Today I finished what I would in certain ways consider one of the greatest books I have ever read. The Gunslinger (Expanded edition) is the start of Stephen King's Dark Tower series.
The Gunslinger tells an enchanting story of a man who trails the "black cloaked priest". The book is essentially a character story more than anything else. It is the progressing trials and responses that The Gunslinger encounters and makes that shape the story as one that is so absorbing.
King's prose is a wonderful blend of abstract flashbacks and precise highlighting of character conflict that together form a picture that tugs at the strings of the heart.
In some ways, though, I found The Gunslinger to be a little weak. See, while King's prose is clearly as close to artistic perfection as one could ask for, the plot seems to be a little scattered. It seems that in some ways King invented certain meetings and inscribed them merely so he could show his audience the flashback in a fitting context.
This was for me quite frustrating because although I always enjoyed the flashbacks and parts of the story that were focused on progressing the story line, all of this seemed to be weighted down by unnecessary baggage.
Complaints aside, my verdict on The Gunslinger is that it is clearly a work of literary mastery. Impressive and real, very few books compare to the first piece of Stephen King's magnum opus.
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