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mistakes in the book

Dear Bev Vincent,



I've started The Road to the Dark Tower and am immensely enjoying it.  I have been a big fan of DT and am pleased to see books written on it, dealing with it as literature.  However, I do have a mild bone to pick.  It seems to me that the text was so rushed in order to be published along side DT7 that certain major mistakes were overlooked regarding the names of major characters.  Perhaps they only exist in my edition, but for any SK fan, these mistakes really would be appalling.



Larry Underwood from The Stand is called Underhill.



Nancy Deepneau is at one point called Norma Deepneau.



Gabrielle Deschain is at one point called Gabriel Deschain.



Worst of all, Roland's father is called both Stephen and Steven IN THE SAME PARAGRAPH, ONLY A FEW LINES APART.



I'm not trying to sound all high and mighty, as if I never make spelling mistakes (I don't doubt I've probably made some in this post).  But it just upsets me that my professors always rip into me when any of my papers have such internal mistakes ("You idiots don't proof your papers!" they yell at the top of their lungs, "For every mistake I catch I take off a full letter grade!") yet an edition of your book with such mistakes manages to get published!



Once again, I'm not trying to sound like a nitpicker, but it's just that these name inconsistencies have kept me from fully enjoying what has otherwise been a very good book.

Comments

  • Howard:



    Thanks for these. I will make sure they are corrected in future editions. Many eyes proofed this book, but things like this always slip through. No one is free from such things: witness the number of times Susannah has legs in the later DT books, even when she's not with Mia!


  • Thank you for responding. Sorry if I sounded harsh, I just wanted to point it out. And sorry I had so many spelling mistakes of my own in my initial post. Just figures that I would make mistakes in a post about making mistakes ::)



    So, in any case, is Roland's father named Steven or Stephen? He's been Steven in every DT edition that I own, and I'd never seen it as Stephen till I read your book.



    Well, that's all for now. I'll post again when I finally finish the book.
  • Steven...except he was Roland the elder in the original Gunslinger stories in F&SF magazine!
  • ****spoilers for DT7 Don't read unless you've finished all of DT7*******

























    Hi Bev. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the Road to the Dark Tower, but I am very confused about one thing. I'm pretty sure you said at the end of The Dark Tower Roland tells Patrick to go back to the outpost where Bill is at. He tells him to collect as many cans of food as he can, and then Roland gives him his gun. This is where my confusion lies. I'm pretty sure in DT7 Roland places his gun and Aunt Talitha's cross at the door to the tower. Susannah took his other gun with her when she left....Callahan had the ruger with him in the Dixie Pig. So which gun did he give Patrick? Is this an error on your part? or did King re-work the manuscript between the time your book was published and DT7 came out? Sorry but this is driving me a little nuts! :)
  • Those were changes King made between the version of the manuscript I was working from and the final, published version. The limited edition of my book from CD will be updated to reflect these differences. Another thing that got fixed -- in the first draft, Roland gave away Aunt Talitha's cross twice -- once to Cullum and once to Brautigan, and he didn't get it back!
  • Thanks for the prompt response. I rather thought that was the case, I really didn't see how you could have made such a large mistake! Thanks for the trivia about the cross too.
  • I knew King was going to have to do something with the cross, so I was careful how I talked about it. The other dangling plot element that I knew would be fixed was the copy of Insomnia the Tet Corp gives to Roland. In the first draft it was never mentioned again.
  • Mr. Vincent,



    First of all, I really enjoyed your book about the Dark Tower and everything related to it. It was fun to read about some theories that I have had myself.



    The error I found that wasn't yet mentioned here is on pg. 195 when you are discussing the link between "It" and the Dark Tower. You have 'the house on Niebold Street' but it is actually Niebolt Street.



    I don't mean to be picky, but I thought I'd post it since you said that there will be future editions. I hope this helps! :)


  • Glad to hear you liked the book, and thanks for stopping by.



    I'm not sure there will be future editions--or that I'll get to make corrections if there are--but thanks for this. I've added it to the copy I have which is marked up with corrections and changes should I ever get the chance.



    And, to correct your correction, it's Neibolt, not Niebolt!
  • Hi Bev-



    I really, really enjoyed Road to the DT and loved seeing how all of the connections came together. Lots of times in the past I'd think "hmm...I think there was something in The Stand.." or "Maybe in Insomnia.." lol. It's very cool to have it all in print under one cover all put together. That and the fact that you gave a lot of deeper meaning to things that I'd only read in passing and hadn't thought much about. So thanks! :)



    I am in this thread, though, because of something that stuck out to me. You may already know about it or I'm wrong. On pg 175 of the trade pb and pg 233 of the hc, you write:
    When the lights fail, it closes the gap in a scene reminiscent of Jake's passage through the tunnel near the Oatley Tap in The Talisman.


    That should read Jack, shouldn't it?



    It was a satisfying and informative read and I'm so happy to have it- (both, actually) especially with your sigs. Very well done!



    LK


  • Laura:



    Glad you enjoy the book and especially that you took the time to tell me so. I'm thinking I might have to do an updated version in a couple of years after the Marvel series comes out and tells us more about Roland's backstory. I have a copy of the book with a bunch of post-it notes marking pages that need corrections should I ever get the chance to revise it. The Jack/Jake mix-up is one of these!



    Bev
  • I'll have to have the updated version as well...



    (Aren't post-it flags the greatest?? I can now remove the ones I have in Insomnia thanks to your book.) :)



    LK
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