... King wrote a love story!
There's so much to this novel, I'm not sure where to start. King seems to be using half a dozen different genres in this novel, from horror, to Western, to generic fantasy, and of course the main love story.
There's the abundance of sex and sexual references both in the story and in the prose, the captivating Susan, from her singing "Careless love" on her way to be examined by Rhea, all the way through to her tragic ending - I had tears streaming down my face while reading those last moments of Susans.
And did I mention funny? The initial scene with the 3 Coffin Hunters and Roland, Alain and Bert at the bar is hilarious, really laugh out loud funny.
King was channeling Dickens for W&G as well! Sheemie, Rhea, Jonas, even Cordelia, Hart Thorin with his crackling bones, such a large cast of diverse and entertaining characters.
The build up to this book was worth the pay-off, as up until W&G I really didnt know much about Roland or his past, and how he became the man who began The Gunslinger chasing the man in black.
This book will take a while to sink in. The love story really throws all of the death and violence and fantasy and plain weirdness and the Glass into relief - the violence has never felt so personal in a King story before.
Whether or not King has any "literary merit" I think misses the point. W&G made me laugh, cry, and care for the characters and what happened to them.
Cail is right, in my opinion, this is King's best work.
Just finished Wizard and Glass... (spoilers!!!)
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