For my part I prefer the original.
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I just finished the Muller reading of the Original today. It was the first time I heard that version. I really wish he could have done the Revised edition!
My favorite part continues to be Roland's test of manhood and the events preceeding it. :thumbsup:
Many great moments there,
for me, my favourite is hearing the drunken singing of a modified "Hey Jude" as Roland approaches Tull.
I loved the whole palaver at the end.
And i have to say that i find this line epic:
Allie: "You have to have it, don't you? You couldn't just throw me a fuck and go to sleep"
:P
Tull
One moment that sticks out in my head is Jake's story. Before the introduction of Jake, The Gunslinger could've been just a very strange Western, but it was when Jake told his story that we got our first good glimpse that something much bigger was going on.
Or maybe i just like Jake's story because i can easily imagine Life on Mars? by David Bowie playing in my head when he arrives in Mid-World! :lol:
I loved Tull...absolutely loved it. Allie was especially fascinating to me - her relationship with Roland was just absorbing.
I also wholly enjoyed Roland's conversation with Walter - not as much in its entirity, mainly the discussion about worlds within worlds. It's something that's really stuck with me, and I find myself thinking about it an awful lot. It's such an awesome, mind-boggling concept. :wub:
I was rather fond of Roland cleaving through the residents of Tull. I could almost hear the Ennio Morricone music playing in my head as Roland took out the whole town (Morricone did the music for the Clint Eastwood "Man with No Name" movies). :cowboy:
The sequence where Jake and Roland part company kinda reached out and grabbed me the first time I read it, too...! :cry:
Wayne
Go then, there are other worlds than these'- Jake Chambers
The defining moment in the series in my view....If you didn't feel Roland's obsession at that moment then you might as well have quit reading right there
In other words, where does the magic lie? What is it about this particular book that makes it so amazing?
For me, it is the prose, the style, just the way it is written. I understand King himself said the reason he re-wrote the book is because the original version sounded too important (or something along those lines), but I think the way it is written in that first version is something very special.
What is it for you? Is it the plot? The way the events happen? Is it the characters? I think another big part of it, is the interaction between the characters. (Although I must admit, I was pretty annoyed by Jake for a while.)
So, what was it? :)
Huh, hard question. I wouldn't like to go on and on (I could for hours) so let me sum up my answer in one word: Roland
Yes I've got to say that the first introduction to Roland is a big part of what makes this book special. It includes short glimpses of all the other things that get fleshed out more in the other books - Roland + Jake, encounters with the Man in Black, and stories of his younger years.
IMO you can also feel that King is tumbling headlong into this series, and feeling around - exploring these things spontaneously. Like when you hear a piece of music that you can tell was done with a certain energy, all in one take.
i gotta say that first line got me. but then after that it was the fact that king had ventured out of his comfort zone of castle rock and the surrounding areas, i loved that he was doing something different.
in regards to the style of writing, i agree with billyx, i prefer the unrevised version, although that may have a lot to do with me reading that version first.
for me the time i really got into it though was when jake was introduced. i loved jake and felt he added an extra (missing??) dimension to the book
"In other words, where does the magic lie? What is it about this particular book that makes it so amazing?"
Beans beans the musical fruit... :rock:
And the Beatles...
The first time I read it I can say it was the mystery of the whole plot and the pace at which the questons you were asking yourself were answered. On each subsequent time through the book you just realize how great of a begining it is to the story.
This may sound cold, but my favorite part was when Roland let Jake "drop" off the bridge and Jake said "Go then there are other worlds than this." After "The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed" this quote is the second most memorable from the series.
My second favorite part of this book was when Roland shot up the town of Tull.
It doesn't sound cold at all. Many people love that quote a lot. It's really meaningful. And the more you read the series the more important it seems to be.
yeah i totally agree with your selections--i really enjoyed when Roland let Jake fall--as horrible as it may sounds, i can feel Jakes resentment or perhaps skepticism towards Roland from "The Drawing of the Three" and the following books--just really intense.
And when Rolands lights up the city of Tull---pure badass-ness :pirate: