The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King
The Dark Tower is a series of books written by American author Stephen King, which incorporates themes from multiple genres, including fantasy, science fantasy, horror and western. It describes a "Gunslinger" and his quest toward a tower, the nature of which is both physical and metaphorical. King has described the series as his magnum opus. Besides the seven novels that compose the series proper, many of his other books relate to the story, introducing concepts and characters that come into play as the series progresses. After the series was finished, a series of prequel comics followed.
The series was chiefly inspired by the poem "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came" by Robert Browning, whose full text was included in the final volume's appendix. In the preface to the revised 2003 edition of The Gunslinger, King also identifies The Lord of the Rings, Arthurian Legend, and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly as inspirations. He identifies Clint Eastwood's "Man with No Name" character as one of the major inspirations for the protagonist, Roland Deschain. King's style of location names in the series, such as Mid-World, and his development of a unique language abstract to our own (High Speech), are also influenced by J. R. R. Tolkien's work.
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Minor spoiler alert: this note mentions with themes and episodes from the Dark Tower series.
I don't think I'm giving away any big secrets, but Edward Snowden thought that, too.
The NSA, the KGB, MI6 already knew, the only ones surprised were the public.
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Somewhere in The Waste Land, the Key and the Rose chapter, I think,
King recounts a Beatific Vision. Jake has a glimpse into the workings
of Eternity.
This is beautiful writing. King shows in simple prose the profound experience,
the joy mingled with terror that comes with a glimpse into the void. Philip K. Dick
had a mystical experience as he glimpsed that fish pendant on a young Christian
doorknocker's neck and spent the rest of his life trying to make sense of the vision
that totally disrupted his existence. Life could never be the same.
Enlightenment isn't for everyone. Rationalists try to jam it into their pre-existing schema
and can go mad trying to make it fit.
PKD had V.A.L.I.S., Dr. Reich his Orgone Energy, Richard Dreyfuss builds models of the Devil's Tower.
Edgar Allan Poe finished his days cadging drinks from strangers and demanding they
listen at length to his grand poem "Eureka".
Even if you don't want to commit to all seven volumes, this scene alone is worth it, especially as read aloud.
(Really, you could skip the first and fourth volumes and not miss much.)
Like Harry Potter, the last volume connects themes from the earlier books
and ties them together magnificently. I liked the way King wrote his catastrophic
accident into the story. What better way for a writer to deal with personal trauma?
Sit in a church basement drinking coffee out of a styrofoam cup, listening to a support group?
Some readers didn't like the ending -- I did.
There's only a few ways to end a quest -- win, lose, or finnegan beginagain.
Any choice from King would upset more folks than it pleased. So he picked the
option that pleased himself.
This is quite a project, many thanks Rosanna!
Section 2
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2 - Chapter 11 - The Attack on Algul Siento.mp3
Section 2
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Section 3
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2 - Chapter 12 - The Tet Breaks.mp3
3 - Chapter 1 - Mrs Tessenbaum Drives South.mp3
This is great - Thanks so much.
Will the rest of book 7 be available?
I don't Know. Rosanna was posting, but she only comes around occasionally now. ---------------- R
Riddles 05
Susan 01
Susan 02
3 - Riddles - Chapter 5 - Turnpikin.mp3
4 - Susan - Chapter 01 - Beneath the Kissing Moon.mp3
4 - Susan - Chapter 02 - Proving Honesty.mp3
6 - The Wolves - Chapter 1 - Secrets.mp3
6 - The Wolves - Chapter 2 - The Dogan, Part I.mp3
The Wolves-04
6 - The Wolves - Chapter 3 - The Dogan, Part II.mp3
6 - The Wolves - Chapter 4 - The Pied Piper.mp3
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