Read: The Waste Lands–the rest of “Key and Rose”
I don’t know if it’s my buddy Bill’s encouraging words or what, but to paraphrase Gibby Haynes and Ministry, all of a sudden I find myself in love with this book–something about this section really ding a ding danged my dang a long ling long. I liked Jake’s moment of clarity in the vacant lot as the true workings of the world were revealed to him. I like that someone or something knocked his ass out with a brick (surely given Jack Mort’s number on Odetta back in the day, that’s no coincidence), and that the action picks back up with this mystery unsolved. I like the fragment of the poem about the Turtle. I like Jake going home and pwning his dad with his eyes apparently literally on fire. I like that the French teacher was nice to him. I LOVE that he got an A+ on his crazy English essay. I like that he kind of made up with his mom and dad and it wasn’t that kind of irrevocable years-in-the-making blow-out that you see with some frequency in King’s work (cf. Frannie and her dad vs. her mom in The Stand, Eddie vs. his wife and Eddie vs. his mom in It, etc.). I really REALLY loved the Charlie the Choo-Choo story and the frightening suddenness with which you realize “whoa, this has gotten weird, hasn’t it?” (cf. Beverly Marsh’s coffee date with Mrs. Kersh in It). I like that that section meshed so well with the haunting, driving song “Moss” from Gus Gus’ latest album Forever which I’ve been listening to all day. I like that the voices of Jake’s bifurcated memory (with which I had so much trouble) are now bickering like annoying monsters in a children’s story:
Quit! he screamed at them. Just quit! You were gone all day, be gone again!
I would if he’d just admit I’m dead, one of the voices said.
I would if he’d just take a for God’s sake look around and admit I’m clearly alive, the other snapped back.
And I fucking ADORED this:
Ned Dameron FTW!
I’m back, back in the Dark Tower groove. (For now. No promises!)