Duge senke ‚Mračne kule‘ Stivena Kinga
The Long Shadows of the 'Dark Tower' Series by Stephen King

Summary/Abstract: This article is about connection between literature and heritage in general, while having the emphasis put on the literature of the horror genre. We are discussing the matter through the example of the work of Stephen King, The Dark Tower. This could be a perfect example for discussion as it contains plots of already known literary works and movies, and some of the characters are incidental or identical. Such intentional similarities and reconstructions can be taken as examples of saving the matter from oblivion. In the story,Roland Deschain is the last living member of a knightly order known as gunslingers and the last of the line of ‘Arthur Eld’, whose world is analogue to the one of King Arthur. Along his journey to the Dark Tower, Roland meets a great number of both friends and enemies. During major part of the journey, he is accompanied by a group of people with whom who he forms the Ka-tet, including Jake Chambers, Eddie Dean, Susannah Dean. Among many enemies,there are The Man In Black, Mordred and The Crimson King. Kings characters are going through many adventures, and some parts of these adventures can clearly be recognized from some other works of literature or cinematography. Also, there is no lack of biblical allusions or allusions connected to ancient civilizations. The Dark Tower is the backbone of Stephen King’s legendary career. Eight books and more than three thousand pages make up this his piece of bestselling fantasy epic. Inspired more than thirty years ago by works as diverse as J.R.R. Tolkien’s epics, Robert Browning’s poetry, Wizard Of Oz, Star Wars, Harry Potter and Sergio Leone’s Westerns, King brought us the tale he has never abandoned. This novel gathers it all together and makes it memorable and important. In the article we also discuss importance and origins of horror, the way it remained active and horrifying all this time, as well as what would we do without it today.

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