Roland Of Gilead (The Gunslinger: The Dark Tower - Stephen King)

Member Name: I Like Blue

Product:	The Gunslinger: The Dark Tower - Stephen King
Date:	07/12/05 (2286 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Compelling, masterfully told story that engulfs you and sucks you in

Disadvantages: Adding the first couple of chapters from the 2nd book at the end

Although quite an avid reader of Stephen King stories over the years I have to admit, like others, I was a late arrival to the Dark Tower epic. I'm not really sure why I kind of avoided this story either. I think it may have been a combination of things including thinking that King had started to lose his touch, I thought I would never find the time to commit my time to reading and continue reading such an epic and quite simply at the time it just didn't appeal to me.

About 6 months ago or thereabouts however, Waterstones were having one of their regular 3 for 2 offers and as I was lacking in inspiration or motivation to read anything else I decided to buy the first 3 books in this 7-book series.

When I started to read this, the first book, I then wondered why I didn't take the plunge sooner!

Obviously I don't want to spoil the story for you, especially those of you who haven't read this story yet, so I'll keep the plot as short and simple as possible.

In a time and place not particularly specified there is a man, a special man, and his name is Roland, Roland Deschain of Gilead. Roland is a 'Gunslinger' and is, as far as we, the reader, are aware, the best and last of his kind. From a once mighty but now fallen kingdom he is a kind of 'Knight' (and this not too surprising as one of King's biggest influences in writing the Dark Tower series is from Robert Browning's poem 'Childe Roland to the Dark Tower came') on a quest. The exact purpose of this quest isn't really revealed to us in this first book and even Roland isn't completely sure why he is in search of the Dark Tower either, he just knows he must find it where he hopes he will get answers; answers to questions, and even those questions he doesn't really know yet. In Gunslinger we join Roland as he has already started on this quest and is in hot pursuit of a rather intriguing and mysterious character only known as The Man In Black (although we do find out this character has gone by other names and guises), who, for Roland, and we, the reader, is a key factor in his (and our) quest. The only other part of the plot I'll tell you is that along the way Roland stays for a few days in a strange and desolate town called Tull (recently visited by the Man In Black) where a strange event has occurred and where he forms a brief relationship with the landlady of Tull's only tavern. Then, he also forms a relationship with a young boy, Jake, who talks of things from another time and place that Roland has no awareness or knowledge of.

On the face of what I've said above you'd think this story a bit stark; a man chasing another man who meets a woman and a boy along the way. I can assure it is so much more than that. Along this journey there are plenty of incidents involving all manner of 'things'.

As Gunslinger starts 'mid-quest' so to speak there is a bit of catching up to do although King doesn't fill in all the blanks and definitely doesn't answer some of the questions I have as an inquisitive reader who is looking for a fuller of understanding of how things have come to be. I have to put those questions aside for this story and hope more is explained further down the Dark Tower series. In addition to joining Roland on his quest King spends quite a bit of the book in 'flashback'; Roland recalling events from his past and in particular his own childhood and the training he receives to fulfil his destiny of becoming a Gunslinger. This is extremely useful and some patience is needed as from the start of the book King gives the reader a lot of information to deal with in a short space of time (pages) and just when you think 'when is he going to explain that part of the plot then?' King obliges but only to the extent that it makes the reader a little more inquisitive. King is pretty clever that way in his writing, especially of this story, as he gives us just enough information to keep us satisifed and the right amount to make us read on.

One of the keys to this story, and I can only speak for myself, and what kind of makes 'sense' of Gunslinger (and I suppose the whole Dark Tower series) for me comes in a part of the story. I'm not going to reveal where this happens in the story, especially for those who haven't read Gunslinger yet, but when I read it I did think 'Ah! That is the best way to approach the story'. All I'll say on that is this - Have you ever sat quietly and thought to yourself 'How big is the Universe?; Where does it end?', it is a basic question of what is infinity? When you try to reason what infinity actually is does it not send your brain into overdrive? It is incalcuable and we can't make sense of it can we? In this way this is partly how to approach the story, forget what you know or think you know and let your mind just absorb the information and don't try to 'rationalise' it into something you want to understand because you'll become frustrated.

To explain that a bit further I'll say this - In most stories I read (and I'm sure many of you have done the same) I look for things to identify with to make the story seem more real to me and that can be people, places and time. I think that works for most genres of fictional stories except perhaps fantasy where, as a reader, you know straight away the story is going to be out-of-this-world so to speak. The thing with Gunslinger is that King has given us some of those 'real' elements to cling on to, to make sense of the story but no sooner than you do that he throws you off-track by taking the story in a direction that sends you back trying to keep a grip (by your fingernails sometimes) on the 'reality' of the story. What I'll say is - Don't try! Just let the story happen. It's not supposed to make sense as we want it perhaps. Gunslinger has pretty much all the elements of all genres from thriller to terror to horror to fantasy and that's what makes it a fascinating and compelling read.

There are obvious comparisons to make to other King books and this has done many times and in many places. There are even websites dedicated to linking The Dark Tower series to all of King's other stories and characters. I'll only add that, for me, yes there are some obvious comparisons and in particular perhaps the biggest one is to 'It'. Again though I'll say that, for me, to probably fully appreciate the Gunslinger is NOT to compare it to other King stories and enjoy it on it's own merits.

As well as Browning's poem being an inspiration for the Dark Tower series there are also 2 other quite significant inspirations that are quite obvious when you start reading this book and King confirms this in his introduction. Those influences, or inspirations, are Tolkein's Lord Of The Rings and the film The Good, The Bad and The Ugly; a cowboy in middle earth? Well, nearly. It's quite easy to imagine our 'hero' Roland is a cross between Strider/Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) and Joe (Clint Eastwood). In fact if this story were made into a film (and it'd have to be to the same standard as LOTR to do it justice) then Viggo Mortensen would easily fit the role of Roland. Even King's description and the one illustration of Roland bears a strong resemblance to Mortensen! Yes, Roland is probably more cowboy than Knight especially as he is the owner, and master, of a pair of quite fabulous revolvers which he keeps holstered in a 'wild-west' style gunbelt.

Now, as I mentioned King's 'introduction' I should explain that in the edition of Gunslinger I own (2003) King has written quite a lengthy introduction pretty much explaining how he came to write the Dark Tower series in the first place. That does help actually, however, one downside is that, again in this, the 2003 edition, there is also included a taster of the second book in the series - The Drawing of The Three. I wish this wasn't included now because it was too tempting to read and I wish I hadn't now but I'll not explain why save to say (and probably for the benefit of those who have already read the second book) the 'taster' is the first couple of chapters from The Drawing of The Three.

Again, with this 2003 edition of Gunslinger the book is around 300 pages long of which just over 200 of those pages are the Gunslinger story itself. I think 200 or so pages is just right and is plenty of story time to introduce, get to know and form a reader's bond with Roland and also introduce us to the whole concept of the Dark Tower series.

This is a book I thoroughly recommend but if you read this then you have to continue and wherever you can find the time to keep reading! Time for me is a precious commodity at the moment yet I think I read Gunslinger in pretty quick time, that's how compelling it was for me and almost immediately after completing Gunslinger I had started the second book, The Drawing of The Three, which, at the time of writing this review I am just over half-way through.

Gunslinger is still widely available in both paper and hardback and, for example, amazon.co.uk have it for about £6 (paperback) and about £10 (hardback), although readmore.co.uk have the paperback for £3.75 but also charge £1.50 P&P. Play.com however, have the audiobook (CD) for £11.99, the paperback for £5.99 and the trade paperback for £8.49.

And the Tower is closer...

Summary: A quest of magnificent proportions that suits fans of all genres