Stephen King's Dark Tower

[R_of_G]

I know Robert is a fan of King's Dark Tower series of novels. Anybody else here a Tower junkie? If so, there's much to discuss [the ending of the novels, the comic books, the optioning of the film rights, etc]

 

[Robert]

RofG mentioned that the guy behind "LOST" and "Alias" may be doing some sort of production out of the Dark Tower. Not sure if that guy is the right person take Roland and his gang to the screen, but I guess time will tell.

 

[R_of_G]

RofG mentioned that the guy behind "LOST" and "Alias" may be doing some sort of production out of the Dark Tower. Not sure if that guy is the right person take Roland and his gang to the screen, but I guess time will tell.

I'm positive he's not the right person to take it to the screen, but I am sure I will see them anyway [and complain about it]. For those looking for a visual take on the Tower other than a JJ Abrams produced movie, I highly rec the ongoing Dark Tower series that King has authorized Marvel Comicsm to do. There is a lot of collaboration with King, and the artwork is breathtaking.

 

[Spudman]

What are they about?

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

I never was much interested in Stephen King.

YaaaaAaaaaWWwwn

Iz there something special I should know about in the Dark Tower series?

Now Phillip Pullman & His Dark Materials Trilogy...that is another story entirely.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

I used to like some King. Pre-accident stuff mostly and have not read any Dark Tower stuff. I liked his shorts that included the story turned into the movie "Stand By Me". I used to like when he quoted rock song lyrics in teh beginning of chapters.

 

[Robert]

If you like the Lord Of The Rings - you have to read the Dark Tower series! You can clearly tell where King got his inspiration from. Nothing wrong with that though - the King story is captivating.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

If you like the Lord Of The Rings - you have to read the Dark Tower series! You can clearly tell where King got his inspiration from. Nothing wrong with that though - the King story is captivating.

OK, good enough for me to try for summer reading. I became captivated with Tolkien way back in 5th grade in the mid 70s. I have run across other authors that have borrowed from that series, but it is a pretty universal theme anyhow. What book does the Dark Tower series start off with? I'll look at our local thrift shop.

 

[R_of_G]

If you like the Lord Of The Rings - you have to read the Dark Tower series! You can clearly tell where King got his inspiration from. Nothing wrong with that though - the King story is captivating.

Robert is absolutely right. Lord of the Rings was a major influence on King's decision to write a multi-book epic fantasy story. However, some more direct influences on the story-cycle itself are the epic poem Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came, T.S. Eliot's The Waste Lands, Kurosawa's Seven Samurai and the Enrico Morricone so-called spaghetti westerns.

In short, the overall story is an epic tale about the last gunslinger and his quest to reach and enter the fabled Dark Tower, which sits at the center of all existence and connects the infinite layers of the multi-verse. In his quest, the gunslinger "recruits" the help of three people from our world at different points on the time continuum [one from 1965, one from 1977, and one from 1987]. The seven books are each excellent stories in their own right, but together form a canon of great depth and inrtrigue. For fans of King's writing style, but not necessarily the horror genre, this is right up your alley.

As I'm sure Robert can also attest, once you get into these stories, prepare to think about them for the rest of your life, because they become an obsesssion [the good kind, like guitar].

The books are as follows:

1. The Gunslinger
2. The Drawing of the Three
3. The Waste Lands
4. Wizard & Glass
5. Wolves of the Calla
6. Song of Susannah
7. The Dark Tower

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Excellent! I'll check it out. The mythic quest is the theme I am referring too. Crosses cultures and times. In addition to LOTR, you reminded me of Seven Samurai, which begat Star Wars as I understand. All (maybe not seven samurai, I am not sure of the western influence or how it was conceived) owe a lot to Arthurian legend, and Beowulf, in my mind. My great English authors teacher was a huge influence on me.

Ahh, might be a good night the grab a leg of meat and knock back some mead!

 

[R_of_G]

Excellent! I'll check it out. The mythic quest is the theme I am referring too. Crosses cultures and times. In addition to LOTR, you reminded me of Seven Samurai, which begat Star Wars as I understand. All (maybe not seven samurai, I am not sure of the western influence or how it was conceived) owe a lot to Arthurian legend, and Beowulf, in my mind. My great English authors teacher was a huge influence on me.

Ahh, might be a good night the grab a leg of meat and knock back some mead!

Seven Samurai begot A LOT of western cinema. The Arthurian legend also come into play in this series. The gunslinger is a descendant of a legendary king named Arthur Eld who may or may not be "King Arthur" of our world's legends.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

If you like the Lord Of The Rings - you have to read the Dark Tower series! You can clearly tell where King got his inspiration from. Nothing wrong with that though - the King story is captivating.

Well, I stopped at the local community library and picked up "The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger". A slightly battered copy with a broken binding. Will add to the mystique! I just finished a book, so I was in need of a new one. Looking forward to trying it out.

 

[Robert]

Just one comment - the first book is the "hardest" to get through. I found it a little confusing, but as you read the other books, it will make much more sense.

Some people have quit after the first book, but don't even think about doing that! The books that follow are fantastic.

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

Robert is absolutely right. Lord of the Rings was a major influence on King's decision to write a multi-book epic fantasy story. However, some more direct influences on the story-cycle itself are the epic poem Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came, T.S. Eliot's The Waste Lands, Kurosawa's Seven Samurai and the Enrico Morricone so-called spaghetti westerns.

In short, the overall story is an epic tale about the last gunslinger and his quest to reach and enter the fabled Dark Tower, which sits at the center of all existence and connects the infinite layers of the multi-verse. In his quest, the gunslinger "recruits" the help of three people from our world at different points on the time continuum [one from 1965, one from 1977, and one from 1987]. The seven books are each excellent stories in their own right, but together form a canon of great depth and inrtrigue. For fans of King's writing style, but not necessarily the horror genre, this is right up your alley.

As I'm sure Robert can also attest, once you get into these stories, prepare to think about them for the rest of your life, because they become an obsesssion [the good kind, like guitar].

The books are as follows:

1. The Gunslinger
2. The Drawing of the Three
3. The Waste Lands
4. Wizard & Glass
5. Wolves of the Calla
6. Song of Susannah
7. The Dark Tower

I'm convinced.

I'll pick up the series as soon as I get a chance.

 

[R_of_G]

Just one comment - the first book is the "hardest" to get through. I found it a little confusing, but as you read the other books, it will make much more sense.

Some people have quit after the first book, but don't even think about doing that! The books that follow are fantastic.

Robert is again correct. However, a few years ago, King issued a "revised" edition of the first book, which fills in a few of the confusing details and ties this book [orig written in the 70's] in with the others which were written later. While it is still the most "confusing" of the seven, if you like it at all, keep going. The things which aren't clear will def be clarified later in the series.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

I got through 24 pages last night before falling asleep. I did not find it too confusing yet, was just rolling with it. The version I checked out was released in '82. Reminds me a little of parts of "The Stand" with some Ray Bradbury thrown in so far.

 

[R_of_G]

I got through 24 pages last night before falling asleep. I did not find it too confusing yet, was just rolling with it. The version I checked out was released in '82. Reminds me a little of parts of "The Stand" with some Ray Bradbury thrown in so far.

Cool. Def the original version, though if it doesn't throw you, you will be in for quite a ride. While I enjoy the revised edition having read the whole cycle many times, the original first book works perfectly without revisions. Glad you are enjoying it so far. If/when you get to the second book it will def start to have that flow that the longer King has [ie The Stand, It, et al]. I've said before that once someone invests themselves in the first one, they will find themselves hooked once they get to book 2. after that, enjoy the ride.

 

[R_of_G]

Question for Robert

Ok Robert, here's one for you... I am always interested in people's experience in reading DT for the first time. Did you start it, and most importantly, did you finish book 3 The Waste Lands, before or after Stephen King took the LONG break before publishing #4? My wife and I both got to the end of #3 a long time before there was even news that 4 was being written.

For those of you who don't necessarily understand why it matters, it's because The Waste Lands ends with a grueling cliffhanger. With no news that book 4 was even in the works, let alone a publishing date, we went YEARS before we were able to find out what became of our beloved ka-tet of gunslingers. there was another break of considerable length between 4 and 5,6,7 [which came out in rapid enough succession] during which king suffered his accident and almost died. was just intrested in knowing if you got on the path of the beam before or after the ride on Blaine the Mono.

My point is, I kind of envy people who pick it up anytime after the final book was published because they can just start at #1 and keep going until the end. Also, they get to start with the revised #1 which really deepens the connection between the 7. still, dunno that i'd give up the excitement when new books were still coming. hope anyone that started it is still liking it... look forward to a lot more tower talk may it do ya fine.

 

[Robert]

I started late, I think he had written book 6 when I started so I didn't have any "B.A.S." for the next book not being available!

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Cool. Def the original version, though if it doesn't throw you, you will be in for quite a ride. While I enjoy the revised edition having read the whole cycle many times, the original first book works perfectly without revisions. Glad you are enjoying it so far. If/when you get to the second book it will def start to have that flow that the longer King has [ie The Stand, It, et al]. I've said before that once someone invests themselves in the first one, they will find themselves hooked once they get to book 2. after that, enjoy the ride.

I had not read for a few nights due to kids' stuff and went ahead and found the newer version at the other local library just because. I read his intro about being 19 and now I am in King mode. Had to re-connect with him as I haven't read much of his (other than the Green Mile series) since law school in the late 80s. I also now have an idea what he was shooting at and feel that will carry me through the confusing first parts people are mentioning. Heck, in the Tolkien series, one always had to get past the council of Elrond, right?

 

[R_of_G]

I had not read for a few nights due to kids' stuff and went ahead and found the newer version at the other local library just because. I read his intro about being 19 and now I am in King mode. Had to re-connect with him as I haven't read much of his (other than the Green Mile series) since law school in the late 80s. I also now have an idea what he was shooting at and feel that will carry me through the confusing first parts people are mentioning. Heck, in the Tolkien series, one always had to get past the council of Elrond, right?

glad to hear it. while the orig edition works, the revised works in a deeper way tying them all together.

for the record, regarding lord of the rings, i loved the council in rivendell because it sets up the whole history of who aragorn really is, and through boromir we learn of the political history since the last king generations before. then again, i'm a geek for tolkien's writing, not to mention christopher tolkien's academic-style writings on his father's unpublished notes. can't help myself, nor do i want to.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Almost done with the first book and can tell I will enjoy the series. I passed the line Robert has quoted in his sig line. I can't help think that even though it is a good line by itself, it holds greater significance in the series as a whole. Without giving away too much, does Jake show back up somewhere along the way?

 

[R_of_G]

Almost done with the first book and can tell I will enjoy the series. I passed the line Robert has quoted in his sig line. I can't help think that even though it is a good line by itself, it holds greater significance in the series as a whole. Without giving away too much, does Jake show back up somewhere along the way?

Without spoiling anything, yes.

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

I just ordered the first 4 books in a boxed set from amazon. I'm looking forward to reading it, but I'm crazy busy right now & have a few other books in the que so I might not get to it for a bit.

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

The Fret search function sux, truly it does. I had to go to R_of_G's personal profile & click on all threads started by R_of_G to find this thread again. What happened to Google search?

Now back to the Dark Tower. I've just strated to read the revised version of The Gunslinger.

It is fantastic so far. Either he's made a lot of changes in the revised edition, or people get confused and bored easily. Excellent characters with a nice back yourself into the mythopoetic kind'a feel.

To think that I would'a missed this because of my disinterest in horror & my equal disinterest in blockbuster novelests.

Thanks, R_of_G! I owe you big time on two counts: Zony Mash & The Dark Tower.

 

[R_of_G]

Fun with "successories" posters

I think we have all seen these so-called "inspirational" posters in offices and at malls and stuff. I found a site where you can make your own, and couldn't resist making this one for Roland and his ka-tet.

Hope the reading is going well guys!

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

Great Poster R o' G!

I'm positive he's not the right person to take it to the screen, but I am sure I will see them anyway [and complain about it]. For those looking for a visual take on the Tower other than a JJ Abrams produced movie, I highly rec the ongoing Dark Tower series that King has authorized Marvel Comicsm to do. There is a lot of collaboration with King, and the artwork is breathtaking.

I saw the comics at the bookstore, but I didn't look at them as I haven't finished the novels yet & don't want the artist's pictures in my head.

I'll definitely check them out when I have finished.

Robert is again correct. However, a few years ago, King issued a "revised" edition of the first book, which fills in a few of the confusing details and ties this book [orig written in the 70's] in with the others which were written later. While it is still the most "confusing" of the seven, if you like it at all, keep going. The things which aren't clear will def be clarified later in the series.

I really liked the first book.

I had no trouble with confusion, I enjoy sideling into a rich mythic world that way.

(I read the revised edition).

 

[R_of_G]

I saw the comics at the bookstore, but I didn't look at them as I haven't finished the novels yet & don't want the artist's pictures in my head.

I'll definitely check them out when I have finished.

I agree, the first time through, the imagery should be all you. I like the fact that different artists were used for different books throughout the series for illustrations as it adds to that mythic quality of the story being told and retold. That said, I think when you complete the series, you will enjoy the comic series. It is nice to "see" some of the characters for the first time and see how other artists' concepts of them compare to my own.

As far as reading the revised edition for your first time through, I think it probably made "Wizard and Glass" that much more coherent for you, which is a good thing.

Glad you are enjoying. Stay on the path of the beam.

 

[Childbride]

i've Officially died and gone to heaven. a forum where i can talk about SK AND GUITARS??!?!!?!:drool:

i think i've read every King book ever written. my mom lives in the NE part of the country... she visited Bangor, and for my last bday i got pictures of Bangor and his house. tres cool...

the Dark Tower is the best of anything he's ever written other than the Stand, IMHO.

are they actually going to attempt to film it?!

i also adored tolkien and cs lewis...

sheesh, i have to be careful. this is cutting into my guitar playing!!!:spank:

 

[R_of_G]

Cool Childbride. Always good to have another "Constant Reader" in our Fret-tet. :AOK:

As for the possibility of the Tower saga coming to screens at some point, so far all that has been announced is that King sold the rights to JJ Abrams [for $19 by the way]. It has yet to be announced in what form Abrams intends to make the story. Personally, I can't imagine it as anything other than 7 films as I believe each book stands up perfectly well on it's own, but I doubt they'll be making 7 films.

I've watched it all play out in my head many many times, so I'll be interested in any film adaptations, but I like my own version may it do ya fine.