Sunday - Steppenwolf and the Dark Tower (and also regular bloggy stuff)

I finished Steppenwolf Thursday night and my reading energies have been somewhat depleted ever since.  This has given me time to notice similarities between Hermann Hesse's signature work and my all time favorite series, the Dark Tower.  From here on out, there will be SPOILERS so consider yourself warned.

1. Roland and Harry Haller:  The leads of both works are men at war with their core natures.  Roland's obsession with the Dark Tower mirrors Haller's conflict between his humanity and the Steppenwolf he believes lives inside him.
2. Stephen King and the Treatise of the Steppenwolf:  Just as Roland finds out that Stephen King has been chronicling his adventures, Harry Haller receives a book entitled The Treatise of the Steppenwolf that mentions him by name.
3. The Doors:  In the Drawing of the Three and The Dark Tower, Roland encounters doorways to other worlds, much like those Haller encounters in the Magic Theater.  Specifically, the doors Roland finds in the Dark Tower function very much like those in the Magic Theater.
4. The Dark but Hopeful Ending:  Just as Roland reaches the top of the Dark Tower and finds that he has reached the top countless times before and must continue in his time loop until he reaches the Tower with his humanity and the Horn of Eld before he is released from the cycle, Harry Haller kills Hermine in the Magic Theater and finds that he's going to have to live more lifetimes if he's ever to break from his cycle and become one of the Immortals.
   

In other blog news, I hiked about six miles yesterday and I'm still tired.  And while I never really enjoy Sundays, I have to go to a visitation later so this one is bleaker than most.  My dad's aunt passed a couple days ago.  I've only met her six or seven times and no one tried to guilt me into going but I feel like I should.  I've never been really close to my dad's side of the family and I'm hoping to change that.