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The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower, #1)

Stephen King

Start date: September 1, 2016

Finish date: September 26, 2016

Discussion: Book Discussions

Why we're reading this: Group Classic novel discussion September 2016
#23 on NPR's Top 100 SF/F novels of all time (2011 poll) htt …more
[close] Group Classic novel discussion September 2016
#23 on NPR's Top 100 SF/F novels of all time (2011 poll) http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/1390858...

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What Members Thought

Feb 28, 2012 Jason Koivu rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction

Gloriously moody and atmospheric!

The Gunslinger is high plains, lonely traveler, John Wayne-in-a-post apocalyptic dystopia goodness.

With a survivalist main character and a dependent boy at his side, fighting mutants and what were human beings against all that wealth of stark nothingness for scenery, it felt very akin to Cormac McCarthy's The Road, which I'd read somewhat recently and loved. Mysticism and Biblical references abound and at points threaten to muddy the narrative waters, but never ...more

58 likes · Like · see review

May 02, 2013 Andrea rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: library, fiction-fantasy, read-sorted

2017: Hey, what do you know, I actually enjoyed The Gunslinger much more the second time around. Perhaps the details that seemed a little jumbled at first made more sense on a reread, or perhaps I just got used to King's stylistic choices. I still can't force myself to add another star, even though I toyed with the idea, but the first Dark Tower book finally convinced me that it is a solid, albeit brief, introduction into a fascinating series.

I really liked Roland's world with all the accompanyi ...more

11 likes · Like · see review

Dec 15, 2008 seak rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: stephen-king, 2010

Hey, I have a booktube channel (youtube for book reviews, etc.), and I include The Gunslinger in my Dark Tower Ranking list here. Please subscribe if I've earned it!

You ever find that you like a book more and more the longer you think about it? I didn't overly love The Gunslinger (1982) when I finished it, but the more I keep thinking about it, the more I really like what King has done here.

I read that Stephen King considers The Dark Tower series to be his magnum opus and The Gunslinger is quite ...more

10 likes · Like · see review

Jan 12, 2015 Randy Harmelink rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: horror

Overall, I was disappointed with this book. It was not at all what I was expecting. I nearly sent it to my "did not finish" bookshelf several times. But the ending almost made up for the work spent on the rest of the book. I hear the rest of the series is better, so I'll probably continue on. Later. Much later.

One thing I found frustrating was the usage of words that I'd not seen before. And neither had my Kindle dictionary. And I couldn't find them on a Google search either. There were about a ...more

2 likes · Like · see review