Apologies if this has been discussed already. I made a search for "Dark Tower" but I only came up with a (very interesting) article on Tarot lore.
SPOILERS for Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" saga:
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The hero travels across time and dimentions to set right a world that is falling to pieces. Along the way he gains supernatural help and unexpected companions, and is exposed to dreamlike and unexplained situations. In the end he defeats the bad guy and reaches his goal, only to discover that his voyage cannot end; he will have to reach for his goal all over again. Only, this time he is given a magical object to help him along the way.
Thoughts, fellow King fans? The only difference I see (in a broadly superficial way) is that Dale is not given any help at the end. Or is he? Is Carrie his "Horn of Eld"?
I briefly mentioned this somewhere else. The ending of TP was so much like the ending (and beginning) of the Dark Tower Series, it's almost eerie, to me anyways. I should be clear though, the endings are so much like conceptually, not technically.
Many strange adventures and many new stories and people. In the end only to realize his own hubris is his only real opponent and he must start all over again. Well, he didn't know all that, but we did/do. 🙂
"The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed." I've always loved that line. And IMHO, that series had the best ending of any series ever. This knowledge has been a huge help in my understanding process for TP.
Interesting, the Dark Tower series is one area of Mr. King's works I kind of avoided. What little I had seen about it didn't appeal to me all those years ago.
Interesting, the Dark Tower series is one area of Mr. King's works I kind of avoided. What little I had seen about it didn't appeal to me all those years ago.
It didn't appeal to me either until about 6 years ago when I was looking for something to read and somebody handed me the first book. I shrugged and said, "yeah, ok, sure."
Loved it. Read the next one and the next one and so on. Didn't love all of them, but loved the overall story. SK definitely went in some strange directions and made some freaky overlaps and in the end, none of it was worth it, except that it was ALL worth it!
I suggest giving it a go. The first book is pretty short and doesn't require a big commitment. If you don't like it, set it down and never think about it again. 🙂
Of course now you know the ending. So I hope you are one of those "It's all about the journey" kinda people. 🙂
I forgot another similarity: in both sagas the author inserts himself in the narration! 😉
I must say I prefer King's self-contained novels to the Dark Tower saga. Even though I enjoy it and I've recently started re-reading it to see if I can make more sense of it (I'm currently half-way through Wolves of the Calla), I have with it the same problems I'm trying to solve with The Return. When an author posits that magic, time travel, alternate dimensions etc. are real, I get the feeling that the risk is to turn it into a cheap solution, an all-purpose magic wand to fix (or confuse) the plot. Example, Freddie's glove. I feel like I have to dig underneath all the fantasy elements to get at the true message, if there is one.
I do like fantasy, I enormously appreciated the unpredictability of TR (I did love Tea Kettle Jefferies, for example!), and I don't want a logical solution for everything, but sometimes it just feels too easy and random, too much of a good thing. It's the reason why I could never get into Doctor Who. (prepares for boos and hisses)
I just saw the Dark Tower movie with my mom because we both read the books quite a while ago. We enjoyed the film, although it was so condensed. I didn't really think about the parallels between DT & TP, but the time travel/multidimensional aspects are certainly similar. Also the predetermination of the key characters being destined to play a certain role in the events is similar. I will have to think about that some more.
Alas, I was rather disappointed by the Dark Tower movie, maybe because I had read that it was going to be a miniseries but didn't follow its evolution and was surprised when it turned out to be just one movie. I liked the actors but I thought the plot was really too simplified. It's like they made a Lord of the Rings movie where the only characters are Aragorn and Frodo and they blow up Mordor with the Ring. 😀 In these times of prequels and sequels, a trilogy would have been better. I don't know why they squandered all their cards with one movie; I gather they now planned to do a miniseries AFTER the movie, but with the scarce success it had, it's unlikely.
I think most of the enjoyment for me came from the fact that I took my mother. I agree that it was too little. Idris Elba was fantastic.
Isn't the movie based on the first book The Gunslinger? I can't understand why people make a film of the first book in a series and then not continue with the rest of the books. Surely this was their intention else why bother doing it? It was the same with Northern Lights (Golden Compass) of His Dark Materials trilogy. Why do the first book if you aren't going to continue with the rest of the books. I know its a big commitment but they managed to do all the Harry Potter series.
Interesting, the Dark Tower series is one area of Mr. King's works I kind of avoided. What little I had seen about it didn't appeal to me all those years ago.
Hi Charlie,
Since you are already a King fan, I would recommend reading The Dark Tower series, because one of the great things King does throughout the story is reference much of the rest of his oeuvre.
It's a lot of fun seeing if you can spot all the allusions. Plus, in my opinion, it is a ripping good yarn. (Loved the ending, too!)
😉
- /< /\ /> -
Isn't the movie based on the first book The Gunslinger? I can't understand why people make a film of the first book in a series and then not continue with the rest of the books. Surely this was their intention else why bother doing it? It was the same with Northern Lights (Golden Compass) of His Dark Materials trilogy. Why do the first book if you aren't going to continue with the rest of the books. I know its a big commitment but they managed to do all the Harry Potter series.
The movie is not based on any of the books; it is a sequel.
The reason they were able to do the Harry Potter films is the movies made money. The Golden Compass did ok at the BO but the studio felt it didn't make enough. Bottom line: if a movie makes money, there's a good chance for a sequel. If it bombs, then the series is done.
Interesting, the Dark Tower series is one area of Mr. King's works I kind of avoided. What little I had seen about it didn't appeal to me all those years ago.
Hi Charlie,
Since you are already a King fan, I would recommend reading The Dark Tower series, because one of the great things King does throughout the story is reference much of the rest of his oeuvre.
It's a lot of fun seeing if you can spot all the allusions. Plus, in my opinion, it is a ripping good yarn. (Loved the ending, too!)
😉
- /< /\ /> -
I loved how King overlapped stories and brought in other characters. And the best part was that he brought in himself, AS himself and the trauma of being run over by a car. Plus there was that concept of the author/writer/dreamer which worked really well.
And didn't it take King something like 25 years (more or less) to "complete" the tale?
Interesting, the Dark Tower series is one area of Mr. King's works I kind of avoided. What little I had seen about it didn't appeal to me all those years ago.
Hi Charlie,
Since you are already a King fan, I would recommend reading The Dark Tower series, because one of the great things King does throughout the story is reference much of the rest of his oeuvre.
It's a lot of fun seeing if you can spot all the allusions. Plus, in my opinion, it is a ripping good yarn. (Loved the ending, too!)
I loved how King overlapped stories and brought in other characters. And the best part was that he brought in himself, AS himself and the trauma of being run over by a car. Plus there was that concept of the author/writer/dreamer which worked really well.
And didn't it take King something like 25 years (more or less) to "complete" the tale?
Yep. That was him in the Red Room (redrum!! ;-)) in the background, typing. And typing. And typing. 😉
- /< /\ /> -
Interesting, the Dark Tower series is one area of Mr. King's works I kind of avoided. What little I had seen about it didn't appeal to me all those years ago.
Hi Charlie,
Since you are already a King fan, I would recommend reading The Dark Tower series, because one of the great things King does throughout the story is reference much of the rest of his oeuvre.
It's a lot of fun seeing if you can spot all the allusions. Plus, in my opinion, it is a ripping good yarn. (Loved the ending, too!)
I loved how King overlapped stories and brought in other characters. And the best part was that he brought in himself, AS himself and the trauma of being run over by a car. Plus there was that concept of the author/writer/dreamer which worked really well.
And didn't it take King something like 25 years (more or less) to "complete" the tale?
Yep. That was him in the Red Room (redrum!! ;-)) in the background, typing. And typing. And typing. 😉
- /< /\ /> -
OMG YOU ARE SOOOOO RIGHT!
Fire walk with