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I finally finished the last book yesterday. I'd had it for a while, but didn't really sit down to read it until a couple of weeks ago, and I'm really glad I finally did. The whole thing was great, though it dragged a bit in the Blue Heaven part, but right through the ending, there were still interesting characters and ideas being brought up. But, what really sticks with me now is the ending, which I loved.
There really wasn't anything he could find the Dark Tower that would have been completely satisfying, since it's more of a destination than an end. It's the mcguffin for these books, the things that keeps them going, and that's why the ending is completely appropriate. I love the loop aspect of it, and said loop raises many questions about how different things have been each time Roland goes through the story. But, beyond that, I like the hope that at the end, that this isn't an endless hell, and maybe with this horn, he'll finally be able to see what's beyond the last room of the tower.
If I had to guess, I would say it's something similar to what Susannah found in New York in the epilogue. She had this feeling that her journey was finished, and she basically left the story to go off to 'the clearing at the end of the path.' She's free of this loop, and I'm not sure, but I get the feeling that might be the last time she's going to make the journey, because she got what she wanted out of it, and maybe next time Roland goes, he'll find his own alternate world to live in.
One thing I really liked was the structure of the ending, with the epilogue, at which point I was a bit mad because the book seemed to stop right before the tower itself, so thankfully the coda turned up. I've read some online people saying that King almost didn't want you to read the coda, since searching for an artificially imposed ending takes the joy out of a story, but I think that's more to give you his reasoning for what's to come. He doesn't know what happens at the end of a life, which is basically what the top of the tower is for Roland, so instead of ending, he gives him the chance to do things over again, and lets you write your own version of the story, this time, in which Roland might not loop through again.
And, I would say that the placement of the poem is significant, both for the fact that it might tell us what happens when Roland travels with the horn, but also that it once again brings things back to the beginning. Roland's whole world began because of this poem, and it's appropriate to have it placed at the end of his travels. |
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