The Long Walk (The Bachman Books)

by Stephen King

In an ultraconservative America of the not-too-distant future when America has become a police state, the annual marathon is the ultimate sports competition. One hundred boys are selected each year to enter a grueling 450-mile marathon walk. The game is simple: maintain a steady walking pace of four miles per hour without stopping. Three warnings and you're out--permanently. The winner will be awarded whatever he wants for the rest of his life; but a single misstep could be the last.

• ISBN10: 150114426X
• ISBN13: 9781501144264
• Publish Date: 16 February 2016 (first published 1 February 1979)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[inlibrisveritas]

3.5 Stars
Full review to come

[wcs53]

I first read this about thirty years ago and I still find it to be one of my favourite Stephen King stories. It's not scary in the sense of horror or the realm of the supernatural, but it is scary in that it is something that could be quite real or plausible. One hundred young men/boys take part in an annual walking contest, where they must keep walking at the speed of at least 4 miles per hour, with no rests or breaks allowed. They get three warnings and after the third warning they get their 'ticket' and are out of the race. The last one left wins the 'prize'. As the story progresses the horror of what the 'ticket' really is becomes too real. The story is set in a dystopian version of the US in the early 80's, in a world where it is hinted that the Germans won WW II. As the race moves slowly to an end the ways in which the contestants unravel or find ways to deal with the horror of the situation become all too clear. I only read this the first time after it was revealed who Richard Bachman really was, but there are enough clues in there to work out that it is a Stephen King masterpiece. Hopefully such grace would never happen in these kinds of circumstances, but in today's world of reality TV and an appetite for such things as this, who knows?

[clq]

Like Rage, The Long Walk is a concept with a story written around it. A hundred boys are participants in a competition. The rules are simple: walk for as long as possible. The boy who keeps on walking for the longest wins. Don't stop. If you stop you lose. And you really don't want to lose.

That's all I'm going to say about the story. The gradual reveal of the rest of the setting, and the circumstances surrounding it, it part of what makes this book what it is.

There is something about the characters always walking, never stopping, that really gives the story a very unique feel. It's relentless and brutal. The characters literally can't catch a break, they aren't allowed to. In one way the situation they find themselves in is completely absurd, but at the same time the pain and mental impact which one would eventually incur through being forced to keep walking without any opportunity to rest is completely relatable. And the pacing of the story, pun entirely intentional, is spot on. There aren't any huge developments or dramatic twists, there is just the participants, the situation they find themselves in, and how they relate to each other within those boundaries. It becomes incredibly intimate and human in a way that, for me, felt painfully real.

The Long Walk is an really well done, fascinating, story written around an interesting concept. It's not a book I'd recommend without reservations. Because of it's style alone I can see why some people might just not like it. But I think this book is exactly what it was meant to be, and I think it was perfectly executed. I really liked it.