though. If it had been a little shorter the experience might have been more enjoyable. Now back to the main story."

I feel very similarly. There were a couple of elements I liked. I'm a sucker for a ghost town for some reason. The idea of being in a place that should be populated, but is empty, is a creepy one, so I enjoyed the beginning of the story. I liked the imagery of the pavilion, but not much else to recommend here. The fact that the story exists, pretty much only because of a publishing obligation, and not because it adds anything to The Dark Tower saga, shows.

Yeah, I've dipped my toes in. Not too far in, but I'm happy to read it, as I've never gotten around to it. I've had a copy of Everything's Eventual for years, but I've never made it past the first three or four stories.

I have to agree with you, E about the conclusion of The Gunslinger. In addition to the writing being pretty unrestrained, it just feels very anticlimactic after everything we've just been through in the mountains, with the slow mutants, and with Jake. That said, I still very much enjoyed the ride this time (only my second time reading it), and I'm looking forward to the rest of the series. I've always wanted to get around to reading it again, but it always felt like a daunting undertaking. In the context of a group read, it's feeling much easier for some reason. I wonder if King had saved that dialogue scene with Walter for the opening of The Drawing of the Three, if it would have played better.

gah! Gotta hurry up and finish The Gunslinger. Got sidetracked for a few days.

Edward wrote: "That's interesting. Can't wait to compare the two myself, seeing as how I keep getting comments about how hamfisted and forced all the connections are in the new version. From what I've been told t..."
Spoiler for The Oracle section:


The Oracle does make reference to Eddie and Susannah in her prophecy to Roland.

Yeah, having a lot of fun with the re-read. I'm onto the Oracle and whatnot, but I do feel like I'm missing a little, as I'm reading the original version of the story. After I'm done I'll probably look up the added bits.

Wayne wrote: "Wow, I forgot how brutally detailed Stephen described Jakes accident. I realized as I was reading that when I first read this, Stephen had not yet encountered his own accident. I wonder how he felt..."

Agreed about the brutality of his description here. I'm thinking back to when I first read this when I was probably not much older than Jake. King probably fucked me up as a child! haha

Yeah! The showdown in Tull was great, I'd mostly forgotten about it. On to The Way Station.

Think I got to VII or VIII last night. King sure was at his most poetic here.

Man, to this point in my life I've managed to only read actual books. Never read any e-books or Kindle's or audio books. I'm a Luddite I guess, but I only have my original paperback. How much am I missing if I don't read the expanded edition?

Wayne wrote: "Shawn wrote: "I’ve never done a goodreads group before, but I’ll give it a try. Looking forward to it."
This is my first buddy read as well. I had planned on starting the series soon, so I said wha..."

I'm also a group read virgin.

Shiiiiiiiiiyyyyyyt, this was not in the life plan, but fuck it. I'm in.