Stephen King Fans discussion

Setting up the thread for the Buddy Read discussion.
Remember to mark all spoilers, ideally with the page number/% or chapter or something to let people know where you are in the book.

Right Justin whats the proposed schedule? I'm gonna read a bit of this tomorrow if you don't mind. :p

We can keep the timeline pretty loose on this one and give it three weeks so others can catch up.

February 1 - 10 JAKE
February 11 - 21 LUD

I like it - gives time to read other things too. :)

The Waste Lands is another candidate for best in the series. There's plenty of great events and character development throughout.

I'm here and caught up finally. Just finished number 2 5 minutes ago.

Awesome. I got carried away and recently finished Wizard and Glass, but I've deviated and started IT.

I really like the first half of The Waste Lands. I thought Jake's story was interesting and the journey fur the Tower really takes off right from the beginning.

I like the first part of The Waste Lands also. It seems to be the true ending of The Drawing of the Three. It's also narratively similar to TDot3.

(view spoiler)[

Roland was supposed to draw Jack Mort as the third of his ka-tet; but he chose to save Jake instead. In Part I, he completes his katet.

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Ok.. So sorry I wasn't really in on DotT. I moved, and had a bunch of family stuff going on. However, I did already read #2 so I am gonna skip it and move on to book 3. Here we go!

I did however find some book club questions that I will be writing down and answering myself. I can send you guys a link to them if you want?

Yeah would do that or post the questions here, Jess. :) It would help spark off some chatter amongst us.

Awesome. Welcome back, Jesse. Fire away with discussion questions. That may spark some discussion.

The Waste Lands is loaded with widely disparate cultural signifiers, from early-career Paul Newman to speed-metal bands to Frodo Baggins to Germany's Weimar Republic to Sugary Ray Leonard to King Arthur's Court. What is the effect of this kind of "kitchen-sink" referencing? Describe the tone of Stephen King's novel.

How would you characterize Eddie Dean's emotional health in this third novel? What is the nature and provenance of his mysterious connection with Jake Chambers? How does their wordless affinity play out over the course of this novel?

What is the nature of morality in Mid-World? Does King encourage a traditional good-and-evil reading of his novel? Explain. What fates and fortunes ultimately meet the novel's "evil" or immoral characters? What of the benevolent characters?

Upon finding the metal ID tag and learning that the giant bear was called Shardik, Eddie is struck by a faint twinge of recognition. The name Shardik triggers in Eddie a seemingly inexplicable association "with rabbits." What is Stephen King's sly joke here?

How might the work of Richard Adams, both his classic Watership Down as well as the lesser-known novel Shardik, relate to some of the larger themes—of cultural decay, of societal conflict, of nature versus civilization—that run through The Waste Lands?

In his bizarre dreamscape early in the novel, what book is Eddie holding in his hand as he walks along Second Avenue? What is King up to here?

Explain the elements of the great paradox—rooted in the events of The Gunslinger and The Drawing of the Three—underlying Roland and Jake's "doubled" memories and burgeoning madness.

Recount what happens at the campsite in the "Bear and Bone" section after Roland tosses the jawbone of the man in black into the flames. What do the three pilgrims see in the fire? How does this episode spark the events by which Roland and Jake finally reconcile the paradox that is driving them mad? How do the images of the key and the rose come to inform the ka-tet's quest?

Who are the Grays and the Pubes? What is the nature of their war?

Discuss the notion of the purple blade of grass. What role does this image play in the climax of The Gunslinger, and how does it reassert itself more expansively in book three?

Consider the novel's title and its direct evocation of T. S. Eliot's acclaimed poem. "The Waste Land" met with more than a little controversy when it was published in 1922, because it marked such a radical and wholly unprecedented departure from traditional poetic style and structure. What is "The Waste Land" about? How do its themes and images echo throughout King's third volume?

In what ways does Eliot's revolutionary style—his virtuosic layerings of literary and historical allusions, his unconventional language and meter, his lyrical fluidity, and his haunting preoccupation with decay—speak to King's own style in The Dark Tower?

Eliot's poem has been called a dark riff on the quest tradition in Western literature. Where does King's novel fit in this tradition? In detailing the journey of the human soul searching for redemption, Eliot's poem largely established the concerns of literature's modernist movement with its exploration of classical literary conceits and concerns through the lens of an unmistakably twentieth-century condition—existential dread. What bearing does this have on Roland's own search for redemption?

What does the future hold for the Tick-Tock Man? Recount the scenes between Tick-Tock and Jake. Under what circumstances do you expect to encounter Andrew Quick again in future Dark Tower novels?

What are the circumstances prompting the appearance of Richard Fannin? Who is he? When, both in The Dark Tower series and elsewhere in King's fiction, have we encountered or heard of a stranger such as Fannin? Is he linked to Flagg? Is he Flagg himself?

In connection with the previous question, discuss the innumerable character connections and thematic overlaps which exist among and between the Dark Tower novels and other King works—The Stand, The Eyes of the Dragon, Black House, Insomnia, Hearts in Atlantis, and many others.

Three novels into The Dark Tower cycle, what are some of the thematic and tonal connections have been established between Browning's "Childe Roland" and King's Roland? Reread Browning's poem. How does it conclude? Is Browning's Roland finished with his quest by the final line? What clues might the poem give us about what may be coming in the four remaining Dark Tower volumes?

Discuss the way King's novels have come to occupy their own private universe, one that operates according to the truism that everything serves the Beam. For example, where do we see such prominent Waste Lands motifs as the rose, the key, the tower, the door, and the turtle in other King works?

Discuss the final two sections of The Waste Lands, "Bridge and City" and "Riddle and Waste Lands." In classic adventure-serial style, Volume III ends with the mother of all cliffhangers. What was your reaction to King's decision to close his novel without providing any sort of resolution to the Blaine the Mono situation? What do you expect will be the outcome of Roland's dangerous bargain?

In his concluding "Author's Note," King indicates that Wizard and Glass, the fourth volume, will be primarily concerned with Roland's life as a young man. What are you most curious to learn about the gunslinger's history and his quest for the Dark Tower?

Squire, I disagree on that. (view spoiler)[ I don't think that Mort was supposed to be the 3rd in the ka-tet just because his name was on the door. I think that he was just the path through to Jake, who was the first of the new ka-tet, the three, even though he passed through Roland's story before the three were prophesied.

I just don't see Roland allowing someone so... dishonorable as Jack Mort to be ka-tet. (hide spoiler)]

What is the nature of morality in Mid-World? Does King encourage a traditional good-and-evil reading of his novel? Explain.

I don't really believe that the story, as with most King novels, are truly Good Vs. Evil. I believe Uncle Steve loves to play devils advocate and toy with our feelings. I personally did not like Roland at first because of his attitudes, and by his actions he would be considered bad. Especially considering earlier events in the series. I believe the way to read the story is with an open mind to the actions of all characters. The series, to me at least, is mostly about redemption, making up for the past in many ways. The nature of morality in the series thus far is very fuzzy to me. Perhaps that is because a lot of the immoral actions have had to do with sacrifice, obviously that doesn't really make any of it right but no decision would be considered moral that way. That is entirely how we develop Roland's character through the first three books, a series of sacrifices. One which I only believe will truly become a bigger part of the series.

I agree, Becky. (view spoiler)[I think there are even some instances where King refers to Jake as the real three or the true third drawing or something along those lines. I think he had to face the Mort stuff first in order to get to Jake.
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Wow, Jesse. Those are some loaded discussion questions. Some of them pull in stuff I never even thought about when reading the book. I'm exciting to hear some responses to some if them as I think through my own.

Yeah penguin publishing has discussion questions on all of the books. Plus some other king novels as well.

Becky wrote: "Squire, I disagree on that."

And that's a legitimate point. But...

(view spoiler)[

the fact is that a person wasn't drawn from the door marked "The Pusher". We later learn that Roland had gone against Ka's will many times during his long journey, thus making him go through it all over again; and it seems to me that Ka had designated Jack Mort to be a part of his katet--Ka's will is not to be questioned. I've always thought that Roland's action here was one of the reasons for his doom to repeat his journey. And in a later book, it's revealed that Jake was one of the traps that had been set form him by the man in black. The way King ended TDot3 makes me believe that Roland had failed Ka's test here.

(hide spoiler)]

Of course, I could be wrong....

I think you're wrong Squire but I like the argument you're building nonetheless. Interesting to think how different the quest would be with death but not for you gunslinger as part of the tet.

It's one of the questions I'll be looking more closely at the next time I make the complete DT journey. I glean a little more insight each time I go throuogh the series.

I think that nothing could''ve been any different. Because it's all about ka. I might think you're going against it, but you're always serving it. So i don't agree with thesis about the third drawing as Squire said. Anyway it's a pretty interesting point of view...I think there's no way the Gunslinger could've slipped away from the path that's been written by Ka

Either way, I really liked the first half of the book. It was cool to see Jake and Eddie crossing paths and connection points between Jake's world and the world Roland inhabits. I really liked the scene at the bookstore where Jake gets the book about Blaine and the riddle book.

It's interesting how all the books have been comprised of novellas in a way. The Gunslinger was basically five individual stories and TDOTT had three distinct stories with some shuffling to connect them. This book is similar in that the first half focuses on Jake and the second half focuses on reaching a new town with new people.

Everyone still with me?

I'm here. :)

I'm here too. Less than 100 pages to go now. I just turned 506 20 minutes ago on the Kindle.

I'm really enjoying this series. Any reader who has the time to dedicate could enjoy this series. I think it's so far from what King usually writes and yet it's so him at the same time(because of the strangeness of the story itself).

Loving how everything ties into other parts of the book.

It's definitely different, but there are plenty if reminders to let you know it's SK. I'm curios to see how you like the ending.

I like the ending actually. Just finished it minutes ago and I have to say that I really felt the book to be the best so far although the first was pretty amazing.

SK never ceases to amaze me with his writing style and story lines. There's always something that happens that surprises me or entertains me. Without getting into the details and spoiling it, the whole riddles story line was actually very original and impressive.

I loved the ending of this book -- but I can see how much I would have hated it if I couldn't start right next into the next one! Trying to explain Blaine to my husband was fun. I did give him a few of the riddles and he usually figured them out faster than I could. I mostly was thinking too deeply about them.