So it's the middle of the month and here's the discussion thread. As usual, feel free to post whenever you have finished the book.
I've read this one a few times. I really love the characters, and it's very directly related to King's The Dark Tower series.
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2016 12:35 pm
Okay so basically my first question is how did everyone react to the little bald doctors at first?
And the descriptions of what Ralph was seeing in his sleeplessness?
And the encounter with the Crimson King was pretty bizarre right? It's one of my favorite parts.
I've read this book a few times, but not in several years. It's one of my favorite King books. Its definitely one of my favorite The Dark Tower-related books.
That being said, would anyone be opposed to my putting The Gunslinger in the book suggestions for the next poll?
So, I gotta say that once again, I really enjoyed this book. I have even now started the Gunslinger again and will be doing a marathon read through the Dark tower series. - [I have only ever read the Gunslinger, and that was two years ago]
The idea of the Little bald doctors was incredibly fascinating, and strangely reassuring. Though it did take a couple of read throughs of the scene to fully grasp what they were talking about when it came to the Purpose and the Random. I also loved the addition of the three fates explanation, which helped so much in understanding it entirely. The romance aspect at the end, however, seemed so tacked on to me, but not too distracting. And the fact that the main hero dies at the end is just perfect as I am so fed up with happily ever afters.
The description of Insomnia was also extremely accurate as I have had many a brief brush with that condition, though not to the point of hallucinations, thank the Gods. He described the feelings amazingly well.
The whole abortion thing seemed a bit preachy at times, but all in all was handled really well, including the insane moment when the nutters decided to attack the womens shelter. I was practically screaming during that moment.
The encounter with the Crimson King was also endlessly strange, which is one of Kings best traits. I have never read an author like him who can make such insane things almost seem plausible, in a sense. He writes so realistically it was almost as if you where there with him, meeting this strange creature.
So, yeah, a very, very good read. Have you a fave character? I really like the two good bald doctors, and Ralph.
Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2016 5:39 pm
Do we really need the spoilers anymore? Oh well, I'm going to use one anyways, just in case.
I for one didn't like the book all that much, especially in the beginning. For about the first third of the book, I was just wondering what it was I reading, and why I was even trying to get through it. I was constantly trying to figure out if he wanted to speak of old age, insomnia, madness, loneliness, debates over abortion and the abuse that can follow, domestic violence... Of course, there can be many themes in a single story, but to me this one first felt scattered, like there was never any real focus, even though I could see how stressful or horrible some of these things were.
Once he introduced the little bald doctors, the story got more involving to me. I figured this would be the focus and the rest was just a lot of themes surrounding it, and I let the story carry me. It was fairly interesting overall and I was always wondering if they would manage to beat fate. In fact, I feel like a lot of King's novels are about the dreadful struggle against the inevitable, and "Done bun can't be undone" could be pretty much the idea behind every story I've read by him so far. It's an interesting take on the genre, which I find less scary than others, but still enticing. To me, the idea or the Random and the Purpose could have been pretty interesting, but either I didn't understand it, or the random is just an opposing force, a different purpose, because none of the "random" deaths ever seemed random... Most of them were predicted, announced, or at least took a while between the time in showed in the auras and the actual death. In fact, the Random was so demonized that it felt like just the usual Devil vs God, with a quick and shallow explanation of the misery god lets take upon the world even though he's supposed to be good...
I did like the way King described the auras and the Crimson King. It was very much like being in a dream state, and I could easily picture it, images phasing into other ones, revealing themselves gradually.
However, there is still something I don't like about the writing. I don't think I'll ever be a Stephen King fan, and while I wouldn't mind reading the Dark Tower series if it's voted for, I must admit I hope we won't keep reading King half the time... sweatdrop I don't know if it's the very slow pace at which he introduces normal elements of the story in the beginning to give context, or the shortcuts he sometimes uses to describe characters. It might also be linked to his clumsy attempts at representing the spoken language and various accents (Is it just because English isn't my first language? While I understand the words, I find myself stumbling upon those parts and not managing to pronounce the words in my head like I usually do while reading), or to the way he keeps interrupting his own sentences with parasitic thoughts and sounds. I get why he does it, but it annoys me more often than not. It could be all of these things and more, but there's definitely something in King's writing that is preventing me from enjoying his novels as much as I could.
Oh, and my favourite character was old Dor. I'm really intrigued by him, and I kept wondering what was his place in all of this and just how much he knew. Also bringing poetry into the narrative and implying that artists and poets might often be people who are more connected to the upper levels of existence was fun.
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