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Inside the Dark Tower Series: Art, Evil and Intertextuality in the Stephen King Novels
Stephen King is no stranger to the realm of literary criticism, but his most fantastic, far-reaching work has aroused little academic scrutiny. This study of King's epic Dark Tower series encompasses the career of one of the world's best-selling authors and frames him as more than a "horror writer." Four categories of analysis--genre, art, evil, and intertextuality--provide a focused look at the center of King's fictional universe. This book reaches beyond popular culture treatments of the series and examines it against King's horror work, audience expectations, and the larger literary landscape.
- GenresNonfiction
200 pages, Paperback
First published December 31, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 4, 2013
This volume sets out to provide a literary-critical discussion of Stephen King's series, "The Dark Tower."
Several things are well done and helpful. I appreciated the author's examination of the series from different genre perspectives, and his conclusion that it fits best in the Science Fiction mold was solidly presented. He is right, too, that the series blurs the lines of genre distinction. I also enjoyed his discussion of the series and inter-textuality, in this case meaning that the Dark Tower series forces readers to (re-)read all of King's corpus in a different light. The interconnectivities thus have a larger function, whether deliberate or latent.
Some things, however, I found less convincing and/or less enjoyable. For instance, the author devotes a large chunk of the overall material expressing his unfavorable position towards the graphic novels and, to some extend, adaptations of King's work in film. I got the point, but way too much time is devoted to this topic. Also, I felt he made too much of Roland being an anti-hero and Flagg being a sympathetic villain. In the case of Roland, that's just way too obvious. And, in the case of Flagg, it's not convincing IMHO.
But there is one area that was completely missing---Interpretation of the Dark Tower series. I read this book for the purpose of hearing a scholar's interpretation of the grander meaning of the series. What does it mean that the story takes place in two worlds, the "real" (i.e., keystone) world and a "fictional" world (i.e., Mid-World)? What is King getting at in adding himself as a character in the "real" world whose actions and decisions impact the other world? Is there a grander meaning in the fact that the survivals of both worlds---the real and literary---are interdependent upon each other? Is there a parabolic/metaphoric interpretation? What is King saying about the writing process? About reality? About creativity? About one's influences as a writer and their presence in one's own voice? The author of this study never moves past analysis towards any sort of interpretation of the larger meaning of the Dark Tower series.
Finally, I found it ironic that this author denigrates Bev Vincent's study as being a summary and not a literary analysis, yet ultimately this work is very much a summary of literary analyses of King's fiction. With an eye, of course, towards the Dark Tower series. "Scholars have noticed/said such and such about King's work . . . and in the Dark Tower."
2/5. I'm glad I read it for the genre discussions, but was disappointed that it never moved from analysis to interpretation.
Several things are well done and helpful. I appreciated the author's examination of the series from different genre perspectives, and his conclusion that it fits best in the Science Fiction mold was solidly presented. He is right, too, that the series blurs the lines of genre distinction. I also enjoyed his discussion of the series and inter-textuality, in this case meaning that the Dark Tower series forces readers to (re-)read all of King's corpus in a different light. The interconnectivities thus have a larger function, whether deliberate or latent.
Some things, however, I found less convincing and/or less enjoyable. For instance, the author devotes a large chunk of the overall material expressing his unfavorable position towards the graphic novels and, to some extend, adaptations of King's work in film. I got the point, but way too much time is devoted to this topic. Also, I felt he made too much of Roland being an anti-hero and Flagg being a sympathetic villain. In the case of Roland, that's just way too obvious. And, in the case of Flagg, it's not convincing IMHO.
But there is one area that was completely missing---Interpretation of the Dark Tower series. I read this book for the purpose of hearing a scholar's interpretation of the grander meaning of the series. What does it mean that the story takes place in two worlds, the "real" (i.e., keystone) world and a "fictional" world (i.e., Mid-World)? What is King getting at in adding himself as a character in the "real" world whose actions and decisions impact the other world? Is there a grander meaning in the fact that the survivals of both worlds---the real and literary---are interdependent upon each other? Is there a parabolic/metaphoric interpretation? What is King saying about the writing process? About reality? About creativity? About one's influences as a writer and their presence in one's own voice? The author of this study never moves past analysis towards any sort of interpretation of the larger meaning of the Dark Tower series.
Finally, I found it ironic that this author denigrates Bev Vincent's study as being a summary and not a literary analysis, yet ultimately this work is very much a summary of literary analyses of King's fiction. With an eye, of course, towards the Dark Tower series. "Scholars have noticed/said such and such about King's work . . . and in the Dark Tower."
2/5. I'm glad I read it for the genre discussions, but was disappointed that it never moved from analysis to interpretation.
April 18, 2024
Some interesting points in the chapter headings, but way too deep for me.
May 14, 2016
Riddled with errors. Edgar Allen Poe???
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews