I finished this book in my third try, not coz I wanted re reads, but mostly coz of being a lousy reader. First few reads or more clearly more than half of the book made me appreciate The Road, so very much. And there was always a part of me wanting this being written by Cormac McCarthy. But it all changed once I got over that more or less backstory of Roland. 
 And I had a small hack, a sound track to keep me moving- Avenged Sevenfold's Gunslinger. Helped me get over the readers block, moves perfectly with the story. 
 It was a more enjoyable ride from there on, For the first time I found myself enjoying Stephen King. And I understand him calling this one his 'magnum opus'. The parallel universe timeframe or whatever world the Gunslinger chasing The Man in Black in and the reference to our world though Jake, and the Wild west seems to have already moved me into the threes :) And I couldnt help but compare the both with Jacob and Man in Black from Lost