The Gunslinger by Stephen King

So they are making a film of this with Idris Elba as Roland Deschain & Matthew McConaughey as the Man in Black. I have to admit I could already hear McConaughey's voice while I was reading, so I guess that's good casting, even though I'm ready to kick my TV in every time one of his Lincoln commercials comes on.

I have a weird relationship with Stephen King's works. I love watching the movies they make of his novels, but actually reading his novels I find to be kind of a chore. I think I managed to get through The Green Mile, and I read a great short story from Night Shift called Gray Matter during my high school psychology class - not assigned, you understand (that after-lunch class was always a toughie to get through). I also loved reading his editorial in the back of Entertainment Weekly, which is where I found one of my all-time favorite novels, Shadow of the Wind.

But I do like reading the book before the movie comes out, so I tried this one. Well, at least I finished it. This is a strange book. The regular rules of narrative don't seem to apply. There's no lengthy exposition, explaining who the characters are and the setting you find them in. I'm assuming that's something that's going to be explained as the story proceeds, but I'm kind of not interested in continuing. I just found it very confusing, I think once the movie comes out and maybe the confusing bits are sorted out, maybe it'll pique my interest again. I'll just have to wait and hope I find this film adaptation as entertaining as I usually find them when they are made from King's works.

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