#Readathon-#BookReview-‘The Drawing Of The Three’ by Stephen King

Waaaayyyy later than I was hoping it would be, here is my review of Book 2 in the Dark Tower series.

‘The Drawing Of The Three’ is where the story really gets going in my humble opinion.

Roland has barely survived the adventures of book 1, and is sitting on a beach at the end of the world trying to reconcile his feelings for Jake, as well as trying to decipher the last message that the man in black left him.

Before he can come to any conclusions he is attacked by lobstrosities and becomes mortally ill. His only hope is to open the three doors which have suddenly appeared on the beach.

These doors belong to the Prisoner, the Lady of Shadows and Death (‘but not for you, gunslinger’).

Roland finds himself transported back to 1980’s New York and looking through the eyes of each in turn, travelling in his mind whilst his body lies at the mercy of the creeping tide and lobstrosities…’Dum-a-chum?’

What was really interesting is that I have read this many times over the years, firstly in the 80’s where it totally made sense and now in the new millenium where it does not, so much, yet it makes more.

The doors are both literal and figurative-Roland is a creature driven by his physical body , almost like a machine, so that in order for him to grow as a character, somehting has to intervene to get him to mentally expand his mind. These are doors to another world and another way of being.

There are issues that individual readers will take up about representation and Odetta/Detta Holmes as a black woman at that time.

However, what was modern is not retro and very much represntative of the time frame it was written in-it is dated perhaps but not old.

It still stands as my favourite Dark Tower arc as so many things fall into place-and how intensely they relate to this world.It has horror, action and fantasy galore at a breathtaking pace where you end it and wonder just how much damn story King can fit into a -relatively for him-short novel,

In the Dark Tower Book 2, you slowly start to put together just how much the tendrils of the mythology reach out and touch so many parts of the King-verse. And how Roland’s far away Mid World is actually closer than it first appears.

The descriptions of Eddie Dean, The Prisoner, and his addiction to heroin in the light of later revelations about King’s own addictions takes on a poignant twist whilst being as effective as ever.His back story still makes me want to weep!

Odetta/Detta Holmes, whilst not a perfect female representation portrays the dichotomy that all women face-to be true to themselves and their needs or to be the person society wanted them to be. This was especially so for a disabled, black woman living in the 1980’s.Caught in the middle and absolutely powerless to do anything about it, to me , Odetta/Detta is the most interesting of the three, in my humble opinion.

As for Death,well I won’t spoil the surprise of meeting Jack Mort and will let you open that door for yourself…

Which of them helps Roland and which of them aids him in his quest is both a journey and the start of the next act which leads Roland’s  ka-tet to ‘‘The Wastelands’

Please join me, hopefully, at the end of the month when I will add my thoughts on the events of Book 3 and feel free to add your thoughts down below..

“For every mother who ever cursed God for her child dead in the road, for every father who ever cursed the man who sent him away from the factory with no job, for every child who was ever born to pain and asked why, this is the answer. Our lives are like these things I build. Sometimes they fall down for a reason, sometimes they fall down for no reason at all.” 

The Dark Tower Part 1-The Gunslinger