Talk Stephen King: The Wastelands

My friend Derick is from Brasil. We talk often by email about Stephen King. He's sharp, as you'll discover in his article below. I asked him to write me an article about what it's like being a King fan in Brasil. My friend is 17, very sweetly humble and a very fast reader. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did! By the way, I like the fact that Derick is honest in his opinion; he doesn't gush and he's not afriad to share honest thoughts. So, here's one constant readers take on the Stephen King universe!

Stephen King (SK) happened to me about one year ago.

When I first saw him I said: This guy is nuts! Mainly because he's staring in a lot of his own movies.It happened while I was still in the school. A friend of mine said: "My brother loves reading his books." So, I tried. Started with The Shining and didn't like it, although it's not a bad book. The Shining (I read it in Portuguese) I thought was a great story with such a bad ending. I really think SK cannot make a great ending at all, but, anyway, I love his stories. Then, I tried reading English versions and the first was The Eyes Of The Dragon. Horrible book, to me, by far, the worst I've read from him (I may be wrong but that was I felt when it ended), kind of fairytales.

I had many reasons to stop reading Sk but I didn't and won't. I really thought: "He's so famous, he has to write something good." That was when I read Needful Things. And, Oh My Godness, I really loved it. The plot itself is amazing but a lot of characters. The next one I read was Bag of Bones, and I have to say: Amazing beautiful great story. Kyra almost made me cry and I really enjoied it. There are a lot I read: Desperation, The Dark Half, The Gunslinger, The Drawing of The Three, The WasteLands, Wizard and Glass, Skeleton Crew, 'Salem's Lot and The Bachman Books (not a wide list but not short neither).

I'll talk about each book I've read:

- Desperation: Excelent story, good for those who like action books (like me), but the ending was bad. David Carver really got my atention.

- The Dark Half: You can read it so fast, it happened to me and no other book did this to me. Very good plot, bad ending and so many questions not answered. I loved Thad's Twins... They're awesome.

- Skeleton Crew: I had not read all of the stories but I read a few ones. Pretty good, it depends on each tale.

- 'Salem's Lot: Horrible Book! The ending almost made me throw this book away. Messy most of the times.

- The Bachman Books: I read The Long Walk which was amazingly good, the splot is wonderful and I wish SK could tell us what Ray asked after winning The Long Walk. I read Rage too. Indeed, I only bought this book because of Rage and it's a book full of nothing. It was a bad book (Rage).

- The Gunslinger: Loved that book. The best I've read from The Dark Tower. It tells us exactly what Roland is and Jake.

- The Drawing of the Three: Good book, it shows us all characters but boring at times, it only got my atention after Detta and Odetta story, but good.

- The Wastelands: Another action book. Nothing to say unless It's good.

- Wizard and Glass: Excelent in the beginning, stopped reading after flashbacks. Those flashbacks spoiled the whole story.

I really have to say SK is a genious not only for writing books but having the ability to creat so amazing stories and be able to make them to come true. I love him and his books although not all are good. David asked me to write something. I really appreciate that but I don't know if I was capable to do such a thing, I wish I would. I'm a great SK fan but not like David. I wanted to introduce myself in the ending because being Bra"s"ilian boy is not a compliment at all. Sorry if I made any mistake but my English cannot be compared to yours.

I'm from Bra"s"il, I'm 17 years-old and live in São Paulo. Here, in Brazil, SK is not famous here (everybody asks me "Who is Stephen King" and they can only know who he is when I say: "He wrote The Green Mile", and I really liked chatting with you and exposing my thoughts, it was good. Thank you once more,Dérick.

A friend gave me two books: The Stand and The Dark Tower. I started the Dark Tower, The Gunslinger but quickly decided I would do better reading about the end of the world. I ate the Stand up that summer and then difted to new King novels. The Gunslinger would have to wait until I could dig through it with an audio edition. Finally I did read it -- and still didn't get it. "Don't you see," a highschool friend said, "they're in hell." A neat idea, but I was pretty sure that wasn't "it." What was up with this book?

.
I remember disappointment as Roland climbed the mountain only for the book to end in a long talk. A long talk! Come on!

.
I would have given up on the series -- truly -- but for the Drawing of the Three. Something called me back to the Dark Tower series. Was it King's own energy for this? Did I sense that something both dark and wonderful was going to happen in these books? The weight of the first book lifted in Drawing of the Three, and King's joyful story telling style returned. I loved it as Roland popped between world's through doors. There he was one moment in the world I knew, and then dropping back to another era in America. It was great when Eddie hid his drugs in Roland's world. The gangsters, the doors, the woman in the wheelchair. . . oh, and those things that attacked Roland on the beach (did-a-chick) were all great! Maybe, I considered, this series wasn't destined to be a total flop. I still didn't get it, but it made a connection.

The Wastelands reminded me very much of Star Trek's "The Search For Spock." Only, this was: The Search For Jake. Sorry, it just seemed that King wanted to redeem himself on this one and help Roland not look so bad. Again, there was bouncing between worlds, a fight with a huge bear, encounter a Nazi airplane, Randall Flagg -- and then the true plot twisting begins! The Tick Tock Man, Blane -- it's the kind of book that as you read it you think: Wow, this is good! But to be honest, the storyline isn't so unique it sticks to you. I would have to read it a fourth or fifth time to really nail down all the details. But I remember it was complicated and did very much progress the story.

And then. . . Mr. King stopped writing the Dark Tower for a while. I went off to College, got a job, got married. . . and then Wizard and Glass came out. I was really excited about this one but I just couldn't make it. I'm almost ashamed of that, but I just couldn't. There was true joy in realizing that for a brief period of time they were moving through the world of the Stand. But then, as things dipped into a back-story, I drifted off. My wife read the book and loved it. "Ruby slippers," she told me, "it's got all kinds of ties to the Wizard of Oz." Uh-huh! So that's supposed to tempt me? I'll just wait for the next book and read the argument, I decided. (This was before the internet really superly took off).

Right. . . wait for the next book. Years dripped by, but there was no next book. And the way the series had been going, it kind of seemed okay to me.

Then Mr. King had a bad car accident, got run over by a drunk -- and it looked like the Dark Tower was going to be a bust. Surely publishers wouldn't just let it die, they would do what publishers did with V.C. Andrews, just hire someone who writes like the author. But who writes like Stephen King?

Thankfully Stephen King did not die. In fact, he came out of recovery and handed his fans a wonderful gift called: "Dreamcatcher." And soon there was an anouncement from King: He would finish all three remaining books one after another.

.
The return to Roland's world was well worth it! I loved Wolves of the Calla! The idea of a town standing up for itself was indeed a page turner. The characters were developed, the plot moved, and even the old west feel, which hadn't really been present since The Gun Slinger, was back. I loved the final fight scene as plates whirred through the air and the gunslingers took their stand along with the townspeople. Brilliantly executed! It was the kind of book that made me shout outloud, "YEAH!" For once Roland wasn't just focused on his stupid tower, but was being what a gunslinger ought to be: A warrior for the oppressed. I loved it.

Right on the heels of this came Song of Susannah. Tightly written, if not sometiems confusing it certainly had its moments. The gunslinger meets Stephen King?! Three Stephen Kings! Nice. And, it all happens in a single day. It took me a while to realize that small point.

King concluded the series with massive novel The Dark Tower. In it we find redemption for a certain priest and new obsticals along the path. To be honest, I was in such a hurry to get to the Dark Tower, I found myself zoning out as plot rolled by. That, and I was delayed when my wife had a car accident and totalled the car -- which had my Dark Tower CD's. But at last I had to finish. As the magic day came, King gave fair notice: Don't feel obligated to read on. Make up your own ending. Yeah, right! I paid good money for this! "You're not going to like it," my wife warned. What does she know! Well, turns out she knows a lot. What?! The world is coming apart, only the dark tower can save everything -- and it ends where it began?

So, here's my question: If the series ends where it began, if I read it again, will it still end there? Is that where it goes everytime, or just this time?

.
It was an enjoyable journey. Far better than Lord of the Rings in my opinion. And, easily the best two in the series were Drawing of the Three, which re-engaged me in the series, and Wolves of the Calla, which again re-engaged me in Roland's quest. Of course, the journey is not over. This time you can take the journey via comic book. I'm not taking that journey, so please, anyone want to tell me if it comes out any differen