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Comment by entropie | Hacker News Reader

Really cool!

> The Man in Black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.

I did not refresh to check if you already have that, but I really find it very strong. Its from Kings "Dark Tower - Black" (edit: its "The Gunslinger", not Black. its named "Schwarz" in the german translations) the first of 8 books in the series.

If you dont know it; its not like the usual King books. It mixes fantasy elements (inspired by LoTR), western, scfi (robots, AI-trains) cyberpunk and horror. Its a great series!

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I actually read the first book and it was so poorly written it made me wonder if I should continue, because I did find the general story quite engaging. I've heard it gets better/tighter in subsequent books, but it was the only King i've ever read so wasn't sure if he just had a sort of sloppy style (he did write pretty prolifically). I also read it following a Cormac McCarthy book so that might have lead me to believe it was sloppier than it deserved.

> I actually read the first book and it was so poorly written it made me wonder if I should continue

In his defense, that was early in his career, and in one of the countless afterwords or prefaces, he also mentions that he has, of course, evolved since then.

"The Gunslinger" is really a bit borderline. The next one, "The Drawing of the Three" is much more complex and better written. You could also read the last book first ("The Wind Through the Keyhole"); it’s separate from the main story and set somewhere in between, but it’s the final book.

> Cormac McCarthy

No country for old men? Its probably in my top 5 of all the books (and movies) that I read. A masterpiece.

Edit: i realized i mixed the names up. Its not black, its "The Gunslinger". Its translated as black in the german series and confused me.

I haven't read No Country yet - I think at the time it was Suttree which is definitely in my top 5 - I also read The Road recently and was pretty blown away, really quick read and very meticulously structured, I loved it. I'll make a point to read No Country, I heard it was originally written as a screenplay and so is less descriptive than his other work.

I may be one of the few people who preferred the original version of The Gunslinger.

I dropped it after Wizard and Glass, though. I really like the setting and the concepts in the Dark Tower but it started to feel a bit too self indulgent and up King's own ass, and I just kind of stopped caring.

Also the older I got the more cringe Susannah Dean became as a character.

> I may be one of the few people who preferred the original version of The Gunslinger.

In case it isn't clear, I think poster I'm replying to is referencing the fact that King went back decades later and re-wrote The Gunslinger, mostly for continuity I believe. I've not yet read the rewrite, so I'm unsure if it changes the writing style at all. (I didn't mind the first book, it's just a bit slow)

The exact same thing happened to me. I re-read The Gunslinger a decade after my first read, and somehow found it even worse.

For a long time I refused to read King, but I've since read Salem's Lot, Pet Sematary and The Shining and all were great.

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