The Gunslinger by Stephen King
Series: The Dark Tower #1
Published by Scribner on January 1, 2016
Pages: 340
Source: Purchased
Narrator: George Guidall
Length: 7 hours, 20 minutes
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A #1 national bestseller, The Gunslinger introduces readers to one of Stephen King’s most powerful creations, Roland of Gilead: The Last Gunslinger. He is a haunting figure, a loner on a spellbinding journey into good and evil. In his desolate world, which mirrors our own in frightening ways, Roland tracks The Man in Black, encounters an enticing woman named Alice, and begins a friendship with the boy from New York named Jake.

Why I Read It:

This is one of those book series that I’ve been meaning to read practically forever. My husband loves it and has been heavily suggesting these books to me for ages now. I want to see The Dark Tower Movie when it is released, but I never see movies unless I read the book first. Since I’m not one hundred percent sure where the movie takes place in the series nor how/if it will overlap the books (and I don’t plan to research this), I’m just going to start reading and see how far I can get.

 

Some thoughts on the book:

This is the second time I’ve read The Gunslinger by Stephen King, and I’m finally ready to move ahead with The Dark Tower Series. I won’t lie: this book is confusing, disjointed, and a little hard to follow-but it is easier and less confusing on the reread. Everyone tells me to keep going and push ahead, that things will make more sense in later installments. I’m holding everyone to that.

Still, this book is captivating. Roland, The Gunslinger is quite a character. He is so flawed, certainly, and I have some serious issues with him, so I’m not completely sold on him yet. I’m still early in the series so hopefully I’ll fall for him the way everyone else seems to. I am intrigued with the Man in Black and while I know he is the bad guy, I can’t help but want to know more about him. I liked him when I read the book the first time, but I really liked him on the reread. Creepy? Sure. But wildly interesting. My feelings on both of these characters may change, but this is just where I am right now.

The world is incredible and I want to know more about it. There really isn’t anything else to say. Also, I’m ready to know more about Jake Chambers, because there is clearly more to that.

I’m hoping that as the books become more organized, the stories become easier to follow.

Also: Mr. King is not the most poetic of writers, but he has some lines in this book that are just amazing and that I will likely remember forever.

Audiobook Notes:

I reread this book by adding the audiobook to my print read. Two things:

1. THE AUDIOBOOK IS AMAZING, OH MY GOSH. If you’re considering the audiobook at all, just do it. I’ve mentioned that the book is confusing and disjointed, so if you’re audiobooking on your first read, keep in mind that you won’t really have any way to flip back and forth if you need to clarify anything unless you’re like me and read print + listen to the audiobook at the same time. But if you’re listening to the audiobook on the reread, YES YES YES, you will love it. The chapter breaks in the audiobook do not line up exactly with my (older edition) book, so be aware of that. That really annoys me. But I loved the audiobook so much that-since I had read the book before-it wasn’t a problem for me this time. I can’t speak to formatting in the editions of the book after Stephen King revised and added to the text.

2. Since I was reading from an older edition and listening to the audiobook, which is from a newer edition, I was able to compare the two in real time to see what Mr. King added in his revisions. Super, super cool. No spoilers here, because I’m fairly certain some people like to go into these things fresh with no details, but I have more information about what is to come heading into the rest of the series now than I had after my first read. He added a ton of details.