The Long Walk
In this #1 national bestseller, "master storyteller" (Houston Chronicle) Stephen King, writing as Richard Bachman, tells the tale of the contestants of a grueling walking competition where there can only be one winner--the one that survives. In the near future, when America has become a police state, one hundred boys are selected to enter an annual contest where the winner will be awarded whatever he wants for the rest of his life. Among them is sixteen-year-old Ray Garraty, and he knows the rules--keep a steady walking pace of four miles per hour without stopping. Three warnings and you're out--permanently. A "psychologically dark tale with commentary on society, teenage life, and cultural entertainment, The Long Walk is still poignant decades after its original publication" (Publishers Weekly). This edition features an introduction by Stephen King on "The Importance of Being Bachman."
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Readers say *The Long Walk* is a brutal, gripping story with compelling characters that evoke deep empathy. Reviewers agree it’s emotionally intense, ...
Good story but a little disturbing when the boys were being killed off when they couldn't keep up. Was predictable on who was going to be the winner as the story focus was on the main character.
Just bugs me that the pace is 4mph. Not sustainable. Yes it's dystopian fiction but, come on, get the pacing to be plausible at least so I can buy into the rest. They're walking a marathon every 6.5 hours, and this goes on for days? Almost all would tap out day 1. Even the movie dropped it to 3mph.
Loved this story. It was kind of hard to get through the first couple of chapters but once there was a true foundation to the characters and more things started happening, it was hard to stop. There’s only so many ways to describe walking, especially in a large book like this. It was obviously done very well (it’s Stephen King duh) but at some points it felt more like a screenplay. I think this is going to be a really great movie. Definitely worth the read.
Fantastic story. Originally a short story included in The Bachman Books, this story has a great premise. Times are hard, and 100 boys begin a marathon in hopes of being the one remaining that wins a fortune that will enable them to take care of their families. This story has great character development, and you wind up feeling gut-wrenching empathy for the boys as they are "eliminated" from the race one-by-one. This would be one of my favorite Stephen King stories.
The Long Walk is simple, brutal, and completely unforgettable.
No monsters. No twists. Just boys walking…until they can’t. And somehow that makes it even more horrifying. You get so attached to them, so invested in every step, that by the end you feel just as exhausted and broken as they do.
Stephen King really is the KING of horror, and this proved he doesn’t need anything supernatural to destroy you.
Quietly devastating.
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