The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed...

In THE GUNSLINGER, Stephen King introduces readers to one of his most enigmatic heroes, Roland of Gilead, the Last Gunslinger. He is a haunting figure, a loner, on a spellbinding journey into good and evil, in a desolate world which frighteningly echoes our own.
In his first step towards the powerful and mysterious Dark Tower, Roland encounters an alluring woman named Alice, begins a friendship with Jake, a kid from New York, and faces an agonising choice between damnation and salvation as he pursues the Man in Black.

Both grippingly realistic and eerily dreamlike, THE GUNSLINGER leaves readers eagerly awaiting the next chapter.

And the Tower is closer…

Ok. I started re-reading this on Saturday and was extremely pleased to find I had correctly quoted the first line. Yay me!!

For me this has never been the strongest book in the series. Even with SK's reworking of the book, which was released last year, the Roland seen here is NOT the ole' long, tall, and ugly we've come to know and love.

The introduction of Jake was a welcome respite from the gunslingers lonely story, but when Roland makes his choice and lets Jake fall I found it hard to care what happened to Roland afterwards. Letting a child die was just a bit too much for me. But I am glad I persevered!!

So. I realise that I am the only one reading this at the moment but I tend to talk to myself anyway :D

I'm glad this is not the first book of the series that I read (Wizard and glass was my first) cos after Roland let Jake die I really didn't feel that I would want to know anything more. Even now, I find it hard to empathise with him about his betrayal.

I know Roland is a gunslinger and all but I found his ability to think of Jake as only 'the boy' pretty hard to swallow. Especially when he had previously admitted to loving him.

I'm sorry but this early version of Roland is just too mercenary. Maybe it is the introduction of the others that humanises him. Or maybe he has had this quality all along but it has had no chance to manifest yet!

I found that particular passage quite disturbing as well. What the hell kind of hero is Roland supposed to be ?? Way to generate sympathy for his plight :rolleyes:

I guess he is kind of an anti-hero here, more so than in any of the other books.

He's willing to do anything to catch the man in black, even if it means damning himself in the process. I guess having no imagination comes in handy sometimes :P