Wolfenstein

I'm tired.

I hope that I will be able to take some vacation soon. I haven't had a day off in about 5 months now. It's getting harder and harder to get myself going in the mornings.

Of course, you could look at the time this post was made, and say, "Well, you dumbass, it's 1:30 in the morning. No wonder you're tired!"

No, that's not it. I don't need much sleep and I never did. The thing is, I could go to bed at 9:00 PM and I would still, STILL feel exhausted in the morning when I went to work. I know this because I tried it. And that's because I haven't had a decent break from work in five fucking months.

This project should be done, or at least in a place that is manageable, in other month or less. Then, hopefully then, I can get some much needed R&R. I'm going to break if I don't.

The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three

There was much more to enjoy in this second volume of The Dark Tower than there was in the first volume. A lot more. I found the first half enthralling -- the parts focusing on Roland drawing Eddie out of his world and into his own. I liked Eddie immediately, and I think this is because he seemed very real. I could relate to him very well. My only disappointment is that the relationship between him and Roland never got to the point where I would have liked to have had it. And I realize it never will. They grew to like each other, respect each other, but in the end Eddie is still expendible to Roland. He will never grow so attached to him that he would choose Eddie if given the choice betwen him and his Tower. Never. I know that now, even this early. It's very clear to me.

But I've also learned that it's not the ending that is important, but rather the journey it takes to get there. That is true for Roland and therefore I enjoy the story as it is. It's also true for me, and I should not focus on what I know will eventually happen. I should not long to finish the book. No, I should just enjoy reading it.

I started getting bored with the story when Odetta entered the plot. At first I didn't like this part. I felt that it was now interfering with the development of Eddie and of the Eddie/Roland relationship that I was enjoying so much. Suddenly that part of the story ended and it seemed quick. Over too soon. I wasn't ready to leave it alone yet. I struggled through that part of the book, and I'm glad I got through it. The story got good again soon. Very good, in fact. I still wasn't sure how I felt about the Odetta/Detta storyline, but the third door had me at my fullest attention. The end of the book was exciting and kept me enthralled once again. I could actually visualize the scene in my head when Susannah emerged from the two split personalities Odetta and Detta. It was very vivid to me and a superb piece of storytelling. By far my favorite part of the book, although Roland in the gun shop and pharmacy is a very, very close competitor to it.

And most important, once again, I was compelled to immediately pick up the third book and start reading it as soon as I finished the second, just as had happened with the second after I had finished the first.

The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger

I put off reading The Dark Tower books for a very, very long time. I first heard about them when I was about 12 years old, and had just started reading Stephen King novels. At first I thought it was just one book called The Dark Tower, and expected it to be your token Stephen King book -- horror themed, contemporary setting, etc. When I learned it was something called "fantasy fiction", I found it strange that someone like Stephen King would write something like that. And not just one book, but three? (That's all the further King had gotten back there in 1992.)

So I didn't read that first book. I didn't have any interest in reading it, because at that time I wasn't mature enough to appreciate what it was. This was 1992. I was 12 years old and hadn't even read Tokien yet. I hadn't read The Stand, yet. I tried to read IT and couldn't get through chapter 1. Those books were too big for me then.

I'm quite happy I didn't make any attempt then to read them, since I'm sure my experience would have been diluted when I actually had the maturity and the patience to read them proper. It happened to me with Cujo. I read Cujo when I was waaay too young to understand or appreciate it, and to this day it remained one of my least favorite of King's novels. (Why the hell can the dog think? Why is there a monster in the closet? So...the dog is just rabid, or what?)

While I'm sure I could have full appreciated these books five, even ten years ago, I waited until now. Nothing wrong with that. So here I'm going to provide my thoughts on the first book in The Dark Tower series: The Gunslinger.

I started reading this book Wednesday night, and continued through until I finished it on Saturday. It's not an overly long book -- probably the shortest in the series, I would think. I only own the first four books currently: two through four are all thicker than The Gunslinger by far. In any case, I expected the first book to be more or less a simple introduction to the world Stephen King set out to create. And that's exactly as it served.

This first book doesn't cover much. I can summarize the entire thing with one sentence: The main character walks across a desert, through a mountiain, and to the coast of the sea in his quest after the man in black. (Technically he catches the man in black at the mountain, who then tells him to go to the coast of the sea. But whatever.) Such a simple span of events. I will admit, now that I'm half-way through the second book, the first book seems comparitively dull. But it had it's moments. The portion of the book in Tull was very interesting. As was the trek through the mountain tunnel. Most importantly, after reading that first book I liked Roland. He's a bit obsessive about his quest, and a bit too hung up on his ka, but I still liked him.

Overall, the book left me wanting more. Good thing, since there are six more books to go. And I really can't end this post without mentioning my feelings about Jake's fate. I didn't like that at all, and since I know where the story is going already, I'm sure that's exactly what King wanted.

When I finished the first book on Saturday night, I immediately cracked open the second one and continued on my way. That alone should tell you something positive about the story.

Here's a prime example of how the media doesn't give a crap about how accurate their reporting is, how detailed it is, or whether it's good journalism. All they care about is getting their story out first, no matter how many times they change it later.

"Chris Brown's Sentencing Postponed For Some Reason"

That was a headline I just read. For some reason? LOL. How informative.

Oh boy, twitter feeds.

Now my blog talks to twitter. I'm so happy they get along.

Ok, so that was sarcasm.