Most anyone who has read the first book in the Dark Tower will agree that it feels like experiencing a fever dream, particularly the first chapter. The Gunslinger is wandering through the desert, where he comes across a man in a hut, who he tells a story about the last town he came across. In that story, the woman he becomes intimate with tells him a story about the Man in Black. Then it comes back to the story of the town, then when that story concludes, it returns to the hut in the desert, before finally Roland continues on through the desert alone.
What I didn't realize until now is that there's another layer of nesting to the story.
The first chapter of the Gunslinger is divided into 20 subchapters. In the first subchapter, Roland is pursuing the Man in Black. Then night comes and Roland makes camp. In the second subchapter, he comes across the man in the hut, dragging his mule along. Only in the first subchapter, he didn't have a mule. Then before he leaves the man in the hut towards the end of the entire chapter, his mule dies, so he leaves it for the man to eat. In the final subchapter, he wakes and breaks camp and continues pursuing the Man in Black.
First reading the story, I thought there were 3 layers to the chapter, but there's actually 4, because at the very start, Roland has already experienced everything we're about to read. The first chapter is flashbacks all the way down and back up again, and I didn't even notice until I critically consumed the text. The entire chapter, Roland is dreaming about the notable moments of his time in the desert, and that's really cool. It's especially creative and experimental storytelling on King's part, particularly early in his writing career.
by Gamma_The_Guardian