Science Fiction Fantasy Chronicles: forums - View Single Post

HoopyFrood · 17th July 2007, 09:48 PM

I, as I've said previously in this thread, thought that the ending of the Dark Tower was apt and I wasn't disappointed in the slightest (apart for Roland himself and the despair that he felt when he realised he had to go through it all again). It was a surprise, certainly, but then if you had asked me when I was reading the books how I thought it would end, I couldn't have given you an answer because I didn't have a clue. I knew that it wasn't likely to be a happy ending because this is King we're reading, he gives you a real ending, as it were. (Although the rest of the Ka-Tet achieved a happy ending at least, now that was more surprising I feel, because as I said, it's not often characters get a reprieve from Stephen King. But then we had got to know these characters to a much greater extent than any of his others and I think a happy ending was owed to them).

I don't think, IW, that you can quite equate someone's grammatical skills and their being disappointed with an ending to a book. I don't quite see how the two link, as a conclusion is more about plot and a person's reaction towards it rather than any grammatical ability that they might have...

I do understand how this is clearly King's own journey (especially seen how he includes himself in the series and the focus on the time when he was suffering from too much alcohol and drug abuse, and also the focus on his car accident). And ultimately authors are writing for themselves and that the story is their own, what they chose to write about -- but I think that authors, especially best-selling, popular ones like King, have to keep their fans and followers in mind. I mean, without them an author is nothing, they need people to buy their books, otherwise they really are just writing for themselves in all senses of the word.

And the fact is that some people can't help but feel disappointed...The Gunslinger was written quite a few years ago now, so for those who read it when it was first published, they have had a long, long wait for the series to finish...and, understandably, if you've had such a wait and then the ending isn't quite what you've expected, some disappointment is inevitable, no matter how much they tell themselves that, yes, this is King's story.

17th July 2007, 09:48 PM	#63 (permalink)
HoopyFrood Bleh Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 2,753	Re: Ending of the Dark Tower Series I, as I've said previously in this thread, thought that the ending of the Dark Tower was apt and I wasn't disappointed in the slightest (apart for Roland himself and the despair that he felt when he realised he had to go through it all again). It was a surprise, certainly, but then if you had asked me when I was reading the books how I thought it would end, I couldn't have given you an answer because I didn't have a clue. I knew that it wasn't likely to be a happy ending because this is King we're reading, he gives you a real ending, as it were. (Although the rest of the Ka-Tet achieved a happy ending at least, now that was more surprising I feel, because as I said, it's not often characters get a reprieve from Stephen King. But then we had got to know these characters to a much greater extent than any of his others and I think a happy ending was owed to them). I don't think, IW, that you can quite equate someone's grammatical skills and their being disappointed with an ending to a book. I don't quite see how the two link, as a conclusion is more about plot and a person's reaction towards it rather than any grammatical ability that they might have... I do understand how this is clearly King's own journey (especially seen how he includes himself in the series and the focus on the time when he was suffering from too much alcohol and drug abuse, and also the focus on his car accident). And ultimately authors are writing for themselves and that the story is their own, what they chose to write about -- but I think that authors, especially best-selling, popular ones like King, have to keep their fans and followers in mind. I mean, without them an author is nothing, they need people to buy their books, otherwise they really are just writing for themselves in all senses of the word. And the fact is that some people can't help but feel disappointed...The Gunslinger was written quite a few years ago now, so for those who read it when it was first published, they have had a long, long wait for the series to finish...and, understandably, if you've had such a wait and then the ending isn't quite what you've expected, some disappointment is inevitable, no matter how much they tell themselves that, yes, this is King's story.