I dunno why I choose to put some stuff in the backroom, lol. Guess cuz its quieter.

Yes, The dark Tower will be a movie AND a TV series!
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2010/09/stephen-king-the-dark-tower-ron-howard.html

Hey Steve, do you have the comics?

And, I don't know if its in that article I linked, but I read that King is writing another book for the series. I'll try and get more info about that.

I bought the first four comics, then I realized I am a grown man. (they are pretty cool, tho!)

TDT is being done by Ron (Opie) Howard's group. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1648190/board/

Known about it for awhile. "The Talisman" is being filmed now, and the trailer for that is AWESOME!!!!

Too bad Clint Eastwood is too old. I think that's who SK had in mind while he was writing TDT.

htownsteve wrote:

I bought the first four comics, then I realized I am a grown man. (they are pretty cool, tho!)

TDT is being done by Ron (Opie) Howard's group. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1648190/board/

Known about it for awhile. "The Talisman" is being filmed now, and the trailer for that is AWESOME!!!!

Too bad Clint Eastwood is too old. I think that's who SK had in mind while he was writing TDT.

Yea, he would have been perfect.
I got all the comics online and started reading them but lost interest really quick. I think cause it looked to be a prequel kinda thing and for me the story didn't totally click until Roland ran into the doors and started going through them. I'm gonna have to give them another chance.

If King is really going to release a new DT book I think I'll re-read the entire series. Just got out my old worn out copy of The Gunslinger.
I'm gonna have to go and buy The Drawing Of The Three (still don't own it) and I'll pick up that other book you PMd me.

re-read The Gunslinger while I was sick. Went and got The Drawing Of The Three today.

I forgot that when Roland opened the door he wouldn't just go thru and be with the person, but he would go into the person and share consciousness.
That's a pretty important part to forget, lol. I read this only once at least 20 years ago. I remember a lot of details, like the lobstrosities and Eddie with the coke trying to get thu customs. But I forgot that Roland was in Eddies head.

As I've said before, the Gunslinger is my least favorite book of the whole series. Not sure why. It was just as bland as the desert Roland spends most of the time crossing. I found it boring cept for the introduction of Jake and the entire conversation with the Man In Black at the end, which was a great prelude to the overall story. I forced myself to read it again just to get to this DT II, and I'm glad I did.

This is such a great book.

Zvon wrote:

re-read The Gunslinger while I was sick. Went and got The Drawing Of The Three today.

I forgot that when Roland opened the door he wouldn't just go thru and be with the person, but he would go into the person and share consciousness.
That's a pretty important part to forget, lol. I read this only once at least 20 years ago. I remember a lot of details, like the lobstrosities and Eddie with the coke trying to get thu customs. But I forgot that Roland was in Eddies head.

As I've said before, the Gunslinger is my least favorite book of the whole series. Not sure why. It was just as bland as the desert Roland spends most of the time crossing. I found it boring cept for the introduction of Jake and the entire conversation with the Man In Black at the end, which was a great prelude to the overall story. I forced myself to read it again just to get to this DT II, and I'm glad I did.

This is such a great book.

Yeah, book 1 is lame, but ya gotta remember: he wrote it in the 70's. Before Salem's and shit.

He started it then. But he picked it up and put it down over the years. I think he wrote the end/bulk of it after he completed The Stand.
The Gunslinger was released in 1982 (i found this surprising, thought it came out a lot earlier).

This is why I love Wikipedia.
I'll lookERup.

Wow, interesting stuff:

Quote :

The five parts that constitute the novel were originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction:

* "The Gunslinger" (October 1978)
* "The Way Station" (April 1980)
* "The Oracle and the Mountains" (February 1981)
* "The Slow Mutants" (July 1981)
* "The Gunslinger and the Dark Man" (November 1981)

It took King twelve and a half years to finish the novel. The finished product was first published by Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc. as a limited edition in 1982.

Is that the same Donald M Grant who was with the Mets front office and played such a huge part in the Tom Seaver trade? This will result in some more sidetracking/time wasting research.

This is especially interesting. I was reading a real beat up copy I owned from the 80s. If there is a new version with new stuff I wish I would have read that instead. I'll go torrent a more recent copy.

Quote :

King revised The Gunslinger in 2003. In his introduction to the new edition, King stated that he felt that the original version was 'dry' and difficult for new readers to access. He also made the storytelling more linear as well as making the plot of the book more consistent with the series' ending. Other changes were made in order to resolve continuity errors introduced by later volumes. The added material was over 9000 words (35 pages) in length.

My copy of the Gunslinger is the large size paperback and was published in 1988.

I didn't realize there is a revised version. I'll have to pick that up.

LakeRat wrote:

My copy of the Gunslinger is the large size paperback and was published in 1988.

I didn't realize there is a revised version. I'll have to pick that up.

There were a lot of changes and from what I see of them they very well might have made the book something I would have enjoyed much more than the original version. The orig was so tedious. And I did notice very early in TDot3 that Roland didn't know what a magazine was and he spoke of them, and mentioned a newspaper in The Gunslinger. that was corrected. There's a whole list of changes:

Quote :

Some changes include:

* Removal of a reference to Roland reading a magazine in Tull. Later information presented in The Drawing of the Three suggested that paper is a scarcity in Roland's world.
* Reference to twelve years having passed since the fall of Gilead, which happened when Roland was a teenager, is changed to "untold years." Otherwise it would be deduced that Roland is in his 30s, when later books imply that Roland is ancient.
* Likewise The Man in Black originally says he is "nearly immortal," where in the revision he says this of both himself and Roland.
* "[Roland] didn't know where Cort was[4]" is changed to "Cort was dead"[5], as the Fall of Gilead was not completely fleshed out until later books.
* Roland's cold-hearted killing of Allie is changed to make him appear more humane. Originally, when the town of Tull turn on Roland, Allie is seized by a townsperson and used as a human shield. She begs Roland not to fire before he ruthlessly guns down both her and her captor [6]. In the revised version, she has been driven mad by Walter by the time she is seized, and begs Roland to put her out of her misery. [7]
* The town of Farson is changed to Taunton, as John Farson was a character in the later books in the series.
* References to the Beast were changed to refer to the Crimson King, who otherwise is not mentioned in the series until Wizard and Glass.
* "Blue Heaven" and "Algul Siento", terms that are revealed in the final books, are mentioned.
* A single Taheen appears early in the revised version. The Taheen being a race of creatures which wouldn't originally appear until the final three books.
* A major textual change is the fate and identity of the Man in Black. In the original text, Walter's death at the end of the story is of no uncertainty to Roland. In the revised edition, Roland speculates if his discovery of Walter's bones is some trick or if he has truly died. The original text also kept Walter and Marten Broadcloak completely disambiguated. Even after the death of Walter, Broadclock was still to be found and killed. Later in Wizard and Glass they, along with Flagg, are all revealed to be one-in-the-same person. Though no reference of the name "Flagg" is made in the revised edition of The Gunslinger, all references to Walter and Marten are altered so that it is plausible they are the same man.
* Jake, originally nine years old, was made 10-11 years old in the revised edition.
* In general, the world the gunslinger walked through in the original text was literally a run-down version of our own - the text mentions England, the star Polaris, Mars, Jesus and other biblical figures, Easter, All-Saint's Eve (Halloween), and Greek and Egyptian Gods. In the revision, these references were removed to make Roland's world only vaguely like our own.
* In the early edition Roland's father is Roland the Elder, but is changed to Steven.
* In the expanded edition of the novel, on the last page before the text the single word RESUMPTION appears; in the "Argument" foreword of Wolves of the Calla, King explains that it is the subtitle of the novel.

Wow! That's a lot of changes.

I'm not sure I agree with changing Roland's cold-hearted killing of Allie.
I think it said a lot about what kind of world he lives in to have made him that way.

LakeRat wrote:

Wow! That's a lot of changes.

I'm not sure I agree with changing Roland's cold-hearted killing of Allie.
I think it said a lot about what kind of world he lives in to have made him that way.

I agree with you Ratso.
I too think it said a lot about his character. His pragmatism.
It might have been cold and harsh but not as calculated as it would appear. It was almost reflexive.
Like she just happened to be standing on the wrong side of the world.

I just got to the part when Jack Adolini goes into the bathroom and through the door.
Eddie in his underwear and Roland looking like the walking dead.
"Dida-chum?"
I think this is the scene that first got me hooked on the books.

I really must start reading these again. That sounds familiar, but I had almost forgotten.

I'm kinda ticked I re read The Gunslinger and now i find out about the new version.

I'm tempted to get the new one and stop reading II and go back and read it.
But then...I dunno, is looking at the changes up there enough?
It does say "some" changes so I guess I'll never know until I read it.
gah!

If i re read it again and it still sucks I'm gonna be pissed!

I'm halfway through The Wastelands.



I'm right up to when Jake crosses over.