Book Reviews: Stephen King
© Copyright 2000-2004, Skylar
Hamilton Burris
Stephen King is unrivalled for his proliferation in the horror genre. In the 1980's he became America's best-selling writer of fiction. His first novel, Carrie, was published in 1974. For a short time he wrote novels (including The Long Walk and The Running Man) under the pseudonym of Richard Bachman. He plans to end his career as a novelist after publishing five books beginning with From a Buick 8. He told the Los Angeles Times that he didn’t want to end up recycling plots. "That’s it," he said, "I’m done. Done writing books."
Below you will find reviews of the first five books in the Dark Tower series as well as two quizzes on these books.
Volume I: The Gunslinger * * * * * * * (7)
Stephen King's Dark Tower series seems to be loosely based on Robert Browning's famous poem, "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came." In the poem, the characters of Giles, Cuthbert, and Roland are introduced, but they are not developed. King creates stories for the characters, but The Dark Tower is as enigmatic in his book as it is in Browning's poem. Perhaps the best of King's Dark Tower series is the first novel in it, The Gunslinger. It is more like a fantasy-western than any of the other novels. It develops Roland into a gripping character whose allure seems to fade slightly in the sequels.
Volume II: The Drawing of the Three * * * * * (5)
The novel drags in parts but has some good scenes of dialogue toward the end. The reader may become attached to the characters at this point, and the story makes the novel an easy read. However, King tried too hard in this and other novels to be a "realistic" writer and to deal with things like city life and childhood traumas.
Volume
III: The
Waste Lands * * * * (4)
King leaves a disappointing gap between this third novel in The Dark Tower series and The Drawing of the Three. Two of the characters, Eddie and Susan, have a relationship that just seems to happen without explanation, and the novel ends abruptly in media res. The other two novels seemed to have at least some temporary resolution. By the time he reaches The Wastelands, the Dark Tower itself may have become meaningless to the reader, because King gives so few indications that there is really any practical or moral purpose to finding it. At this point, the main interest lies in the characters, and whether or not they will survive.
Volume IV: Wizard and Glass * * * * * * (6)
Wizard and Glass is the fourth and latest novel in Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. It picks up where the third novel in the series, The Waste Lands, left off. The cliff hanger that ended The Waste Lands is resolved in an all-out riddle contest, but naturally further complications ensue. This fourth novel, however, is primarily concerned with taking us back to Roland’s personal story, which began in The Gunslinger. As well as being part of an epic adventure, Wizard and Glass is, at its heart, a romance, and recounts the love story of Roland and Susan Delgado.
Stephen King is a prolific popular fiction writer, but he has more literary acumen than most people realize. The Dark Tower series perhaps best displays his ability. The Wizard and the Glass has echoes of Shakespeare and Christian allegory; it draws on The Wizard of Oz, King’s own novel The Stand, and of course the Robert Browning poem upon which the series is based, "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came." Roland and Susan together form a sort of Christ-figure in the novel. It is Susan who suffers the betrayal, but Roland’s Tower is for him something like Christ’s cross. It is his purpose and destiny, and its shadow looms darkly about him in life. He, like Christ, must sacrifice a life of potential worldly happiness to fulfill his dark purpose. Roland’s declaration, "As for me, I choose the Tower" has biblical echoes of the first Joshua’s speech, "Choose you this day whom you will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." But the Christian allegory begins to crumble where the ambiance of Browning’s poem takes over. The Dark Tower is as ambiguous in King’s series as it was in Browning’s poem. It is unclear whether finding the Dark Tower will really halt the destruction of Mid-World, whether Roland’s quest is a worthy goal (the will of "ka") or merely a kind of madness. Is Roland riding the dream, or, as Cuthbert wonders, "is it riding him?" It is the question that haunts all four of the novels.
In addition to drawing on several literary resources for Wizard and Glass, Stephen King also combines numerous genres: western, fantasy, science-fiction, horror, romance, and modern drama. This mixture of genres at times seems misguided, creating an effect similar to that of a glaring anachronism, but for the most part, it allows King to craft a varied, interesting story. The book contains multiple plot lines and a myriad of characters, which, although fairly well intertwined, make the 672 page tome a little longer than it has to be; some small amount of editing may have produced a more powerful story. Another factor that tends to lessen the quality of King’s work is the growing number of scenes that seem to be inserted for no other purpose than to either titillate the reader or entirely gross him out. One must expect blood and gore from a horror writer, but that is not the kind of grossness to which I object. The particular brand of vulgarism King (occasionally) delights in would, in my opinion, be better avoided. It is often sexual and always bizarre.
Despite these flaws, Wizard and Glass is a well-crafted novel with many gripping scenes and a fascinating overall storyline. It is better than either of the last two novels in the series (The Waste Lands and The Drawing of the Three), but it does not quite match the book that started it all, The Gunslinger.
Volume
V: Wolves
of the Calla * * * * * * * (7)
Wolves of the Calla opens not with the characters that have grown so familiar to us in the previous Dark Tower books, but with the inhabitants of the rural village of Calla Bryn Sturgis. The horrifying, mysterious challenge that faces them is intertwined with Roland's quest for the Dark Tower, but in many ways their story can stand alone as a novel in and of itself, and that makes Wolves of the Calla much more interesting than its predecessor Wizard and Glass.
The plot moves more quickly than some of the previous Dark Tower volumes, and the suspense is more expertly crafted. The reader will grow to care more about each of the members of Roland's ka-tet, particularly Jake, who is further developed in this novel.
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