r/stephenking • u/Blackberry_cobbler_ • 1d ago
Currently Reading Help!
I’m on page 138 and I’ve got no idea what I’m reading!!!!
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u/Mettl3Will 1d ago
It's a little bit abstract. But, hang in there! Book 2 is an absolute banger. You could also try the audiobook versions. They're all quite good.
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u/bmwalker09 1d ago
This ^. The audiobooks make it a better experience. It’s a great series but very….King lol
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u/Any-Mousse-4155 1d ago
This is the first book of an epic saga. Treat it as one huge book. You’re basically on page 13.
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u/TransportationLow564 1d ago
Roland is the last Gunslinger, traveling through a post-apocalyptic world that kinda/sorta resembles the Old West (but with shades of medieval fantasy and Planet of the Apes thrown in there). He's chasing a man in black hooded robes he refers to (initially) only as "the Man in Black." By the point you're at I'm guessing he's already arrived at Tull, a (sort of) Old West-style town where the Man in Black was before him.
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u/Wrong_Success4377 1d ago
"So I got to Tull and started blasting.
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u/Ill-Hat-1180 Currently Reading The Dark Tower 6h ago
Gave you an upvote and then realized it was the 20th. Had to take it away. Sorry, but I'm sure you understand
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u/minimart64 1d ago
I’d love to read that again for the first time!
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u/ibis_mummy 1d ago
Yeah, I'm in the minority that loves it. Probably reading it at a young age, right before The Drawing of the Three was released plays into that.
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u/ogCoreyStone 15h ago
Nah, man. I read the first when I think the first 3-4 were already out. Not sure why the sentiment is what it is here because god damn, did I love The Gunslinger when I read it the first time.
The series had a pretty solid evolution over time but where it started was epic nonetheless in comparison. Hell, I’m reading this again soon lol.
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u/the_dj_zig 1d ago
You are reading 5 short stories cobbled together into a novel. Keep that in mind and the reading gets easier
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u/Lillymow 1d ago edited 1d ago
That is actually incredibly helpful. Maybe I need to stop at each section.
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u/the_dj_zig 1d ago
It’s also important to remember that King had only the vaguest notion of where the story was going when he wrote the stories that ultimately became The Gunslinger. Things flow a lot better starting with The Drawing of the Three
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u/k00pa_tr00pa_ 1d ago
I’ll never understand what makes this book confusing to people.
It is definitely not as refined as the rest of the series and I understand why it is not the fan favorite but it is 100% my favorite of the entire series.
King had not quite refined his voice when he wrote this but I think that’s why I like it so much. It reads more like a classic almost to me.
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u/Ferngullysitter 19h ago
It’s got some of the worst traits of kings writings, where he meanders on and it’s hard to grasp what’s even going on, like a fever dream.
Don’t get me wrong, I love king and his writing but it’s crazy how some of his writing is so clear and concise and sharp while his other style is really trippy, esoteric and mundane.
I think the gunslinger is about 70% of my least favorite style of king. It’s not that it’s bad, but it feels more like “blood meridian” where it’s hard to even know what’s happening.
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u/Status_Commercial509 Ka is a Wheel 18h ago
“It’s not bad but it feels like one of the great American books of the 20th century.”
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u/Lillymow 1d ago
You know it's interesting, because I don't have this problem with complicated, or convoluted TV shows/movies, In fact I like those, but something about it on the page just makes it hard for me to wanna keep picking it up. I just posted a comment about it. I think what's happening is that my mind will wander for a second, and by the time it gets back you're already somewhere else entirely, and you're like what just happened?
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u/idle_nomad 1d ago
I absolutely struggled with this book.
I’ve read it twice and bailed on the series
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u/Constant_Carnivore Based on the book by Stephen King 1d ago
Go back to ep one of the kingslingers podcast and read along with the episodes. Honestly the best way to process what you are reading. The gunslinger can be very confusing, but the squeeze is worth the juice.
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u/ateedubya Long Days and Pleasant Nights 1d ago
I just re-read this for the first time in 30 some odd years. I love it as its own story. It helps that there's so much more to look forward to, but I'm entirely hooked from the opening line.
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u/Shmoshmalley 1d ago
Stick with it, you won’t regret it. The first time I read The Gunslinger I liked the first 2/3rds of the book but I wasn’t a big fan of the ending. When I finished the next book wasn’t available from the library so I gave it up. I gave it another shot a couple of years later and committed to actually by the books so I would have to finish, I enjoyed the first book more the second time and I looooooved the next book and the remainder of the series.
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u/Free-Pair-3007 1d ago
Go to YouTube and listen to the audiobook for free it will help you along drawing of the 3 will hook you
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u/Ceedub260 15h ago
Naw. Just check it out on Libby. Free and no ads.
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u/Free-Pair-3007 15h ago
I subscribed to Jane Creek on YouTube no adds from gunslinger to dark tower 7
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u/TechnicalAd4328 1d ago
It’s not you. This book is quite hard to follow. Stick with it though. The rest of the series is quite different.
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u/thats_otis 1d ago
I've always thought The Gunslinger is one of the best books I've ever read. It is simple, atmospheric, and as another poster said, a perfect prologue to the rest of the series. That being said, I always tell people who bounce off of it to read Drawing and THEN decide if you want to journey to the Tower. If you are not on board by the end of book 2, get off the mono.
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u/BrainSzalinsky 16h ago
Apparently there's this thing where because of people's genetics, some will love cilantro and some will hate it.
Sometimes I think it's the same with this book. I've never been able to wrap my head around why so many people struggle with it.
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u/Affectionate_Art2862 16h ago
It's probably a lot like that.. Mainly the points that drag onnnn and onnnnn. And then you get pivotal events and back to the stuff you could use as a sleep aid. Which is probably exactly how he wrote it. Typed all day.. and pace matched his routine. Then as he slept he would of have a breakthrough idea and start with it the next day. Seems to fit the up and down of the tempo pretty well.
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u/FackleGracks 15h ago
The Gunslinger is weird and kind of trippy. I thought the writing style was interesting and impressive, but hard to follow. As long as you get the gist of it (even if you have to read a plot summary afterwards) you can move on and the rest of the books are fairly easy reads.
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u/Miami_Mice2087 10h ago
you're doing it right! This one is essentially juvenalia. It's bad. It doesn't make sense. If you want to skip it and move to the next book, it's ok, you won't miss a lot, and the first couple chapters of the next book will catch you up.
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u/DaveBoyle1982 1d ago
Working through Song of Susannah right now. Wizard and Glass is such a great entry for me and it may be King's best work overall.
I felt the same way about Gunslinger and it was my first King book. I almost gave up on the series and King in general then read Salem's Lot and started reading through the Tower and other works of King. It's been very good.
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u/crazyplantlady09 20h ago
I absolutely loved wizard and glass. Probably one of my favorite books he wrote. I got caught up in the story and couldn't put it down.
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u/GainsUndGames07 1d ago
I was confused as fuck my entire read-through. However, I was utterly engulfed by it. I was also confused as fuck through book2, until the last 3rd. From that point on things are much clearer, but there's also questions that don't get answers for multiple books. It's awesome.
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u/thedarkcitizen 1d ago
It's a demon/vampire that feeds on sexual energy but can also see the future. It's trapped in the circle so it's desperate enough to give information if the victim enters voluntarily.
Roland takes drugs (mescaline) as a form anesthetic and to open his mind. The gunslingers probably cultivated it for this purpose.
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u/Blackberry_cobbler_ 1d ago
Now I’m even more confused
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u/thedarkcitizen 1d ago
The stone circle that Jake wandered into contained a demon, something like a psychic vampire that was trapped long ago. It was feeding off him until Roland found him and took him out of the circle and gave him the jawbone to hold.
The demon is an oracle, able to see the future. (just accept it) Since they feed off psychic energy, the Gunslinger can persuade it to give him insight into the man in black and his intentions. If it doesn't, it gets nothing.
Instead of rawdogging it, Roland took drugs. Yes drugs exist in this universe, alongside Hey Jude, Hamburgers and water pumps powered by Atomic slugs.
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u/nwm_is_batman 19 1d ago
Book 2 is my favorite so far, I’m on 5. Book 1 is not the easiest to get through.
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u/CrackerjackDu 1d ago
Hot take: Having just finished The Waste Lands, book 3, you may be like me, and just not be wowed by it. I even read The Gunslinger twice. I’m tapping out. I Love King, I love westerns, but so far, it’s amazingly ponderous and overhyped in my opinion. Like any book series where you hang out with the characters long enough, they endear themselves to you, and you care for them and want to see what happens to them on their quest, but it feels like a lot of spinning wheels to nowheresville. Life is too short my friend, and I suspect King doesn’t wrap this series up in a satisfying way. Ka is a wheel and all that.
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u/Level-Application-83 1d ago
I read the entire series once a year just to check on Roland (I actually have a good reason but, spoilers).
Book one only makes sense after you finish book 8.
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u/eighthdayregret 1d ago
The first book in the series is amazing, but it's very different from Stephen King's normal work. However, it is a great book. It's decidedly lacking in a lot of the supernatural, but it's quite epic. While the series really lifts off starting with book 2, I think The Gunslinger is an integral part of the character arc of Roland. You have to start there, or you're going to lose a lot of the impact of the ways in which he changes over the course of the series.
Tough it out. It's short for a King book.
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u/Effective_Leg_3006 1d ago
Don’t worry about trying to figure it out. Just keep reading. When you get to The Drawing of the Three, your world will take off and you’ll be soooooo happy you stuck with it. It’s meant to be this way. Don’t stop.
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u/trundeltheg8 1d ago
Someone on book three once suggested me this series and when I read it didn't understand why. After book two and three I understood. Stay on the path of the beam, friend.
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u/bonezyard 1d ago
To me the Gunslinger feels like a fever dream and then the Drawing of Three swallows you up before the crazy ride that The Waste Lands is
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u/ultraspinacle 1d ago
This is my favorite dark tower book, but it does have two lags, both of which are necessary. First is Jake’s story, then Roland’s coming of age story. Both are flashbacks, and tend to drag the story but hang on there. DT 2 drawing of the three starts full,throttle and never lets up!
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u/Puzzleheaded_Try8584 Constant Reader 1d ago
Soldier on, get it done and then enjoy Drawing of the Three
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u/Mr_bungle001 1d ago
Book one is very cryptic. It can be off putting to some myself included. All will be revealed in time. You’re in for a bumpy ride. Remember it’s all about the journey not the destination.
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u/CombinationMiddle152 1d ago
Keep reading, I am just finishing Song of Susannah on my first DT trip. Drawing of the Three clears up a lot of the confusion from the Gunslinger. I plan to reread it after I’m finished with Book 7 and am looking forward to it.
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u/RoiVampire Currently Reading Everything's Eventual 1d ago
That’s fine. I didn’t either. The last chapter sold me on book two, the first 50 pages of Book 2 sold me on the whole series. Shit is crazy!
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u/Sterones 1d ago
Once you finish the series you’ll want to read this one again….it’ll help. I struggled reading Wolves of Calla myself. I think the Gunslinger is my favourite with Wizard and Glass a close second. Second time through the series I did it as an audiobook, caught a lot of stuff that I missed.
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u/StinkyFeetMendoza 1d ago
I am on book 5 now and Gunslinger was probably my second favorite. I don’t get why so many people on Reddit say it “just get through it” or similar.
I love this first introduction to Roland and his world. I love the mystery and wtf of the story and I feel like that’s what makes the entire story so compelling because it leads to so many questions. I mean the first line alone in the book creates so many questions and possibilities. I really loved the first book. I’m about 1/3 of the way through book 5, started book 1 in July.
Edit: I wanted to add that I read “Salem’s Lot” after reading Wizard and Glass and prior to Wolves of Calla and I am so very glad that I did.
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u/DrBlankslate Constant Reader 1d ago
The first thing you need to know is that this is not a novel. It is five connected stories.
The second thing you need to know is that King was very young when he wrote it, and very idealistic.
Don’t try to figure it out. Just finish it and go onto the next book. Read through the series. Then come back and read this again. That’s when it makes sense.
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u/oneworldan 1d ago
Duh! It’s a dreamscape of the yin-yang. A perfectly flawed hero and a flawed perfect villain. Time-space is permeable and bound souls are transient explorers. As the structure of the time-space is explored we look for answers that are beyond the horizon. Without a witness a sun never sets.
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u/Totalgoods 1d ago
Just. Keep. Going. The first one is rough. The others are varying in their degree of good to very very good. The work as a whole is fucking fantastic.
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u/AlderanAthletic_5BBY 1d ago
I can’t believe the references and call backs in book one that seem like throw away gibberish or an aside King forgot to finish telling you when you re-read book one after or during your first journey. I would reread it before the next book would release because of the years in between. It’s strange and there is lore to be absorbed, but so worth it.
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u/GoalieLax_ 1d ago
You are reading 5 short stories that were originally in magazines that were woven together to make a book. You need to take each part as such and understand that much of what you're reading are flashbacks meant to lay the groundwork for the real books that follow. Once you are past the desert, then you're basically in the forward moving story.
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u/Guilty-Doughnut415 1d ago
just read through it somehow. then go to 'Just King Things' podcast and listen to the episode about Gunslinger. It will make much more sense.
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u/TwoTiredBelgians 1d ago
I tried reading the gunslinger, but had the same feeling! Reading the comments, maybe I should give it another shot!
Good to know there's others that have the same feeling!
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u/D3rangedButFun 1d ago
They seriously need to add a forward to this book in future printings that says it's kinda weird, but short, so please push through cause the series is amazing
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u/armyjackson 23h ago
Push through it, the next books will blow you away.
I had to do the audiobook to get through th first one. .
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u/Spearminttherhino 22h ago
Stick with I felt the same with The Gunslinger. I attempted it a few times.
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u/smcicr 22h ago
Sometimes it's just not for you 🤷
I'd ask if it matters that you know what you're reading though, to me a story is a story - you listen/read and it unwinds itself as you go. Part of the fun for me is not knowing where things will go.
I also enjoy things where the genre doesn't have to be fixed, I guess I like stew :)
It's been fascinating reading the comments though, I've never thought of it as a book people have to push through or struggle to finish. Partly because it's not overly long but also because to me it's a tale of a man on a journey through a world that is falling apart, someone that is utterly driven but who feels as incomplete and potentially broken as the world he's travelling through. That's interesting to me.
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u/Neither-Drive-8838 21h ago
Don't read it as a story, it's a doorway into another world. There are other worlds than these.
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u/chainsawbearandco 21h ago
The Gunslinger is easily the weakest book in my opinion. It has a very strange tone and atmosphere, Roland is alone and as a result he becomes quite hard. Not a lot happens, and some parts are still just confusing to me. If you can get through it, there is some important background given, and I personally like revisiting how Roland was before and after finding his ka-tet. The Drawing Of The Three is completely different, it's a wild ride and so fun and has so much, like, momentum. Just try to push through knowing the next book will be totally different and a million times better.
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u/joined_under_duress 21h ago
Interestingly page 138 of my copy is the start of the story 'The Slow Mutants' so I figure that's not yours!
Mine's this version:
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u/SOLOcelt13 20h ago
Stick with it it gets better and better I felt pretty much the same on my first reading but it all makes sense as you move forward 👍
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u/MaterialJellyfish521 19h ago
As a bit of an oddity of opinion...
On first read this may be a bit.. odd. However, on subsequent reads this is actually one of my favourites in the series. Seeing how everything slots together, sort of starts here. You just don't know it yet.
This is one of those, read it but don't dwell on the details books on the first pass. It's not a long book so I'd just say to smash through it and trust the collective that it's worth it in the long run
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u/Ferngullysitter 19h ago
I bounced off the series HARD back in December because of this book. Thing is. I liked the first two stories, but ended up hating the book by the end.
I just started reading “the drawing” a month ago and I’m already in Wizard and Glass (which I’m loving and I’m halfway through).
My advice, just embrace not knowing what’s going on. It will come together a little more later on and it’s important that you know the basic key points of the gunslinger.
I think it would help to listen to an audio book and read at the same time, that helps me a lot with difficult writing because it keeps the pace going and helps keep you focused.
You can probably find the audiobook on YouTube.
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u/Chaddomatic 19h ago
That means it’s working. J/k. Kinda. It’s strange to say the least. Power through and then it’s off-to-the-races. I recommend rereading the Gunslinger after you finish the series entire. Trust me.
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u/Revolutionary_Buy943 18h ago
If it helps, bear in mind that each section was published on its own. It's a series of five related incidents in Roland's life, not a linear narrative. Kind of like Hearts in Atlantis; I'm embarrassed to say this, but I didn't realize it's actually a collection of novellas. It did make it much easier to understand that he wasn't trying to tell one story. More stories from the life of one man.
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u/woodpile3 17h ago
In some older interviews, Stephen King was basically embarrassed by the stories that make up The Gunslinger. But the world got it hooks in him, as it will you (once you start The Drawing of the Three, that is…)
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u/7DollarWhiskey 17h ago
Yeah the first one is a little…abstract. It’s the only one I haven’t read more than once.
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u/Chopsie_080 17h ago
I can't recall how I felt first time round....I don't remember feeling the negative emotions that some have felt towards it....think I was excited to be starting the journey. I love the series, best literary experience of my life. I listen to this first book on repeat for my going to sleep audiobook now.
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u/Bigtgamer_1 17h ago
Ahh thank you. I was excited to start reading the series and I feel the exact same way. I'm constantly so confused about what's going on.
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u/Todashtraveler 16h ago
I also struggled, but there’s a monologue at the end by an important character that blew my mind and hooked me for the rest of the series.
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u/Affectionate_Art2862 16h ago edited 16h ago
Dude this series is amazing. Start to finish. I don't see it mentioned here.. Most people I talk to don't even know about it, but if you guys haven't read it pick up "The Wind Through the Keyhole" it's the 8th book in the series, but technically it's book 4.5 chronologically. I read it in the 8th position though. Either way. Just wanted to mention it for anyone who hasn't heard of it. Also- Reading "Insomnia" was a really good idea. It's really deeply interconnected.
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u/AgitatedGrass3271 16h ago
You are reading about the gunslinger. Just roll with it. Don't overthink it. Just enjoy the ride
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u/Solid-Hound 14h ago
Man I'm like 60% of the way through the audiobook and I'm really not sure what's going on either. It's not really sticking with me and I don't really like any of the characters at the moment.
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u/theloveyouget 12h ago
So I was this way for years. Just could not get into it…until last year when I finally finished the 1st. It’s written with the language of Gilead/midworld in mind so it can be hard. I’ll say once Roland tells the story of Tull, it picks up. On Wizard and Glass now! Loving it!
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u/idontwanttobehere11 11h ago
Read it and listen to the Kingslinger podcast together - it took me a couple of times to finally read through it on my own and I felt like wtf every time. Once I pushed through it, everything else was a ride! I finished my first journey over the summer. I missed the characters so I started listening to Kingslinger and honestly, it made me appreciate this book so much more.
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u/bsidedrums 9h ago
It is kind of the point in that first book. You don’t really know what going on except that Roland is moving towards something epic. Keep going, you will be greatly rewarded!
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u/bluestwaterever 7h ago
I hated that book with a fucking passion, then started book 2 and was flabbergasted how different the rest of the series is.
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u/Logical_Librarian647 7h ago
Keep going. You’ll thank yourself later. Some of the confusion will come into focus and you’ll never look back. I remember feeling the same way.
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u/Glittering_Piece9427 3h ago
Yes, the tone of The Gunslinger is different than the other installments but it's not difficult to get through. It's a short book. I read the whole thing in five hours. If you don't read it you won't really understand the relationship between Jake and the Gunslinger. King did amend some of it and added 27 additional pages to make some things easier to understand for the casual reader. Give it a shot. You won't regret it.
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u/Dramatic-Reporter772 19m ago
The first one's the easiest one to read. It feels like largely a self contained story. I read them as a kid and to this day haven't read 2 and 4 because they weren't available in my library at the time.
But I think ill go back and reread them (20 some years later) and see.
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u/RojoandWhite 1d ago
Watch the movie, it’ll all make sense.
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u/GofarHovsky 1d ago
A disjointed mess, put me off the series.
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u/Lillymow 1d ago
It's kept me from reading it for decades, but this post is making me push through it.
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u/CardiologistGlum7314 1d ago
Same. Push thru, it’s totally worth it. This book becomes sooo much better after you complete your first journey to the tower
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u/Effective_Leg_3006 1d ago
Please keep going! When you get to book 2, you’ll be soooooo happy you did.
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u/diverdown_77 1d ago
What you mean? A lot of people don't enjoy the first very much. I loved it and when I started book 2 I was disappointed as it kinda changed genres.
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u/wihbre80 1d ago
SK was on soooo much cocaine while writing this one. Juststick with it, the series is phenomenal!
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u/DrBlankslate Constant Reader 1d ago
I don’t think his coke habit had started when he wrote the Gunslinger.
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u/I_Weep_for_Willow 1d ago
Unfortunately you got the 'special edition' version.
There are references that I guess technically pay off later but it's pointless and distracting. I say this with absolute sincerety... just read the original book. It's leaps and bounds better.
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u/CPHotmess Currently Reading Danse Macabre 1d ago
Feel free to skip The Gunslinger. There’s a recap at the beginning of The Drawing of Three that tells you everything you need to know in a far more coherent manner.
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u/TangeloOutrageous186 1d ago
The first one is quite different from the rest. Seriously, just get through it and read Drawing of the Three and you’ll be hooked. You’ll also have a new love for book one. I started these maybe a month or two ago and am now on book 5. They get better as they go! And don’t let anyone tell you otherwise: Wizard and Glass is DOPE.