metalliman98
Apprentice
Is this the five o'clock free crack giveaway???
Posts: 195
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Post by metalliman98 on Apr 23, 2007 5:13:49 GMT
Has anyone else read this wonderful series by Stephen King? I am in the middle of a re-read right now, and would love to discuss the novels with anyone else who has reads them.
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Post by LaFille on Apr 25, 2007 0:34:48 GMT
I have read them up to the 4th or 5th a few years ago. I liked them, in general, safe for the one that was a flashback that I was less fond of, if I remember well; different from his other books, and with neat unusual features. Nice to have "screwed up" and atypical heroes, too. I think I had stoped reading them because the 6th and 7th were not out yet and time and events passed, and I never got baack to them after. Now that you remind them to me though, it would be nice to... *Adds on the list* ;D What drives you to this series, you?
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metalliman98
Apprentice
Is this the five o'clock free crack giveaway???
Posts: 195
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Post by metalliman98 on Apr 25, 2007 5:58:25 GMT
I'm in the middle of the "flashback" one right now, "Wizard and Glass". Interestingly, I think that it is the best one in the series. Not a whole lot of action, but excellent storytelling.
I'll hold my comments on the series until you read the last couple of novels. I think you will enjoy them, however.
As far as what drives me to this series.......I got into Stephen King when I was rather young, 10 or so, after seeing the minseries of "It" on TV, so "It" was the first book of his I read. I began to ask for more of his books for birthdays and Christmas gifts. On one such event, I got the first book in the Dark tower series, I must have been 11 or 12. I dove right into it.......and was bored out of my mind. I was expecting material similar to his other novels, and "The Dark Tower" was nothing like his other novels, so I lost interest and set it aside, eventually losing it.
Years later, when I was 23 I think, I got another copy of "The Dark Tower" for Christmas. I remembered my experience with it the first time, but I decided to give it another go.......and this time I loved it. I ate it up, along with the other 4 novels which were already out, and then had an agonizing 9 month wait to find out how it ended in books six and seven......though I can't imagine how the people who had been waiting since the first novel in 1977 felt! I don't know exactly what changed for me between 1992 and 2003. I guess I must have matured a little bit. ;-) Regardless of what happened, today the series stands as my favorite group of novels.
I think the reason they are my favorite is that I can really identify with the main character, Roland. Like him, I get along well enough with people, but I remain detached. I don't like to depend on others at all, or ask favors, and sometimes I can be very single-minded and determined, like him. I guess I see a lot of myself in him, and I think, in the end, that is why I am drawn to the novels.
How about you?
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Post by philster on Apr 26, 2007 3:03:45 GMT
I'm reading the comics, but I'm sure that doesn't count >_>
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Post by killerzzz on May 15, 2007 5:30:40 GMT
The Dark Tower was seriously my favorite series of books of all time. I don't know, just the feel of the books, the constant unbalance, lack of fairness in the world, very flawed but excellent characters, epic adventures, and monsters and hardships and theories and possibilities... I loved it all. I picked up the first book just to try it out, and after that I bought all of them up to #4 (thats all there was at the time) then just as I was finishing #4 (and I pounded through them fast-- I ate them like candy -- I slurped them like supper, etc.metaphores) Wolves of the Calla came out and I read that. Then the rest came a decent pace and I bombed them, finishing each within days. And I don't mean I read them quickly -- I read them constantly. ;D The ending really intrigued me. It reminded me of one of his short stories *spoiler(?)* called "That Feeling You Can Only Say What It Is In French". *end of spoilier(?)* Have you read that one, Metalman? Maybe Roland is experiancing the same sort of thing. I've always loved stories about the twisting of time and space and reality and this septet definantly satisfied my hunger for it. It had all of my favorite types of story in it: Fantasy, Sciencefiction, Horror, Adventure. When I saw that there was a short-story about Roland in King's book Everything's Eventual, I bought it right away. It was good. Thats all for now. Killerzzz
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Post by LaFille on May 21, 2007 23:35:38 GMT
Alright, the answer was long to come, but the times were hard up here... Metalliman, if you don't mind waiting on to comment, it's cool; but it can be a little while as I'm barely beginning another trilogy (Empire of the Ants) and I'm about the opposite kind of reader to Elliot these times, be warned... ;D It's been a good few years since I read the others, so I don't know if I'll need to refresh my memory some to get what's going on, too. It seems to have been a bit like killerzzz, except that for me it stops before Wolves of the Calla. The one book that I prefered when I read them was the first one, for my part; that one book because it was different and I had a great time going through it, I think, because none of the others stood out as much or remain as memorable as story or reading experience. Yet on the other side what I appreciate of the series in general doesn't take place in the first book as much; the foursome main crew and time/setting mixes I liked a lot, and those contrasts you come across within the books themselves. The originality and a bit what killerzzz mentionned (but with a much better eloquence ;D ), the mix of genres and elements with an unusual conducting line. I didn't know there were comics of this story though... ? And so... Me, it's the spoiler there that intrigues me; what is it, that feeling that you can only say what it is in French?
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Post by killerzzz on May 22, 2007 3:30:47 GMT
I didn't know there were comics of this story though... ? Yeah, I think I heard about that, but I didn't know they'd been released. And so... Me, it's the spoiler there that intrigues me; what is it, that feeling that you can only say what it is in French? DON'T READ THE BOOK OF SHORT STORIES "EVERYTHING'S EVENTUAL" UNTIL YOU'VE FINISHED THE DARK TOWER SERIES!"... ;D Whoo, close one. Seriously though, that one short story could spoil the grand finaly for you because of my comment. And besides, the other short story in that book that tells of another Roland adventure will be more appreciated when you've finished the series. Killerzzz
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