Book #89

Wizard and Glass
by Stephen King

Another reread, as I pursue my goal of going back through the Dark Tower series; unfortunately, as my TBR shelf got so weighted down with books that it actually collapsed while I was reading this, I decided that maybe I should focus on reading new books, instead of re-reads. A resolution that lasted about a week -- now I'm re-reading the first Nero Wolfe mystery. But that's for a good cause. Honest.

Anyway, Wizard and Glass is the slowest book in the series and was the hardest for me to read the first two times through this point in the books; it still was this time around. It just takes far too long to resolve the conflict and get back on the road; I understand the need to show the young Roland so we can understand more of his character, and I absolutely wanted that, but maybe he could have cut the story in Mejis short and gone on to another adventure from Roland's youth. Maybe the one when Cuthbert and/or Alain died, since that is a mystery that gets hinted at, but never resolved in 7 books.

On the other hand, I did enjoy this book much more this time than the other times I have read it. For some reason I was more able to appreciate the romance between Roland and Susan; I'd say I may have become more romantic in the last few years, but I'm not sure that's possible. Maybe I've become old and jaded, and reading about young love makes me reminisce. Nah, it's not that either; I just enjoyed the slower, more reflective elements more this time around because I already know how the story ends, so I'm not quite as desperate to get through the series as before. This makes me look forward to reading the Outlander books and the Wheel of Time once they actually wrap up. And once I have cut my TBR pile down to, say, fifty books or so -- y'know, in 2012 -- I'll come back and finish this series, and enjoy the next three books more, as well.