Journey step started: Dec 17, 2023
Journey step ended: Mar 28, 2024
Click the Google sheet to the right to see every item covered on this step of the journey.
The Book
Day 716: Dec 17, 2023
It’s a very special day when I get to start on PAGE 1 of a Stephen King novel.
Today, I am excited to start the 2nd book of The Dark Tower saga. It’s been decades since I’ve read it, so it’ll feel very fresh as I now read the opening words:
“Hobbits were big when I was nineteen”
(ok, so maybe that’s the “Introduction”, but still, an interesting opening line!)
As I did with The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger, I’m going to listen to the audiobook as read by Frank Muller. I discovered (thanks to a tip from one of the podcasts) that my mind absolutely focuses on the story if I listen while my eyes are on the text.
However, the “Introduction” that King wrote for this re-released edition is not part of the audiobook, so I’m just going to have to read it the old-fashioned way like a caveman.
Sounds corny now; felt wonderful then. Felt very cool. More than anything else I wanted to get inside my readers’ defenses, wanted to rip them and ravish them and change them forever with nothing but story. And I felt I could do those things. I felt I had been made to do those things.
That was King talking about being nineteen. And if he could travel back in time, he would have to admit to his nineteen-year-old self that he was RIGHT!
…if you reading this happen to be very young, don’t let your elders and supposed betters tell you any different. Sure, you’ve never been to Paris. No, you never ran with the bulls at Pamplona. Yes, you’re a pissant who had no hair in your armpits until three years ago—but so what? If you don’t start out too big for your britches, how are you gonna fill ’em when you grow up?
I wish King were MY Dad!
I’ve gotten past King’s introduction and his reflections on age and his accomplishments of completing the Tower Sage.
Now I move into the book proper, which starts with a simple tagline (or header or whatever):
19
Renewal
That’s an interesting contrast to the reissue of The Gunslinger which had “Resumption”.
I don’t recall if the subsequent books all have a similar R-styled tag-word. Don’t spoil it for me if you DO know!
The Gunslinger ends with Roland sitting upon the beach of the Western Sea, watching the sunset. The man in black is dead, the gunslinger’s own future course unclear; The Drawing of the Three begins on that same beach, less than seven hours later.
You can almost see the Star Wars like text scrawling into the distance on the screen with a John Williams soundtrack playing majestically.
(courtesy of https://starwarsintrocreator.kassellabs.io/)
Now reading “Prologue – The Sailor”
The horror was a crawling thing which must have been cast up by a previous wave. It dragged a wet, gleaming body laboriously along the sand. It was about four feet long and about four yards to the right. It regarded Roland with bleak eyes on stalks. Its long serrated beak dropped open and it began to make a noise that was weirdly like human speech:
We jump right into the terrifying, don’t we? Imaging this on screen!
…and Roland saw the stumps of the first and second fingers of his right hand disappearing into the creature’s jagged beak. It lunged again and Roland lifted his dripping right hand just in time to save his remaining two fingers.
Well that’s a real shitty way for a Gunslinger’s story to start off!
All I can think about is when Mike Flanagan comes to casting the role of Roland, will he call for an actor who is already missing two fingers? Or will he have the expense of digitally (no pun intended) removing those fingers from every scene for the entirety of the series from this point on?
That question alone would have had me abandon the project. Good thing, then, that I’m not in charge!
I stop my reading today with the Prologue and now tune in to the first of many podcasts who methodically released episodes as they too read through this book.
First up is Two Guys to the Dark Tower Came.
They brought up two points from the “Argument” (the short summary of the previous book) that I had questions on myself:
That Marten was a more powerful wizard that Walter. I too had gathered from the last book that they were one in the same?
Letting Jake go was the second-hardest decision that Roland ever had to make. What was the first?
Day 717: Dec 18, 2023
Roland has awoken on a beach only to discover he will have difficulty counting to 10 for the rest of his life.
Today, I dip my toe (the good one, not the chewed off one) into Chapter 1 of “The Drawing of the Three”.
He tottered to his feet and looked up and down the deserted strand. It was the color of an undergarment which has gone a long time without washing…
Now THAT’S a color I hope never to see!
Perhaps other predators had taken it; perhaps its own kind had given it a burial at sea, as the elaphaunts, giant creatures of whom he had heard in childhood stories, were reputed to bury their own dead.
I was going to say that “elephaunts” were a ripoff/homage to the “oliphaunts” of Lord of the Rings, but then I learned “The Song of Roland” first mentioned “oliphants” in the 11th century.
IT’S ALL CONNECTED!
He held on a moment longer, turning his right arm over and bringing it close to his eyes, looking for the telltale red lines of infection, of some poison seeping steadily toward the middle of him.
The palm of his hand was a dull red. Not a good sign.
I jerk off left-handed, he thought, at least that’s something.
TMI, Roland. TMI.
I stop after Part 1, Ch 1, Sub Chapter 2 (6% of the way through according to my digital reader).
I now turn to Dark Tower Palaver who reviewed the Prologue and these two subsections of The Drawing of the Three.
The disrespect they’re showing to The Gunslinger!
Yes, Drawing of the Three may be a more recognizable King style, but the otherworldly voice of the first book will stay with me for a long time.
Good point about the Prologue of The Drawing of the Three.
How is that a Prologue? Chapter 1 picks up seconds after the action of the Prologue – so why wasn’t it all just Chapter 1?
Day 718: Dec 19, 2023
They say Chapter 1 of The Drawing of the Three was action-packed. But so far, Roland has only taken inventory of his guns and ammo and thought about life moving forward as an 8-digit man.
I pick up reading in section 3 of this chapter.
Not much water left, either. There was a whole sea in front of him, for all the good it could do him; water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink.
Interesting to see that the words of Samuel Taylor Coleridge had made it into this world.
It was a door.
Less than a quarter of a mile from it, Roland’s knees buckled again and this time he could not stiffen their hinges. He fell, his right hand dragged across gritty sand and shells, the stumps of his fingers screamed as fresh scabs were scored away. The stumps began to bleed again.
One thing King is definitely a master at: Letting you know EXACTLY how miserable a character is.
What he had seen was the earth from some high, impossible distance in the sky—miles up, it seemed. He had seen the shadows of clouds lying upon that earth, floating across it like dreams. He had seen what an eagle might see if one could fly thrice as high as any eagle could.
What Roland saw when he looked through the first door.
Insane as it might seen, he was looking at part of a carriage that flew through the sky. He was looking through someone’s eyes.
Shouldn’t that have been, “Insane as it might seem”? Listening to the audiobook, the narrator appears to also say “seen” as well.
And that ends Chapter 1. I’m now 9% of the way through the book and I turn again to Dark Tower Palaver who spends almost two hours on the second half of this chapter.
Day 719: Dec 20, 2023
There’s no better way to kick off one’s birthday than to sit in a favorite recliner with a hot coffee in hand and dive into a Stephen King book.
Today, it’s The Drawing of the Three, Chapter 2: Eddie Dean.
They say Aaron Paul would’ve been the perfect person to play Eddie, so that’s who I’ll see in my mind as I read his introduction to the saga.
Without thought, with the simple resolve that had made him the last of them all, the last to continue marching on and on long after Cuthbert and the others had died or given up, committed suicide or treachery or simply recanted the whole idea of the Tower; with the single-minded and incurious resolve that had driven him across the desert and all the years before the desert in the wake of the man in black, the gunslinger stepped through the doorway.
SHEER POETRY!
But it suddenly seemed those were not his own eyes in the mirror, not Eddie Dean’s hazel, almost-green eyes that had melted so many hearts and allowed him to part so many pretty sets of legs during the last third of his twenty-one years, not his eyes but those of a stranger. Not hazel but a blue the color of fading Levis. Eyes that were chilly, precise, unexpected marvels of calibration. Bombardier’s eyes.
I could read about eyes all day when written like this!
Then he had to throw up again, and maybe that was just as well; whatever you might say against it, regurgitation had at least this much in its favor: as long as you were doing it, you couldn’t think of anything else.
It’s these little throwaway lines that make me stop and shake my head in amazement. Does he come up with these on his own – or does he hear them and remember them for decades to be able to pull them out at just the right moment?
“Popkin?” the army woman frowned at him, and the gunslinger suddenly looked into the prisoner’s mind. Sandwich . . . the word was as distant as the murmur in a conch shell.
“A sandwich, even,” the gunslinger said.
The army woman looked doubtful. “Well . . . I have some tuna fish . . .”
“That would be fine,” the gunslinger said, although he had never heard of tooter fish in his life.
I really enjoy Roland figuring out the language.
The book referenced the drug boss, “Emilio Balazar”.
But in the audiobook, Frank Muller read it as “Enrico Balazar”.
I couldn’t believe that Frank had misread a name so prominently like that. Which led me to Google it. And then I found this:
And the line at the end of the article:
“Trivia- He is called Emilio Balazar in Drawing of the Three”
So Frank auto-corrected the name in the audiobook. Interesting!
And neither of the things that mattered was the man’s name. One was the weakness of the addiction. The other was the steel buried inside that weakness, like a good gun sinking in quicksand.
Roland’s assessment of Eddie is beautiful.
She went back to the galley to catch a smoke.
This is probably the most fantastical thing I’ve read in the Dark Tower saga to date:
Smoking on an airplane!
And that ends Chapter 2 of The Drawing of the Three putting me at 13% of the way through this book.
I’ll be pausing the reading for a couple of days to listen to a couple of lengthy podcast episodes covering the material I’ve read so far. I start with Dark Tower Palaver.
Day 720: Dec 21, 2023
Listening now to The Cast of Ka who share their thoughts on the first two chapters of The Drawing of the Three.
It’s interesting how they disagree on these opening chapters: One found it riveting, the other was bored by the lack of action.
Day 721: Dec 22, 2023
Roland and Pazuzu find that they have something in common: The power to possess an individual and take control of their bodies (ala The Exorcist).
I’m now resuming The Drawing of the Three with Chapter 3: Contact and Landing.
AI generated image: Roland Deschain from Drawing of the Three in an airplane talking with a stewardess
This is it, Jane thought. This is where he brings out the grenade or the automatic weapon or whatever the hell he’s got.
And the moment she saw it, she was going to flip the red top off the Thermos in her slightly trembling hands, and there was going to be one very surprised Friend of Allah rolling around on the aisle floor of Delta Flight 901 while his skin boiled on his face.
I’ve had this type of irrational fear come over me before. Great description!
Could she keep him from Clearing the Customs? Roland thought the answer was probably yes. And then? Gaol. And if the prisoner were gaoled, there would be no place to get the sort of medicine his infected, dying body needed.
The audiobook really comes in handy here. “Gaol” is pronounced “Jail”.
I don’t think I would’ve gotten that from reading and context alone.
I stop reading today at Chapter 3 Section 4 and shift over to Dark Tower Palaver‘s discussion of this portion of the book. I am 15% of the way through.
This episode is almost 2 hours long (while it took less than 15 minutes to read the text). How do they fill up the time?
Day 722: Dec 23, 2023
Roland is figuring out the “rules” about switching between worlds and what he can carry in and out. He also stopped to admire the handsome face of George Washington on a quarter.
I continue reading The Drawing of the Three starting on Chapter 3, subchapter 5.
Their guards o’ the watch might search him from head to toe, from asshole to appetite, and back again.
“…from asshole to appetite…”
I just KNOW I’ll be using that phrase in a casual conversation in the near future.
She changed her mind, and then the other woman changed it back . . . only now I think they know what’s really wrong. They know he’s going to try to profane the ritual.
“profane the ritual” – Roland’s understanding of Eddie’s plan to smuggle cocaine through airport customs.
I can think of dozens instances throughout the day which could be considered “profaning the ritual”. Cutting in line. Not using turn signals. Taking 11 items into a 10 items or less lane.
Eddie was suddenly seeing through two pairs of eyes, feeling with two sets of nerves (but not all the nerves of this other person were here; parts of the other were gone, freshly gone, screaming with pain), sensing with ten senses, thinking with two brains, his blood beating with two hearts.
I really liked this description!
I’ll end here with reading on Ch 3 Subchapter 14. I am 18% of the way through.
Yesterday, I mistakenly thought Dark Tower Palaver had spent an entire episode on subchapters 1-4, but I was mistaken. So I pick up listening to the second half of their discussion.
Day 723: Dec 24, 2023
Roland has a plan to get Eddie through the ceremony of “Clearing the Customs” and spent the better part of 50 pages trying to convince Eddie that he was a real person speaking inside his brain.
I continue reading The Drawing of the Three starting on Chapter 3, subchapter 15 and finishing off that chapter on this Christmas Eve.
After one desperate, despairing moment, the gunslinger followed him, physical and full of hot physical ache at one moment, nothing but cool ka in Eddie’s head at the next.
That’s the first mention of “ka” in this book – and I don’t recall seeing this word in The Gunslinger.
Eddie has returned to the plane’s bathroom and is carted away by customs agents. This brings me to the end of Chapter 3 and I’m now 21% of the way though The Drawing of the Three.
I have a couple of days’ worth of podcasts covering material up to this point, so I’ll start with Dark Tower Palaver.
Day 724: Dec 25, 2023
No reading today. Instead, I’ll spend a couple of hours this Christmas Day with Kingslingers who review the first three chapters of The Drawing of the Three.
“From a physics point of view, that makes no sense. But from a magic point of view, whatever.”
Hilarious line when describing the “rules” about what Roland can and cannot bring it through the door.
Day 725: Dec 26, 2023
The Cast of Ka weighs in on Chapter 3 of The Drawing of the Three.
Day 726: Dec 27, 2023
I’m back to reading The Drawing of the Three, starting on Chapter 4. When I last left off, Eddie Dean was about to be taken through the Ritual of Clearing of Customs.
(AI generated art from the following prompt: “ritual of clearing the customs blended with The Dark Tower series by stephen king”)
“You’ve been up my ass, you’ve been through my stuff, and I’m sitting here in a pair of Jockies with you guys blowing smoke in my face. You want a bloodtest? Kay. Bring in someone to do it.”
Just another day on Delta Airlines!
Never, even as a child, did I see a building so high, Roland said. And there are so many of them!
Yeah, Eddie agreed. We live like a bunch of ants in a hill. It may look good to you, but I’ll tell you, Roland, it gets old. It gets old in a hurry.
Thinking of Roland seeing NYC for the first time like Eddie Murphy in “Coming to America”.
Never mind, Roland said. And don’t worry about the food, either. I’ve eaten bugs while they were still lively enough for some of them to go running down my throat.
Yeah, Eddie replied, but this is New York.
Eddie was worried about giving Roland a hot dog to take back with him through the door. Hilarious exchange!
Eddie had glanced into the convex mirror again. Two of the agents were strolling casually toward the snack-bar, maybe not liking the way Eddie’s back was turned, maybe smelling a little prestidigitation in progress and wanting a closer look.
Prestidigitation: The process of doing a magic trick by hand, also called “sleight of hand.”
What a paragon of virtue you are, gunslinger! the man in black laughed. He seemed to have taken up permanent residence inside Roland’s head. You have killed the boy; that was the sacrifice that enabled you to catch me and, I suppose, to create the door between worlds.
Interesting! Some podcasters speculated on what would’ve happened had Roland held on to Jake. Looks like there would’ve been no doors on the beach.
I stop reading after Chapter 4, Subchapter 5 of The Drawing of the Three. I’m now 25% of the way through the book and, as I remembered it from the last time I read it, it’s dragging a bit. For a quarter of a book, not much actually happened.
I turn to the second half of this episode of Dark Tower Palaver where they cover this portion of the story.
Day 727: Dec 28, 2023
Not even a holiday trip across the country will stop my from my journey!
This morning, I continue reading The Drawing of the Three picking up in the middle of Chapter 4.
At this point, Eddie successfully completed the Ritual of Clearing of Customs and Roland has taken a hot dog and “astin” (aspirin) back with him over to his world.
(AI-generated image from the prompt: “lobstrosity from ‘The Drawing of the Three’ holding a bottle of aspirin”)
Subchapter 6 opened in a very confusing fashion. The last sentence of the previous sub was:
“Roland… then rolled back through the doorway into that other world, that other body, leaving the increasingly deadly infection behind for a little while.”
But the first sentence of sub 6 is:
“The second time he returned to himself, he entered a body so deeply asleep that he thought for a moment it had entered a comatose state”
So did he go through the door or not?
Roland put his head back, closed his eyes and thanked God.
God and Eddie Dean.
Don’t make the mistake of putting your heart near his hand, Roland, a voice from the deeper ranges of his mind spoke
That line about heart and hand… That would make for a best selling country song, I fathom.
“I tell President Reagan to stick it up his ass if he breaks his word to me, and fuck his fuckin rectal palp or whatever it is!”
A reader today would have NO IDEA what Eddie is screaming about.
Col looked at him, then looked at Andolini, who did not look at him but only pulled the driver’s door closed and looked serenely straight ahead like Buddha on his day off
“like Buddha on his day off” – I swear these little throw-away lines give me such great pleasure!
[gangsters playing Trivial Pursuit]
“Okay. The question is, ‘What enormously popular novel by William Peter Blatty, set in the posh Washington D.C. suburb of Georgetown, concerned the demonic possession of a young girl?’ “
OMG – that’s the EASIEST question that could have been pulled from the deck!
I finish reading The Drawing of the Three at Chapter 4, subchapter 9. I am now 30% of the way through the book.
A good half of today’s reading was spent on gangster boss Balazar and his penchant for building houses of cards. I guess every bad guy has to have that one thing they’re known for, a “calling card” (no pun intended).
Day 728: Dec 29, 2023
I’m driving back home from a holiday family visit this morning. I have Dark Tower Palaver to keep me company as they cover the section of The Drawing of the Three, Chapter 4 that I read yesterday.
Day 729: Dec 30, 2023
I’m finishing off The Drawing of the Three, Chapter 4. When I last left off, the story colored in some details around crime boss Enrico Balazar. And as every big bad guy has to have a defining personality trait, Balazar’s is making houses of cards (a not-too-subtle metaphor for his business, I suppose).
(Imagen AI prompt: “a bad guy boss making a house of cards”. Apparently “crime boss” is not an allowed prompt.)
When the van pulled to the curb near Balazar’s place, Col Vincent happened to be looking at Eddie. He saw something impossible. He tried to speak and found himself unable. His tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth and all he could get out was a muffled grunt.
He saw Eddie’s eyes change from brown to blue.
First the stewardess and now a lower tier criminal noticed the eye color change.
Me? I would never have noticed – unless the eyes glowed red or something.
It was just a short read today, finishing Chapter 4. Not much happened other than Roland flipping out when he saw the neon sign of “The Leaning Tower” on Balazar’s place. I am now 31% of the way through the book.
I turn back to Dark Tower Palaver who also finishes up Chapter 4 in this episode.
Day 730: Dec 31, 2023
It’s the last day of my full second year on this journey and I’m spending it with The Cast of Ka and their discussion about Chapter 4 of The Drawing of the Three.
Day 731: Jan 1, 2024
Happy New Year! I start off this first day of 2024 with Chapter 5 of The Drawing of the Three.
After a lot of buildup (and a false alarm of having found THE Tower), Eddie/Roland enter into the den of one of New York City’s toughest gangsters.
(Imagen AI prompt: “neon sign of the leaning tower of pisa”)
Still pretending to scan the card in his hand, George continued: “This popular singer is also known as The Man in Black. His first name means the same as a place you go to take a piss and his last name means what you got in your wallet unless you’re a fucking needle freak.”
One of the podcasters had pointed out that Johnny Cash (who was Henry Dean’s answer to every Trivial Pursuit question) was also known as “The Man in Black”. That was very observant!
Never mind. There was business to be done here. He was no tourist; he must not allow himself the luxury of behaving like one, no matter how wonderful or strange these things might be.
I feel like I’m being beat over the head with Roland’s wonder of our world, where even a dim, grimy bar contains amazing sights. But then again, would I have acted any different in those circumstances?
Balazar did as Eddie asked. He looked for a long time. Then he turned away, hands stuffed in his pockets so deeply that the crack of his peasant’s ass showed a little.
“peasant’s ass”? That’s an ass category I’ve not heard of before.
Eddie planned to go into the gangster’s bathroom, alone, to flip into Roland’s world and retrieve the drugs. Balazar, with all the power & authority in this situation, demanded that Eddie be escorted by bull-neck Andolini.
And Roland said, “Let him come. It will be all right.”
It’s the mark of a master writer when a protagonist is put in an impossible jam and you, the reader, cannot see a way out for him.
I can’t wait to see the resolution!
16
It was no misfire.
And that was the entirety of subchapter 16. These subchapters typically reflect a change in POV. Subchapter 15 was Roland’s, so I’m guessing we’re now in his gun’s POV?
And that’s as far as I’m going to get today. I made it halfway through Chapter 5 of the section called “The Prisoner” and it looks like this portion will wrap up in exciting fashion tomorrow.
I’m now 36% of the way through The Drawing of the Three.
Day 732: Jan 2, 2024
Finishing off Chapter 5 of The Drawing of the Three this morning.
The thick-necked gangster, Jack Andolini, crosses through the door with Eddie Dean and promptly gets into a gunfight with Roland.
I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that Roland wins this one.
(Imagen AI prompt: “a cowboy and a mafia gangster engaged in a gunfight on a beach”)
Eddie stared at him, stunned. No one would ever misjudge Jack Andolini’s caveman face again, because now he had no face; where it had been there was now nothing but a churned mess of raw flesh and the black screaming hole of his mouth.
I’m reminded of this classic scene of Gus Fring in Breaking Bad.
So both Eddie and Roland walked back through the door into Eddie’s world.
Seems like a sudden plot contrivance that Roland can exist separately, on his own, in our world rather than only in Eddie’s head.
“Get all the gentlemen,” he [Balazar] said to ’Cimi. “All of them. We’re gonna burn his ass and when he’s dead we’re gonna take him in the kitchen and I’m gonna personally chop his head off.”
“gentlemen” lol. Would he really say that in this situation of absolute tension?
Eddie saw the big man turning and went into a mad slide along the floor, whizzing along like some kid in a disco contest, a kid so jived-up he didn’t realize he’d left his entire John Travolta outfit, underwear included, behind; he went with his wang wagging and his bare knees first heating and then scorching as the friction built up.
Aside from the lobstrosities, THIS is the scene I can’t wait for Mike Flanagan to produce!
In the movies, people actually kill other people with hand-held rapid-fire weapons. In real life, this rarely happens. If it does, it happens with the first four or five slugs fired.. After the first four or five, two things happen to a man —even a powerful one— trying to control such a weapon.
We pause this action scene for a ballistics lecture from Professor King. We’ll return to the action in just a few pages
The gunslinger reached for the gun and pulled on it. Eddie turned on him, and before Roland was entirely sure what was happening, Eddie struck him on the side of the head with his own gun. Roland felt a warm gush of blood and collapsed against the wall.
No matter how bad the situation is for the main characters, Sai King finds a way to make it even worse.
“Quests, adventures, Towers, worlds to win,” Eddie said, and smiled wanly…. “Sounds better than one of those Edgar Rice Burroughs books about Mars Henry used to read me sometimes when we were kids. You only left out one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“The beautiful bare-breasted girls.”
The gunslinger smiled. “On the way to the Dark Tower,” he said, “anything is possible.”
Not quite the conversation between Frodo & Sam as they embarked on their quest, but it’ll do.
That’s a wrap for today as I reached the end of an action-packed Chapter 5. I am now 40% of the way through.
I’ll be spending the next couple of days on podcasts that have covered up to this part in the book.
Day 733: Jan 3, 2024
Dark Tower Palaver dissects every line of Chapter 5 of The Drawing of the Three.
Day 734: Jan 4, 2024
Dark Tower Palaver isn’t done with Chapter 5 of The Drawing of the Three. In fact, they have a couple of hours’ worth of discussion still to go!
Quite a few minutes were spent discussing how Roland was impressed that Eddie Dean was able to engage so effectively and a good fight well naked.
He really would have been impressed by Viggo Mortensen in “Eastern Promises”.
Day 735: Jan 5, 2024
The Cast of Ka enters into the gangster’s den as that dive into Chapter 5 of The Drawing of the Three.
Day 736: Jan 6, 2024
I enjoyed Two Guys to the Dark Tower Came and their discussion on Part 1: The Prisoner in The Dark Tower: The Drawing of the Three.
Day 737: Jan 7, 2024
I resume reading The Drawing of the Three today with the chapter titled “Shuffle”.
I last left the story with Roland and Eddie standing on the beach in Roland’s world as the first door closes behind them forever. Roland promises an amazing quest for the Dark Tower…
(AI Imagen prompt: “an older cowboy and a young man looking at a tall black tower in the distance along the beach”)
But there’s no more. as something starts to smell
shuffle
good in the dark. Something, after all this long dark dry time, something is cooking.
“shuffle” refers to Roland coming in and out of consciousness as he fights the infection, a legacy of the lobstrosities feasting on his extremities.
I like how King uses that.
Fuck yourself,” the gunslinger husks.
“Roland shows a flash of spirit!” Eddie cries. “Maybe you ain’t gonna die after all! Dahling! I think that’s mah-vellous!”
Hmmm… That vernacular doesn’t sound right coming from Roland. I would’ve thought he’d use a mid-world phrase like “Complete thine own circle” or something like that.
and he can hear Eddie Dean singing a song which is so weirdly familiar he at first believes this must be a delirium dream:
“Heyy Jude . . . don’t make it bad . . . take a saaad song . . . and make it better . . .”
Where did you hear that? he wants to ask. Did you hear me singing it, Eddie? And where are we?
LOVE this call-back to the first book!
“There are people who need people to need them. The reason you don’t understand is because you’re not one of those people. You’d use me and then toss me away like a paper bag if that’s what it came down to… If I was lying on the beach there and screaming for help, you’d walk over me if I was between you and your goddam Tower. Isn’t that pretty close to the truth?”
Thinking of Jake…
“Except for your Tower.” Eddie utters a short laugh. “You’re a Tower junkie, Roland.”
Tipping my hat to one of the good podcasts out there.
Half of this chapter is the recounting of Eddie’s co-dependency (both emotional and heroin-centric) on his older brother Henry.
It’s a gut-wrenching, vivid and all-to-realistic telling. Honestly, I want to get past this section as quick as possible but it just drags the reader along in the filth and the muck and the despair.
Nine weeks later, Cort was dead. Of poison, some said. Two years after his death, the final bloody civil war had begun. The red slaughter had reached the last bastion of civilization, light, and sanity, and had taken away what all of them had assumed was so strong with the casual ease of a wave taking a child’s castle of sand.
I am so much more interested in the story of Roland’s world and history than I am in Eddie’s.
…on the third day of their northward journey up the featureless beach. The beach itself never seemed to change. If a sign of progress was wanted, it could only be obtained by looking left, to the east. There the jagged peaks of the mountains had begun to soften…
I’m confused by the geography. If they are on the west coast heading north, east would be the ocean.
If on the east coast heading north, looking left at mountains would be looking west, not east.
“What’s ka?” Eddie’s voice was truculent. “I never heard of it. Except if you say it twice you come out with the baby word for shit.”
“I don’t know about that,” the gunslinger said. “Here it means duty, or destiny, or, in the vulgate, a place you must go.”
I’m trying to align that with “Ka is a wheel”.
I stop here, 46% of the way through the book, just as Roland is about to enter into the second door, found after days walking on this beach, one marked “The Lady of Shadows”.
Day 738: Jan 8, 2024
For such a short chapter, Dark Tower Palaver sure found a lot to talk about regarding “Shuffle” from The Drawing of the Three.
Day 739: Jan 9, 2024
One 2-hour episode from Dark Tower Palaver wasn’t enough to cover the ins and outs of “Shuffle” from The Drawing of the Three.
Day 740: Jan 10, 2024
The Drawing of the Three’s “Shuffle” is discussed by Two Guys to the Dark Tower Came.
Day 741: Jan 11, 2024
Listening now to Cast of Ka “Shuffle” their way through The Drawing of the Three.
Day 742: Jan 12, 2024
The Kingslingers catch up to the “Shuffle” chapter of The Drawing of the Three.
One of the hosts, who’s experiencing this series for the first time, comments on the scene where Roland sees the gangster restaurant’s neon sign that was in the shape of the leaning tower of Pisa.
He says: “That’s kind of a cool trick that King has done in that he made it so that I, the reader, I’m getting really excited about that idea. That I’m going to be so excited when we finally get to the Tower, assuming this whole book [series] isn’t a giant cock block.”
😂😂😂
Day 743: Jan 13, 2024
It’s back to the book for me as just about reach the second half The Drawing of the Three with the section titled “The Lady of Shadows”
DALL-E image from prompt: “A tarot card showing a woman and her shadow”. Side note: Google’s Imagen refused to generate an image for me, declaring as offensive this prompt and about a dozen other variations.)
Stripped of jargon, what Adler said was this: the perfect schizophrenic—if there was such a person—would be a man or woman not only unaware of his other persona(e), but one unaware that anything at all was amiss in his or her life.
Adler should have met Detta Walker and Odetta Holmes.
Who’s Adler?
“—last gunslinger,” Andrew said.
An attention-grabbing opening! This chapter opens soon after the JFK assassination. Was actually applied to him? All I could find was a book called “Good Was The Day: The life of John Fitzgerald Kennedy”
“John Fitzgerald Kennedy, a man who held the ultimate powerful position and who paid the ultimate price, is still regarded as a hero by some and the last gunslinger in the west by others.”
In a world which had become a nuclear powder keg upon which nearly a billion people now sat, it was a mistake—perhaps one of suicidal proportions—to believe there was a difference between good shooters and bad shooters. There were too many shaky hands holding lighters near too many fuses. This was no world for gunslingers. If there had ever been a time for them, it had passed.
Such beautiful writing! I’m stunned.
Johnson, mindful of the legacy which had been left him by the slain President,… would do more than oversee the passage of the Civil Rights Act; if necessary he would ram it into law. So it was important to minimize the scarring and the hurt. There was more work to be done. Hate would not help do that work. Hate would, in fact, hinder it.
I’m involved in civil rights defense today, nearly 60 years (60!) since the Civil Rights Act. This passage was personal to me.
When he was gone, Andrew took out the collapsed stainless steel scaffolding at the bottom of the trunk and began to unfold it. It was a wheelchair.
I liked how King waited for quite a few pages and a lot of words to reveal that Odetta Holmes (the main character of this section of the book) was made use of a wheelchair.
(cute that someone made a LEGO version of Odetta Holmes: https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomleech/6786283254)
Odetta suspected Detta not at all, and Detta had no idea that there was such a person as Odetta . . . but Detta at least had a clear understanding that something was wrong, that someone was fucking with her life.
Establishing the “rules” of Odetta’s schizophrenia.
When King slips into Detta Walker’s mind, it’s a stream-of-consciousness, run-on-sentences, no punctuation exercise in a audacious William Faulkner style. And he pulls it off quite well!
King really steps out of his comfort zone here and dives deep into a character that has a mix of traits: Black, female, split personality, during a time of racism embedded in American culture. Traits that couldn’t be further from King himself.
He hits on all of the characteristics with the fury and mess of a blender with the top left open. And it was very effective, in my view.
I stop here, exactly 50% of the way through “The Drawing of the Three”. I hadn’t read this chapter since maybe the mid-90’s and it’s so much better than I remember it.
Truly, one’s personal experience accumulated over decades of life influence how the written word affects you. I know so much more now about the history of my country. I’ve interacted and befriended those who lived through the Civil Rights Movement and sadly are revisiting those same problems today.
Day 744: Jan 14, 2024
I continue reading Chapter 1 of “The Lady of Shadows” in The Drawing of the Three.
The introduction to the next member of the ka-tet (has that term even been introduced yet? I don’t recall) has been the most unique character studies since Tom Cullen (M-O-O-N).
Roland had never seen a movie. Eddie had seen thousands, and what he was looking at was like one of those moving point-of-view shots they did in ones like Halloween and The Shining.
To my recollection, I don’t think this is the first time that King referenced one of his own works as existing in the world of the current story. There’s a tickle of a memory that “Carrie” might’ve been mentioned somewhere as an existing novel in another book.
because this was like watching a movie either set or made in the ’60s, something like that one with Sidney Steiger and Rod Poitier, In the Heat of the Night)
That’s funny.
“There are great wonders ahead,” Roland said. “Great adventures. More than that, there is a quest to course upon, and a chance to redeem your honor. There’s something else, too. You could be a gunslinger. I needn’t be the last after all. It’s in you, Eddie. I see it. I feel it.”
I wonder, did Roland truly believe he was the LAST one? In a world that’s as vast as the one he was in, he didn’t entertain the idea that there were others in far away places?
“Your friends, now. This guy you talk about in your sleep, for instance, this dude Cuthbert—”
Maybe I didn’t notice before, but Cuthbert is pronounced “Q-th Bert”.
And I will stop here for now at the end of Chapter 1 of “The Lady of Shadows”. There’s several podcast episodes that want to dissect this chapter, so I’ll digest them over the next few days.
I’m currently 53% of the way through this book.
Day 745: Jan 15, 2024
Now listening to Dark Tower Palaver discuss Chapter 1 of “The Lady of Shadows” in The Drawing of the Three.
Day 746: Jan 16, 2024
It took Dark Tower Palaver another full episode to finish off Chapter 1 of “The Lady of Shadows” in The Drawing of the Three.
Day 747: Jan 17, 2024
The Cast of Ka welcomes the introduction of Detta/Odetta in The Drawing of the Three.
Day 748: Jan 18, 2024
It’s back to the book to read Chapter 2 of Part 2 “The Lady of Shadows” in The Drawing of the Three.
We have been introduced to Odetta Holmes/Detta Walker – a complex two-for-one character combo. And Roland is about to enter into her crowded mind while she is shoplifting at a department store.
(DALL-E prompt: young black woman in a wheelchair shopping in jewelry department store)
…the night the T.W.A. Tri-Star crashed at Idlewild. Sixty-five people on board, sixty of them…referred to as D.R.T.—Dead Right There—and three of the remaining five looking like the sort of thing you might scrape out of the bottom of a coal-furnace . . . except what you scraped out of the bottom of a coal furnace didn’t moan and shriek and beg for someone to give them morphine or kill them…
A hospital intern reflects…
The chapter opened up from the point-of-view of a hospital intern who was working towards being a doctor on the night Odetta lost her legs.
I’m quite a few pages into this chapter and we’ve only got his fully fleshed out back story, enough to warrant its own placement in one of King’s short story collections. But we know this doctor wannabe is just a blip in this universe and I get impatient at times for these long, unnecessary detours
But apparently Julio hadn’t seen it a thousand times, and that was good, because George wanted to talk about it.
“She was weird, all right. It was like she was two people.”
Good, finally we get back to the character we’re actually interested in!
Someone had pushed her.
Now, my mind immediately went to The Man in Black and what he had done to Jake back in The Gunslinger.
I’m betting this is where we’re heading.
George had heard someone say to someone else that the young black woman’s last words before passing out had been “WHO WAS THAT MAHFAH? I GONE HUNT HIM DOWN AND KILL HIS ASS!”
This whole section about the train accident was told in graphic detail, in slow motion. Ten minutes of reading to recount an event that took only 10 seconds.
It was crazy. She talked like a cartoon black woman, Butterfly McQueen gone Loony Tunes. She—or it—also seemed superhuman. This screaming, writhing thing could not have just undergone impromptu surgery by subway train half an hour ago. She bit. She clawed out at him again and again. Snot spat from her nose. Spit flew from her lips. Filth poured from her mouth.
During the ambulance ride, Odetta/Detta kept alternating in front of the doc.
“Whatchoo think about that lady?”
“I think she might be schizophrenic,” George said slowly.
One of the podcasts went out of their way to explain there was a major difference between schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder, which is what she actually had.
When the gunslinger entered her head in Macy’s, Detta screamed in a combination of fury and horror and terror, her hands freezing on the junk jewelry she was scooping into her purse.
She screamed because when Roland came into her mind, when he came forward, she for a moment sensed the other, as if a door had been swung open inside of her head.
Oh good, finally the moment I was waiting for!
The moment the gunslinger heard the dressing room door bang shut behind him, he rammed the wheelchair around in a half turn, looking for the doorway. If Eddie had done what he had promised, it would be gone.
But the door was open. Roland wheeled the Lady of Shadows through it.
I didn’t expect her to be brought into Roland’s world so soon. I thought there’s be a parallel to Eddie’s story in which Roland would linger in the world a bit…
And that’s it for Chapter 2. There’s two podcast episodes that cover this chapter, so I’ll hit those over the next two days and come back to see what happens with Detta/Odetta in the other world!
I’m now 56% of the way through the book.
Day 749: Jan 19, 2024
Dark Tower Palaver analyzes Chapter 2 of “The Lady of Shadows” in The Drawing of the Three.
Day 750: Jan 20, 2024
The Cast of Ka dives into the over racial undertones (does that make them overtones?) in Odetta Holmes’s world and the graphic story of how she lost her legs.
Day 751: Jan 21, 2024
Back to the book with Chapter 3 of “The Lady of Shadows” in The Drawing of the Three.
We find Odetta/Detta pulled into Roland’s world rather quickly just as she was about to be busted for shoplifting cheap jewelry.
And my first thought was: That wheelchair is gonna suck on a beach!
She looked back at Eddie and the gunslinger, her dark eyes troubled, confused, and alarmed, and now she asked. “Where am I? Who pushed me? How can I be here? How can I be dressed, for that matter, when I was home watching the twelve o’clock news in my robe? Who am I? Where is this? Who are you?”
That “Who am I?” question caught my attention. And apparently, Roland’s too.
“You telling me the last thing she remembers is sitting in her bathrobe and listening to some blow-dried dude talk about how they found that gonzo down in the Florida Keys with Christa McAuliffe’s left hand mounted on his den wall next to his prize marlin?”
I found that offensively crude, even for King.
She hugged him and wept and Eddie held her and rocked her and Roland thought, Eddie will be all right now. His brother is dead but he has someone else to take care of so Eddie will be all right now.
Roland may be the quiet type, but he’s sees everything and is a great judge of character.
She listened attentively to Eddie, not speaking at all, her eyes fixed on his. At one moment Eddie would guess she was five years older than he, at another he would guess fifteen. There was one thing he didn’t have to guess about: he was falling in love with her.
I recall from reading this years ago that the two formed a relationship. But I forgot “he was falling in love with her” happened within minutes of Odetta rolling through the door
That seems… implausible?
She shrugged impatiently. “A lot of hard luck and a lot of soft living,” she said. “Maybe it all balances out. I only showed you because I was in a coma for three weeks when I was five.”
I thought extended comas and brain trauma were supposed to give you this:
…he was caught in the webwork of his own memory again: wet diapers and those words. Oxford Town. Only suddenly other words came, just a single line, but he could remember Henry singing it over and over…
Somebody better investigate soon. Those were the words. Sung over and over by Henry in a nasal monotone. … He could have been no more than three at the time. Somebody better investigate soon. The words gave him a chill.
Everybody’s got their heads bowed down
Sun don’t shine above the ground
Ain’t a-going down to Oxford Town
“Listen,” the gunslinger said, “and listen carefully. Our lives may depend on it—mine because I’m getting sick again, and yours because you have fallen in love with her.”
Roland, who had been away fetching water during all of the conversation between Eddie and Odetta, is able to reach this conclusion in mere seconds.
That’s the end of the chapter titled “Odetta on the Other Side”. I bet you can guess what the *next* chapter is titled.
I am now 61% of the way through The Drawing of the Three and tomorrow I’ll turn to a few podcasts covering the chapter I just read.
Day 752: Jan 22, 2024
Dark Tower Palaver dissects Chapter 3 of “The Lady of Shadows” in The Drawing of the Three.
Day 753: Jan 23, 2024
Dark Tower Palaver‘s discussion of Chapter 3 of “The Lady of Shadows” in The Drawing of the Three carried over into a second episode.
Day 754: Jan 24, 2024
Kingslingers waited until Chapter 3 of “The Lady of Shadows” to begin talking about the second door of The Drawing of the Three.
Day 755: Jan 25, 2024
It was a long episode (over 2 hours) so today I’m listening to the second half of Kingslingers‘ review of the first part of “The Lady of Shadows” in The Drawing of the Three.
Day 756: Jan 26, 2024
I return to The Drawing of the Three and Chapter 4, “Detta on the Other Side”.
The title alone tells me the s*** is gonna hit the fan.
Up until now, it’s been a lot of talking and fleshing out Odetta Holmes’s backstory. All necessary, for sure, but this is fixing to be the big payoff for all that!
In the middle of the night, Detta Walker’s eyes sprang open. They were full of starlight and clear intelligence.
Oh hell yeah, here we go. This scene will be soooooo cinematic when rendered on the screen!
But she swung the cylinder back in, began to cock the hammer . . . and then paused again. Paused for the wind to mask the single low click.
He thought: Here is another. God, she’s evil, this one, and she’s legless, but she’s a gunslinger as surely as Eddie is one.
Roland’s intuition, summed up in a single line, tells me more about the other characters than entire chapters of dialog and backstory ever could!
“She’s the woman I was in. Do you believe me now?”
“I believed you before,” Eddie said. “I told you that.”
“You believed you believed. You believed on the top of your mind. Do you believe it all the way down now? All the way to the bottom?”
“Yes,” he said. “God, yes.”
“This woman is a monster.”
Eddie began to cry.
Roland had warned Eddie about the monster lurking within. But Eddie crying? That didn’t feel like it was in character for him.
“I’m no shrink,” Eddie said, “so I don’t really know—”
“Shrink? What is a shrink?”
Eddie tapped his temple. “A head-doctor. A doctor for your mind. They’re really called psychiatrists.”
Roland nodded. He liked shrink better. Because this Lady’s mind was too large. Twice as large as it needed to be.
I love that line: “Twice as large as it needed to be”
But the gunslinger was thunderstruck. That was what he had sensed as they came through; that was what had happened to her, no, not just her, them: for a moment Detta and Odetta had looked at each other, not the way one would look at her reflection in a mirror but as separate people; the mirror became a windowpane and for a moment Odetta had seen Detta and Detta had seen Odetta and had been equally horror-struck.
This sounds important…
“Well,” Eddie said, “what was behind Door Number One wasn’t so hot, and what was behind Door Number Two was even worse, so now, instead of quitting like sane people, we’re going to go right on ahead and check out Door Number Three. The way things have been going, I think it’s likely to be something like Godzilla or Ghidra the Three-Headed Monster, but I’m an optimist. I’m still hoping for the stainless steel cookware.”
Funny!
I stop here for today, halfway through Chapter 4, “Detta on the Other Side”. I am now 65% of the way through The Drawing of the Three.
Day 757: Jan 27, 2024
Continuing with Chapter 4, “Detta on the Other Side”. The first half of the chapter had Roland letting Eddie “see for himself” how dangerous Odetta/Detta was.
And now Detta finds herself strapped to her wheelchair has they slowly progress up the beach.
She cackled and stared at him with meanly merry eyes, but the gunslinger saw fear hidden far back in those eyes. She was afraid of him. Afraid because he was The Really Bad Man.
Interesting that this wild & unhinged persona (who showed no fear despite her leglessness) would intuitively be afraid of Roland. Perhaps it’s the result of how he possessed her mind and body briefly in her world. Yet, Eddie didn’t seem to have been psychologically scarred by it.
Look, we understand that pushing a hostile woman up a beach in a wheelchair is a very difficult task, but King makes the reader feel every step of it in excruciating detail.
He doesn’t just tell you what happens. He makes you feeeeeeel it.
I can’t say I’m enjoying this particular feeeeeeeling exercise, but I get the artistry involved. I get it.
Christ, dear Christ, Eddie thought, what a mess this is, what a fucking . . . and that was as far as the thought went before trailing off into exhausted sleep again and then she was splintering the air with fresh shrieks, shrieking like a firebell, and Eddie was up again, his body flaming with adrenaline, hands clenched, and then she was laughing, her voice hoarse and raspy.
It gets worse and worse and I’m so ready just to move on from this chapter!
Despite detailing all the minutia of their hardships while traveling up the beach, one thing I’m surprise King did not expand on was how they managed the logistics of bodily functions – especially Detta’s.
According to this long chapter, Detta remained tied to the wheelchair without interruption for days!
Eddie looked at the rolled huddled shape of Roland and for one terrible moment he thought the bitch was right. Then the gunslinger stirred, moaned furrily, and pawed himself into a sitting position.
“moaned furrily” – what the heal is that?
I’ve reached the end of the chapter and of the section “The Lady of Shadows”.
Odetta finally returns and Roland seems like he’s at the end of his ability to carry on.
Hopefully, the podcasts covering this chapter aren’t as grueling as getting through the reading was!
I am 70% of the way through The Drawing of the Three.
Day 758: Jan 28, 2024
Dark Tower Palaver spends a couple of hours on just the first half of Chapter 4 of “The Lady of Shadows” in The Drawing of the Three.
Day 759: Jan 29, 2024
Onto the second 2-hr episode from Dark Tower Palaver covering Chapter 4 of “The Lady of Shadows” in The Drawing of the Three.
Day 760: Jan 30, 2024
I’m still listening to Dark Tower Palaver talk about Chapter 4 of “The Lady of Shadows” in The Drawing of the Three.
How can they do 4+ hours on a single chapter? Well, they take a simple plot point (Odetta not letting Roland and Eddie sleep) and then talk for a half hour about their personal sleeping habits.
Day 761: Jan 31, 2024
Next up is the Cast of Ka with a review of Chapters 3 & 4 of “The Lady of Shadows” in The Drawing of the Three.
Day 762: Feb 1, 2024
Finally, Two Guys to the Dark Tower Came tried to shed some light on the Lady of Shadows.
Day 763: Feb 2, 2024
I’m back to reading The Drawing of the Three and the chapter titled, “Reshuffle”.
Even when she wasn’t pushing, Odetta was a help. She navigated with the prescience of a woman who has spent a long time weaving a wheelchair through a world that would not acknowledge handicapped people such as she for years to come.
I know the American Disabilities Act, but I didn’t realize it was signed in 1990. That feels so late in history to me. I was in college then & wasn’t even aware of it happening! I thought it was in the 70’s.
But then again, this book was written years before the ADA – so King couldn’t have been referring to that. I wonder what he meant?
“I am thinking,” the gunslinger said. “Something you seem unable to do.”
Whoa – Roland & Eddie are starting to get on each other’s nerves!
Later, with strange galaxies turning in slow gavotte overhead, neither thought the act of love had ever been so sweet, so full.
“Gavotte”?
“Put it back. I don’t like guns. I don’t know how to use them. If something came at me in the dark the first thing I’d do is wet my pants. The second thing I’d do is point it the wrong way and shoot myself.”
Odetta has a sweet sense of humor. Not the out loud crudeness of Detta, but still funny.
I made it halfway through the chapter and that’s all the time I have to read tonight.
I am now 74% of the way through The Drawing of the Three.
Day 764: Feb 3, 2024
Finishing off the chapter titled “Reshuffle” from The Drawing of the Three.
Eddie and Susannah have reached the third door after having sex in this alternate world. Eddie dumps her off and then heads a few miles back with the wheelchair to go fetch a nearly-dead Roland.
There was only the crash of the waves, much louder in this tight arrowhead of land, the rhythmic, hollow boom of surf crashing to the end of some tunnel it had dug in the friable rock, and the steady keening of the wind.
“Friable rock”. I don’t know what that is, but all I could think of was…
Just in this past section, Eddie says “fairy tale” and “in the tall grass”.
Could this book be the source of all of Stephen King’s subsequent titles? I have to pay more attention!
I finished “Reshuffle” just a Roland passed through the third door leaving Eddie behind to deal with an armed Detta Walker out there in the woods watching him.
That’s quite a cliffhanger to leave on!
I am now 78% of the way through The Drawing of the Three.
Day 765: Feb 4, 2024
It’s another 4 hours with Dark Tower Palaver on a single chapter as they discuss “Reshuffle” from The Drawing of the Three.
Here they cover the first half of the chapter.
They let off with a great observation and point: There was no “shuffling” in this chapter.
In the last “Shuffle” Roland was slipping in and out of consciousness and things were all jumbled up. It was a very interesting technique to use that word “shuffle” in between bouts of consciousness.
But here? “Reshuffle” was just a straightforward continuation of the story.
Day 766: Feb 5, 2024
Dark Tower Palaver discusses the second half of “Reshuffle” from The Drawing of the Three.
Day 767: Feb 6, 2024
A short & sweet episode from Two Guys to the Dark Tower Came about the “Reshuffle” chapter from The Drawing of the Three.
Day 768: Feb 7, 2024
The Cast of Ka were not thrilled with the “Reshuffle” chapter from The Drawing of the Three. But they promise the best is yet to come in this book.
Day 769: Feb 8, 2024
The Kingslingers have a lot to say about the “The Lady of Shadows” and the “”Reshuffle” chapters from The Drawing of the Three.
Day 770: Feb 9, 2024
I only got through the first half of The Kingslingers‘ episode yesterday, so today I listen to the second half where they covered the “”Reshuffle” chapter from The Drawing of the Three.
Day 771: Feb 10, 2024
It’s back to the book this morning and the final “push” toward the conclusion of The Drawing of the Three with the section called “The Pusher”.
I last left off with Roland in really, really bad shape. Missing fingers, toes and ammunition, he’s been rendered wheelchair bound by infection and appears near death as he approaches the final door.
I dwell upon this section’s name, “The Pusher”, which are the words over the third door & think about all the pushing that’s happened so far.
Going back to the first book, Jake was pushed in front of a car. Then there’s Eddie & his world of heroin. And Odetta pushed in front of a train. Then along the beach, there’s a lot of pushing of Odetta & Roland around in a wheelchair. Finally there’s the metaphysical “push” towards the Dark Tower.
What’s behind this door?
He had been watching the boy for the last two weeks.
Today he was going to push him.
Well, looks like my first guess was right! But then again, I had read this book twice already. But it’s been 25 years since I last went through it and which I didn’t consciously know what “The Pusher” was, I bet I knew subconsciously.
The girl he bumped was screaming after him, but Jack Mort didn’t notice. An amateur lepidopterist would have taken no more notice of a common butterfly.
Jack was, in his way, much like an amateur lepidopterist.
By profession, he was a successful C.P.A.
Divorced of his body, his mind—his ka—was as healthy and acute as ever, but the sudden knowing struck him like a chisel-blow to the temple.
The forever attempt to understand what “ka” is. It’s fate, it’s luck, it’s a permeating presence that controls everything. And now it’s one’s mind or soul?
Thoughts of what might happen if he stopped the man in black from murdering Jake did not come until later—the possible paradox, the fistula in time and dimension which might cancel out everything that had happened after he had arrived at the way station . . . for surely if he saved Jake in this world, there would have been no Jake for him to meet there, and everything which had happened thereafter would change.
Credit King for addressing this paradox right away!
He was close enough to the window to look out, but far enough behind the slanted shadow-line to be safe from any casual viewer.
He had a crumbly red brick in his hand.
OMG. This “Jack Mort” character (whose name is a not-so-very clever callback to “Death. But not for you, gunslinger.”) was the one who dropped a brick on Odetta’s head!
The first time he had pushed something on her.
The second time he had pushed her in front of something.
Wait! This same guy dropped a brick on Odetta’s head also pushed her in front of that train many years later? And was the same guy who pushed Jake in front of a car?
I don’t think I’m liking this Jack Mort character. No, not one bit.
I stop here at the end of Chapter 1 of “The Pusher”. I am now 81% of the way through The Drawing of the Three.
Day 772: Feb 11, 2024
Dark Tower Palaver discusses Chapter 1 of the section titled “The Pusher” in The Drawing of the Three
Day 773: Feb 12, 2024
I am back to the written word, reading Chapter 2 of “The Pusher” section in The Drawing of the Three.
Roland had just entered into the body of one of the slimiest characters in King’s works, Jack Mort, who has connections to Odetta Holms and Jake Chambers. No connection to Eddie Dean has been established yet, but I’m sure it’s there!
Two hours passed while Eddie hunted for the woman he called “Odetta” (oh how she hated the sound of that name), ranging up and down the low hills and yelling until he had no voice left to yell with.
I thought Roland gave explicit instructions to Eddie to NOT make Detta aware of Odetta. And since they both knew it was Detta hiding in the hills, why would he then scream that other name?
Because he’s Eddie, I guess.
Detta changed course and began to crawl toward the gunslinger’s inert body … but for a moment she was held frozen by the door.
She was seeing a druggist who looked scared silly, and Detta didn’t blame him. There was a gun pointing straight into the druggist’s face. The druggist was saying something, but his voice was distant, distorted, as if heard through sound-baffles.
Roland learns quick the ways of our world. Rob the pharmacist before he robs you!
She crept up on you while you were asleep, Eddie. It was the gunslinger’s voice, of course. It doesn’t do any good to say I told you so now, but . . . I told you so. This is what romance gets you—a noose around your neck and a crazy woman with two guns somewhere behind you.
Yep. Been there, done that!
“Got dat, honky?”
“Yes,” he said, but it was only a hoarse choke of sound.
“Den say it. Say my name.”
“Detta.”
“Say my whole name!”
Now, where have I heard that before?
That’s the end of this relatively short chapter. Detta manages to hog tie Eddie and drag him to a cave that’s in clear view of the door. While that stretches the level of credulity (a legless woman dragging herself and a grown man across a beach?) Detta intends to use Eddie as a “honeypot” to draw Roland where she wants him once he returns from the door.
I am now 84% of the way through the book.
Day 774: Feb 13, 2024
Once again, I’m with Dark Tower Palaver as they discuss Chapter 2 of “The Pusher” section of The Drawing of the Three.
It’s been 30 minutes and they’re still talking about this continuity/timeline error.
Day 775: Feb 13, 2024
The Cast of Ka reads the first two chapters of “The Pusher” section of The Drawing of the Three.
Day 776: Feb 15, 2024
I’m getting close to the end of The Drawing of the Three and crack open Chapter 3 of “The Pusher”. When I last left the gang, Eddie Dean found himself hog tied by a legless Detta Walker.
That’s pretty pathetic, Eddie…
When you planned rough, you allowed room for improvisation. And improvisation at short notice had always been one of Roland’s strong points.
This one line has said more about Roland’s character than I think the sum of the rest of this book has so far.
“I wonder… if you have a chart, which shows pictures of revolver ammunition.”
“You mean a caliber chart?” the clerk asked.
The customer paused, then said, “Yes.”
“I got a Shooter’s Bible. Maybe that’s what you ought to look at.”
“Yes.” He smiled. Shooter’s Bible. It was a noble name for a book.
Down here in the South US, a “Shooter’s Bible” would be held more reverently than an actual Bible.
“Three,” the gunslinger said. “Three boxes.” He tapped the Fotergraff of the shells with one finger. One hundred and fifty rounds! Ye gods! What a mad storehouse of riches this world was!
Roland losing his mind over the amount of bullets he could buy cheaply is quite amusing.
He leaned down and looked in the passenger side window at O’Mearah. O’Mearah expected the guy to sound like a fruit—probably as fruity as his routine about the lavender handcuffths had suggested, but a pouf all the same.
True to form with just about every other book King has written up to this point, a character with extremely homophobic views enters into the story.
Another editing mistake. In one part:
But years later there was a brief moment of epiphany when O’Mearah took his two sons to the Museum of Science in Boston. They had a machine there—a computer—that played tic-tac-toe
Then pages later:
O’Mearah… suddenly got it… Thoughts of robots and machines that played tic-tac-toe went out of his mind.
How could something that didn’t happen until years later go “out of his mind”?
Roland pushed the two cops apart. They were both still alive. That was good. No matter how slow and unobservant they might be, they were gunslingers, men who had tried to help a stranger in trouble. He had no urge to kill his own.
“no urge to kill his own”
I’m stopping here midway through this rather long chapter and will finish it off tomorrow. I’m now 89% of the way through The Drawing of the Three.
Day 777: Feb 16, 2024
Continuing on with The Drawing of the Three and Chapter 3 of “The Pusher”.
Roland, in the body of Jack Mort, has just knocked out two police officers and is about to restock on ammunition from a NYC gun shop.
Two guns. One for Eddie, and one for Odetta . . . when and if Odetta was ready for a gun.
Well, wasn’t that thoughtful of Roland to do a little Christmas shopping for his friends while he was visiting the Big Apple!
One of these men had been a creature the gunslinger believed to be a demon himself, a creature that pretended to be a man and called itself Flagg…he would never forget seeing Flagg change a man who had irritated him into a howling dog… Then there had been the man in black.
And there had been Marten.
Seems a bit like fan service on King’s part to drop Flagg’s name in the middle of the action. But Flagg does appear to be low down on the food chain of baddies.
“There is no cocaine here. It is not a drug which is dispensed under any cir—”
“I did not say cocaine,” the man in the blue suit and the gold-rimmed glasses said. “I said Keflex.”
That’s what I thought you said, Katz almost told this crazy momser, and then decided that might provoke him. He had heard of drug stores getting held up for speed, for Bennies, for half a dozen other thing, but he thought this might be the first penicillin robbery in history.
Funny!
As an aside, while googling “Keflex”, it seems as if it’s only branded that way outside of the USA. In this country, it’s sold only “Cephalexin”.
I can nearly see the light at the end of the tunnel as I wrap up The Drawing of the Three. I stop here at the end of this chapter.
I’m 93% of the way through the book.
Day 778: Feb 17, 2024
Dark Tower Palaver has a lot to say about Roland’s escapades in Jack Mort’s body as they read Chapter 3 of “The Pusher” section of The Drawing of the Three.
Day 779: Feb 18, 2024
Dark Tower Palaver‘s discussion about Chapter 3 of “The Pusher” section of The Drawing of the Three spilled over into a second episode.
Day 780: Feb 19, 2024
The Cast of Ka weighs in on Chapter 3 of “The Pusher” section of The Drawing of the Three.
Day 781: Feb 20, 2024
I head into the final sections of The Drawing of the Three. Eddie’s hog-tied in a cave. Detta waits for Roland to return. Meanwhile, Roland who has taken over Jack Mort’s body, has grabbed tons of ammo & Keflex to take back.
Here’s my question: Does Jack Mort come back with him? When he inhabited Eddie’s & Odetta’s bodies, they both returned through the door. 🤔
“I just hope he’s still there,” Delevan said, and used a key to unlock the short steel bars across the stock and barrel of the pump shotgun under the dashboard. He pulled it out of its clips. “I just hope that rotten-crotch son of a bitch is still there.”
Don’t hear the slur “rotten crotch” often (if ever). I guess if you’re a cop who had just been knocked out by an accountant, you’re gonna invent some new phrases.
Roland stood in the doorway, oblivious to the approaching sirens. He broke the scatter-rifle, then worked the pump action, ejecting all the fat red cartridges onto Delevan’s body. That done, he dropped the gun itself onto Delevan.
“You’re a dangerous fool who should be sent west,” he told the unconscious man. “You have forgotten the face of your father.”
Roland did not have much respect for the NYPD.
Listen, the gunslinger told him. I only have time to say this—and everything else—once. My time has grown very short. If you don’t answer my question, I am going to put your right thumb into your right eye. I’ll jam it in as far as it will go, and then I’ll pull your eyeball right out of your head and wipe it on the seat of this carriage like a booger.
Roland has no pity for the man whose body he’s occupying. Should’ve punched himself in the nuts for good measure.
Mort’s right hand moved the lever by the wheel again and they rolled toward the Christopher Street station where that fabled A-train had cut off the legs of a woman named Odetta Holmes some three years before.
And that’s where I leave off in my reading today. I am now 95% of the way through The Drawing of the Three. With so little book left, and so much to wrap up, can King pull it off?
Day 782: Feb 21, 2024
I finish off The Drawing of the Three today!
I left off yesterday with Roland still in Jack Mort’s body, having held up both a gun shop and a drug store. He single-handedly dispatches the same two NYPD officers in both locations.
There’s only a little bit left in this book, so I’ll interested to see how this all wraps up!
I’m dead! Jack Mort was screaming. I’m dead, you’ve gotten me killed, I’m dead, I’m—
No, the gunslinger responded….The life of both men, the one inside and the one outside, were saved by Mort’s lighter.
Wouldn’t the lighter have been ignited by the heat of the bullet?
The hot slug also ignited the lighter’s fluid-soaking batting. Nevertheless, the gunslinger lay still as they approached. The one who had not shot him was telling people to stay back, just stay back, goddammit.
Oh – guess that answers that question.
Yet somehow they still found a way to shrink back from the man in the blue suit who came plunging down the stairs. It wasn’t much wonder. He was holding a gun, and another was strapped around his waist.
Also, he appeared to be on fire.
I can already see this scene rendered on the screen by the amazing Mike Flanagan!
He could hear the train roaring toward the platform, could see its light. He had no way of knowing it was a train which kept the same route as the one which had run over Odetta, but all the same he did know. In matters of the Tower, fate became a thing as merciful as the lighter which had saved his life and as painful as the fire the miracle had ignited.
Poetry, man!
NOO—! Mort shrieked, and in the last split second before the train ran him down, cutting him in two not above the knees but at the waist, Roland lunged at the door . . . and through it.
Jack Mort died alone.
And that answers my question from yesterday as to whether Jack Mort would come through the door with Roland.
But why did Roland require Odetta/Detta to look through the door in order to be able to cross through? Seems to be a new rule pulled out of nowhere.
Eddie screamed again as one of the lobstrosities tore a swatch of his pants and a chunk of meat to go along with it…..
The things were all around them, closing in, claws clicking eagerly. The gunslinger threw the last of his strength into a final yank . . . and tumbled backwards. He heard them coming, them with their hellish questions and clicking claws…
The thunder of his own guns filled him with stupid wonder.
Literally held my breath during this sequence.
She was being turned inside out again . . . and then, suddenly, blessedly, she was whole. For the first time since a man named Jack Mort had dropped a brick on the head of a child who was only there to be hit because a white taxi driver had taken one look and driven away (and had not her father, in his pride, refused to try again for fear of a second refusal), she was whole.
Can you almost hear the triumphant soundtrack in this scene?
She blasted a third one that was crawling rapidly between Eddie’s spraddled legs, meaning to eat on him and neuter him at the same time. It flew like a tiddly-wink.
So, here’s a minor problem of plot convenience: Eddie stupidly gave Odetta his gun – a gun that maybe had some working bullets. But unlikely to work, because Eddie had to resort to bashing the lobstrosities with rocks in order to eat.
So now Odetta/Detta comes to the rescue with guns ablazin’?
I didn’t much care for the artwork in this book. They didn’t seem very inspired and took images from the story that were hard to connect to.
This one, for example, appears right after Roland passes out. But is he standing up while passed out? The door behind him indicates as much. It doesn’t make much sense.
I now enter into the final part of The Drawing of the Three called “Final Shuffle”.
Roland remembered very little of that time; he had been raving, delirious. He sometimes called Eddie Alain, sometimes Cuthbert, and always he called the woman Susan.
I’m listening to the audiobook while reading the text and now I know “Alain” is pronounced “alaan” as in “Aladdin” but with an extra half-breath on the second “a”.
Bye and bye the lobstrosities began staying away from their part of the beach, but by then they had plenty of meat, and when they at last got into an area where weeds and slutgrass grew, all three of them ate compulsively of it.
“slutgrass”
I tried to create an ImageFX of this, but no matter what I typed in, I got:
“That prompt goes against our policies. Try a different prompt” 😂
I like how this final “shuffle” ties back to the first shuffle in which Roland faded in and out of consciousness.
Here, it’s almost the same thing, but Roland is getting better, stronger. And he has dreams.
They looked toward Susannah, but she slept on, undisturbed. Once there had been a woman named Odetta Susannah Holmes; later, there had been another named Detta Susannah Walker. Now there was a third: Susannah Dean.
The book may be titled “The Drawing of the Three” – but it looks like Roland only “drew” two back into his world. Unless you count Odetta/Detta as two?
“He taught me if you kill what you love, you’re damned.”
“I am damned already,” Roland said calmly. “But perhaps even the damned may be saved.”
“Are you going to get all of us killed?”
Roland said nothing.
Eddie seized the rags of Roland’s shirt. “Are you going to get her killed?”
…
“We are going to go, Eddie. We are going to fight. We are going to be hurt. And in the end we will stand.”
And that indeed is an appropriate way to end a book!
And I’ve come to the end of reading The Drawing of the Three.
But I still have quite a few weeks to go in this tale. There’s many more podcast episodes that review this book, some covering just those last chapters, others the book as a whole.
And then there’s the graphic novels that bring this story to the eye – at least until Mike Flanagan does it for us.
All in all, I liked The Gunslinger more than The Drawing of the Three. This was too rooted in my (our) world.
Day 783: Feb 22, 2024
Once again, it’s Dark Tower Palaver wrapping up with their coverage of The Drawing of the Three.
Day 784: Feb 23, 2024
Two Guys to the Dark Tower Came approach the end of The Drawing of the Three with their review of “The Pusher”.
Without exception, every podcast host has referred to the clerk at the gun store (where Roland replenished his ammunition) as “Fat Tony” instead of the actual character’s name, “Fat Johnny”. 😂
Day 785: Feb 24, 2024
Two Guys to the Dark Tower Came finish off The Drawing of the Three as they wrap up with “Final Shuffle”.
This is the second podcast to suggest that reading “The Drawing of the Three” before “The Gunslinger” is a good idea.
I have to ask, have they been smoking devil grass?
Day 786: Feb 25, 2024
Listening to the Kingslingers opus of an episode covering The Drawing of the Three and the final sections, “The Pusher” and “Final Shuffle”.
Day 787: Feb 26, 2024
I’m tackling the second half of the Kingslingers episode covering The Drawing of the Three and the final sections, “The Pusher” and “Final Shuffle”.
Day 788: Feb 27, 2024
The Cast of Ka concludes their journey along the beach of The Drawing of the Three.
Day 789: Feb 28, 2024
Kingslingers makes one final pass at The Drawing of the Three.
These guys truly have proven their expertise with the material, but they annoyed the living snot out of me in this episode by referring to the third Dark Tower book as “The Wasteland”. They did it multiple times, so it wasn’t just a one-off mistake.
Day 790: Feb 29, 2024
Now I head into a set of podcast episodes from groups that did not do a read-along of The Drawing of the Three but instead released a single episode about the book as a whole. Let’s start with The Losers’ Club.
Day 791: Mar 1, 2024
The Kingcast had a very entertaining episode about The Drawing of the Three with guest Matt Factor, a famous comic book author.
Matt Fraction stated that he was only into the third book of the Dark Tower series. Still, he hypothesized with the final sentence of the final book would be – and he nailed it perfectly.
The hosts of The Kingcast should be commended for keeping their shit together and not revealing how right he was.
Day 792: Mar 2, 2024
Today, I listen to Chat Sematary‘s review of The Drawing of the Three It’s a mercifully short episode compared to the numerous 2+ hour long episodes I’ve been listening to so far!
Day 793: Mar 3, 2024
It’s been a long time since I heard from the Stephen King Cast but here he is to discuss The Drawing of the Three.
Day 794: Mar 4, 2024
Dark Tower Radio takes their second major step towards their ultimate goal with their coverage of The Drawing of the Three.
Day 795: Mar 5, 2024
The Stephen King Cast swings back around to The Drawing of the Three and discusses it in the context of the larger Dark Tower series as well as adjacent novels like insomnia and Black House. It was a heavy spoiler filled episode, not recommended for those who haven’t explored all those works already.
Day 796: Mar 6, 2024
The Year of Underrated Stephen King spends a couple of hours wandering in and out of the doors from The Drawing of the Three.
Looks like I’m getting close to the end of the novel discussions. According to my plan, I’ll be hitting the graphic novel renditions this weekend!
Day 797: Mar 7, 2024
Just King Things spent 2.5 hrs talking about The Drawing of the Three. It’s gonna take me a couple of days to get through this one.
Day 798: Mar 8, 2024
Listening to the second half of Just King Things‘ epically long episode about The Drawing of the Three. But to their credit, it didn’t feel long at all!
I was able to squeeze in a little bit of extra time today for this short episode from Stephen King Cast where he solely focuses on the ending of The Drawing of the Three.
And that’s it for podcasts covering the novel! Tomorrow, I get to move onto the graphic novel renditions of The Drawing of the Three!
The Graphic Novels
Day 799: Mar 9, 2024
Today, I start the journey with the graphic novel interpretations of The Dark Tower, starting with Vol. 1, “The Prisoner”. Each of these five volumes are in five parts, so there’s still a lot of reading to do!
I thought the graphic novelization of The Stand was amazing! The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger was a mixed bag. We’ll
“The Prisoner” was Eddie Dean. This cover suggests we might be getting some childhood backstory.
The first frame opens with Eddie at some point in the distant future, and apparently in our world.
That’s an odd technique. As it makes some SEVERE presumptions about Eddie’s fate that cannot possibly be derived from The Drawing of the Three.
Assuming, that is, that this IS indeed Eddie Dean.
So what we’ve got here is some “coloring outside of the lines”, telling a tale that isn’t in the novel but maybe “could’ve” been. However, the writers, just by page 4, have dropped so many different easter eggs into the story (Jack Andolini had made an appearance, a toy doll made by North Central Positronics – really?) that it’s feeling more like Reddit fanfic than a restored piece of the original story.
From the book:
“Eddie sat up fast, as if he had been whacked. That voice wasn’t Henry’s, but it was so much like Henry’s when they had been just a couple of kids growing up in the Projects, Henry eight years older, the sister who had been between them now only a ghost of memory; Selina had been struck and killed by a car when Eddie was two and Henry ten.”
From this graphic novel 🤔:
I understand The Dixie Pig plays a role much later in this series.
But the fact that it’s thrown in here as some sort of HQ for Balazar and his crew? Unnecessary fan fic.
This plot has gotten so bizarre! According to this, Eddie’s sister was killed by a hired mafia guy driving a car. But, this vampire boss had actually assigned him the task of killing a young Eddie Dean.
I came for a retelling of The Drawing of the Three. I’ve got a complete rewriting!
Day 800: Mar 10, 2024
Reading the second issue of Vol 1 “The Prisoner”.
This series kicked off with an invented backstory from Eddie Dean’s childhood in which he was the target of an assassination attempt ordered by a human flesh eating vampire. I’m not even kidding.
A 1970’s version of the mob boss Balazar looks like a saloon keeper from the 1800’s.
I was about to complain of the heavy-handed fan fic writing.
“Calvin Tower”?
“A field of roses”?
But then I googled “Calvin Tower” and saw that he indeed is a character that appears in the next book. Now, does it make sense to insert him into this graphic novel as part of Eddie Dean’s childhood? We’ll see.
See? This panel right here. It attempts to cram the entire Dark Tower mythology into a single panel.
I came to this graphic novel series to see The Drawing of the Three come to life. Instead, I’m getting a blender-produced montage of Dark Tower’s greatest hits.
Now we get to some book material! Here’s the backstory of when Henry Dean stole a car and took young Eddie for a frightful ride.
Except, in this version, that car was left behind INTENTIONALLY by an agent working for Balazar and the evil creature that he works for.
In this version, Jack Andolini (the mob enforcer) knew Henry & Eddie Dean back when they were children.
Yeah, it doesn’t make sense to me either.
This issue ends with Henry Dean delivering a bomb after midnight that explodes at the door of a Chinese shop.
Totally consistent with the tone and plot of The Drawing of the Three… 🙄
Day 801: Mar 11, 2024
Reading Issue #3 “The Prisoner”, the first graphic novel series based on The Drawing of the Three.
Evil bad guys from another dimension are still trying to assassinate a young Eddie Dean. After a hit and run killed his sister instead, the assassins came up with a convoluted plot to leave an unattended car with the keys still in it for Henry to steal and take Eddie along. How that would’ve assassinated Eddie? Who knows. 🤷♂️
Oh, and there was a bomb.
The origin story of Henry’s drug addiction doesn’t seem to enhance The Drawing of the Three at all.
Eddie goes into some sort of trance upon seeing a local haunted mansion. I had to look this quote up and it comes from The Waste Lands. So, I guess you needed to have read past The Drawing of the Three to feel the impact of this “easter egg”.
The final panel of this issue has Henry coming back injured from ‘Nam. It doesn’t land hard at all.
Day 802: Mar 12, 2024
Now picking up Issue #4 “The Prisoner”, the first graphic novel series based on The Drawing of the Three.
This series has exclusively focused on Eddie’s back story, from the time he was 2 years old and his sister’s murder to his early teens and the fall of his older brother Henry.
I didn’t think Eddie’s backstory screamed to be fleshed out, but here we are nonetheless.
Walter? Really?
And finally, we’re getting close to the point of The Drawing of the Three where Eddie makes his formal entrance into Roland’s story. I do hope we get to the novel’s plot soon!
This is an interesting set of panels where Eddie shoots up heroin himself and dreams of Roland and the Man in Black.
The final page is an interesting twist on Roland entering into Eddie’s world. Instead of Roland looking through the first door and being overwhelmed by the sights that Eddie saw looking out of an airplane window, here it’s Eddie looking through the door and seeing Roland’s twisted world.
For the first time in this series, I am quite impressed!
Day 803: Mar 13, 2024
It’s the final issue of “The Prisoner”, the first graphic novel series based on The Drawing of the Three.
We finally reached the moment where Roland crosses through the door into Eddie’s world, but it was told from Eddie’s point of view, which was an interesting twist. Let’s wrap this up!
Maybe it’s just artistic license with the perspective, but that lobstrosity appears to be the size of a kaiju.
Finally, after 5 issues and a bit of reshuffling of the order of the plotline, we come to the opening scene of The Drawing of the Three.
Roland looks to be about, what… 23? 24?
No beard stubble. No worn look of years of hard living. Looks like a kid just hitting puberty.
The rest of this issue read very fast as it was a very faithful, albeit very concise, retelling of the first half of Eddie’s dilemma on the plane.
I am looking forward to this next series which will have the action-packed shootout at Balazar’s. That’ll be fun!
I’m listening now to Chat Sematary and their review of “The Prisoner”.
Day 804: Mar 14, 2024
I start on the 2nd of five graphic novel series based on The Drawing of the Three. This time, it’s a set called “House of Cards”.
I wasn’t impressed with the previous series, “The Prisoner,” which spent its entirety in Eddie Dean’s childhood, but it did pick up at the end so let’s see if this momentum carries through!
Here’s the backstory that this series invented. If you’ve read The Drawing of the Three, you might be thinking, “Whaaaaaa?”
We are not off to a good start. There is no way Roland would have used the word “mobster”.
In fact, the word “mob” was used only once in The Drawing of the Three.
Fat Johnny turned around, beginning to blubber. Of course the guy said he wasn’t going to, but the smell of mob hit was getting too strong to ignore.
An exchange that wasn’t in the book, but I liked it!
You couldn’t find a less threatening looking group of guys as mob thugs. It looks like they walked off the set of an Austin Powers movie.
It’s three full pages of these clowns from That 70’s Show carrying Henry Dean out of his apartment.
This is what’s known in the industry as “padding”.
Day 805: Mar 15, 2024
Issue #2 of “House of Cards”, the second comic series based on The Drawing of the Three.
Roland has helped Eddie dump the drugs he was smuggling into midWorld and the airplane staff thinks they have Eddie cornered. And Henry Dean is kidnapped by a goon squad out of the Adam West Batman TV series.
I still thing the lobstrosities were drawn too large. I had imagined them as the size of small to medium dogs, which would have been terrifying enough. But here, they appear to be the size of horses or large cattle.
This was actually a pretty funny line from Eddie that wasn’t found in the book.
I’m pretty sure that’s Stephen, Roland’s father, who is the voice of conscience in his head. But there’s no attempt to identify him at all and I don’t recall him being referenced in any prior issue.
I would think the poor reader would be very, very confused by this sudden appearance.
Not much happened in this issue. But now I’m starting to feel like its the novel’s fault.
While many waxed over how amazing The Drawing of the Three was, my impression was that it dragged quite a bit and once you reflect on the last hundred pages or so, you realize that not much actually happened.
Day 806: Mar 16, 2024
Issue #3 of “House of Cards”, the second comic series based on The Drawing of the Three.
We’re now sticking faithfully to the plot beats of the book as we plow forward to the unforgettable shootout at Balazar’s. But at the pace we’re going, that shootout may not be reached until the 5 issue. We’ll see.
I’ve built houses of cards before but that’s… that’s just impressive!
Things are progressing faster than I thought they would. Henry Dean has passed and Jack Andolini is about to be pulled into Roland’s world.
I had forgotten about Roland’s impressive shot that blew off Andolini’s arm and half his face.
Looks like I’ll be getting to the big shoot-out tomorrow. Good!
Day 807: Mar 17, 2024
Issue #4 of “House of Cards”, the second comic series based on The Drawing of the Three.
Now we’re at the moment of the big shootout. And where heads will roll.
I have zero skills in the visual arts, but I’d have to imagine the artists for this series had to have been nervous about bringing this pivotal moment to life.
Roland would never say “After we kill everyone…” in such a lighthearted manner. Way out of character for the Roland that WE know from the books!
While the dialog is weak, the action is rendered very well!
I know licenses had to be taken given the target audience of a comic book series, but it was an important plot point for Eddie to have been buck naked during this shootout. It was the first time that Roland admired Eddie and thought of him as a possible gunslinger.
They choose not to show Eddie completely naked for the sake of potential children readers… But this is fine.
I really like this rendering of The Dark Tower. Imagine if the red swirling clouds in the background were animated – how hypnotic would that be?
[Happily, a fellow Mastodon user provided the following]
Day 808: Mar 18, 2024
It’s the conclusion of “House of Cards”, the second comic series based on The Drawing of the Three.
With the big Balazar gang shootout behind us, which was 99% faithful to the book (aside from Eddie in boxers), we now shift back to Midworld where Eddie goes through withdrawal and Roland through antibiotics.
Roland is flashing back while in a fever dream. I thought the artists created something very intriguing here.
Looks like we’re going to be reliving the entirety of The Gunslinger for a few pages as they cover David the Hawk, Cort, Tull, Susan Delgado and Jake.
Just like the book, a lot of walking and talking.
According to my searches, “ka-tet” was never used in The Drawing of the Three.
And this panel concludes the series. Only 3 more series to go! In the next one, “The Lady of Shadows”, I’m curious how the author handles the racist and sexual undertones of Odetta’s story.
I’m now listening to Chat Sematary discuss this second graphic novel series based on The Drawing of the Three.
You can no longer find these episodes online as the host has taken down her Patreon. Good thing I downloaded them when I had the chance!
Day 809: Mar 19, 2024
Moving on to “The Lady of Shadows”, the the third 5-part comic series based on The Drawing of the Three.
Eddie is now permanently in Roland’s world and the previous two series were told nearly exclusively from Eddie’s point of view which did add a mildly interesting twist to the tale.
Will that POV change with the introduction of Odetta/Detta?
Looks like my question was answered right there in the very first panel.
It does appear we will be living in Odetta’s head for a little bit.
We have the introduction of a new character who isn’t in the book. “Dave Van Ronk” is Odetta’s boyfriend (what a horrible name!) who fills the roll of the chauffer in questioning Odetta’s frequent, unaccounted for disappearances.
Well, helloooo Odetta!
The writing and artwork have taken a huge leap forward compared to the previous two series!
The “new” elements not found in the book are adding a depth to the story. For example, the introduction of the fact that Odetta was born on the same day that Emmette Till was lynched was a perfect addition to understanding the times into which she was born.
This is an interesting introduction to the name “Detta”. It was the name of Odetta’s doll when she was a young girl.
The KKK were most definitely NOT in The Drawing of the Three.
And… they ruin what was a near-perfect issue with the shoe-horning in of “Walter” attacking Odetta. 🙄
This plot device is so unnecessary!
Cuthbert too? Really?
I was about to explode over “The League of Gileadites” and the shameless and irrelevant insertion of Gilead into this story…
But then I googled it and found it truly was a thing related to the abolitionist movement in the US prior to and throughout the Civil War! Now, I’m thinking these writers are absolute geniuses!
That’s the longest edition of any of the issues so far and it was by far the richest as well. I’m very excited for the rest of this series!
Day 810: Mar 20, 2024
Reading Issue #2 of “The Lady of Shadows”, the the third 5-part comic series based on The Drawing of the Three.
It was an explosive introduction to Odetta Holmes as a child and as a young lady. The newly introduced plotline of an attack from the KKK (headed by Walter) was eyerolling, but being saved by a Cuthbert “twinner” from the historically accurate “The League of Gileadites” was utterly brilliant!
Can’t wait to see what the next chapter brings.
Early on, we’re introduced to Jack Mort and the pivotal moment where he drops a brick on Odetta’s head and causes her personality split.
I liked it better when that plot point was introduced later in the novel as part of Jack Mort’s reveal.
Again, I find the artwork to be stunning!
And here’s Walter again, inserting himself into the story.
Walter himself failed to kill Odetta. Now he’s going to offload it to a contractor – who also just failed to kill Odetta? You’d think these forces of ultimate evil wouldn’t be so… incompetent!
I *truly* want to like this series, but this particular plot point about Walter sprinking nightmare dust onto little Odetta’s head so that she would be fearful of Roland 20+ years later???
That’s just stupid.
Day 811: Mar 21, 2024
Reading Issue #3 of “The Lady of Shadows”, the the third 5-part comic series based on The Drawing of the Three.
Walter from Midworld is the big bad in Odetta Holmes’ childhood, shoehorned in just like we saw in the previous series about Eddie Dean’s childhood.
Still, the artwork and storytelling are definitely a step up from the previous two series!
When ‘Detta is in control, Odetta has nightmares about Midworld. interesting.
Whaaaaat???
As a little girl, the internal “Detta” voice actually said, “I want to throw you on a train track and run the car over you.”
In what world does this even make sense?
Using a Psychology professor’s lecture to correct Stephen King’s misdiagnosis in the novel.
he small side-story from the novel of Odetta and the young white man in the car becomes a major plot point and a cliffhanger in this series.
Day 812: Mar 22, 2024
Reading Issue #4 of “The Lady of Shadows”, the the third 5-part comic series based on The Drawing of the Three.
There are some confounding decisions made in the plot points of Odetta’s back story. Walter, for example, is being crammed in like a size 10 foot into a size 5 shoe.
I have to give kudos to the writers here for such an accurate portrayal of a common conversation during the Civil Rights movement.
I like the stylized rendering of Odetta being pushed onto the train tracks.
This moment captured in graphic art actually improves upon King’s words in the novel!
It was hard to look at and hard to turn away from.
We were spared the entire back story of the medical intern who came to Odetta’s aid. But the entire sequence played out very well, right up there with high quality emergency rescue series on TV.
Also, we were mercifully spared any mention of or appearance by Walter. This made Odetta’s transformative accident much more gripped in reality.
Day 813: Mar 23, 2024
Finishing off “The Lady of Shadows”, the the third 5-part comic series based on The Drawing of the Three.
The last edition was the best in the overall series as it honed in on the moment Odetta was pushed onto the train tracks and lost her legs. It was intense, gruesome and page-turning. Now we reach the end of this series where I assume she’ll be pulled into Roland’s world.
An interesting thing to consider: In this storyline, Odetta was not only wealthy, but famous – appearing on the cover of Time magazine!
I had to look this up – it’s pulled from Song of Susannah.
The sigil of the Crimson King makes an appearance
For those who aren’t intimately familiar with the entire saga, there can be a lot of confusing things found here.
The moment when Roland enters into Detta’s head. Rendered quite nicely here!
A bit of a weak ending to an otherwise powerful series!
Tomorrow, I crack open the 4 series, “Bitter Medicine”.
But first, to wrap up “The Lady of Shadows” is an episode from Chat Sematary (episode is no longer available as they’ve discontinued their Patreon).
Day 814: Mar 24, 2024
Now beginning “Bitter Medicine”, the fourth 5-part comic series based on The Drawing of the Three.
With the embellished back stories of Eddie Dean and Odetta Holmes behind us (and the awkward insertion of key elements of The Dark Tower lore that comes much later in the novels), I think we now spend time in Mid-World where Roland gets progressively sicker and Detta Walker more dangerous
This issue opens with a bit of a jump back in the storyline to a point just prior to Roland walking through the door titled “Lady of Shadows”.
The art in this series is very impressionistic, but it doesn’t seem to add to the emotion of the story like the styling did in the previous series.
Also, it’s nearly retelling the entire sequence of the final issue of “Lady of Shadows”. It feels like wasted pages to me.
This issue was a quick read ending with Detta fixing to blow Eddie’s brains out.
It was a faithful, if not very compelling, rendition of this part of the novel. But at least they didn’t try to cram in Charlie the Choo Choo or some other irrelevant aspect of future books into this!
Day 815: Mar 25, 2024
Reading Issue 2 of “Bitter Medicine” – the fourth 5-part comic series based on The Drawing of the Three.
We’re on the beach in Mid-World and Detta Walker just attempted to kill Eddie in his sleep. It’s staying rather faithful to the book at this point and I really have no idea what plot points this particular series is set to cover.
I already have something of a problem with the story synopsis: Eddie was not at all involved in the *recruitment* of Odetta. In fact, he threatened to kill Roland if he went through that door!
I like that they kept Eddie’s dialog essentially intact. This piece especially captured his personality.
This issue ends with Roland collapsing from his sickness.
Not much happened in these pages: A tussle with Detta and some lobster was eaten.
But that’s exactly how it went down in the book. These graphic novels are underscoring my impression that The Drawing of the Three was good – but highlight overrated as compelling fiction.
Day 816: Mar 26, 2024
Reading Issue 3 of “Bitter Medicine” – the fourth 5-part comic series based on The Drawing of the Three.
I struggle to remember what happened in Issue #2 that I just read yesterday. What I did notice was the absence of Eddie falling immediately in love with Odetta. The reader was beat over the head with it in the book, but not at all (yet) in this graphic novel.
That actually is more realistic as I thought King forced that romance too quickly.
“Magic door” isn’t something Roland would say.
I checked the novel. Eddie says it (usually with some adjectival expletive) but not Roland. It seemed very out of character for him to character the doors as “magic”. He just accepted them as part of the world – a shrug of the shoulders. He was more amazed by what he saw in OUR world than he was by these doors on the beach.
I spoke too soon. True to the book, the rushed romance is here.
I liked how they took the time to capture Eddie & Odetta’s curiosity and exploration of the third door. It wasn’t central to the plot, but examining all around the door is exactly what I would’ve done in that situation.
I had forgotten that Roland wanted Eddie to join him through the third door. I wonder how that would’ve worked out with two minds (two extra, that is) occupying the same body. Would they have been fighting each other constantly to gain control? Would Eddie have gotten access to the left half of the body while Roland had the right?
Roland mentions the Crimson King here even though that name was never brought up in The Drawing of the Three.
And that’s it for this issue. The pacing was a lot better, but the story, unfortunately, wasn’t all that compelling.
Again, not necessarily the fault of these writers as they stayed very faithful to the source material.
Day 817: Mar 27, 2024
Reading Issue 4 of “Bitter Medicine” – the fourth 5-part comic series based on The Drawing of the Three.
The pacing has improved and we’re sticking very close to the book now as we head into Door #3.
I still find it implausible that a legless woman could so easily overpower and hogtie Eddie, and the comic didn’t make it any more plausible.
But that could just be a failure of my imagination and I’m interested to see how Mike Flanagan would make this seem realistic on film.
The writers chose not to include my favorite part of Roland in the gun shop – namely, his utter bewilderment at the volume and availability of weapons and ammo in a single store that could arm an entire kingdom in his world.
An interesting interpretation of how Roland is bending Jack Mort (whose body he’s inhabiting) to his will.
As visually striking as the art is, sometimes it’s a bit too abstract and it’s difficult to make out what’s happening.
This issue ends with Roland (inside Jack Mort’s body) getting shot by an officer in a NY subway.
There’s one issue left in this series and we’re nearing the end of the plot of The Drawing of the Three.
Yet, there’s still another series to go called “The Sailor”. I wonder what material THAT will cover?
Day 818: Mar 28, 2024
It’s the final step of “Bitter Medicine” – the fourth 5-part comic series based on The Drawing of the Three.
The pacing has picked up fast & furious as Roland rushes through the ammo store and then holds up a drug store for Keflex. Where we last left him, he was shot in the subway by a police officer while inhabiting Jack Mort’s body.
I think they captured a man on fire running down a subway tunnel pretty accurately!
From the book: “He unbuckled Jack Mort’s pants and pushed them casually down, revealing a pair of white underdrawers like a whore’s panties.”
I see a little bit of embellishment here on the artist’s part! 😂
I hadn’t considered this before: But Jack Mort was on fire, and Roland had him running around with boxes of ammunition.
That shouldn’t have ended well for him.
Roland commands Odetta/Detta to look through the door as Roland forces Jack Mort to leap in front of a train.
I feel like the artistry has taken a step backwards compared to the first editions of “The Lady of Shadows”.
Here, a newly formed “Susannah” looks more like a typical Marvel villain than an evolved character from this story.
We have indeed rushed through to the end of the plot from The Drawing of the Three.
Which has me intrigued.
There’s another 5-part series next called “The Sailor” which I thought was part of this book’s story. So what could it be about? I guess I’ll find out starting tomorrow!
I’m listening to the final podcast episode that Chat Sematary produced about this graphic novel series retelling of The Drawing of the Three.
Well, thanks to that episode from Chat Sematary, I learned that the fifth series, “The Sailor”, while it bears The Drawing of the Three title on its cover, is set entirely within the story of The Waste Lands.
I’m glad to learn of that because I would prefer to read the source material first before launching into any related media. So I’m going to reshuffle my schedule a bit and declare TODAY my last day with The Drawing of the Three!
Here are some final thoughts and stats about my trip with The Drawing of the Three:
Number of items consumed in this step: 81
Hours spent: 114
Days passed: 108
Comic series read: 4
Current ETA for completing this entire journey: June 2029
Final thoughts:
🟡 Many raved about “The Drawing of the Three”. While there were some good parts, I found much of it tedious and dull. It lost the wonder that I felt from “The Gunslinger”
🟢 The graphic novels were a mixed bag of quality. The plot embellishment of inserting Walter everywhere was annoying, but the issues covering Odetta’s childhood were brilliant!
🟡 So many podcasts! Many episodes took 10 times longer to talk about the book than it took to read the book
Finishing with my milestone rankings so far (based on entire experience – not just the book):
The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger
The Stand
Doctor Sleep
The Shining
Night Shift
Salem’s Lot
Carrie
Cujo
Firestarter
The Dead Zone
The Dark Tower: The Drawing of the Three
Danse Macabre