Tag Archives: Roland Deschain

Is Ka Just Code For Cowardice?

this week we have watched Susan do just that. She sees the cyclone of ka coming a mile away and can either evacuate the area, or take shelter in the cellar and batten down the hatches. But she can’t make a decision, standing there dumbstruck as the cyclone bears down on her…

The Power Of Stories: Tall Tales & Private Passions

It seems like Ka that this week, our nineteenth week of reading, the chapters have provided two iconic scenes, each one illustrating the different ways a story’s magic can manifest: publicly or privately…

Ka-Tetiquette: Minding Your Manners In A World That’s Moved On

But the most notable similarity I’ve observed between what Blaine does to Lud and what Trump is doing on his way out of office, is everyone’s obsession with being polite.

Roland Deschain v. Andy Dufresne

So what are we to make of the lesson Ka taught Eddie this week? Are we to understand that he should have followed Roland’s warning? That Eddie never should have gotten his hopes up at all?

Stephen King’s Problem With Authority

Jake is far from the only evidence that King is dubious of authority. The entire city of Lud has completely cast aside any semblance of law and order; Mercy disobeys her orders to stay away from the palaver in River Crossing, to the benefit of the Ka-Tet; even Blaine is a rebel, turning on his creators, driven mad by the prison of his own programming…

The Unofficial (and Unfinished) Dark Tower Board Game

My goal here was to come up with a play-testable prototype that I could then bring to someone who actually knew what they were doing, and ask for their help perfecting it. Here’s what I ended up with.

Who Cares?: What A Haunted House, A Billy-Bumbler, And Black Dog Ka All Have In Common

Jake is a sweet and sensitive soul, completely uncorrupted, but if he fails to cross back over to Mid-World and join his new family he will be stuck in a world of cold neglect, and he will waste away just like the condemned Mansion of Dutch Hill, a once-beautiful thing left to ruin.

Confidence Is The Key: How Stephen King Teaches Us To Bet On Ourselves

In these chapters, two of Roland’s protégés are put in a position where they only have one shot at success with no room for error. “This time I’ll have to get all of it”, Eddie thinks to himself back on p. 115, “I think that this time ninety percent won’t do.”

Jake Chambers’ Day Off: Revisiting The Waste Lands In 2020

Reading this book now, I still find myself relating to Jake, but for very different reasons. He is going through the same thing as Roland, but where the schism in Roland’s mind has only split his memories in two, Jake’s divided Ka is playing out in his present. He walks around holding two concurrent timelines in his mind: the reality that was supposed to happen and the reality that he’s actually living in. Can you think of a more perfect metaphor for the predicament in which we all find ourselves this year?