To those who read this in 1991..how did you do it?

[Phantomking]

I've always been a SK fan, but didn't get into the DT series until 2005 or so; after the whole series was completed.

I noticed that the Waste Lands was released in 1991 and Wizard and Glass in 1997. HOW did you guys who read the books as they were published do it? I was going out of my mind after I read the Waste Lands because I had to wait a week to make it back to the book store for Wizard and Glass; yet some people had to wait SIX YEARS for a resolution to that cliffhanger.

I've read his explanations about why, and I can sort of understand them, but SIX YEARS? Wow, how did you do it?

[JohnDalglish]

Hi,

It was AWFUL!

Then the same again virtually for Wolves.

Don't know how many times I've read the first four.

*shudders at the memory*

Long days and pleasant nights

[kjyoung]

As John said, "it was AWFUL!" I remember hoping each year that I'd hear some indication of the next book's release, and each year feeling a pang of disappointment. :down: To some degree though, perhaps that long wait between parts helped to enrich the experience all the more and make it even more enjoyable.

Enjoy your reading! :grinning:

-k

[rose key]

I remember the feeling. It was pure torture. I could not believe he left off at such a place. I kept thinking how could he DO that??? But, there were other books to fill in the time, and great ones, at that.

[Shasta]

AWJS

It couldn't have been more terrible. It was bad, bad, bad. I actually cried when W&G came out. Sad, but true.

[dav]

I guess I was fortunate. I did not think I would like the DT series as it looked western. But during a SK dry spell I finally bought the 1st three. Then I was addicted. I found #4 and 5 then had to wait on 6(what a drag) then I nearly went mad waiting on #7 and one day it just appeared on a shelf in front of me as I was walking through the store. Now it is over and I want mo:wink2:re

[morganelafee]

DT make this impression on everyone who read it. when it's finish, you just want to read it again, to see if the first novel will start another way. Maybe the horn will be there next time i read the gunslinger

[ginapenn]

I just finished Wastelands. This book, so far, has been the most difficult of the Dark Tower books for me to get through, but it was good. Definitely a cliffhanger at the end though!

[All Hail The Crimson King]

I've always been a SK fan, but didn't get into the DT series until 2005 or so; after the whole series was completed.

I noticed that the Waste Lands was released in 1991 and Wizard and Glass in 1997. HOW did you guys who read the books as they were published do it? I was going out of my mind after I read the Waste Lands because I had to wait a week to make it back to the book store for Wizard and Glass; yet some people had to wait SIX YEARS for a resolution to that cliffhanger.

I've read his explanations about why, and I can sort of understand them, but SIX YEARS? Wow, how did you do it?

I spent a lot of time re-reading all three of them and talking to my other Towerjunkie friends and speculating...oh and a good deal of nail-biting. The worst stretch was between Wizard and Glass and Wolves though, because of whether or not King would even finish the series.

[All Hail The Crimson King]

I also remember feeling almost the same for the end of Drawing of the Three after it came out, because I was SO amazed by the series and I thought the rest of it was already out and then I get to the end and that was a big "NOPE!".

[marew1]

Patience is a virtue. No, scratch that. :down: Actually I suffered in anticipation like all Constant Readers!

[Blackbeard]

It was awful! I remember searching for any shread of evidence about when the next book would be written. It was a happy day when I saw the news about the final three books. Of course, I didn't read read them until I had all of the new revised expanded editions and the final three in hand. Then started with The Gunslinger for the umpteenth time.

The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed. Classic!

[foundationsedge]

to be honest i wasnt to keen on the first book, the first time i read it, roland is just mean in it, lets that kid die and kills all them townsfolk, then in the note king says he may never finnish the series at all!!!!!!
then carried on reading and got sucked in and all the time in the back of my mind, as each book got better and better, i kept thinking "god i hope SK finnishes the series before he kicks the bucket" then came the last and that bloody ending, and for a while i wondered why i had bothered,
but , i re read the series starting with the updated first 2 books, (i had given my original copies away, a decision made in anger and regretted since) and i enjoyed it more even knowing how it would end, so i guess its not the end of the journey thats important but the getting there that counts.
BUT IT WAS HELL WAITING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[phidgt]

I'll repeat what's been said before - IT WAS TORTURE!!!!!!!
You kids have it so easy these days.

[91rewoT]

It was painful. Seriously, I was worried I would get hit by a bus and die without getting to find out what happened next! :eek2: I spent countless hours re-reading the other books, listening to them on tape, thinking about the Ka-tet...

[wall of fog]

Consider if the Tower series were to start over again with a different set of experiences: What decisions might they make with the cliffhanger at the end of Tower 6 being so similar to the Mansion at the end of Tower 3 book 1! Jake might switch places with Roland and Eddie and be looking for a key under a car mat...

[pike747]

It is late, I am tired and I cannot resist this thread! The first time I read The Gunslinger amid a frenzy of reading all things Stephen King I could get my hands on (It, The Stand, Skeleton Crew...... around 1989) I actually did not like it!
Let me qualify and quantify that statement by admitting here among friends that The Dark Tower almost became a religion for me. A year or so later my future wife and I listened to Steve read The Gunslinger in audio book form and it was a whole new ball game! The Drawing of the Three and The Wastelands ratcheted up my love for the tale of Roland and Eddie became one of my all time favorite characters. By the time Wizard and Glass was in the making, I was attempting to consciously beam my thoughts in Constant Writer's direction to urge him on. It was almost exquisite torture but I would willingly go through that and worse again. Looking back it seems to have flown by. Six years have passed since the tale was concluded? Keep in mind that DT is more than the sum of it's novels. How many worlds next door to the world next door can an infinite universe support? I may no longer willingly serve the Random, may have indeed found a Purpose but Roland still pursues the Man in Black in my imagination.
"He who shoots with his hand has forgotten the face of his father! I shoot with my mind ............! :cool2:

[Fran D'Amico]

It was horrible waiting for the DT 4.I read amd re read all the books.I thought Eddie 0might ask Blaine if he knew the difference between a whore in a bathtub and a nun in a bathtub. one has hope in her soul the other?you figure it out

[RandomMan]

Graduated HS in 1991...so i stayed busy those years...Graduated college in, yep, 1997. I dont think I read for pleasure too much during that time anyways. Hell, I dont even remember a couple of those year!!!!

[Cowboy]

It was tough, believe me....that is why so many of us have re-read the Dark Tower books so many times.

[Pucker]

There is something to be said for not being able to have whatever you want, whenever you want it.

[aspergillus]

Difficult to wait, yes. Think SK almost had to let these books come to him in time. If he had rushed them think that would have been a pity. Feel these are very close to him and could not be hurried. We constant readers were repaid over and over in the long run for the long wait IMO.

[GNTLGNT]

Xanax the size of a urinal cake...works everytime!(oooohhh, what a pretty Slow Mutant-Come here darling and let me braid your slime...)

[scarywriter]

I admit it. I felt cheated. Every time another book came out and I finished it, I got angry that I couldn't keep going on the journey. Then, when they were all there and I could go all the way to the end, I got angry that it was over. Wow, I must have some anger issues.

[JayneH]

I agree... it was pretty bad ... but I think that is part of the reason why I have never completed them.
Each time a new one came out I would re-read the previous one(s) and by the time it got to Book 4 it became a bit of a chore.
So I have Books 5 onwards but have never read them as I need to read the first 4 again to get back into the story line.

[GLewman]

I remember thinking what a great cliff hanger. This was before internet and message boards, so there wasn't as much a need for instant gratification. I actually forgot about the series until a co-worker was reading the book while sitting next to me. Needless to say, after work, I went to every book store until I found it. In my opinion it is the 2nd best book of the series...The Wastelands is the best :)

[y2gatti]

It must have been torture. Oddly enough, one of the things that got me to read DT was watching LOST. And for me, it seems like LOST was the same as DT waiting was for you (not as bad of course...6 years is a lot longer than I had to wait between seasons lol).

But reading these after watching LOST, I can definitely see the similarities.

[Connie Reader]

It must have been torture. Oddly enough, one of the things that got me to read DT was watching LOST. And for me, it seems like LOST was the same as DT waiting was for you (not as bad of course...6 years is a lot longer than I had to wait between seasons lol).

But reading these after watching LOST, I can definitely see the similarities.

I watched Lost right through until the last season and then I had to wait week to week like everyone else. My hubby and I watched nothing but Lost for two months...I swear I Dreamed about being on that Island!! It was cool though, inundating ourselves in it made it more intense.

I didn't have to wait long before the last three came out because my brother (a fellow fan) told me that I should start the series since the last books were about to be released.

Huh..kind of my MO! I'm all about instant gratification apparently hahah!

[Elemeno P]

I just wanted to quickly doff my cap to all those that had to wait for these books back in "da day".

Insane!!!

[Tinahorve]

Spoiler------One of my many, many favorite parts was toward the end of Song of Suz where it is diary style of Stephen King's life and the writing of the books. Always wondered how much was true-up and how much was made-up. Anyway, that made me feel better about the gaps in the years between the books. I remember re-reading I, II, and III before IV and doing it all again before V.

It is more fun reading them in quick order now, but that is a lot of pages to read it all!

Can't wait for the new one next year!!!

[apsychoalso]

The Wastelands was the worse in the manner in which it ended. Too many unresolved issues. Instant gratification isn't all it is cracked up to be. The wait heightens the enjoyment and the only sad part was the "completion" of the series. Definitely worth the wait!

[bluesology]

I'm not really sure how I did it - I guess other than to say that it's not like I had any other option. We just had to live with what we got. Like others have said, you re-read the first three books and then again and again. One thing that made the wait even more frustrating was that at the time - the internet was still in it's infancy. It was out there but a lot more cumbersome to use and seek out information so it was difficult to find news or updates. When the new book was published it was just kind of a surprise dropped out of the blue.

I will say though, looking back that having to wait so long between those first five books in a way, linked me somewhat to the enormous depth of Roland's story. It was almost like I could feel the weight of his journey because I had also invested so many years in the reading of the tale.

[dsurrett]

I wasn't a King fan (he says with shame) until about 2001, and started DT around 2003, so once I began I was pretty much able to breeze through without a hiccup.

[The Paladin of Eld]

The Wastelands was the worse in the manner in which it ended. Too many unresolved issues. Instant gratification isn't all it is cracked up to be. The wait heightens the enjoyment and the only sad part was the "completion" of the series. Definitely worth the wait!

Thou say true and I say thankee.

[DebA913]

As others have said, there was no choice but to wait. (And wait, and wait!) So you just re-read everyone you have again, enjoy those, wait some more.......:) But it was most definitely worth the wait! I absolutely love this series of books. Awesome writing of an awesome story!!

[Neil W]

It was great! The more you wait, the more the suspense builds - I could have waited YEARS more. I only wish there had been delays like that between all of them!

Well, what a daft question! We waited because we had no choice!