“Come and join other Stephen King fans in the STEPHEN KING group to discuss "The Gunslinger" and other King novels. Join us: http://www.shelfari.com/groups/10679/about ”
“I just finished reading this, and am hooked! Look forward to reading the next in the series”
“I cant say its the best, but if you enjoy this one, you're sure to like the entire series. Intriguing storytelling.”
“you & your stephen king books, hahah.silly :]”
“reread: new or old?When I first started reading the series, the new/revised version didn't exist. It wasn't released until I was somewhere in the middle of the books. I'm going to read the series again soon and wanted input on which to read: the original version or the revised?Have any of you read both? Which did you like more? Without giving away too much (if there are big differences), how are the two different? Which do you recommend?”
“The end of the book was definitely not what I expected. It was just way too simple! I think he stated that he wanted to revise the Gunslinger because he felt that this book was written so early in his career and he was not proud of the way that it was done. I thought it was just great!”
“Read the revised. I hardly noticed many changes, but the real differences are that in the following years, he really created a world with different kinds of animals, he clarified ways of speaking in Mid-World, et cetera. The revised edition just blends all of these things into the story so that it feels more integrated. Now, if he could only revise the last book and write a better ending. Grrrrrrr.....”
“Yeah, he commented on just that in his intro to one of the books; I can't remember which. He said there were mainly some minor changes. Example, Roland mentioned a friend Alan; this changed to Alain (spelling?) Things like that. Plus some of the plot was tweaked to work with the other books. I was just wondering if anyone had read both and could think of a BIG difference.”
“Huh. I didn't know there were two versions either. ”
“Wow, I didn't even know there were two versions. I would assume, since I picked up the story around the fifth published book, that I read the revised version. I would recommend that one only because King probably went back and edited the plot or some details so the original book would fit better with the rest of the series. Alot of time did pass for the completion of this series, and I doubt King stuck to an outline so he was forced to go back and fix things. That of course, is just an assumption of mine. =) But I know myself, I'd read the revised first, finish the series, then go back and read the original to see what changed!”
