Stephen King’s Dark Tower series
I haven't always read Stephen King. I used to think that he writes mostly horror stories and I don't particularly like horror stories (or movies, for that matter. Takut!). But I'm quite easily influenced, and since MHH reads Stephen King, I found myself giving him a chance. After a few books, I found that Stephen King is indeed a very talented creative and imaginative storyteller, especially after reading one of his recent works, Duma Key. Do you know that the movie Shawshank Redemption is written based on a story by him?
Stephen King admires Tolkien's Lord of The Rings and (as with other authors in the genre) wanted to write a quest-based long story, and Dark Tower is his answer. There are 7 books in the series written in the span of 34 years. One day, during a Times booksale, MHH came across the third book. He wasn't sure whether to buy it or not because he hasn't read the first two yet. I encouraged to just buy it. In the following birthday and anniversary I surprised him with the remaining 6 books (how convenient it was not to have to think so hard on what to buy :) )
MHH finished the 7 books within a couple of months. It must have been wonderful not to have to wait for the next book to be published as it would have been with an ongoing series (think Harry Potter some five six years ago). I've only finished the first one, and to be frank I struggled to finish it. I couldn't follow some parts of the story. I sometimes found myself asking myself "What just happened?" I think my imagination is just not up to the fantasy fiction standard :) (I gave up reading Tolkien's Lord of The Rings after about 100 pages.) MHH said the first book is quite slow because it's the introduction. And he wrote this when he was 19! (wow)
Quite a long period lapsed before I finally picked up Book Two. And as I had feared, I didn't enjoy it as much as I would have liked to. At first. In fact, I was seriously considering giving up on the series altogether (oh, but the RM200+ already spent!), when the plot picks up at about page 50ish. The gunslinger found a door which is like a portal into someone else's mind/eye. Someone from our world. This person is to be part of his 'team' for the quest for the Dark Tower. I got engaged and hooked to the story. If reading a book is like sleeping, I’ve finally reached the REM stage. Now that I've started to enjoy the book, I can't wait to continue reading!
11 comments:
now i know what i don't read stephen king :P
ummu auni afif,
genre fantasy fiction ni mmg bukan utk semua orang. and biasanya guys lagi suka berbanding girls :)
Suka suka sukaaaa buku S.King (SK). Zmn dok belajar dulu rajin benor bc. Pastu bila berkenalan dgn Dean Koontz's, sy tinggalkan S.King's. Peberet sy cerita2 x berpijak di bumi nyata ni.
Shawshank Redemption sy tgk smpai 3x. Byk gak le cerita SK diTVkan & dimoviekan.
As for Lord of the rings, bukunya ada yg versi mudah bc...saga yg diringkaskan. Tolkien karang LOTR based on WORLD WAR I (kalau tak slh sy). Sy tonton LOTR 1,2,3 entah brp kali DVD ler, tak kuasa pergi panggung).
Tu zmn sblm ada anak. Sekrg ada anak tak dan dah nk enjoy2 bc novel ...waaaaa isk isk :(
suraiya,
skrg baca novel juga, tp novel utk diedit, kan? :)
suka istilah 'cerita tak berpijak di bumi nyata' hehe..
oh, LOTR ada versi mudah ke? yg unabridged tu sudah halaman 100 masih 'tak ke mana'.. nasib baik keluar movienya, boleh saya nikmati ceritanya juga.
maksud sy nvl english. nvl melayu mmg sy x bc sbb xda yg mcm j.archer, SK, D.Brown, grisham.
dulu org kepoh dok bc ayat2 cinta, sy cuba bc tp bab 1 x lps2 lg smpai le ni, dh lbh sethn.
bila pindah ke jab.buku dipaksa rela bc utk nilai. utk edit xda. utk pruf ada le sesikit. tp bc utk pruf atau edit x sama...coz kita fokus utk cari kesilapan bkn utk enjoy & satisfaction.
anyway nvl DINGIN SALJU INDIANA, ok. PERINDU PELANGI pun OK. Jgn lupa beli...promosi awl ni heee3
i enjoyed reading chronicles of nanria dan sekarang suka murder genre written by james patterson. dulu sidney sheldon, lepas tu buku kemudian dia tak berapa kick. hari tu kak huda bagi pinjam buku clive cussler - rasa macam baca buku james bond. sekarang tak sambung clive cussler tu, buku lain, sebab sekali start, susah nak letak. bukunya tebal! ranging to 500 pages each. fuh. tulisan kecil pula tu. la ni tengah cool down, baca buku motivation - tu pun rasa tak laju benar, hehe
and yup i still read judith mc naught, teresa medeiros, SEP - uh oh dia orang tu romantic genre. agaknya sebab suka berkhayal kut, hihi
suraiya,
dingin salju indiana mmg dah target nak beli pbakl ni (sudah termakan promosi hehe).. tapi perindu pelangi tu kena KIV dulu kot :)
ummu auni afif,
saya rasa saya boleh baca most genre (kecuali horror ;p atau war atau political eh byklah pulak yg tak minat), yang jiwang boleh, yang thriller pun boleh.. diversify gitu :)
Mynie, jom baca buku engineering..;P kihkihkih.... kes tak sempat baca novel...:)
alamak, cikgu engineering dah ajak baca buku engineering :)
(teringat zaman sekolah dulu mak selalu marah sebab baca buku cerita masa exam week)
actually, ada ke buku popular engineering (for public consumption ie bukan textbook) yg mcm buku2 pop-economics and pop-science?
yang saya confirm bc hari2 'KAMUS DEWAN' kwang2
i can only keep on reading books that stimulate the mind - no matter how fictitious
if it doesn't provoke thoughts... it's not a good book
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