(9/27/2004) The final volume of the Dark Tower cycle left me wrecked. I mean, I actually had a physical response by the time I finished reading the last page (pounding the book with my fists, a few tears, etc.), and I'm not usually the type of person to be affected by books or films in that fashion, although the Tower stories have always been a noticeable exception.

I'm even having trouble forming a coherent review. I mean, how do you encapsulate everything that goes on this book, like the resolution of a story arc and the fates of characters that I have been following for 10 years, since I was eleven years old (and that many other readers have been following much longer)?
How do you write a review where you don't dare reveal any of the plot points, because revealing even a minute point may detract from the emotional wallop that DT7 packs (assuming that you're not a total jackass and you care about preserving the experience for potential readers)??

Well, I suppose I can make a few comments on the ending without revealing much of anything. The final resolution (if you can call it that) is faithful to the original Robert Browning poem, not in a literal sense, but in the fact that it is bittersweet and offers a ray of hope that shines through the seeming gloom.

One of the most intriguing features of the book didn't even become prominent to me until the day after I finished reading the story. At one point, the reader is given basically the same choice that a major character is given at one point in the novel. I leave it to you to discover what the choice is, who makes it and where it falls in the story. Maybe that's a cop-out on my part, but believe me when I say the consequences of that decision (both the reader's and the character's) will stick in your head for long afterward.

Or better yet, just read the damn thing yourself.

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Created May 05, 2009 at 9:55pm • Submit your own review...