Revisiting Mid-world

I try to reread at least one or two of my favorite series each year. I know some people are forever going ahead, reading new books, but for me, there's a sort of wonderful joy in returning to these old series. So the first series revisit this year is the Dark Tower series by Stephen King. There will be spoilers. You have been warned.

I'm going slow, sprinkling these books in between book club selections and other reading. But I finished the first book, The Gunslinger, today (review at Goodreads) and had a few thoughts about Roland, Jake and the concept of Ka.


I read the original version, not the revised, less plot-hole-filled version, but I think I like it that way. Even in the context of the full series, I prefer the original version. It feels SO different from the rest of the series. 

I've never really been a fan of Roland as a person, even as I adore him as a character. and in this book, most of all, he seems utterly alien. In fact, I might argue that one of the prevailing themes is the attempted humanization of Roland. He's introduced as this hardened gunslinger, heading across the desert, fresh off the complete obliteration of an entire town. But as he starts to cross the desert, he nearly dies and is saved by a boy - by Jake - who is utterly human, who is scared and confused and lost. 

And it's my favorite part of the book that follows - their travels across the rest of the desert, up the mountain and through the tunnel. Roland finds himself reflecting on his childhood. On the respect he had for his father figures, on the importance of companions. His flashbacks always seem to focus on those - on the worship he has for the men in his life (Cort, his father) or the way they let him down (Hax); and on his friendship with his companions. Cuthbert especially shows up a lot, as a more carefree and lighthearted contrast to Roland's steady solidness. 

And this is all coming in context of his relationship with Jake - a boy who he comes to love, to see as a sort of son. There's a real power in that brief moment when he considers just taking Jake and running, helping him grown up and become a Gunslinger in his own right. Roland seems sure that, could he accomplish that, the Man in Black could never stand against them. He's actually considering breaking away from his fate, a force which to this point he has seemed to just accept. 

But in the end, he can't do it, and I think it's also interesting that he, who thinks he is so cold and emotionless, he is the one who blames himself and carries guilt. Jake accepts that Roland chose the tower over him however - and in his final words, I always saw it as him absolving Roland of his death, and even of the betrayal. This is an indication of Jake himself, and his personality, but I like to think it's also a reflection of the side of Roland that can still connect with emotion and loss and forgiveness. That part of him understands that if he either keeps taking guilt onto himself or cuts himself from all emotion entirely, neither way can he attain his goal.

Or maybe I think about things too much :)