The Dark Tower

The Dark Tower by Stephen King is the seventh and final volume of his Dark Tower epic and if one has not read the preceeding six will be pretty much incomprehensible. It is very difficult to write about one volume of this saga (and I use the word in it's dictionary definition) in isolation. From it's beginning in Volume One The Gunslinger King weaves a complex web of narrative with doors into other parallel worlds, crossing time zones, introducing new characters, killing characters and sometimes resurecting them further down the line. Without this background the reader is lost as so much that has gone before is brought to conclusion. Or is it? In the previous volume The Song of Susannah King introduces himself into the story as his characters seek him out on their passage to the Tower. In this final volume he plays an even bigger part and I am not altogether sure that this device, brave as it is, works. The ending of a seven volume narrative has to be special. A long and dangerous quest has to have an ending worthy of the sacrifices demanded of the characters involved and I have to admit that King's neo-Budhist ending was not quite satisfying for me. However, I am sure that the legions of followers for whom King can do no wrong will dismiss my minor criticism and they are probably right to do so. Perhaps I should start again with The Gunslinger and follow the adventure Roland-like and reach the ending that King wishes the reader to perceive. Such a project,I fear, would be likely to lead me to the Dark Tower of divorce. Stephen King writes that he was inspired to write this by reading Robert Browning's poem "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower came" what a pity he is not alive to tell us what he thinks of this book.