Review: Stephen King's The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger

With a still growing oeuvre of more than sixty books, Stephen King may rightly be called a prolific writer. With the exception of a few flops, King generally stands for quality. His Dark Tower series, considered by many as his magnum opus, is of a very high quality. In part one ("The Gunslinger", 1982) King introduces the protagonist: Roland Deschain.

The desert

This first part of the series, which consists of seven parts so far, is critized for its alleged slow start. In my view it is not all that bad. King drags the reader right into the world of the protagonist whose name remains unknown for a long time, but who eventually appears to be called Roland Deschain. In the first few dozen pages the reader gets to know his character and especially his goal: he must reach The Dark Tower at all costs, but why he must remains unknown for a long time. It becomes clear, though, that he has yet another objective in this first book. The legendary opening line clearly hints at this: The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed. The loyal fans have had to wait for a long time for the sharpshooter's journey to end. King started writing the first part before publishing “Carrie”, his first book, in 1974. The chapters of "The Gunslinger" had already been published in a fantasy magazine before the story finally appeared in book form in 1982. Twenty two years later, in 2004, the seventh and final volume appeared and now King has even announced an eighth volume, which will be for sale in the spring of 2012.

In 1982 the gunslinger made his debut in King's oeuvre, taking the reader on a thrilling ride through the desert in search of the mysterious man in black which takes up most of the story. Roland's world, called Mid-World, is introduced in a enjoyable way and King immediately tosses in a number of his own particular ingredients. In many ways the world seems a lot like ours and in later books this seeming resemblance will get more attention. This first part is mainly about getting acquainted with Roland and is really successful at this.

Mysterious

For Roland is a very special and mysterious character. He prefers using his agile hands to his mouth, his age is unknown and his behaviour destructive. He is the ultimate anti-hero: on the one hand he is temperamental, on the other hand, he has a goal and everything must give way to reaching that goal which, in one way or another, arouses sympathy. Throughout the series, and certainly in "The Gunslinger", there are times when his decisions are morally undesirable, but it all fits the paradox he personifies. As a result the first book is very compelling. The voice of King at a young age is clearly recognizable and, besides Roland, there are a number of other strong and interesting characters. The plot is still rather uncomplicated: a fairly straightforward tale which circles around the hunt for the man in black. Instead of giving answers, some of the flashbacks raise more questions about Roland. This first part has 250 pages and is by far the thinnest book in the series. The introduction of the story and especially of Roland, however, is excellent. The book can be compared to the old spaghetti westerns, because it breathes exactly the same atmosphere. However, this does not make this book and the series a Western story; it is really far more than that. Numerous fantasy, thriller and horror elements are present in the stories, but the characters are solid as a rock and there is plenty of room for other kinds of drama.

Excellent start

With "The Gunslinger" King starts the Dark Tower series very well. It is a combination of several genres, but that is never a problem. Indeed, King throws in plenty of his own voice and his imaginative world keeps on fascinating. Roland is also a fascinating protagonist: a series of flashbacks and flash forwards raise quite a few questions about his immediate past and the present. With almost 250 pages "The Gunslinger" is only a small step to take on the way to the end of the quest, but it definitely calls for more, making it a very successful book.

Sources: www.todio.nl