Stephen King Fans discussion
This topic is about
The Dark Tower
Dark Tower Series
>
The Dark Tower- Dark Tower Book 7
message 1:
by
Becky
(new)
-
rated it 5 stars
Mar 31, 2011 06:49AM
Here we go... home stretch! :)
reply
|
flag
I loved this book (well, I loved them all)but this one was the best. My friend actually put her copy in the freezer because she got so upset (I won't say why) but I still laugh about that to this day. Hope everyone enjoys it!
I sheepishly admit I started reading it again soon after I had finished Susannah last week. It is just that good.
That's ok, I read it in February. I couldn't stop after Wolves, I plowed right through :)
I also read it after Susannah, but I had to stop a couple of times to read something else. It took me forever because I really was put off by King being a character in the story.(view spoiler)
I am glad I read the series, I liked it a lot and would recommended it. I just wishe King had wanted to really finish it, (I think some agree he didn't feel like working on it), and kept himself out of the story. I wonder if he is going to be in the movie. Anybody knows?
Guilty here, as well... I love those last three books so much, I always read them as one loooong book. As to Elena's comment...remember, King IS working on another DT book!
I am wondering if he is writing it to fit the movie. The reason being that the book happens in between other books, it is not a continuation. I read he said it is because he realized we didn't know what happened or how they got where they were with some of the characters between books.
I also read straight through from Wolves to the end. I just couldn't put it down at that point and had to find out what was going to happen.*****Possible Spoiler******
I kind of had a feeling that things were going to end the way they did. When I was telling people that I hated The Gunslinger and I never continued the series because of it, they told me to just keep reading and I would get hooked. They also told me that I could just read it at the end of the series. That kind of gave it away for me. But I didn't really hit me until Roland was actually in the tower.
Elena wrote: "I am wondering if he is writing it to fit the movie. The reason being that the book happens in between other books, it is not a continuation. I read he said it is because he realized we didn't kn..."You mean to provide more continuity between 4 and 5 for the movie? Maybe, but I doubt it. I think he's writing it simply because he wants or needs to be back in that world.
King likes to experiment, but I think that if the story was done and he was happy with it and had no internal pull to write more, he wouldn't. *shrug*
Agreed, Becky -- Just what is your new avatar? - You were one person I thought wouldn't change!
Love this book, it is my third read of it and I'm reading it a little slower this time. I dread some things in it so I'm taking a small break right now. Ka-shume...breaks my heart.
Spoilerage re: WalterI never really thought the demise of randall/walkindude/flagg/ was all that great. Very anticlimactic for all of the intense drama that he did to/with Roland, not to mention his machinations in other books.
Kit wrote: "I like the Gir avatar Becky!"Thanks! :D
Bondama wrote: "Agreed, Becky -- Just what is your new avatar? - You were one person I thought wouldn't change!"
I know... I never really thought I would either. My old one suited me. But I like the new look. I LOVE GIR. So cute. :)
I think I'll be sticking with this one for a while. I'm starting to recognize it as me again now. LOL
Jaime wrote: "Love this book, it is my third read of it and I'm reading it a little slower this time. I dread some things in it so I'm taking a small break right now. Ka-shume...breaks my heart."This book kills me. I always end up a soggy mess after reading it. :(
And that is the honest truth, so be it.
SPOILERS:I agree about Walter/Flagg. His death was not what I expected, especially for a character who is so vital in the Stephen King Universe. But, since there are other worlds than these, maybe we will see him again.
I am in Algul Siento right now and love seeing Sheemie. But having read this book before, I'm dreading pushing forward.
******Spoilery*****Jaime, I always get to about the same point and stall out due to dread too. But I'll tell you, that's one of the things that I love about King - he isn't afraid to tell the story that needs to be told or change it to make it a prettier or happier one. It is what it is, and if people die, then they die.
Walter's death always freaks me out a little, because not only is it unexpected and gruesome, but it's so... mundane. I mean, here's this guy who's been sticking wrenches in cogs for a loooooong, long time, and then he's taken out by a baby. Granted that is one badass baby, but still a baby.
*********More Spoilery**********Curious what you all think of Susannah in Book 7. I love her character, but she's my least favorite of the ka-tet. Still though, I get a little frustrated with her in The Dark Tower because she seems so... dense. At least compared with Susannah in previous books. She doesn't get things as quickly as she did before, she doesn't care now, and she's depressed and sullen and mean to Roland by acting like he didn't love the others too.
The whole time that Roland and she are alone, from Discordia through Empathica to damn near the Tower, I wish she'd make an effort, you know? I understand her grief, but I think it's selfish, and if she would just include Roland in it, they would both be better for that.
Does saying that make me a jerk? LOL
******more spoilism****It doesn't make you a jerk, but I think that the fact that Susannah IS so cut off is the way King is trying to convey the depth of her love for Eddie. The depth of her grief cuts everyone and everything else completely off. In that way, she is apart from the rest of the ka-tet. Susannah IS the only female in the group, and at this point in time, after her Eddie is dead, and she knows he's not coming back, part of her leaves the story, never to return.
I understand that. I don't know that I would react any differently if I was in her position. And it certainly is effective, but it's kind of a slog to read for 400 pages. Hehe...
I know, partly because Detta never (well... hardly ever)surfaces anymore.
**Spoiler**I just finished reading "Wizard and Glass" (I am reading Dark Tower saga for the first time). I had read a couple of years ago in internet that this book (Wizard and Glass)was the turning point after which many readers stopped reading the Dark Tower Saga. Fortunately, that's not my case. I really love it! Was very touching know about Roland and his first Ka Tet. Knowing the cause of his pain, his nostalgia and his lonelyness. I really liked the description of the gap between romance and reality that surrounds the entire book. Rolando and his Ka Tet at one end and the people of Mejis in the other. Sk dramatically describes the contrast between the strength, nobility, the candor and clarity of romanticism and idealism of the adolescent Ka Tet against obscurantism, the resistance of the status quo, corruption, lies, envy, and the resignation of the reality of the people of Mejis. Partially succeeds romanticism but at a high price, and this is the painful experience and the well learned lesson that accompanies Rolando the rest of his days in his quest for The Dark Tower. Starting "Wolves of the Calla" now.
Spoiler regarding page 286I caused a small furor here last year by pointing out the enigmatic mention by Ted Brautigan in his memory about someone named Dick being part of the recruitment meeting he attended. The fact that SK conspicuously doesnt give a last name to this fellow made me wonder if this Dick was not Dick Halloran of The Shining. "The Ki'Cans" claimed that he "died of pneumonia six months later"...but is that reliably true? Or...might Dick have been the esteemed Richard Sayre, caught by Sombra Corp and given an offer he could not refuse? just food for thought.
********Spoilery stuff in response to Message 24*******Interesting thought, Agrimorfee. I think it's far more likely that it would be Dick Hallorann than Richard Sayre - but I don't think the time-lines really match up. Unless Dick escaped sometime in the 50s and the Low Men were really, really bad at tracking him for 20+ years, which I think is pretty unlikely too - considering that we've seen how they've tracked people in other books relentlessly. (view spoiler)
And it's not like Dick Hallorann was inconspicuous. ;)
Regarding Sayre - I think that's unlikely for 2 reasons: 1) He's a can-toi, so he is already in the service of the Crimson King. 2) If he had psychic or telepathic abilities, I think those are the more valued skills, so he wouldn't have been pulled out of line. We see that can-toi are killed if they harm breakers, so it's obvious to me that the breakers are far more important to the CK than a single servant, no matter how good he may be.
SPOILERS SPOILERS EVERYWHERE...Eddie's death kills me everytime. I've been nervous building up to it, and haven't been reading!! But past it now and have the will to continue. I think this quote on pg. 477 of my copy is right on:
"For the boy was a gunslinger,say true, and it was the only end that one such as he could expect."
The final Ka-Tet moment is moving and perfect, and so sad when knowing what is about to happen... King doesn't hold back.
That's true Jaime... That part hurts. :(
*******SPOILERISMS*******It hurts, but not nearly so much as what happens to Jake. I think Oi sums it up best. He never speaks, but once, again.
Bondama wrote: "*******SPOILERISMS*******It hurts, but not nearly so much as what happens to Jake. I think Oi sums it up best. He never speaks, but once, again."
Oy's reactions to it made me cry! :(
SPOILERSOy is such a huge character. HIS & Jakes deaths are very difficult to read. The whole last 2/3 of this novel are heart wrenching.
SPOILERSJaime, I totally agree. Especially when King starts telling you that the ka-tet is going to dissolve.
SPOILERSI sometimes don't like the way King foreshadows. When in Maine, Eddie & Roland are talking about something and Eddie is going to tell Roland something but doesn't. Thinks he will later, then it says "...but before he could, death had past between them." Something like that anyway. He does this in a lot of his books, and at times I wish he didn't. I would rather be completely surprised. Just a thought I had. Oy died last night...Susannah left...less than 100 pages and I am done. I don't think I will be reading this series again for a long time. Three reads may be my limit...
I know what you mean Jaime... I'm kind of mixed on that... In a way, it's good because he gives us a chance to get used to the idea, but then it also means that we spend much more time agonizing over it. LOL In the book I'm reading now, I'm dying to know what is going to happen - no foreshadowing at all... it's just happening and I'm there watching, and I'm a nervous little ball of nervousness waiting to see who comes out the other side of this story. In a way, I kind of wish that I had some hint of what is to come, but it would be completely out of place. It works in King's story though. It still hurts, but sometimes the anxiety of not knowing is just as bad! LOL
This book was literally painful to read, and not because it was bad. It's the darkest installment of the saga and I dreaded to see the events unfold the way they did. I don't think I'll be reading it again soon.
No, I agree. I think that two full readings were my limit for many, many years.That kind of raw emotion is King's finest hour, and I thank him for that.
How did y'all feel about the ending? I remember the first time I read the series and the smile on my face after reading the last sentence, though i might have been in shock ;-) Anyway, that smile was back last night. So many people complained about it, but I thought it was perfect. How many times does Roland say "Ka is a wheel"? How else could the book have ended? Roland started alone & ended alone...Also, I'm more curious now about Patrick Danville and the few Breakers who left for the Callas. So many more stories left untold. Looking forward to the "next" DT book, but find myself doubting...don't know if it can live up to its predecessors.
Am I alone in the thoughts that the last bits of the journey...the monster in the hallway, the cold cold nights, meeting feemalo, fimalo, fumalo, Mr. Collins...are quite a bit of unneccesary padding?
ummmmm not alone.....it just wasn't necessary - the DT series has the emotional impact of a mortal wound to the soul. Padding was NOT needed. I could live with the monster (sort of H.P. Lovecrafty, but feemale, fumalo drove me nuts. Particularly in what was supposed to be the equivalent of a solemn funereal march towards the Tower.
I completely agree about feemalo, fumalo...unnecessary, but love the monster under the castle. I think the cold nights reflect Susannah's loneliness and sorrow. They also make her stronger in some sense and allow her to leave Roland... The whole thing is painful regardless.
I have a question about your thoughts at the very end of the book. SPOILER BELOW-----------------------------------
It states: "The blast of a great horn replied, not from the tower itself but from the roses that lay in the carpet all around it. That horn was the voices of the roses, and cried him welcome with a kingly blast. In my dreams the horn was always mine, he thought, I should have known better, for mine was lost with Cuthbert, at Jericho Hill.
A voice whispered from above him: It would have been the work of three seconds to bend and pick it up. Even in the smoke and death. Three seconds. Time, Roland- it always comes back to that."
Then it cuts to him in the desert with the horn.
So my question is, do you think the next time around he will be set free from the cycle now that he has the horn? Will there probably be other things he needs on the journey. I wonder if he will probably have the same experiences and meet the same people.
Interesting to ponder these things that are left open.
Anhelante, I think that is what King was going for... yes. :)
Got to agree. DT is absolutely my favourite series of all-time. I came to it in the wrong order - Wizard and Glass was actually the first of the books that I read - but I was hooked from the start.I don't think the last book could have ended any other way. Roland may well have learned some lessons, but evidently not enough to redeem himself completely. Based on other hints, particularly from Walter at the end of The Gunslinger, I'd say that Roland has been around this loop possibly hundreds if not thousands of times before, hopefully learning a little more about himself each time.
The last book is painful, but it was necessary. There aren't many books that can trigger emotions for me in the way DT can.
I can't wait for the 8th book. I hope eventually SK gets around to revamping books 2 through 4, to bring the language a little more in-line with Wolves of the Calla onwards. Sometimes it's a little jarring to go from Roland speaking basically "proper" English to the very much more relaxed version all the characters adopt in the later books; the revised edition of The Gunslinger made that far more enjoyable to read.
Has anyone tried the graphic novel versions? I have the first 6, they're excellent - the storylines do diverge slightly from what we know from the books, but they're very faithful to the overall concept.
I should note that I'm enough of a DT geek to have made a special trip to Dag Hammarskjold Plaza while on a recent visit to New York....
Good for you, Stephen --- I wish I'd thought of doing that. I did go to Strawberry Fields, but for some reason, didn't even think of Dag Hammarskjold Plaza.
You didn't miss very much - I couldn't find the little pocket park, but to be fair it's actually quite a big area, so I may have just missed it.
i was a bit taken aback by the ending, and was "FUUUUUUU" for some time.. lol. i cannot fathom what is really the Dark Tower.. is it Hell? i remember King said in one Everything's Eventual that "Hell is repetition". Perhaps Roland's misery is needed to redeem what he did to save the Dark Tower itself. maybe as a trade off.. he won't go to real fiery Hell, but instead to a smaller version of it, for Gan knows how long.
i feel really sorry for him.. but at least he didn't forget the horn this time. :D
Yay, I'm finally done the DT series! I was like Scott, having read The Gunslinger a long time ago and really struggling with it, I never pushed forward with the series, and now I'm so glad I did.*SPOILERS*
I can't remember the last time I wept so openly during a book. I was devastated when Eddie died, when Jake died I felt like I was punched in the stomach, and poor poor Oy :( What a ride though, I wish I hadn't put this series off for so many years!
Whaatt... Eddie will die?? As well as Jake?? I just finish reading the third book. XD
Angelica wrote: "Whaatt... ******************************* I just finish reading the third book. XD"
You are reading a thread for the final book and you also read a marked spoiler. I don't know what to tell you.
