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Wizard and Glass: The Dark Tower IV
Écrit par Stephen King
Raconté par Frank Muller
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Now a major motion picture starring Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba.
The fourth volume in the brilliant Dark Tower Series is "splendidly tense…rip-roaring" (Publishers Weekly)-a #1 national bestseller about an epic quest to save the universe.
In Wizard and Glass, Stephen King is "at his most ebullient…sweeping readers up in…swells of passion" (Publishers Weekly) as Roland the Gunslinger, Eddie, Susannah, and Jake survive Blaine the Mono's final crash, only to find themselves stranded in an alternate version of Topeka, Kansas, that has been ravaged by the superflu virus. While following the deserted I-70 toward a distant glass palace, Roland recounts his tragic story about a seaside town called Hambry, where he fell in love with a girl named Susan Delgado, and where he and his old tet-mates Alain and Cuthbert battled the forces of John Farson, the harrier who-with a little help from a seeing sphere called Maerlyn's Grapefruit-ignited Mid-World's final war.
Filled with "blazing action" (Booklist), the fourth installment in the Dark Tower Series "whets the appetite for more" (Bangor Daily News). Wizard and Glass is a thrilling listen from "the reigning King of American popular literature" (Los Angeles Daily News).
Actions du livre
Commencer à écouterInformations sur le livre
Wizard and Glass: The Dark Tower IV
Écrit par Stephen King
Raconté par Frank Muller
Description
Now a major motion picture starring Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba.
The fourth volume in the brilliant Dark Tower Series is "splendidly tense…rip-roaring" (Publishers Weekly)-a #1 national bestseller about an epic quest to save the universe.
In Wizard and Glass, Stephen King is "at his most ebullient…sweeping readers up in…swells of passion" (Publishers Weekly) as Roland the Gunslinger, Eddie, Susannah, and Jake survive Blaine the Mono's final crash, only to find themselves stranded in an alternate version of Topeka, Kansas, that has been ravaged by the superflu virus. While following the deserted I-70 toward a distant glass palace, Roland recounts his tragic story about a seaside town called Hambry, where he fell in love with a girl named Susan Delgado, and where he and his old tet-mates Alain and Cuthbert battled the forces of John Farson, the harrier who-with a little help from a seeing sphere called Maerlyn's Grapefruit-ignited Mid-World's final war.
Filled with "blazing action" (Booklist), the fourth installment in the Dark Tower Series "whets the appetite for more" (Bangor Daily News). Wizard and Glass is a thrilling listen from "the reigning King of American popular literature" (Los Angeles Daily News).
À propos de l'auteur
Avis
I didn't enjoy this one nearly as much as the previous three, probably because I wasn't all that interested in Roland's backstory, or at least having his backstory take up a whole book. I was ready to give this 3 stars, but the last third of the book was a lot more to my liking than the rest of it.
Rating: 3This is my favorite book of the series. More of a Western than the first one. I was very sad to go back to the original characters as I liked Cuthbert and Alain. Still in it though, even though I have doubted the way man times in each of these books. There is always something that makes me continue on, and I think it's Roland's character. Still, I wish King's editors were a little more pushy the delete key.
Rating: 4Taken as a standalone novel (which it practically is; the whole book is Roland recounting events that took place before the series proper), this is the best book in the Dark Tower saga, and comes very close to being King's best book period. Exciting, frightening, moving.
Rating: 5My favourite of the series since the first book. I thoroughly enjoyed the story of the young Roland and his earlier ka-tet.
Rating: 5The least successful of the Dark Tower books. Awkward narration, ove long, with an unrelaible narrator--unacceptable for such an important backstory. An uncomfortable read to say the least.
Rating: 3You know, sometimes I just want a good yarn, well-told.
Rating: 5The fourth instalment of the dark tower series. Firstly, this book at 840 pages long is about 300 pages too much. I feel the editor was having a nap when he reviewed this or just didn’t want to hurt Mr King’s feelings….The novel starts off where the previous left off with the ‘ka-tet’ aboard Blaine the riddle loving locomotive.After the journey and the appearance of a ‘thinny’ Roland decides to tell the group some of his past and how he came to be on the track of the dark tower and meets his love Susanne Delgado.Along the way we meet some of King’s best characters, which include a witch (Rhea of the Coors) accompanied with her snake and 6 legged cat….At least 300 pages of this massive novel feel like I’ve slipped into a mills and boon story, and was just a lot too… slushy I suppose. That’s why I can only give 4 stars and not 5. But, as with the previous novels, it has left me looking forward to the next instalment.
Rating: 4I had forgotten pretty much the entire meat of this one somehow. I could remember the beginning with Blaine the Mono and the end with the return of the Tick-Tock Man and Flagg, but everything else about Wizard and Glass had somehow escaped me since my first reading.So, here I am again in Mid-World, witnessing Roland's past for what feels like the first time. It was a welcome return, even if it felt like a bit of a derailment of our ka-tet's quest for the Dark Tower (which, considering their predicament at the opening, makes sense).Now, looking at Roland's first adventure as a gunslinger as a solo tale, it's fantastic! So much a callback to the best of the Spaghetti Westerns that first inspired King to create Roland. Plus, we finally get to meet Alain and Cuthbert and see exactly how Roland's first ka-tet interacted with one another.There is so much richness in the tale of Roland's past, and it's great, but as I said, it feels like it just derails the main story at this point in time. Of course, that might have been King's point.Also, I have to say, I'm glad I decided to read The Stand before reading Wizard and Glass again, because the ka-tet's time in plague-ridden Kansas seemed so much fresher through the eyes of someone who had just delved deep into the ravages of Captain Trips and the ultimate battle between good and evil represented by Mother Abagail with her Boulder Free Zone survivors and Randall Flagg, who makes his triumphant return here, where it's revealed that he is, in fact, Marten Broadcloak, the instigator of so much of Roland's pain.And I am really looking forward to hear about Roland's final confrontation with Rhea of the Coos. That witch has it coming.
Rating: 4For a while I was worried and thought I'd use the weight of this book to take the wrinkles out of various shirts..
But I stuck with this behemoth and was rewarded greatly.
King's story of Roland the gunslinger and his travelers could honestly go on forever, and he would find a way to surprise and interest the reader every time. He does so in Wizard and Glass, the fourth book in the series, and leaves us wanting to know what's next, and will anyone remain unscathed next time? (no, undoubtably no)
Rating: 4But I stuck with this behemoth and was rewarded greatly.
King's story of Roland the gunslinger and his travelers could honestly go on forever, and he would find a way to surprise and interest the reader every time. He does so in Wizard and Glass, the fourth book in the series, and leaves us wanting to know what's next, and will anyone remain unscathed next time? (no, undoubtably no)
Thus far my favorite in the series. This time King takes us back to when Roland was a young man/gunslinger heading out on a pilgrimage with his two best friends. We meet his first love (perhaps his last) Susan. I thought this volume to be the best well-written.
Rating: 5Wizard and Glass.... this is one murderously long book.I'm a fan of the DT series, and I nearly ditched this 700pg beast at least 3 times while plodding through it. The repetition is almost physically painful. About 300 pages are entirely unnecessary and do nothing to move the story forward, they in fact keep jerking it backwards in a one step forward, two steps back fashion.Some have recommended reading a synopsis of the flashback section (which is 80% of the book, or so) instead of reading this book - and I tend to agree with them. Its a shame, because a decent story is buried in there, but mining it out is torturous. In the afterward - Stephen King says he lost track of whether it was a good book or not about halfway through writing it. I say: No S#&t.His editors did him no favors by not pointing out how he was holding his fan's feet in the fire.All that said - you almost can't skip it in order to continue forward. This book bridges a long time away from the series for SK into the last years of its writing, which were executed in a comparable feverish speed (the author's brush with mortality rearranging his priorities somewhat).I feel glad to be done with it. Very glad. I'm not happy with the resolutions, either. All involve vague magic and characters reappearing in overly-convenient ways. Please let the last 3 be much much better than this... I've more or less been saving them to enjoy, because I understand it won't last forever. Now I have no interest in parsing them out - because, while reading this book - the notion of the series lasting forever was hell on Earth.
Rating: 2Finally finished Wizard and Glass, I certainly did. Oh my goodness, this book was long! And I do not mean the actual number of pages, which stopped at 668 in my edition. Until the last 150 pages, very little actually happened—what kept being read by me were just events leading up to a climax…very lengthily explained events at that.Now, I am not the one to quibble of the length of a King book. Take the newer edition of The Stand. It flows! And the transcribing of interesting & fascinating events does not cease. Wizard and Glass read as if its plot is over-bloated with flavor. Have you ever had a meal that was painstakingly prepared with all of the china pulled out from the cover only to have it far too pungent and rich with flavor? That is what Wizard and Glass is too me. I felt like he was trying far too hard (which he's admitted to; Stephen King will admit all faults, which also makes him a fun guy in interviews and that jazz).So far, this is not my favorite of the series. My least favorite is the first, of course, for its unstructured immaturity. That being stated, Wizard and Glass has not put me off finishing the Tower books. I just think I am going to take a small break and get back to it in January.
Rating: 3This book took me forever to get through. To be honest I kept bring pulled away by other books as I was not very interested in the long drawn out saga of Roland's summer with Susan Delgado. While the backstory does develop character, I would have been happier with a much shorter version or one that was broken up by the far more interesting adventures of our katet. After 6 months stuck in this book and plodding through, it is time to take a break so I can renew an interest in the rest of the saga.
Rating: 3I really wanted to love this especially after the genius that was The Wastelands.
But...
.......
God it was a chore. As much as I understand the need to go into Roland's back story, it was about 200 pages too much. I loved getting more info about Roland's adventures with Cuthbert and Alain, and as always, King writes a fabulous set of villains. The only problem was, they were much more interesting than the focus of this instalment 'Miss Oh-So-Young-And-So-Pretty', Susan Delgado. She got on my wick from her first appearance and her segments were like wading through treacle for me.
And the less said about the 'Kansas' connection the better.
It's no surprise that this book of the series took me longer to read than the first three put together, and I'll be slowing down on the series from here on in. That's how dismayed this book made me.
Rating: 3But...
.......
God it was a chore. As much as I understand the need to go into Roland's back story, it was about 200 pages too much. I loved getting more info about Roland's adventures with Cuthbert and Alain, and as always, King writes a fabulous set of villains. The only problem was, they were much more interesting than the focus of this instalment 'Miss Oh-So-Young-And-So-Pretty', Susan Delgado. She got on my wick from her first appearance and her segments were like wading through treacle for me.
And the less said about the 'Kansas' connection the better.
It's no surprise that this book of the series took me longer to read than the first three put together, and I'll be slowing down on the series from here on in. That's how dismayed this book made me.
So far my favorite of the series. This one goes back to Roland's youth. After he won his guns he went west with his friends to keep safe and uncovered a conspiracy in the process. An epic tale of Roland's first love, Susan, and his time in the west. Just excellent.
Rating: 5this one was hard to get though... lots of long overwordy parts that put the pace of this book at a crawl. i did enjoy going back in time to see roland's past but i was eager to get back to the present.
Rating: 3I didn't expect the book to be almost entirely a flashback of Roland's early life, but it ended up as my favorite book of the series so far.
Rating: 5While I enjoyed the story from Roland's past, it was too detailed - would have preferred several shorter episodes. Also, the train was a letdown after the build up of the previous installment. Oz was meh. Going to continue with the series, but hope this is the worst of the bunch.
Rating: 3In Wizard and Glass, the majority of the book gives us a chance to experience a short period of time during Roland's adolescence. He and a couple of friends are sent to explore a faraway town, but discover something truly evil afoot. During this time, Roland falls in love. Much of what happens during this time will shape the man Roland becomes.
Rating: 4Unfortunately the first 400 or so pages are slow and for the most part bad since King cannot write romance at all. Out of a desire to understand and appreciate the mystery of the Dark Tower universe I did not skip any pages... big mistake.The fantasy elements are what kept me reading. Witches and scenes of small-town medieval village life enliven an otherwise extremely dreary narrative.Took me longer to read this book than the first three combined.
Rating: 3It took me a while to finish but loved it. I ended up crying which means it hit home. Will read again.
I also have The Dutch copy. Tovenaarsglas
Rating: 5I also have The Dutch copy. Tovenaarsglas
This is my favorite of the series thus far. Without wanting to give too much away, this is the book in which you finally learn just exactly why Roland is willing to give up anything and everything (and clearly has) just to get to the Dark Tower. King mentions that the Dark Tower series is sort of like his Middle-Earth, where all of his stories originate in some way from this massive odyssey and world, and you see what he means with this book. Fan's of The Stand will recognize signs of the super flu within the first few hundred pages, and one of my all time favorite King villains comes back to pay his respects.
Rating: 5Ok, fanatic moment- this book is intercut with color illustration by DAVE MCKEAN, who is brilliant.Beyond that, this is a lovely, touching story about young love. A flashback to Roland's youth, and his ill-fated romance with Susan Delgado, the girl in the window. A trifle predictable at points, but overall a good read. The Wizard of Oz ending didn't really do it for me, although it did continue the presence of good ol' RF, best known as the beastie from King's penultimate novel, The Stand.
Rating: 4great series, i recommend it to anyone who ever had even a nodding acquantance with walt whitman
Rating: 5the back story of Roland was necessary but it just dragged on far too long. It was a slow read for me, as I just wasn't captivated by it like I was the past three books. I was relieved when King finally took us back to Kansas.
Rating: 3It was great to be able to delve into Roland's past and see what it was that pushed him over the edge and made him into the man that he had finally become. Great spell binding storytelling.
Rating: 5Wizard and Glass finds Roland and his ka-tet in a world where a plague has demolished the population (sound like The Stand?) Roland feels that it is finally time to give his friends a glimpse into his past, and the bulk of the book is his tale of his time in Mejis, ostensibly counting provisions for the Affiliation. He and his friends, Cuthbert and Alain, end up uncovering a plot to supply John Farson, the Good Man, with what he needs to fight the Affiliation, while Roland finds himself trapped by something more dangerous than war.This book is long and a little slow, especially when the books on either side have so much more action. The climax, however, is very exciting and screams to be made into a film.
Rating: 4I love the gunslinger/dark tower books and this was the best of them. The back story and imagery of Mr. King at his best makes this a hauntingly unforgetable book. I've reread it several times since its first publication and no doubt will read it several more. Short of The Stand this was his best work ever.
Rating: 5Mostly told as one big, long flashback, Wizard and Glass gives the reader a glimpse beneath the inscrutable surface of the gunslinger. Roland recounts a story from his youth, one of his first ka-tet: the heretofore frequently alluded-to Alain and Cuthbert. The young friends are dispatched to the Barony of Mejis, where they have a run-in with a deadly gang of older gunmen, and which is the setting for Roland's ill-fated romance with Susan Delgado. Similarly to The Gunslinger, Wizard and Glass reads very much like a true Western and, thanks in large part to the genuine lyrical beauty of Roland and Susan's young love, is the pinnacle of the Dark Tower series. However, the strange appearance of the Frank L. Baum's Emerald City toward the end is harbinger of bad, very bad, things to come. Say sorry.
Rating: 5This book will forever be one of my favorites. Although it is part of the Dark Tower series, it could easily stand alone as a separate novel. This is very unlike the other Dark Towers in that it is set in the world of Roland before it moved on and fell apart. It is as action-packed as the others, but also has the elements of a wonderful love story and is much more emotionally gripping than the others. If I could give it more stars, I would.
Rating: 5