The reason the ending bothered me (aside from being singularly unsatisfying) was that it pretty much destroyed the premise of the entire seven-book series. The driving force for the whole plot was that the Dark Tower was in terrible danger, and the universe along with it, right?
Roland did save the Tower (and the universe). The point was that saving the Tower was never really Roland's goal, he was obsessed with completing his quest to what he thought the ending should be (reaching the top of the tower) and thus (possibly) doomed the universe again. I thought King tried to link Roland's obsession with getting to the top of the Tower to the obsession some readers have for a satisfying ending. Or something like that:)
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The reason the ending bothered me (aside from being singularly unsatisfying) was that it pretty much destroyed the premise of the entire seven-book series. The driving force for the whole plot was that the Dark Tower was in terrible danger, and the universe along with it, right?
Roland did save the Tower (and the universe). The point was that saving the Tower was never really Roland's goal, he was obsessed with completing his quest to what he thought the ending should be (reaching the top of the tower) and thus (possibly) doomed the universe again. I thought King tried to link Roland's obsession with getting to the top of the Tower to the obsession some readers have for a satisfying ending. Or something like that :)