Ep. 190 The Talisman, Part 1, chapters 1-5
episode
Two Guys to the Dark Tower Came: A Podcast about Stephen King and His Books
36 min
2 speakers
8 chapters
transcribed 1 month ago
Transcript
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
What is the episode’s opening introduction and premise?
Welcome, everyone, to Two Guys to the Dark Tower Came, a podcast where we discuss the characters and connections in the ever-expanding universe that revolves around Stephen King's Dark Tower. I'm Jay Russo. And I'm Sean McCurr. You can email us at twoguysdarktower at gmail.com. To support the show, visit us at patreon.com slash twoguysdarktower.
How do the hosts recap the events of Jack Sawyer’s first chapter?
And you can buy merch at store.twoguys to the darktowercame.com. In this episode, we'll cover The Talisman, Part 1, Jack Lights Out. Let's start the show!
We are introduced to Jack Sawyer, a 12-year-old whose mother has taken him to a seaside resort town in New Hampshire. She, a former B-movie actress, is sick and probably dying. Jack meets a handyman, Speedy Parker, who tells him about another world, the Territories, which is similar to our world and may hold a cure for Jack's mother. Elsewhere, Morgan Sloat, the former partner of Jack's father and his probable killer, has plans for Jack and his mother. Jay, our patrons have asked us to go back to the beam and get back to Stephen King works that are related a little bit more closely to the Dark Tower, other than some of the ones we pick and make our own observations. Like, oh, look, a Dark Tower thinny.
And Talisman is high on that list.
What background do the hosts give about the publication history of The Talisman and their own podcast’s connection to it?
We had somebody reach out to us and said, I have been waiting for you guys to do this book for a while.
And here we are back on the path of the beam, and I am excited to be there.
Yeah. So let's talk a little bit about this book. This is a co-authored book between Stephen King and Peter Straub. They met in London in 1977 and discussed working together. I guess at the time, King had moved his entire family to England and they were planning on living there for a year. But after six months, moved back to Maine and Straub and King didn't work on it Right away, but eventually they did, and The Talisman was published on November 8th, 1984. And if you take November, which is the 11th month, and 8, which is the 8th day, and add them together, you get a 19, Jay.
Whoa!
See, we're back on the beam, man.
All right. Thinnies are just flying out.
Yes. And there is a sequel to this book, Black House, which came out in 2001. And Straub and King had planned on doing a third book to have a Jack Sawyer trilogy.
Oh, I didn't know that.
Yeah. So Peter Straub has just recently passed away, I think within the last six months or so. So that is probably not going to come to fruition.
Unfortunately, no, I don't think he's going to write while he's dead.
Probably not.
You know, the fact that they met in London might be why I thought that Straub is English. But as you and I discovered or I discovered together after a brief discussion with you. They're both American authors. Yes. No, no English influence at all.
No. This was also partially adapted into a comic book that came out in 2009.
How are Jack’s relationships with his mother, Speedy Parker, and Morgan Sloat introduced?
There were six issues published out of a planned 24. So I'm guessing it didn't sell well because you can only find those six and they're collected in a graphic novel format. Hmm. But I've got a copy of it, but I have not read it yet. I didn't want to spoil anything for myself. And in addition to that, there was a short film that was made. And there has long been talk of this becoming an actual motion picture release. I think Steven Spielberg was attached to it for a really long time. Like, yeah, even back in the 80s, I think he was talking about adapting the talisman into a movie. Eventually, he gave up the rights, and the last I heard was that the Duffer Brothers, who brought Stranger Things to Netflix, will be adapting this soon.
What Dark Tower “thinnies” do the hosts identify in this portion of the story?
There was a lot of news about that in 2022. Big press releases about how the Duffer Brothers are excited to work on this and how it'd be coming to Netflix. If you buy a copy of The Talisman now... There's a sticker on it that says soon to be a Netflix series. And I haven't heard anything more since then. I do know that the Duffer brothers are busy working on Stranger Things. I think they just wrapped the final season and are working on post-production now. So I'm guessing that's going to be their next work.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the episode’s opening introduction and premise?
0:13–0:35
2
How do the hosts recap the events of Jack Sawyer’s first chapter?
0:35–1:47
3
What background do the hosts give about the publication history of The Talisman and their own podcast’s connection to it?
1:47–3:37
4
How are Jack’s relationships with his mother, Speedy Parker, and Morgan Sloat introduced?
3:37–4:24
5
What Dark Tower “thinnies” do the hosts identify in this portion of the story?
4:24–5:01
6
What “Yuck‑King” moments do the hosts highlight and why do they matter?
5:01–7:10
7
How do the hosts connect The Talisman to other worlds, upcoming adaptations, and related media?
7:10–8:30
8
What final thoughts and preview do the hosts give before ending the episode?
8:30–36:35