The Gunslinger

I came to The Gunslinger as a non-fan of King, and on the whole, still am. But something about this series grabbed my interest. I don't remember precisely, but mainly it wasn't horror and was by King. Happy I was at the pleasant surprise and soon immersed my attention into the series. (Which I still intend to finish.) What fascinated me, and still does, are a few distinctive features of the books as a whole.

The mood-tone of the work, I call it the cine of writing, is particularly memorable. To me there's a kind of rolling continuity of mood-tone, like enjoyable instrumental music which just keeps going and one enjoys continuously. I found this constancy to be intriguing, as it seemed to me the books did not vary much by way of emotional quotient, but possessed a constancy of hold on me.

The particular reality fascinated me, but not for its uniqueness. I've read thousands of sci-fi and fantasy books, so many I can remember only a fraction of the titles, thus the particular type of reality itself was not the intrigue, but its peculiar blend of unreal and real. I persistently had the feeling that this unreal reality, was in some way real. But not because King did a good job of immersing me, which he did, or was particularly descriptive, which he's not, but because the story, the overall, has the effect of conveying the sense that's it's written from personal experience. Like the eccentricities of some of the characters, they particularly had that realness which comes from weirdness which is really too weird for a story, but is nonetheless true. The floor-cleaning woman comes to mind

This unreal realness I enjoyed tremendously. A constant mystery. The particular elements which are unique to the story, like the riddles, the door etc, are thus magnified as interesting when connected to from this perspective and view. The whole series took on an entirely different focus and relationship. A somewhat unique perspective I had not encountered before and have only encountered in one other book, one I am currently reading. (Unfathomable by Rose Moon.)

That constant feeling leads to the ongoing question, “But how could this be real?” Or, “How could King have witnessed this if not?” The speculations which result are a joy for me. However, as excellent as this aspect of the book and series is, it's not what stays with me. What I retain is that mood, the Feel of Roland, a rare character name I can remember, and how I too knew him. Knew Roland before I read King's recollections of his adventures.