The Dark Tower I

The Gunslinger

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: George Guidall

Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

“An impressive work of mythic magnitude that may turn out to be Stephen King’s greatest literary achievement” (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution), The Gunslinger is the first volume in the epic Dark Tower Series.

A #1 national bestseller, The Gunslinger introduces listeners to one of Stephen King’s most powerful creations, Roland of Gilead: The Last Gunslinger. He is a haunting figure, a loner on a spellbinding journey into good and evil. In his desolate world, which mirrors our own in frightening ways, Roland tracks The Man in Black, encounters an enticing woman named Alice, and begins a friendship with the boy from New York named Jake.

Inspired in part by the Robert Browning narrative poem, “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came,” The Gunslinger is “a compelling whirlpool of a story that draws one irretrievable to its center” (Milwaukee Sentinel). It is “brilliant and fresh…and will leave you panting for more” (Booklist).

©1993, 2003 Stephen King (P)2003 Penguin Audio and Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"An impressive work of mythic magnitude. May turn out to be Stephen King's greatest literary achievement." (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

"A compelling whirlpool of a story that draws one irretrievably to its center." (Milwaukee Sentinel)

"Brilliant, fresh and compelling - will leave you panting for more." (Booklist)

Just as good as I remember

Loved this book decades ago and it still holds up. Can't wait for the movie version!

Nearly Perfect

Love the story, love the pace just not a fan of Mr. Guidall's whiney Jake voice. He's a gunslinger for the man Jesus' sake! Remember the face of your father and show some respect...

loved this book

loved this book one of my favorites and I recemed this book to people who like any of Stephen Kings books

Good for Background noise

Not sure which way to go with this review. Story bored me but I believe that's mostly because I couldn't get past the narrator. Everyone seems to rave over George guidall but I personally think he brings nothing to the table. His voice irritates me in a way I can't really explain, I want to say it's gravelly or too harsh but those aren't the right words either. He didn't fit the character at all, in my head at least, but more than that it just felt like it droned on. Good for having something playing in the background, though, I suppose. Not worth my credit.

Couldn't be more disappointed.

I was reading the critics reviews and usually I LOVE a good Stephen King novel. This wasn't what I was expecting. Basically a dark twist on Lord of the Rings (I love those books), and what I mean by that, is everything took so long to develop, and over descriptions seemed to be useless for sensory input.

The main problem I have with the book is the performance. The narrator sounds like an old man and his voice is very rough and mostly monotonous, which makes it hard to get into. I kept having my mind wander and having to force myself to listen like it was a chemistry lecture. His voice doesn't really fit the plot as I had hoped.

If the rest of the series ever gets another performer I may be interested in seeing how the story plays out in book 2 and 3, but for now, nah.

I kept waiting for something to happen.

I love this narrator, but the story seemed plodding and i had to struggle to finish it. This is my least favorite S.K. novel so far.

Great story

This is a great story overall. Hard to follow at times since it jumps back and forth, but still a great story. The narrator sounds like Ian McShane from Deadwood, which is fantastic. The only problem is when he does the voices for Jacob and other kids. When he does the children's voices, he changes the pitch of his voice and it sounds more like he is mocking someone than like a child.

Gunslinger: Dark Tower Book 1

What did you like best about The Gunslinger? What did you like least?

The reader was very good. I have waited years to try one of this series books and won't be coming back for more. I waited for something to happen or to develop some sort of feeling for at least one of the characters but it never happened. Finally I was just waiting for the book to be over, because I don't like stopping once I've begun listening to or reading anything. I felt this way about the Bachman books as well, to the point that I just gave up. I'm sure my view of this book is at odds with others' views, since for the most part I believe people enjoy these, at least from what people I've talked to have to say, but it's just not my "cup of tea". So don't take my word for it: try it yourself. I had imagined it would be on the order of TALISMAN, which I enjoyed, but unless I missed something, it wasn't.

Has The Gunslinger turned you off from other books in this genre?

It has definitely turned me off from the Gunslinger: Dark Tower series.

Which scene was your favorite?

The final one signifying the book was over.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Probably not, although Running Man was a horrible book but the movie is one of my favorites (probably because it bore so little resemblance to the book).

Any additional comments?

No. I will continue to read Stephen King and enjoy his work, but just not this series.

First timers who didn’t like it should give it a second listen

Lots of people criticize this for being too slow, too weird, too nonsensical, etc. But in my opinion, you have to take into account that that this is the first of several books in a saga. Moreover, this is more literary in nature and requires you to think—it’s not something you should expect to be a “one and done” kind of book. It’s richly layered, and for people who criticize it for being too descriptive or slow because of its literary elements, keep in mind that part of the beauty of this book is its language, imagery, and allusions.

It seems that some people don’t like to linger over language nor do they like to exert the effort to understand or appreciate texts that aren’t immediately obvious or straightforward in their meaning. Maybe I’m different because I spent a lot of time studying and teaching literary works. But I will say that the first time i read this, i felt like a lot of people...it was just weird. But after coming back to the novel again after a few years, I was really enthralled by how deeply layered, carefully wrought, and enchanting the story is.

Can't wait to See the film

Picked it up to see film, awesomeness is all I can say. There will be a time where I can finally read the rest of these and I can't wait for that.