Thanks for stopping by! I'm Cori and I'm happy you've found your way here. If you're wondering why my blog is called "Let's Eat Grandpa," it's an old grammar joke: Let's eat, grandpa! Let's eat grandpa! (Punctuation saves lives.) 
The Gunslinger by Stephen King (audio; book #1 in the Dark Tower series)
Narrator: George Guidall
Source: Audible.com
Finished: 1/22/12
Rating: 7 out of 10
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Length: 7 hours, 24 minutes
Pages: 264 pages (print version)
Published: 1982, revised in 2003
Book Club: Book Eaters
Challenges: 2012 Audio Book Challenge
Synopsis (from Library Journal): The Gunslinger introduces protagonist Roland as he pursues the Man in Black through bleak and tired landscapes in a world that has “moved on.” Roland believes that the Man in Black knows and can be made to reveal the secrets of the Dark Tower, which is the ultimate goal of Roland’s quest. They journey through imaginative landscapes, over astounding obstacles, and meet with and confront a unique and fully drawn cast of characters, both human and nonhuman.
Overall Impression: I had absolutely no idea what The Gunslinger was about when we selected it for book club. All I knew was that it was fantasy and not horror, so I was down to read it. Then Audible had it in their $7.95 sale the other day and…win!
I thought it started off a little slow for me, mostly because I didn’t know what to expect, or even what was happening. The book has a slow, sort of western-y, meandering feel to it, and it took me a while to get acclimated to the style. The world, as well, that King has created is very similar to Earth, but has some striking differences as well. A parallel universe? I think so, but I’m not sure. The plot sort of chugs along, alternating between Roland’s (the Gunslinger) current search for the Man in Black and flashbacks that explain how Roland came to where he was in the present day. The action came in short, satisfying bursts, breaking up the slow hunt that was characteristic of the rest of the novel. Roland still needs some fleshing out as a character — and as there are at least six other books in the series (I believe a seventh is due out this year?), I think that will come in due time. Really, this felt like a prequel to me more than anything. Like it was telling the back story for some great tale that is to come.
Positives: King is really great at showing and not telling — I could picture the book in my mind easily.
Negatives: A slow start, and a lack of character empathization (I just made that up). In other, non-made-up words, the characters, specifically the stoic Roland, were hard to empathize with.
Narration: George Guidall is a wonderful narrator (I read that King selected him personally for this book). I swear I’ve listened to something he’s narrated before, but none of the 900 books he’s narrated seemed familiar. Perhaps he’s done some other voice-over work that might be familiar.
Other books I’ve read by Stephen King: On Writing (read before I started writing reviews)
Other blogger opinions:
Theresa at Shelf Love: “As fans of the whole series, we’re going to naturally view this book as an exposition to a larger story, but there’s some darned impressive storytelling in this single volume.”
Jenny at Shelf Love: “I do think, though, that the tone of the book — its style — is different from what I consider “normal” Stephen King.”
Opinions of a Wolf: “I’m shocked to discover, I like a Stephen King book.”
