The Dark Tower

Stephen King's "Dark Tower" is a series of books that many would say has garnered him the most attention and stands as his most popular work. The story follows Roland, a Gunslinger who is on a personal quest to find someone who he refers to as the 'man in black'. He believes that he is always just missing him, as if he is relentlessly walking away from him in the same pace, so Roland painstakingly pushes on through the desert despite the obstacles of hunger, thirst and fatigue. There's a film term for this kind of situation where two people are destined to meet and face off and nothing seems to be able to stop it. R0land comes across a few people, most that just recently met the man in black, and despite the food, water, company or charm he promptly leaves them in hopes that he didn't fall further behind.

Everything about Roland seems to bleed determination. Rarely do you get the sense that he might want to just give up, stay with the women he's come across or just reclaim his life. This is his life, and it revolves around finding the Dark Tower and stopping the man in black. In my perspective, it's almost as if he lost that bit of freedom that makes us feel human. That ability to choose and lead our own way. Roland Deschain, like a golem, drags himself across the world with only his task on mind and his shadow behind him.

I never really made myself familiar with one Stephen King's novels. I might have read a story in school or came across a movie and I know the name very well due to his popularity but this is probably the first book of his I actually experienced. The mood was quite present throughout and he managed to create an adventure story that is still very exciting despite the lack of any real action in the beginning. I was always interested to see whether or not Roland runs into the man in black and if not, how did he leave the town? It was anticipation driving me through just like in the protagonist, his anticipation for the day he fights the man in black.

Much of "The Dark Tower" was based off of and inspired by Tolkien's epics. Both tend to flesh out the environment and society around the characters well and pits them against destiny's tremendous demands. This becomes the root rules that fantasy stories normally get subjected to, which is why it must sound so familiar. The Dark Tower follows this quite closely though, having an assortment of characters that follow some well known archetypes like mentor, catalyst and traitor and the vast journey to different lands gaining a bit of information and learning about their way of life and attributing it to his life and overall goal.

The Dark Tower was interesting to say the least; with the name gunslinger I was expecting more gun slinging, and one liners but instead it was a long journey testing the strength and temperance of man as he seeks through blood and fear his vendetta. Stephen King became as popular as he is now because of this book and many still say that this was his greatest which is saying a lot. The audiobook was adequate, giving that dry old feeling in the voice of his character helping to set me in the mood to truly encompass myself in this work and eventually in the world of Roland of Gilead.