Yes, I think King was playing with it a bit.... hinting at the long-term deeper meaning and teasing with the more immediate physical one.
Yes, I think King was playing with it a bit.... hinting at the long-term deeper meaning and teasing with the more immediate physical one.
Anyway I love this thread. It's damn interesting how many interpretations we have about such a simple sentence.
Roland would have understood.
Ask not what bears can do for you, but what you can do for bears. (razz)
When one is in agreement with bears one is always correct. (mae)
bears are back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I actually think its an invitation to the present myself as well.
It is more than monumental when the one you love is "with"
you wholeheartedly. I wish I had such attention in my lovelife.
I could say these words to my Randall, but they would be brushed
aside for other things in his life....his Tower perhaps?
The answer is within
all matter is energy, all energy is GOD
I saw this message on a bandstand in high school and it really touched me:
on one side:
"IF YOU'RE READING THIS I LOVE YOU"
and the other:
"IF YOU LOVE ME PLEASE TELL ME BECAUSE I LOVE YOU"
Awwwwwwwwwwwwww high school love....
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https://www.razoo.com/br/causes/Maje...h-Resorption-1
unreqited love is the story of my life.
Morning my dear L7 I LOVE YOU!
The answer is within
all matter is energy, all energy is GOD
I requite your love!!!!!! :smoochies:
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It's one of my favourite quotes of all time. Simplicity is beautiful.
I kind of always hated this line since I find it really cheesy, but I understand why Susan would say something like that. That kind of stuff sounds deep and powerful when you're young and in love.
I guess.
"If you love me, then love me"
I didn't find it cheesy because the whole time before it was said they were playing with the idea of not seeing each other at all. Then whenever the love (or whatever you think it was, I call it love) took her over she said "If you love me, then love me" as permission to him to do as they both wanted to. No matter the consequences I guess.
Now her screaming "ROLAND I LOVE THEEEEEEE" I did find just a little to cheesy.
Last edited by Woofer; 07-03-2009 at 07:33 AM. Reason: Uh. Look over there!
It'll take a lot more than words and guns,
A whole lot more than riches and muscle.
The hands of the many must join as one.
And together we'll cross the river.
Puscifer, "The Humbling River"
Good observations Woofer. I found it all a bit cheesy, but I don't find it cheesy that King was enjoying a genre. We all know that romance isn't his first love when it comes to writing and the obvious cliches and tropes were not unexpected. It reminds me of Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Men. Its just your basic bad guys in the desert drug trafficking mystery. And its also unlike anything else he's written. Some of the passages, particularly when he's describing weapons, are so unMcCarthy, but its okay. You can tell he's having fun and enjoying the genre.
It'll take a lot more than words and guns,
A whole lot more than riches and muscle.
The hands of the many must join as one.
And together we'll cross the river.
Puscifer, "The Humbling River"
Kudos for tying it up in a bow Woofer. One interesting thing just occurred to me though, many of the so called "horror" cliches we think of were pioneered by King...deadly viruses, haunted hotels, evil clowns etc... He really is an innovative author, so I wonder if he seems more "cheesy" attempting to do romance than he does with his other works. In other words, maybe the scrutiny isn't warranted per se, but inevitable because its such a far cry from the uniqueness of the majority of his other works. I expect passages of blandness and re hashing in a lot of what I read, but for some reason I don't approach King that way. I'm mostly just thinking out loud right now. None of what I'm trying to say is very definitive.
I have just read this line now. Its my second reading of W&G and it touched me more this time.
I think it beautifully says two things at once, emotional and phyiscal love in the only way she could being innocent and all. I cant imagine anything better to replace it.
That said, I think Roland's response of ''Aye lady, I will'', is pretty romantic too.
Some of the bits about Roland and Susan are a bit cliche but I liked this bit.
I always took this line in the way Jon described...don't think about the future, focus only on our love.
When I first read W&G I was in high school and the line didn't bother me. But in my most recent reading it drove me nuts. It seemed so contrived. And if it had only been said once it wouldn't matter, but its repetition and Roland remembering it....it got a little out of control. It was like SK thought he really had something with it and wanted to use it. Like when a high school writer re-reads a sentence they just wrote and thinks "now that's a good sentence" and proceeds to follow the pattern.
Another phrase in the series that I think gets repeated because King thought it was a nice phrase is "go then, there are other worlds than these." But this one works for me. I think it carries some resonance.
Maybe I'm just not into the sappy implications of "if you love me."
Currently Reading (Pleasure): The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan and The Dark Tower
Currently Reading (School): Done reading, done writing. Helloooo vacation.
Surely it only gets used a couple of times Overhoser
Letti - thats a good point. I guess when it comes to love surely every emotion has been experienced and written about for time out of mind.
I also think the reader brings their own experiences to any literature (or art for that matter) they experience and I am only recently married which might be why I am leaning towards the interpretation as being highly romantic. I did shed a tear!
I might be way too romantic but I do think that every love is special and unique. But writing about it... that's really hard. Our words are numbered. We cannot come up with new ones. If you write a long love story it's impossible to avoid every cliche.
Sometimes cliches must be used.
And the interpretations are so different.
For me 'If you love me then love me' is very deep and special. For most of the people it's an empty or almost empty sentence.
Not easy. Not easy at all.
Roland would have understood.
Sickrose - You are correct, it is probably not used as often as I made it sound. I guess it just grated on me. My most recent reading was on audio book and as great a reader as Frank Muller was, his breathy exclamations didn't do it for me. He doesn't do the best demure country girl accent in the world.
In my defense, it appears 6 times in the pages available for free on Google Books. 5 of those are in a period of about 200 pages which means I probably heard Frank proclaim it in my car once a day for 4 straight days. So please forgive me.
On a side note, this thread is at the top of the list if you search for "if you love me then love me" on Google. Nice work.
Currently Reading (Pleasure): The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan and The Dark Tower
Currently Reading (School): Done reading, done writing. Helloooo vacation.
If you do get a chance to listen to the audio books, I recommend it. Frank Muller is great, except he only does 2-4. At the end of 5, Stephen King says Muller was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident and would not be able to continue reading. There is a foundation for him, but the recording is from 2001.
Also, SK says in his message about Muller that listening to the books is the best way to enjoy them. You can't rush or skip, you have to take everything at a steady pace. I am enjoying them. 17 minutes at a time...
Currently Reading (Pleasure): The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan and The Dark Tower
Currently Reading (School): Done reading, done writing. Helloooo vacation.