Source
r/TheDarkTower•
Feared77

Unpopular opinion: I actually enjoyed all the ‘unnecessary’ exposition and traveling time in The Dark Tower.

Palaver

This series is the only one I’ve ever read where the concept of a real quest hasn’t felt cheapened or cut to length. King made some bold decisions in including the long amounts of time they spend actually getting to the Tower.

In other books like The Hunger Games or similar that try to set up their own universe, all the action and exposition is neatly cut together so that you’re always occupied. In The Dark Tower the time in between major events adds so much to the scale of their objective. You get the sense like in the first few books of how absolutely massive and important the Ka-Tet’s role is because getting things done is more difficult than just teleporting right there.

What say ye, gunslingers of Eld?

Posted Mar 19, 2018, 12:22 PM UTC

12318
TexWashington•

You speak true and I say thankee big big.

54
Vawnn•

I agree completely.

The heart of these novels are the palavers between the ka-tet. The story an journey aren't nearly as important as characters and their growth.

27
Jeichert183•

I have only a couple of issues with the traveling parts.

  • When approaching Lud they can see the city in the distance a week or two (I don’t remember exactly) before reaching it. You can’t see beyond horizon and a horizon is generally about 15 miles away which is a three day walk if you’re going really slow. Even accounting for time running weird it the time from when they see the city to actually arriving there has never felt right to me.

  • At the end when it is just Roland and Susannah they go through all that hunting deer and making leather with Roland teaching Susannah and she picks up the sewing quickly, and being amazed at the processes, etc. It is supposed to be an entirely new experience except they literally did that in book three. Book three is not in the detail about it but it does say Eddie is walking around in new leather clothes that Roland taught them how to make.

7
CptAustus•

You can’t see beyond horizon and a horizon is generally about 15 miles away which is a three day walk if you’re going really slow.

That's assuming you're looking at the ground, I just assumed Lud's buildings were massive.

2
B1GTOBACC0•

The travel to Lud didn't bother me, since Roland described the time he's been traveling to the dark tower as impossibly long (I can't remember the actual number of miles he said). Distortion in the world makes sense within the story.

But yeah, Suze learning to tan leather and make clothes came way too late in the series. IIRC, Jake's still wearing leather clothes and moccasins when they get to the Calla, and even when they go Todash.

And even if those things weren't mentioned, they've been traveling through the uncivilized bizarro-wilderness for how long?

1
blippityblue72•

You say you like exposition and travel time? Have I got the books for you. r/WoT

5
H_P_L0ve_CRAFT•

I really enjoyed the in between banter to and from place to place. I’ve always wanted to do a cartoon/anime about The Dark Tower, and my first thought is a compilation of shenanigans of them on the road.

3
iiredsoxii•

That down time is when a majority of the character development and exposition actually happens. It's where the world is built. That's why stories like this and LOTR and WOT are so widely loved. You spend so much time in the details of the characters that you get attached and immersed.

3
Capn_Clown_Pants•

I didn’t go blindly into TDT series, I have been a fan of SK since I was 12, and I know full well what his writing style is like, especially in his longer works.

SK has been my favourite author my entire life and I personally feel that the downtime spent building character’s personalities and quirks, as well as the voluminous back stories provided for almost a everyone, is what makes all of King’s novels so much fun to read. I know he’s creating an entire universe filled with amazingly detailed characters.

2
SilverState815•

I think a chief difference between the Tower and most other sagas is that is spanned the vast majority of his career, whereas most sagas are churned out in a matter of a few years. Our favorite Ka-tet took decades to develop. They were always in his mind and forever being refined. Due to King almost dying on June 19(!), 1999, he may have felt rushed a little to complete the Tower after facing his own mortality. There is so much detail in the Tower, but can you imagine all the ideas King had about other little stories that were tied to it that never made it to paper? There must have been thousands, and I wouldn’t be surprised to learn he still thinks of them frequently.

2
ArrestedFever83•

i hold up that the only part of the series that I truly didn’t enjoy was the part with the breakers and ted brauntigan in the last book. that part dragged.

1
Kawasow•

Heart In Atlantis made it all seem a lot more worth it

1
Flexi-tarian•

I agree with you, especially if you consider that Tolkien's work and his LotR saga were a major influence. You'll find that Tolkien does the same in terms of "down time".

1
latorreoscura•

Wait what? I didn't know this was an unpopular opinion...?

1
Bing_Bong_the_Archer•

Me too!

1
Magrik•

Probably not an unpopular opinion here

1
8six7five3OhNy333ine•

Lol ever read A Song of Ice and Fire? If you enjoy exposition ( and what amounts to food porn) you’ll love it. I think the quest to the tower was absolutely the best part of the series, but I’m way more into haracter development than action. I only wish we could have gotten into the mind of ol RF a little more.

1
hallandoatmealcookie•

As King says, the joy is in the journey.

1