Did anyone find the character, Ted Brautigan

[TheFountain]

To be a heck of a lot more enjoyable in Hearts in Atlantis than in the Dark Tower Series?

Was it just me? Or did he emulate very little in the DTS of what he was in Hearts in Atlantis?

Then again, maybe it was me...

 

[Barney]

I enjoyed Brautigan in Hearts in Atlantis. I haven't read ANY of the Dark Tower (I know, I should remedy that), but I gathered he played a part in the series. I have read other King stories that refer to the Dark Tower mythology, and have the vaguest of ideas of what is going on.

So what happened with Brautigan in HIA; was he on vacation from being a breaker? It seemed like he had escaped but got recaptured. Where/does that fit in with Black House? (both stories mention the Crimson King so I presume they are connected)

 

[HoopyFrood]

I'm yet to read the story in Hearts In Atlantis (I didn't realise that Ted made an appearance in it until last Christmas when I re-read the entire Dark Tower series and made the connection in my head after hearing that Hearts In Atlantis had Dark Tower connections). In The Dark Tower, though, it's explained that Ted escapes the complex and the world itself in which the Breakers are...breaking, thanks to the help of another Breaker with extraordinary powers (I won't say more because you need to read the books and that would spoil it ) But, as I assume happens in Hearts In Atlantis, he is caught and returned his breaking job.

And Black House is connected to the Dark Tower as well? (I know most books are in some vague way, but I didn't know that one was). I have a large collection of King books and only have a couple that still need to be read, and Hearts in Atlantis and Black House just happen to be two of them

 

[HoopyFrood]

To be a heck of a lot more enjoyable in Hearts in Atlantis than in the Dark Tower Series?

Was it just me? Or did he emulate very little in the DTS of what he was in Hearts in Atlantis?

Then again, maybe it was me...

Gah, double post, shame on me. But I was replying Barney's post and admit I didn't look at this first post

Anyway, as I said, I haven't read the Hearts in Atlantis story yet, so this is all guesswork, but I suppose Ted seems more rounded and enjoyable in that story because it was 'his' story, as it were. In The Dark Tower he's only really a side character -- probably one of the more important ones, but a side character nonetheless. I get the feeling that he's the central character in Hearts in Atlantis, so he's going to become a much more complex character in that one, one would assume. And also, if there's one thing King can do, it's the rich detail behind characters, giving them full and interesting backgrounds, especially for his main characters (although he still manages to give enough detail to even the minor characters; sometimes just small, random snippets about their lives that make them seem so much more real and believable...but that's a story for another thread, I'm sure...)

 

[Barney]

I'm yet to read the story in Hearts In Atlantis (I didn't realise that Ted made an appearance in it until last Christmas when I re-read the entire Dark Tower series and made the connection in my head after hearing that Hearts In Atlantis had Dark Tower connections). In The Dark Tower, though, it's explained that Ted escapes the complex and the world itself in which the Breakers are...breaking, thanks to the help of another Breaker with extraordinary powers (I won't say more because you need to read the books and that would spoil it ) But, as I assume happens in Hearts In Atlantis, he is caught and returned his breaking job.

And Black House is connected to the Dark Tower as well? (I know most books are in some vague way, but I didn't know that one was). I have a large collection of King books and only have a couple that still need to be read, and Hearts in Atlantis and Black House just happen to be two of them

In Black House there is some flipping between worlds, this one and one they call the Territories (I had the idea that was where the Dark Tower books were set). Also the main character (can't remember his name unfortunately) gradaully remembers that he went to the Territories as a child and touched an amulet, or something. I am guessing, but wouldn't be surprised if that story was the subject of one of the Dark Tower books. (Hope I haven't posted any spoliers there, I have tried not to give anything important away!)

So I think there are a lot of Dark Tower connections in Black House, but the story kind of stands on its own as well. It's a blinking good read, by the way.

 

[HoopyFrood]

Ah, sounds most interesting. And an amulet, y'say? Is that where The Talisman comes into the story (I hear that The Talisman and Black House are linked [One quick Wikipedia search later...] Yes, yes they are ) Another King book that needs reading -- and here's me thinking, King fan that I am, I didn't have many of his books left to read

Black House is one of my craftier acquisitions -- I was at an airport in Spain and the luggage trolley that we grabbed had the book lying on it, brand new. I could hardly hunt down the owner, so I kept it for my own!

 

[Daisy-Boo]

To be a heck of a lot more enjoyable in Hearts in Atlantis than in the Dark Tower Series?

I think I've only read one Dark Tower book (the series never grabbed me) but I loved Ted Brautigan in Hearts in Atlantis. I thought the four stories were patchy - the only thing I remember from one of the other stories was that Vietnam vet who pretended to be a blind (or did he really go blind?) panhandler.

The relationship between Ted Brautigan and the boy (whose name I forget) was really touching.

 

[Abyssimal]

Black House and the Dark Tower series are connected as part of the same canon. "The Territories" are a parallel to Roland's Mid World and one of the characters (Parkus) in Black House references Roland himself and refers to himself as not quite a gunslinger.

 

[Rubicon]

I'm always surprised by the people who think Hearts in Atlantis, patchy, or haven't read it etc. It's actually my favourite King novel, and I think hangs together perfectly. I rather think if you don't get it, you just weren't there, because it really speaks to and on behalf of a generation. Whilst in the UK we weren't involved in Vietnam, we tended to support the like minded American youth being against it. Also strangely we also had a mad "Hearts" card game period. At one time late teens and early twenties, it was all we played in pubs, illegally for pennies, but we were to say the least addicted for a while. Also Carol Gerber and Bobby, sort of encapsulate that first love that one never forget, and I won't be the only person with a mother personified by Bobby's mum. Always been in love with that Gerber Babe, and her mistaken involvement also encapsulates, how the whole era met a similar fate. Just collapsed in on itself, the summer of love, very much turning into a decade of discontent. I'm not a fan of conspiracy theories, but the only one I have any time for is the Kennedy assassination. To lose two Kennedys, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X to assassination is just too much of a coincidence. Each to their own, but I love that book, you can tell King lived it.