The Dark Tower (Showtime)

[Buc Wheat]

actually wasn't aware this had been made into a movie!

I only read the 1st book when it 1st came out, and couldn't
tell you anything about it now (old age)...but I saw it coming
on Showtime last night, and I like Idris Elba so watched.

Did they just do the 1st book in this movie, or did they cram all
the books together?

Wasn't bad. Thought McConaughey did a good job w/ his character.

[Todd P.]

I was under the impression that the movie is a sequel to the novels.

The Dark Tower series is almost as overrated as It so I avoided the movie. King owes me a beer for wasting so much of my life on those books.

[Tim Fortuna]

I was under the impression that the movie is a sequel to the novels.

The Dark Tower series is almost as overrated as It so I avoided the movie. King owes me a beer for wasting so much of my life on those books.

I would say he owes you two beers.

[Todd P.]

I would say he owes you two beers.

I don't actually like beer, but he owes me something. That ending was a big part of what led to me exiting the "constant reader" club.

[tay666]

Anyway - yeah, the movie was supposed to follow the events from the books.
I only got through the first two books and can only remember bits and pieces of them.
Still haven't seen the movie.

[Todd P.]

Wikipedia agrees that the movie is a continuation of the novels. Sort of. You say you haven't read them all, O wiser man than I? Then the following line is a spoiler:


The ending of the last novel puts Roland right back where he was at the beginning of the first novel, except that he's carrying the Horn of Eld. Which is important for some reason I've forgotten. He wasn't carrying it in the first novel, but he is carrying it in the movie.

[tay666]

Yeah. King started cranking out way too many books for me to keep up with, and I just kinda quit reading his books all together. Somewhere around Insomnia.
Matter of fact, I think the last one I read by him was Buick 8.

[Buc Wheat]

I stopped after 'Needful Things' (which I enjoyed). Then I f'ed up
and tried 'Under The Dome' but could only make my way 1/2 thru it
(still don't know the reason for the dome)

always felt King's talents lay more in novella's or short stories.
The 'Bachman' collection, esp 'The Long Walk' were tremendous!

But you give him the job of writing a long novel and it's like he
quits at the end and just pulls something stupid outta his arse just
to wrap it up & get it off to the publishers.

I only started reading him cuz Thomas Tyron (Harvest Home, The Other)
stopped writing great horror novels and I thought I needed a fix. He didn't
match his or Robert McCammon's writing skills (IMHO)

[Todd P.]

I still regularly check out what he's writing, but I don't buy the books anymore. My local library gets my business these days. And at that, I skim the spoilers first to see if I'm interested. Didn't bother with Under the Dome. Seems a lot of people love 11/22/63 but I didn't for a variety of reasons.

The Dark Tower series influences a lot of what he's done in the past 20 years, in a bad way. Plus, he's been so incredibly rich for so many years that he seems to have forgotten what it was like to work his ass off to get the bills paid.

Most recent book by King that I enjoyed was Joyland, and that one I like a ton.

[Todd P.]

Apologies if I've derailed the thread, Buc. Nothing has changed in the last day, I still haven't seen The Dark Tower.

[Misellus]

But you give him the job of writing a long novel and it's like he
quits at the end and just pulls something stupid outta his arse just
to wrap it up & get it off to the publishers.

This is exactly how I feel about him too. I loved The Stand but the end was disappointing.

Not sure what the last SK novel was that I read. Googling it, it was Bag of Bones in 1998. Sounds right. I barely remember it but there was a bit about how young authors might only publish 1 book a year but they'll write 2 or 3 then sell the extras during a bad year. Thinking King ran out of early books back in the 80s and everything since has been "Chopping Broccoli"

m-

[Buc Wheat]

Apologies if I've derailed the thread, Buc. Nothing has changed in the last day, I still haven't seen The Dark Tower.

None necessary, Shippie! Fair game that one results in the other.

(now excuse me... 2 more eps to go on season 2 of Sabrina...)

(doesn't make me a bad person!)