Reading with E. discussion

"The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed"

I am excited to do this!

Oh shit. I just finished The Stand and was going to read a few other books before re-eading the DT series, but you just sucked me right down the rabbit hole. Running for my bookcase... masterfully avoiding spillage of my special afternoon coffee... and grabbing The Gunslinger. Yes!

Bye the bye, this will be my first re-read, and it has been about 25 years since I first read The Gunslinger, so l am super excited to start this journey.

mark c austin wrote: ""The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed"

I am excited to do this!"
The best opening ever.

Wayne wrote: "mark c austin wrote: ""The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed"

I am excited to do this!"
The best opening ever."

Yes, it is! One could say a perfect opening. In one sentence, King introduces the antagonist, the setting, and the protagonist.

Edward wrote: "Tis the best firs line, yes. I'm excited for this full reread. Last time I did it I skipped "Little Sisters of Eluris", but we'll be reading that short story after this one, even tho it occurs afte..."My pleasure Sai Edward.

I’m in. Excited!

Shiiiiiiiiiyyyyyyt, this was not in the life plan, but fuck it. I'm in.

I’ve never done a goodreads group before, but I’ll give it a try. Looking forward to it.

Shawn wrote: "I’ve never done a goodreads group before, but I’ll give it a try. Looking forward to it."
This is my first buddy read as well. I had planned on starting the series soon, so I said what the heck.

Damn! I thought this was going to be an Along Came a Spider buddy read. Where's the thread for that, E?

Since I only finished this two months ago and I'm about to start Wizard and Glass, I won't be reading along but I will participate in the discussion.

Wayne wrote: "Shawn wrote: "I’ve never done a goodreads group before, but I’ll give it a try. Looking forward to it."
This is my first buddy read as well. I had planned on starting the series soon, so I said wha..."

I'm also a group read virgin.

Dustin wrote: "I'm also a group read virgin. "

Wayne wrote: "Shawn wrote: "I’ve never done a goodreads group before, but I’ll give it a try. Looking forward to it."
This is my first buddy read as well. I had planned on starting the series soon, so I said wha..."

Shawn wrote: "I’ve never done a goodreads group before, but I’ll give it a try. Looking forward to it."

Dustin, Shawn, and Wayne, buddy reads (BRs) are easy, the main rule (which isn't in the least 'hard' or 'fast') is don't read too fast, try to pace yourself, otherwise you'll find you're all done in a day or so and there's no one to discuss it with because no one else is finished. Sometimes you just can't help yourself, but do your best.

How far into the series did King realize before starting to write "The Gunslinger"? Sheb brought the flashback to book 4 and I started to consider if King already fleshed some of it out or did he randomly create hints and then later built it into the fourth book.

mark c austin wrote: "How far into the series did King realize before starting to write "The Gunslinger"? Sheb brought the flashback to book 4 and I started to consider if King already fleshed some of it out or did he r..."

Was that meant for me? I haven't actually started Wizard and Glass, yet, so I have no idea what or who you're talking about.

This discussion is really only going to be about The Gunslinger for the next few weeks (not sure exactly how long E has the buddy read planned for), so it'll probably be best if we keep the comments/spoilers for the rest of the series to ourselves until the group gets up to that book.

Do we just start reading, or do we read to designated hit points so we are all at the same place?

Man, to this point in my life I've managed to only read actual books. Never read any e-books or Kindle's or audio books. I'm a Luddite I guess, but I only have my original paperback. How much am I missing if I don't read the expanded edition?

Part III, I like how King is describing the raven, Zoltan, as walking on the tin roof making the sound "Tak-tak-tak". Tak was the demon in The Regulators and Desperation. Coincidence? Probably. I like it anyway.

Part IV. A billy-bumbler is mentioned for the first time. Of course this meant nothing to me when I first read this 20 years ago, but seeing it now brings joy to my heart. Do you kin?

I'm here late haha. Just read all these comments and I'm sooooo excited to be reading all these books again especially over a long period of time!!! It's time for the journey to begin!!!!

I've been away too long. I'm gonna have to join this one 'cause it saddens me to say, I've never read the Dark Tower series.

I just need to finish off the talisman...

Think I got to VII or VIII last night. King sure was at his most poetic here.

Just got to the letter to Allie in Part VII. The Man in Black (Walter O' Dim) mentions "19". I have seen fans mention the number 19, but to be honest it has been so long that I could not remember its significance. This was pretty interesting to come upon and now I'm curious what more there will be to it.

Edward, I have a question: I noticed at least one person mention that this will be their first time reading the DT series. This is a discussion group, so how do we handle possible spoilers? Should we give warnings, or should first timers just be aware that they may read something that they have not gotten to as of yet?

*That* I do agree wholeheartedly with! Not so much more - but I’ll have plenty of good reading ahead following this thread I believe.

I totally agree with your enjoyment of the big showdown in Tull. I am also really interested in where this world is. There are references to Christianity and “contemporary” music but it doesn’t feel like our works at all.

Yeah! The showdown in Tull was great, I'd mostly forgotten about it. On to The Way Station.

Shawn wrote: "I totally agree with your enjoyment of the big showdown in Tull. I am also really interested in where this world is. There are references to Christianity and “contemporary” music but it doesn’t fee..."

Edward wrote: "Shawn, that's one of the coolest aspects of the series, but to explain would be spoilers ☺️"


I'm at book four and I still don't know the truth.

I'm in! Sorry I am a little late to the party

Edward wrote: "Next book, Sarah 😉"

Glad to know that things are explained, eventually. Wouldn't want to be left waiting with just my own theories and guesses.

Wow, I forgot how brutally detailed Stephen described Jakes accident. I realized as I was reading that when I first read this, Stephen had not yet encountered his own accident. I wonder how he felt looking back on this scene after his own experience?

Chapter One down. Time for the Waystation!

Edward! Missing you, man... I’m good, reading is slow, bug life’s getting there. Will be lurking this thread, looks like you got a good thing going here!

Wayne wrote: "Wow, I forgot how brutally detailed Stephen described Jakes accident. I realized as I was reading that when I first read this, Stephen had not yet encountered his own accident. I wonder how he felt..."

Agreed about the brutality of his description here. I'm thinking back to when I first read this when I was probably not much older than Jake. King probably fucked me up as a child! haha

Dustin wrote: "Wayne wrote: "Wow, I forgot how brutally detailed Stephen described Jakes accident. I realized as I was reading that when I first read this, Stephen had not yet encountered his own accident. I wond..."
Oh yeah! I started with King from the beginning, reading Carrie a year after it was published and I was about 13. His books scared the shit out of me back then.

Edward wrote: "Wayne, do you know if you're reading the expanded edition?"
Yes. Honestly, I didn't realize it was an extended version until I read King's intro at the beginning of the book.

Hey everybody! I just finished the 5th book (for some reason these few books are the only ones by SK I haven't read so far) I've read the first book about 10 years ago but then other books got in the way. I can't imagine waiting more than two decades for a series to be finished, that would be pure torture for someone as impatient as myself ^^'
(Speaking of impatience: I'm listening to the audiobook, triple speed :D)

"The Gunslinger shot him dead and the man thumped into the street. His false teeth shot out as his chin struck and grinned, spit-shiny in the dirt." Hoo-rah, Sai King.

On to The Waystation I go.

This is so cool to re-read after all these years. I am seeing so much that meant nothing to me on the first go round and by the time I read the following books, completely forgot about many of these details. Spoiler from The Oracle: When I came to the part where Roland gets the message about the 3; Heroin, the woman on wheels and the death, I was so stoked. King really did have a plan for the story from the beginning. Hell, I thought he was making it up as he went along. (And this was not revised. I cross checked with my original copy.)

Wayne wrote: "This is so cool to re-read after all these years. I am seeing so much that meant nothing to me on the first go round and by the time I read the following books, completely forgot about many of thes..."

I'm really looking forward to the day, a few years from now, when I reread The Gunslinger because I just know that I'm going to enjoy it much more than I did the first time. I spent so much of the book thinking "What's going on here? Who is this guy? Why is he chasing the Man in Black? What world is this?" that I couldn't just enjoy the story because I was too confused.

I think you will, Sarah, because I know I felt the same way the first time I read The Gunslinger. I liked the story, but I didn't know what the hell was going on.

Wayne wrote: "I think you will, Sarah, because I know I felt the same way the first time I read The Gunslinger. I liked the story, but I didn't know what the hell was going on."

Thanks, Wayne : ) At least rereading the series will be easier as, so far, I've enjoyed the subsequent books so much that I went out (metaphorically because the internet is a friend for those on a budget) and bought each book as soon as I finished it, so next time I won't have to worry about library due dates or waiting for a hold to come in.

Slow Mutants spoiler:
I think Rolands challenge to his teacher, Cort, and the ensuing fight involving David, the Hawk, is my favorite part of the book so far. This shows us the turning point in Rolands life where he goes from being a boy, an apprentice, to becoming a Gunslinger. I was reminded of the moment when young Arthur pulled the sword, Excalibur, from the stone. What an epic moment.

Yeah, having a lot of fun with the re-read. I'm onto the Oracle and whatnot, but I do feel like I'm missing a little, as I'm reading the original version of the story. After I'm done I'll probably look up the added bits.

I couldn't stop. Edward, is the plan to read The Sisters before going on to the Drawing of the Three?

I have not been able to find The Sisters as a stand alone other than the graphic series. My daughter has my copy of Everything is Eventual, so I may run down to the used book store and grab a copy.

I wrote this down during the Slow Mutant segment. A thought from Roland while he and Jake were on the handcar. "They were close to the end of the beginning." A line that probably meant nothing to me the first time I read this and now means everything.

Edward, I checked it against my original and it is there. I got into the habit of keeping it next to me to cross reference and so far, everything that has stood out to me was in the original. It's my understanding that the revision mostly consists of changing some wording and sentence structuring, but actual additions to the story are very minimal. I think the reason so much is standing out to me now is simply due to the fact that certain details didn't have any significance to me when I first read it, but now that I have read the entire series these details make sense and really stand out. It reminds me of watching a movie with a great twist (the Sixth Sense comes to mind) and then going back and watching it again and realizing there was a ton of stuff there that went right over my head because at the time I was not aware of the twist. This was really a fantastic read the second time around and makes me eager to dive into the rest just that much more.

So, this The Sisters short story is in Everything's Eventual? I've owned a copy for a number of years, but never really looked at it. Mine has the tie-in cover from 1408, the movie with John Cusack and I thought that story was the entirety of the book, I didn't realise it was a book of short stories. I've JUST started Wizard and Glass last night, but now I'm going to have to go back and read The Sisters so I don't miss anything.

Yeah, Sarah. It is in Everything is Eventual.