the dark tower goes to the clearing at the end of the path ~
so i have blogged along (in a manner of speaking) with the adventure of reading stephen king's Dark Tower series and it's been fun and i feel like i have managed to settle somewhere in my opinion of the work (which two days ago had me in such a rage). so consider this, then, my final analysis of the work and there are NO SPOILERS here if you are at all curious whether these books ought to go on your own to-read list.
some qualifiers:
- i don't read fantasy literature. most of it puts me off. whether it's king's easy writing style, his amazing characters, or the vaguely familiar landscape, however, i was able to go along with this. to further express what a feat that is where it concerns me: i never finished The Hobbit, nor could i ever get past the first Harry Potter book. this is not a genre that sets well with me.
- king began writing this series in the late 70s, published it in the 80s, 90s, and finished it in 2004. if you grew up with king's books (or, more emphatically belong to generation x or any preceding it), i think you will enjoy these more. otherwise, they are very dated. i smiled inwardly now and again at the technology of North Central Positronics throughout the books, certain heavy consumerist themes, etc. on the one hand, i think the dated-ness of the books adds to its quirky otherwordly charm, but it's possible that a younger crowd might find its time-periods to be more foreign and bizarre than Mid-World itself. king didn't exactly anticipate a future world of so much wireless connectivity and virtual reality. you see a bit of that creep in during the final book, but otherwise the story has a very heavy 80s-90s feel to it.
- i have become (due to poor eyesight and general lethargy) a very slow reader. nevertheless, i finished this series in 22 days. some books (The Waste Lands, The Dark Tower), i devoured in more or less a single day. Wizard and Glass, on the other hand took me a whole week. if you are a quick reader, getting through this series would probably be an investment of about two weeks. the books fly by that quick despite the over-engorged size of some of them.
three powerful reasons why you should read this series:
- if you are a writer, this is a series for writers. king wrote it keenly aware of his own role as the writer and i think the most profound thing it offers is a meditation on the journey of the writer (gunslinger=wordslinger). you have to be willing to participate with the book on that meta-level, however. if you just want to sit back and enjoy the story, you will get frustrated.
- Roland is an amazing gem of a character. if you don't love him by the end of book two, i will buy you a hamburger (with fries). your mileage may vary on the rest of the characters, but Roland is running the show, so really he's the only one who matters in the final analysis.
- whatever the critics say, stephen king is a great writer. very flawed in certain aspects (aren't we all?), but when he turns a phrase, you turn with it. what he lacks in plot resolution and some characterization, he makes up in sheer imagery: his word pictures just stick with you. he is a potent storyteller and this story interweaves some of the best from the legends of Arthur to Shakespeare to Tolkien to Sergio Leone and Akira Kurosawa, with some light sci-fi thrown in for seasoning. it's not by any means a mind-blowing mash-up, but it does make for a startlingly original stew.
the single most reasonable reason why you may want to skip it:
- there be monsters of failure in the plotting, structure, and action in this story. it fails utterly on as many levels as it succeeds. most fans scream: it's the journey that matters, not the destination (king also says so)! but if you need something tidy and conclusive, this can never hope to satisfy you. it's just too much all over the place and the final book is especially a stupendous walloping mess. at the end of the day, i'm willing to be okay with that because i undertook the journey understanding that there was a very real danger that i could be wretchedly disappointed. and i was. but i am glad i walked the path of the Beam and wouldn't ask for my time back (which is pretty heady when you think about it). i cannot say this about any other book that i ever disliked.
but in a strange way i do recommend you give the first book (The Gunslinger) a try and decide for yourself whether you want to take the plunge (it's short ~ and read the rewrite, not the original, i've decided). if only because you should at least meet Roland and Jake and see Mid-World for yourself.
just don't blame me if you get hooked on it and then hate it. i've done my part (big-big) of laying out all the appropriate caveats.
: D