:
|
The problem I had with the book is that it is the first one in which King obviously forgot the way his world works and what he had previously written. Some of the stuff is small, such as Susan wearing jeans through the whole book while Roland states in The Drawing of the Three that he has never seen the crotch of a woman who wasn't naked before. Other things were major, such as Flagg and the man in black all of a sudden being the same person. Roland has memories of seeing both Flagg and the man in black togethor. Explain that.
|
When in doubt King has the plot device that he's not just fashioning a universe but a ten dimensional aleph-umptyplexal multiverse.
We know from information contained in the books themselves that there are at least three John 'Jake' Chambers's, two Eddie Deans's and one and a half Oys, it is therefore not impossible to imagine that there might be two Flaggs, especially since the man who pushed Jake into the car and gave Susannah MPD is cited as being an otherworldly version of Flagg in the first place, of course this raises even more questions about the nature of King's multiverse such as why an army of Flaggs did not storm Mordred and take him down instead of Flagg receiving the most disappointing death in literary history.
The best reason I can give for Kings' stylistic errors is the twelve years between the publication of The Waste lands and Wolves of the Callah, although this is little more than an excuse and I am reminded in a passage in the old edition of The Green Mile where Percy manages to wipe the sweat off his forehead while in a straightjacket, showcasing Kings mortality and lack of omniscience that most of his diehard fans would steadfastly deny.
Contradictions with previous novels aside, I still stand by my previous statement that Wizard and Glass is a truly superb book. Riddling trains, western romances and cheesy The Stand references all in one book, what more could you ask for?