Dark Tower Questions

[Tarnish]

I hate to ask, really, but I've been reading "The Gunslinger" and it started out well, but, er...certain events near the beginning and rather confusing/hilarious prose have made just about impossible for me to take to story seriously so far. Without the "just about".

[SPOILER]Not to mention our MIGHTY PROTAGONIST mowing down a whole town. I'm still not sure what that was about. Though to be fair, I started skimming after the one guy was..."touched by God".[/SPOILER]

I've got other books to read and would like to know whether or not it's worth my time.

Thanks.

[Htom Sirveaux]

Consider the first book an "introductory chapter." Here you meet Roland, get a general idea of what his goals are, and get an impression of what a bad mutha (shut yo' mouth) he is. [spoiler]He had to mow down every last man, woman and child in Tull. They were in his way. He's the "tragic hero" type. He'll do whatever it takes to accomplish his ultimate goal. As for the spiritual content, most of it has no direct connection with Christianity, apart from the occasional throwaway mention of "the Jesus man."[/spoiler]
If you haven't finished The Gunslinger yet, go ahead and finish it. You'll like it more by the end. Then at least give The Drawing of the Three a shot. I swear it's way better.

[Tarnish]

Thanks for letting me know. The story and setting both interest me a lot, but the way the book is written make getting to the end kind of a chore. Hopefully it's worth it.

The spiritual/sexual content really doesn't bother as much as I thought it might, but it sometimes comes off as totally unnecessary and distracting. And, most times, unintentionally funny.

[SPOILER]What I was talking about was the man in black granting Nort(sp?) immortality, or some such. The scene was so vaguely described that my mind went to the gutter faster than usual.[/SPOILER]

[Htom Sirveaux]

The story and setting both interest me a lot, but the way the book is written make getting to the end kind of a chore.

Well, that's a Stephen King book for ya.