The Long Walk [Mass Market Paperback]

 

 

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If you ask me, The Long Walk may well be the most fascinating novel Stephen King has ever written. Written back in 1966-67, while King was a college freshman, the novel earned the author nothing more than a form rejection letter. Finally, after a few years of dust-gathering, the manuscript was released into a much more welcoming world in the form of Richard Bachman's second novel. It's a magnificent story - not perfect, but magnificent nonetheless. It's a disarmingly simple tale centered on a seemingly mundane activity, yet in King's masterful hands The Long Walk burrows into the core of a number of characters, lays down miles of metaphors about the human condition, and absolutely mesmerizes you with its emotional force and power.

The setting is an alternate, possible fascist America; King leaves things pretty murky on the sociopolitical end of things, almost surely by design. The Long Walk is really one of your "it can't happen in America" kind of stories, and the horror of it all (and, yes, I would categorize this as a horror novel) is made more powerful by obscuring the lines between our America and this fictionalized America. Here, The Long Walk is the premier sporting event in the land. Spectators turn out in droves, bets are made left and right, and the whole nation watches and cheers. Obviously, this is not a regular walk, nor is it a race in the purist sense. Endurance - mental even more than physical - is the key to victory in this sport. To win, all you have to do is outlast 99 other competitors - and the winner receives nothing less than whatever he wants for the rest of his life. Before you yell "Sign me up," you'll want to hear about the details. You have to maintain a pace of at least four miles per hour; fall below the pace, and you get a warning. You are allowed three warnings (and you can "lose" a warning by walking another hour on the pace), and then you get ticketed. Getting ticketed doesn't get you a place to rest or even a little much-needed nourishment; all it gets you is one or more bullets in the head.

The obvious question is: why would anyone volunteer for this, knowing that he was almost surely going to die? That's a large part of what this whole novel is about. The contestants do a lot of talking while they're walking; most of them dance around the "why" issue, but we see clues to some of the reasons as each lad draws closer and closer to death. For some, reality doesn't really set in until the guns started blazing. Cockiness turns to anger, fear, shock, and just about every other kind of dark emotion you can imagine. The boys are stripped bare in both body and mind as the Walk goes on and on, through all kinds of weather. Through his characters, King is basically asking the reader how he/she will face death when it comes. Will you freeze up early on? How long will you fight to stay alive after you've pushed your body far beyond the breaking point? Will you lie down and accept your fate, or will you lose control and lash out at your perceived enemies?

The most weighty questions actually involve the crowd. As the Walk progresses, more and more people come out to cheer the Watchers on, secretly hoping to see someone get ticketed before there very eyes. This goes far beyond craning your neck to see everything you can at an accident scene. For the Walkers, the crowd eventually becomes Crowd, an amorphous creature always right there roaring and grabbing at them, living (and dying) vicariously through them. Obviously, one thing the Long Walk represents is life itself. The Walkers literally age before our eyes as exhausting hours turn into ever darker, more painful days. Death's approach changes every one of them. Fate has its way with each one's odds of winning, allowing for no favorites among them, as even those with the most going for them sometimes find themselves felled by injuries and sickness. During the journey, the Walkers arrange themselves into little groups, develop enemies, and help - or don't help - one another keep going. Is life a competition or a journey? Different things motivate them to keep going - family, a girl back home, or - for some - just the satisfaction of outlasting another Walker they don't like (oddly enough, the Prize never really seems to mean much to any of them).

I could just go on and on with the symbolism of this story. I haven't even described the characters, and I think it is better if I don't - except to say that the story is told from the perspective of "Maine's own" Walker, Ray Garraty. I could read this novel over and over again without ever growing tired of it. It's just endlessly fascinating and illuminating. Even as a very young writer, King had a lot to say, he understood people, and - most of all - he knew how to tell a story better than just about everyone else who has ever lived.

This is second Stephen King novel I've read and it confirms my original conviction that he is an excellent writer. Set in near-future America the book follows a sixteen year old who signs up for the biggest sporting event of the time: the Long Walk. A walking competition where the last man standing wins and if you slow down for too long you buy yourself a 'ticket' out of not only the walk but also out of exsistence. As the teenage boys begin their greuling trek across the state of Maine frienships are formed, stories are exchanged and mind and body are put to the ultimate test.

The idea for the plot I thought was brilliant and only Stephen King could tell the tale. Except I don't really know King enough (having only read one of his other books) to feel qualified to say that. However if all King's novels are all like these first two I've read than the man is an absolute genius. Only this story idea could come from a genius.

I love the way he keeps the plot moving and still has time to paint a sharp mental picture for the reader. His characters act with incredible realism and he shows the walkers slow descent into hysteria with a kind of terrible beauty. He also gives the gore in his stories a gut wrenching quality and whether you want to or not you are forced to see the repulsive majesty of the scene he is describing. Chills run up my spine when I think what one of his more ghoulish tales (the other King book I've read being the Green Mile) with a lot more blood must be like. 'The Long Walk' has its moment but for those weak of heart and stomach (like myself) rejoice, this book is not scary or incredibly gruesome. It may leave you feeling slightly disturbed but not horror struck.

I had only one problem with the book: the ending. The conclusion was kind of clipped. It felt like King had forgotten to finish the book until the morning before it was due be to published and in a mad scramble he had to rush the last bit. The rest of the book was so thorough and detailed but the last part was too adbrupt for my liking. I think this may have been a deliberate attempt by the author to make the writing change as the main character slowly lost his mind, however I still don't like it.

Besides that not much is wrong with the book. It is a constant page turner and is not a very complicated read making this a thouroughly enjoyable novel. It has finished the work the Green Mile began and turned me into a loyal fan of King.

I have read all of Kings published novels, about 50 or so, and this is my alltime favorite. In fact, of all the horror novels I've read, and believe me its 100s, this is the best. Incredibly bleak, gritty, and dark. This would make a great sci-fi film but is too bloody hardcore for the mainstream. The story follows 100 game show contestants struggling to survive. What makes the story great is you know only 1 of the 100 will win, and the rest will all die. It is only their willpower that will keep their life. As the story progresses King creates realistic characters of depth that inevitably get run down by the game. This format makes you keep turning the page, wondering how it could possibly get worse, and it does. This is the only novel I've read 4 times. Definately recommend for fans of bleak King, Horror, or dark Sci-Fi. Not for the squeamish or faint of heart.

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5.0 out of 5 stars My Favourite of the Original Bachman Books!
Reason for Reading: I'm in the process of of re/reading all of Stephen King's works in chronological order. This was the next book in line. Read more

Published 8 months ago by Nicola Manning

3.0 out of 5 stars Thank Goodness for the Treadmill
This book is creepy version of the future. To think that anyone would volunteer to walk for days without rest at four miles per hour is almost unbelievable. Read more

Published on Jun 25 2004 by Tyler Volz

5.0 out of 5 stars A true, horrifying masterpiece
Stephen King's "The Long Walk" was a great story. As well as following through on King's natural horror story lines, King also depicts a horrible truth about mankind... Read more

Published on May 7 2004 by Gutz

3.0 out of 5 stars A good read, but not immortal stuff.
King is a master plot-spinner. His pacing, with the possible exception of the last couple of chapters, is superb, and he's great at keeping the tension high. Read more

Published on April 21 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars I read this in one day and I loved it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok. 100 kids. 1 race. 1 survivor. 99 corpses. The Long Walk.
This is the story of a boy(wow) named Ray Garrety. Read more

Published on April 12 2004 by jonathan ferreira

5.0 out of 5 stars The Long Walk: King at his best!!!
I'm a young reader, but don't let that fool you; I have great tastes in books, and Stephen King is my favorite author of all time. Read more

Published on April 6 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible, Amazing, Mind Blowing, Wow!
"The Long Walk" is my favorite novel by Stephen King. Considering he's my favorite author and I've been devouring his work since I was a wee lass of 10, that's saying a... Read more

Published on Feb 20 2004 by Lizzy Halliday

4.0 out of 5 stars The Long Walk
This book is about a 16 year old boy named Garrtey, who signed up for this walk. The walk is around 180 miles. Read more

Published on Jan 6 2004 by a student

5.0 out of 5 stars A great read quite under rated
This book blew me away the 1st time i picked it up The story starts somewhere in the future where every year 100 teenage boys are picked to walk (not run) a marathon and if you go... Read more

Published on Nov 23 2003 by John

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book but not creepy like most of King's books
This is an excellent book of King and probably the best he's written as Richard Bachman. The flow of the book is perfect, the characters are extremely real and likeable but the... Read more

Published on Sep 3 2003 by M. Nation

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