Daddy Warpig is off the chain again. And I have to say, I can’t remember the whole idea of Pulp Revolution ever sounding quite this thrilling, this inspiring, or this inevitable. You’ll want to take your hat off for this one!
But wait, there’s more!
- You’ll find out why the new movie 47 Meters Down scores a big fat “meh”.
- You’ll learn why the new Dart Tower movie is something you’ll want to pass on.
- You’ll have the concept of a “pantser” elucidated to you… and you’ll become hip to why Stephen King is one.
- You’ll get a breakdown of the fatal flaw of the original Dark Tower novel and why you’ll stop caring about its lead protagonist.
- You’ll hear a discussion of just why it was that Stephen King is unable to write the sort of book that Tolkien spent decades developing.
It’s a really good show. Listen to the whole thing!
Thanks for the mention!
I liked the original Dark Tower novel. In fact, I’d go as far to say that it is my favourite of the series by some margin, and probably my favourite King. Atmospheric dying earth/western fantasy, rich in weirdness and strange symbolism. Far cry from pretty much everything else he ever wrote, The Talisman being only other novel of his that has something of a similar feel to it.
Of course, he abandoned most of original’s style and themes in the very next book, so it never went anywhere.
The point about film productions tending to highlight King’s weaknesses echoes thoughts I’ve had about his writing. His biggest fans, who can be quite fanatical, tend to wave off the problems with various explanations, but sometimes he really does just come up with really stupid stuff that looks or plays hilariously in live action.
About Roland’s failure, I’m not going judge it one way or the other since it’s been a while since I read the book, but it does make me wonder about King’s early work and this seeming tendency to jeopardize and sometimes kill child characters in his books. Maybe it’s not as prevalent as I think it is, but a recurrent fear in his work is that of parents or adults trying and failing to protect children, and even in something like Cujo you have a friendly animal that tragically goes out of its mind and terrorizes a woman and her son. I wonder if King, especially being such an addict, was afraid that he might hurt his family and the Roland thing was another manifestation of that.
-
I tend to hate this sort of analysis, but I definitely have similar impression there. I’d wager that it is a pretty common one.
On that note: remember that young pair from “Salem’s Lot”, one that lives in a trailer and is neglecting their baby? Pretty memorable and depressing side episode from that novel. Once I’ve found out that King himself spent significant part of 70s living in a trailer with his growing family while ingesting prodigious amounts of booze and drugs, that couldn’t help but click in my head.
It was a great show. I really enjoyed it. And Daddy Warpig is one of only a handful of geek casters who’d be up to snuff in radio.