Read: Wolves of the Calla–“The Pavilion”; “Dry Twist”; “The Priest’s Tale (New York)”; “The Priest’s Tale Continued (Highways in Hiding)”; “The Tale of Gray Dick”
I find I have a hard time articulating exactly what I mean by “bloat” in the context of these books, but this section is maybe the best example yet. Essentially what you have here is a book within a book, a story that could easily have been its own, completely unrelated Stephen King novel. (Or at least as “completely unrelated” as any two Stephen King novels are anymore.) Finding out what happened to Father Callahan after he wandered out of ‘Salem’s Lot, infected and de-consecrated by the vampire Barlow’s blood, is a wonderful idea for a story, and not even King’s strange insistence on having so much of his action happen in the past as recounted by the character involved rather than unfolding in the present moment before our eyes sucks the wow out of it.
And it’s not just the very basic idea that’s cool. The hierarchy of vampirism that Callahan uncovers, the mysterious and frightening presence of these “low men” who serve the mysterious big bad the Crimson King (like I said, not quite completely unrelated) and are hunting him for his actions against the vampires, the super-creepy moment he realizes that the graffitti and lost-pet signs around his hang-outs are actually messages posted by his pursuers to pinpoint him–all of that is absolutely fascinating. Callahan’s ongoing struggle with alcoholism and his Kissing Jessica Stein relationship with his friend at the homeless shelter are even on hand to provide the standard King human element.
Slapping all of this into the middle of a Dark Tower book has the dual effect of making Callahan’s story feel somehow undercooked and unfinished, and making the main narrative feel lopsided and elephantine. It’s still fun material, but I don’t see how it or the larger Wolves of the Calla story benefit from the way it’s inserted here instead of standing between its own two covers. I’ll burn through the chapters until we get to the conclusion of Callahan’s story, no doubt, but that’s kind of a problem, isn’t it?
Have you read Hearts in Atlantis? That’s where the Low Men first made their appearance. I love it — not just as a Dark Tower thing, but in of itself it’s one of the best for ages.
(And it will also help when one of the main characters turns up fairly shortly for you.)
The Blogslinger: Blogging The Dark Tower, October-November 2007–Index
Here you shall find links to all of the posts in my blogathon reading of Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. This post will be updated with each new entry. Day 1: Introduction Day 2: The Gunslinger Day 3: The Drawing…