This goes down as my all time favorite King/Bachman story ever! It's in one word...HAUNTING! I am not one that typically re reads books over and over again, but that said...I have read this several times. The concept when written was light years ahead of its time. He made you believe that this premise of "game/competition" was indeed the future of where we are headed. I could not help but imagine that this was a likely senerio. After that set up, you can't help but have an interest in the characters and their outcome. Not only does this stay with you long after you have read it, but it's a rarity of book, that makes you wish you could read it again for the first time. Unlike some other reviewers I was not dissapointed with the ending and felt it was absolutely right on the money. I have yet to find another King that matches this intensity and gripping story line, but I sure wish he would head down this road again...now that's a walk I would take.

This is classic King! Such an amazing ability of story telling and introducing the many characters in the book. Who else could make a long walk so intriguing?

I thought this was a great book! I read long into the night, needed to find out who would "make it". Although simple, you begin to 'see' the characters. One of his good ones and I've read them all.

Don't think there is more to this story than what is mentioned in the title. The whole book focuses on the long walk a group of 100 teenagers take in New England. During this walk, there are plenty of character moments and insight into who these people are. I would have loved to have read more about the society where this walk would happen. This book is not as strong, in my opinion, as the other Bachman book I read (THE RUNNING MAN). There are plenty of good moments in this novel, but there are also more areas where I felt the story dragged. I will say that the Bachman persona is surely a dark writer. Both of these books have featured very bleak outlooks on our society. I know that King often writes about dark topics (PET SEMETARY being a perfect example), but these two books are very dark.

I've read almost all of Mr. King's books and many novellas and short stories. This is by far one of his most spellbinding. I was reading on my kindle at stop lights, at lunch, anywhere I could grab another page or two.
I have to say I was dumbfounded by how suddenly it seemed to end. I always hate finishing a King work of art. I feel like a jilted lover, so forlorn.

This is the first Stephen King book I have read and, as a rule, I prefer crime noir to horror for my genre fiction. But I always remembered this book because a childhood friend was a Richard Bachman fan before that author's true identity became known. Curiosity got the better of me and so here I am.

My take? Rather mixed. The story certainly contains an interesting concept (which, even without having read King, I would have expected). Set in a dystopian American future, young men compete in the long walk, a competition to see which will be the last boy standing. The winner gets anything he wants. The losers get a bullet each. Adding to the interest is that, despite (or more likely, because of) the morbidity of the contest, the walk is the most popular spectator event in the land.

Again, a very interesting concept. We cannot help but wonder exactly what has happened? Why are so many young men eager to throw away their lives? The possibility of winning? The prestige of having competed, even if one does not live to see the glory? Some suicidal impulse? Or instead, is the tale symbolic of something else, such as the Vietnam War, which was being fought at the time THE LONG WALK was written? It is to King's credit that he does not even try to provide any answers. I appreciate an author that keeps us guessing.

While THE LONG WALK is good on concept, it is much weaker in character development. I never felt as connected with the characters as I should have. Perhaps delving deeper into the characters would have revealed too much of their motivations, thereby providing us a clue as to what the walk represents. As I mentioned above, however, such answers as to what the walk means are missing, a fact that I appreciate. Nonetheless, I call them as I read them, and the book would have benefited by delving deeper into the walkers themselves. I should mention that, with respect to the military personnel enforcing the rules, they are conspicuously one-dimensional, no doubt purposefully, and appropriately so. Drawing them as mere background heightens the tension between what we read and what we do not know.

Overall, if you like weird concepts and ambiguity, and are not overly concerned with deep human motivation, sure, give THE LONG WALK a go.

This one didn't give me nightmares like Needful Things, It, and The Stand, but it is gripping in a non-horror way. I particularly liked the way King made the extreme premise of the book seem more and more plausible as the book goes on.

I am no fan of Stephen King. I don't hate his books, but I think this is the sixth book of his I've read, and the first one I've really enjoyed. I got 80% through The Stand: Expanded Edition: For the First Time Complete and Uncut (Signet) before putting it down in boredom. I tried twice to get through The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower, Book 1) and failed both times. I've never really understood his appeal and haven't had an interest in reading anything else by him, but when someone told me the premise of The Long Walk - I was so intrigued I had to try it out. After finishing it, I finally got a glimpse into some of the incredible story-telling that King is capable of.

Written under the pseudonym of Richard Bachman, the premise of The Long Walk is that America is a different society than what we currently know. On the surface, every aspect of it seems the same with two exceptions. The first, is that there was some type of war or military/government event in the past (which King only alludes to), and second, the premier sporting event is a yearly event known as The Long Walk, in which 100 teenage boys are chosen to walk as long as they can until only one of them is left standing, which is a foregone occurrence since contestants are shot if they slow down too much. The obvious draw to this story is the event itself. Why would anyone choose to compete in it? Well, The Prize is the obvious answer - anything you could want for the rest of your life. But even so, the odds are so overwhelmingly against you it seems insane that anyone would compete. The majority of the book is an exercise in character development. King spends an exhaustive amount of time slowly developing the characters and providing insight into their motivations and backgrounds. The main character, Ray Garraty, is developed through his interactions with his fellow contestants. One of the most interesting concepts about the story, is that these are not professional athletes. These young boys have not spent the last four years training for the Long Walk. King makes no references to their being jocks or physically superior to other average teenage boys. Some of the boys do mention taking practice walks, but it is clear that most of them have never participated in anything like this until they start out that morning in Maine on April 30. The winner of the Long Walk is not gifted with superior physical endurance, but emotional and mental superiority.

If King has any other novels like The Long Walk, I would definitely be interested in reading them. It is a very quick read and one that I honestly couldn't put down, as the intrigue never slows down for a minute. I also found that my mind was continually thinking while reading. King would detail a concept or rule of the long walk, such as the rule about outside people interfering with a contestant, and I would sit there and think about all of the different implications that could occur from such a rule. What if a contestant hired someone who had nothing to lose to run out and attach a competitor? Could contestants carry extra shoes with them? What about different ways they could use the bathroom while walking and now slow down? My mind was active the whole time I was reading it, and even after finishing it. I really love when a book challenges me creatively this way, and I'm not just engaged in "passive reading." For anyone who wants an exciting and well-developed novel, I would definitely recommend picking up a copy of The Long Walk.

I usually love Mr. King's stories, but this one bored me to tears. I am always one who finishes a book no matter how good or bad it is, but I deleted this one from my Kindle when I was half way through just so I didn't have to torture myself.

I've been reading King since.... well.... forever. I bought this book at least 6 times, I give books away that I like, then I want to read it again, so I buy it again. This was the first Bachman book I read. To me it's the coming of age book. What does it tell me? What did I get from it? It told me I like to read a good story, and I got enjoyment and a little fright, each time I read it I get something I didn't see before. Love the Kindle, now I can't give it away and I can read it whenever I want.

BE ADVISED: DO NOT read the forward written by Stephen King until after you have finished the book. King gives away the ending to The Running Man in the forward. Unless you like spoilers DO NOT READ THE FORWARD! BE ADVISED!

I started reading this book when I was 12..I never finished it due to my short attention span, but when I picked it back up last year (I was 21) I saw what so many King fans had been talking about. The book is simple and it is GREAT! Really puts you in the walker's shoes..(Literally)

I really did not like this book at all. I typically enjoy King's books, however, the story is true to the title, The Loooooooooooooong Walk, felt like a longer read. I gave it two stars because I wanted to know what was going to happen and I was disappointed! I read the ending a couple of times and I am not sure how I am supposed to interpret it exactly. It just suddenly stopped. I don't want to spoil the ending, but can somebody help me with this?

This story depicts the long walk of life where friends fall by the wayside as we walk along. I have absolutely no idea how the story ended - Did Ray break down and receive a ticket? Did Ray totally crack-up? Did Ray see death up ahead? Did Ray ever get a Prize? What ever happened to Ray? Loved the story but wish Mr. King had told us what in the world happened to Ray!

Disappointing. I love King, but this one drags on and on. The message he is trying to convey is subtle... really, like a sledgehammer on crystal. There is one storyline, and you keep reading on and on for a "twist", or something, anything OTHER than the long road. That's all you get. A long, boring road with one very straight-on conclusion.

This is one of my top three King favorites, along with The Shining and Misery. Glad to see it's reaching a new audience as an e-book!

Scott Nicholson
Author of They Hunger and The Red Church
The Red Church

The Long Walk is large triple decker hamburger, oozing with cheese, the kind of thing you know has no redeeming value, but you can't stop ravenously inhaling it until it is gone because it goes down so easy. First, let me preface this review with my admitted bias...I LOVE ALL THING STEPHEN KING. (For the most part...the regulators and the books written around that time were not my favorite.) But, the Long Walk was written during a time he was using the Pseudonym Richard Bachman...he wrote Thinner, this book and a couple others before he was "outed." The Long Walk is based on an interesting premise. Set in a not too distance, unspecified future of the United States, 100 young men are "given the opportunity" to apply for a competition called the Long Walk. All 100 start walking on a predetermined route, and the prize is won by the last boy still standing and alive. Walkers are given strikes for not walking fast enough or stopping...and if they get 4 strikes, they are shot and killed by the accompanying soldiers. The main protagonist, Garraty, is telling the story from his perspective. And the roadside kill nature of this book makes it difficult to put down. I know that this surprised me years ago when I first read it, and it surprised me again when I read again recently. For some reason, it reminds me of that Shirley Jackson short story about the town that periodically picks colored balls from a bag, and stones to death the one who picks the black ball. The future of the US is grey and hazy, but it is an alternative one. There are vague references to the Colonel in the story being of charge of jack boot enforders...and different outcomes to wars or invasions. But for me, that was all just distraction from the main thing...could I survive? What if I had to walk for three days straight???

This is a quick read, but you will rememeber it forever.

Like all of the other Stephen King / Richard Bachman books that I have read I was deeply moved. One hundred teenage boys are selected in an alternative history United States to begin walking at a marker in Maine (the typical King setting) and to continue walking until only one is left. If you drop below four MPH you get a warning. If you get more than three warnings you'll get your "ticket." A strange premise indeed but in the hands of King / Bachman you'll begin to understand that even the most mundane things can become more horrific than any movie monster.

This book bears a close resemblance to another Bachman book, The Running Man. That book is so far removed from the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie that even the premise was loosely based on the novel. The main themes of American voyeurism and our obsession with violence, games, and reality T.V. are explored. In fact this book feels like a spin off to that novel which is definitely a good thing.

The less you know about this book the better. What I will say is that the characters are very well written and quite believable. The social dynamics that develop among the walkers is both fascinating and disturbing.

write a review. write ten reviews. don't write a plot synopsis. i was profoundly affected by this short story when i first read it [when i was ten] because each plot twist was a surprise. if your review includes a detailed description of the story, you are robbing people of the chance to experience it themselves. that is all

This is one of those books you read over and over! You SEE the whole thing in your mind as you take this "JOURNEY". Stephen King is the master of the written word and this is a book that should NOT be missed. Ray Garraty and the other gentlemen are people that are hard to forget!

I am not one for writing long summarizations, nor line by line critique - so I will not do so in this case either. This book/novella originally came out in the late 1970's in paperback and then in the mid 1980's under the pseudonym Richard Bachman in THE BACKMAN BOOKS. If I recall properly, all of the books were amazing - but this particular one was above and beyond brilliant. I highly recommend it!

everything went very well. book was in great shape. would definitely use these guys anytime they had the best price on a book i was after. one of king's best books btw

I'm going to keep this short and sweet. First, this book is amazing. A friend asked me the other day if I'd read it. When I said I hadn't, he gave me the gist of it. Four days later, I'm writing this review. The Long Walk is an amazing look at the human experience, both good and bad, that demands just as much from its readers as it does from its characters. If this book doesn't make you question your life, your past, or your faith nothing will.

Secondly, to those who don't like the end of the book, I have to ask, what did you expect? The reasons how this walk began and why exactly these kids do is never answered, why should the ending be any more clear? Then of course, there's always the old fail safe, "It's the journey, not the destination, that's the thing." But with all that said, I'd argue that there is a pretty definitive ending, it's just not spelled out for you in black and white. The author's asking you to stretch your legs (and imagination) a little, and join the Walkers, to see what they see...

Years ago, I found this work by someone named Bachman on a table with other books with their covers torn off on sale for a quarter. It was a quarter well spent. Of all of King's works, this has most often appeared in my dreams. Something elemental is touched. Life as a journey, with the watchers and participants, thebest and the worst of us. I find it unforgetable.

While entertaining, the book is simply too long. The plot is so simple ( walk or die ) that by the time I was half finished I was getting bored. The suspense does pick up again but the ending was pretty much a dud for me. The main problem is keeping the reader interested when pretty much all is going on is the same thing over and over.

I've read nearly all of Stephen King's/Richard Bachman's books. As much as I usually love his stories, the endings usually fall flat. This book, however, was boring the whole time. It dragged on. Then it just stopped. There's not even an attempt at a proper ending. Perhaps that's the point. Either way, was disappointed. It only earned the two stars I gave it for a couple of interesting scenes in the later chapters. I thought the book was finally getting good, but it didn't last. Oh well...on to my next read.

Another favorite from Stephen King, and another paperback on my shelf that's almost too ragged to read. The Long Walk (originally published under King's pseudonym, Richard Bachman) is one of those books that gets better the more times you read it. The premise is actually pretty flat -- In the not-too-distant future, a group of 100 teenage boys is selected each year to participate in The Long Walk. Basically, the participants in this reality show death march begin walking in Maine and continue south as a group until they can walk no longer. If they drop beneath a certain speed, they're shot. If they stop for any reason (no bathroom breaks here, folks), they're shot. Blisters and head colds are a matter of life and death in this especially brutal race.

That said, there's not much action in this book. The story focuses on the relationships and friendships that emerge among the walkers, and how these individuals change along the journey. As always, King draws characters that are memorable and very real. He parcels out information about them little by little, allowing the reader to get to know them alongside the other Long Walkers. It's hard not to get emotionally involved when they fall, one by one, along the side of the road.

The ending is typical King -- is it a happy one? Does the "winner" get his "prize?" I've read the book many times and I still can't make up my mind. But I challenge you to read it and draw your own conclusion.

I love this book! It's different than anything else I've ever read and I think King does a great job with the characterization and making us feel what the characters are feeling. This is probably my favorite Stephen King.

Easily one of the finest books king has ever written and one of my all time favorites. For me, there is a slight difference between the king novel and the bachman novel. The man behind the machine was the same but different whenever he wrote under each of these names. The way he takes us on a rollercoaster with the storys main character Garraty who watches his friends and the rest of the kids around him all die is remarkable to say the least. The story is based in the not so distant future and is nothing but pure adrenaline. A must read!

I first read this book back in the early 80's when I realized that Stephen King was Richard Bachman. It stuck with me, it harkens to a primative realization, that there are those willing to risk life and limb for money, fame, and untold riches. We see it every day in many ways. But only Stephen King, eats down to the heart of the emotion that comes along with that journey. For most people there is no one waiting there with a gun, and the "walk" is designed for youthful males...being they might have the endurance to last. It is a journey thru the human experience, and I loved it, and still love reading the story!

This was the first Stephen King book I'd ever read. Some "friends" recommended that it was one of his best, so I thought I'd give it a try. Before this my only real exposure to the horror genre was reading Poe in high school. Overall I found this to be a good reading experience, though it was a little long and the end was disappointing.

Every year, 100 teenage boys go through The Long Walk, a competition of endurance and survival. They start near the Canadian border in Maine (being a King book, where else would it start?) and go through New Hampshire, possibly into Massachusetts if anyone survives. The winner receives a Prize, wherein supposedly they receive everything they could ever want. The only drawback is that if you don't win, you die. Get three warnings in a row and you get executed.

So the rules are simple: keep walking or die. There are no stops to use the bathroom or sleep or eat or get a foot massage. You walk all day and all night until you stop walking and die. It's sort of like the Tour de France then if the bikers had to keep riding 24 hours a day and the losers were all killed. The contest is broadcast on TV and is a huge thing in Vegas. Throngs of people show up on the sidelines to cheer on the Walkers, showing little concern even as the losers are shot on live TV. (A similar premise to another King story, "The Running Man." With reality TV the way it is today, is such a thing really so implausible? I think not.)

In the current year's competition is young Ray Garrarty, a local boy from a small town in Maine. His father was abducted years ago by "the Squads", some kind of fascist secret police. (The story takes place in an alternate history where either the US lost WWII or otherwise turned into a fascist state. It's not entirely clear what happened, but there is mention of Germans bombing the US east coast and a raid on a German nuclear plant in Santiago in the '50s.) Ray has since lived with his mother and has a girlfriend named Jan. But for whatever reason he signs up for the Long Walk along with 99 other boys from around the country. He bonds with some of them like the cynical McVries and the weirdly prophetic Stebbins even as they are ostensibly trying to kill each other. They face a variety of physical challenges like steep hills, cramps, and fever but the real challenge is the mental fatigue from pushing on while watching all the people around you drop and die. Can Ray make it to the end? And what then?

I thought this book probably would have worked better as a short story or novella. At 370 pages it's a little too long. It sort of sets into this pattern of they walk for a while, someone gets shot, they talk to each other, some more people get shot. Yadda, yadda, yadda. What saves it though is the bonding between Ray, McVries, and the other characters as they become well-fleshed characters. You really do want to see who's going to make it and who isn't.

The end was disappointing, ending with a whimper instead of a bang. After going so far, I was really hoping for something a little more epic when it gets down to the last handful of people, but instead King/Bachman wraps up the last stage in just a couple of pages. So it seems like a lot of buildup for little payoff.

Still, it was a good book and makes me want to get my copy of "The Green Mile" off the shelf.

That is all.

The Long Walk is an oldie. Written in King's college days, it was first rejected for publication. After quite some time it was released under Richard Bachman as the author.

The book is a masterpiece of the dark human condition & the darkness of humanity. Set in a military, fascist America, The Long Walk takes place every May 1 with 100 teenage boys. King touches this new country with very minor references. The boys begin the Walk in Presque Isle, Maine & continue walking south non-stop until only one is left to claim the Grand Prize. The Prize being anything you want for the rest of your life. What happens to the 99 non-finishers? Body bags resulting from a bullet or two to the head from the monitoring soldiers. The boys, by the way, take a test for acceptance into the walk. They all participate willingly & are not coerced.
You can accumulate 3 warnings for falling below a pace of 4 miles an hour. Every hour walked at 4 miles an hour erases a previous warning. If after 3 warnings you cannot continue your pace, you are quite literally eliminated.

Actually, the Walk is considered a sport by this new America. Possibly the greatest event of the year, the crowds are throngs & the Walkers are heavily bet on.

The rather mundane action of walking is masterfully molded by King into one of his darkest tales. It's a fascinating tale of the human condition where mental & emotional prowess & conversation among the boys must overcome the incredible physical pain of non-stop walking for hundreds of miles. The fear of the bullet, always on their minds. Friendships form, though they know they cannot last.

By the time the end of the walk is in sight, these boys have aged before our eyes. The Prize is no longer important. The Walk may be interpreted as the walk of life, if you choose. There are a few interpretations the reader can make.
The book is a real page turner. The dark tale will get hold of you & it'll be difficult to shake it off.

I found myself with only a couple pages to go, asking myself how King is going to end this novel. The answer is he ends it very well

Despite this being a "Richard Bachman" novel, the book is a complete loss. You become easily lost from the beginning of the story and become entrapped into this vicious cycle of losing random characters back and forth. If you cannot keep up with the characters and what conversations that they have held with Ray Garraty, then you will be completely lost.

I do not see how Stephen King came up with such a lame idea for a story! It's absolutely horrible and I would not recommend reading this one.

To be correct, it TECHNICALLY is a Richard Bachman novel. However, since Bachman suffered an unfortunate death (wink!), King has so graciously agreed to allow it to be published under his name.

"The Long Walk" describes a brutal, dangerous competition in an alternate, possibly fascist America. 100 boys are picked from thousands who apply to do the race. Their goal? To start walking from the Maine-Canada border, along a marked route southward, for as long as they can continue without any type of rest or true stop. The prize for the last boy standing is anything he desires in the form of what is implied to be a vast prize of money. However, should any boy drop below four miles per hour as registered by the military guards constantly accompanying them along the sidelines in speed, he receives three warnings before getting what is euphemistically called a "ticket" and dropping out of the race.

King does an excellent job in characterizing the boys participating, as well as the mental and psychological toll that the race begins to exert on them as they endlessly continue their walk southward. When one of the characters finally falls to receive his "ticket", it is gut-wrenching.

The main weakness of the story (and it isn't too bad) is the length. After a while, the story drags a bit, as you wait for the boys to finally start breaking down until only one is left standing. Nonetheless, it is still a very vivid image, one of King's finest.

I've read all of King's books and I'd go as far to say that this is one of my favorites; not only did I find it fascinating but the theme & thoughts of the book stayed with me for a long time afterwards.

The Long Walk is the story of just that - a walk that begins 100 competitors, and finishes when only one is left standing. They walk through the day and night, rain or shine, while eating and while sleeping. Slouch below speed and get a warning. Get 3 warnings and get a ticket - in other words, a bullet.

Garrety and the other young walkers start in high hopes, become friends and enemies... and start to ask the same questions that we as readers are asking - why are they doing this? Why would anyone volunteer for this? For me, the biggest questions were what on earth has happened in the world that not only is this an acceptable competition, but one that is encouraged & cheered? One whose non-supporters must keep quiet for fear of not only being seen as anti-establishment but are also squaded?

And ultimately can there any winners in this, other than the eager crowds watching or the General, who makes his brief but arrogant appearances? We learn the fate of past winners, and can our hero, Garrety, be one of them? And if he is, can there be a happy-ever-after for him even if he wins the ultimate prize?

Although King does not count among my favorite writers I had followed Amazon ratings and found this time that most readers were right. King has achieved in this special book, out of an original idea a blend of a captivating story turned it into a superb thriller, featuring his always gruesome, grizzly depictions and at the same time making an entertaining product. Once, I started out "The Long Walk" I could not stop reading it and gobbled it up in just one week, because through the development of the plot I discovered that is the kind of book that holds the promise of an exciting ending

If you like King but find tedious spending long hours getting through his 800+ page titles, this short, quite enjoyable and dark tale is for you. I think this could obviously have been a "long" short story (if the guys would have been running instead of walking ;)), but King found a way to keep the story longer while interesting from the beginning to the end.

The plot ? simple, but efficient : in a walking contest set in a totalitarian future, 100 teenage boys must walk at a speed over 4 mph, if not they receive up to 3 warnings before...well you'll see. Most of the story is set around Ray Garraty and a dozen other walkers, mainly those walking close to him during different parts of the trip South from Main to Mass. where the walk usually ends.

King gives a lot of importance to the diminishing endurance of the walkers and their mental and physical battle to survive longer. And he does it well. The tale is dramatic and gives shivers.

A different King, short, dark and enjoyable, maybe not before sleeping...

The Long Walk is very formalaic and predictable. It's obvious that the first-person narrator is going to survive, so there is really no suspense. The reader simply plods along with the walkers, waiting for the next one to die. The narrator's emotional defeat, despite having won the walk, was predictable. It was like "so what?" This was not Stephen King, or Richard Bachman if you will, at his best.

This is really an awesome book by king. It my favorite so far out of 5 other books that I've read by king. To make this book short this book is about a 100 boys, about 16 yrs of age who made the decision to be contestants in the Long Walk. Each boy has a chance to receive three warnings after which they are shot down...DEAD. The last one standing will be the winner, who will receive a prize of their choice.

I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone. I can almost guarantee you will not be disappointed.

I love Steven King! But--this novel was too dark, and it had a plot problem. I could not accept the idea of parents allowing their teenagers to be in a race in which failure meant death (soldiers shooting the kids that slowed down--shooting them in front of watching crowds!).

If you make things too inhuman, you go so far over the top that the reader has a hard time accepting the premise. This novel is heavy with the metaphor that we are all born in a race and get picked off one by one. This view of life just does not appeal to me.

MAKING KING'S NOVEL BETTER: Okay, the boys join the long walk, and when someone slows down, they are picked up by a white van and taken away. Everyone believes they are being treated well. But the hero discovers a dark truth. He runs off the side of the road to take a leak, and he sees a white van. He sneaks up and looks in the windows. Inside, a doctor is removing the heart of one of the runners. Thus, the boys are all being killed for their organs--including their families who just up and disappear because of this evil organization. At the end, the boys rebel and attack the white van. They kill the bad guys, and the evil organization is revealed and destroyed.

Wouldn't that be more satisfying? As it is...I won't tell the ending, but it is not satisfying. In the "Stand," billions of people die off, and a few good guys re-establish civilization. In the "Tommyknockers," the bad aliens get their just reward.

That's what the readers of horror novels want--a scary escape that ends on a hopeful note. We read books about horrible things that turn out good (even if a lot of good people get killed). We don't always need a happy ending, but at least a satisfying ending.

King's essay at the beginning of the book on the "Importance of Being Richard Backman" was interesting, but weird. Oh, well, like I said, I love Steven King's novels, but this one didn't work for me--too much of the same thing.

Read my review of Steven King's "Colorado Kid," which I think had a similar flaw.
The Colorado Kid (Hard Case Crime)

This book was incredible. I believe it was written under the alius of Richard Bachman and his style of writing is usually all story. He does'nt drag things out and you'll be biting your nails through the whole book. If you like this book I also suggest "The Running Man"... it's nothing like the movie and it's incredible!!! You'll Love this book,gauranteed!!

A very special SK/RB! Reading the book is like walking through Maine yourself! It blows your mind! Cool scary reading stuff! Absolute cult!

For all those English Majors out there who think they're too good for so-deemed "pop fiction" like the works of Stephen King... You will likely be surprised at the high brow / philosophical / true-to-life questions King asks us to consider.

I found this story by Stephen King a little unusual to his typical style of horror, but nevertheless, I thought it was an excellent idea and a gripping read. The horror in this book doesn't come from ghosts, vampires or an alien force, but from human terror inflicted by an imaginary/future government who organize an annual long walk for teenage boys. The winner has everything to gain and the losers have everything to lose. The Long Walk is a frightening event and along it, the participants must learn how far they can push their bodies and minds.

This was a fun book to read. Obviously it is very plot-driven, with the theme being the whittling down of 100 contestants in the long walk down to 1, but in between it takes some time to be though provoking - as you dig into the psyches of people who are on the border between life and death.

Clearly this was written early in King's career, and it's a bit raw, but for this subject matter that somehow seems appropriate. Perhaps some of the characters are a bit too black and white, but even that's OK here - if you imagine the conditions they're under, you can see how extreme behavior might erupt.

Reading this book will make you think about life and death a bit, and about how hard humans will push themselves to keep going. And at the same time it's fun all the way through.

I read this book 15 years or so ago and just picked it up again to reread. Seems the first time I was reading, my feet and legs actually started to hurt as the story is written with a lot of conviction. My feet and legs did not commit to the same agony as before - likely due to them always feeling tired and sore. All that said, it is a good book and you really find yourself drawn into the Walkers.

Every May, 100 teenage boys (all volunteers) are selected to participate in The Long Walk. The walk begins in Maine and continues without pause until only one walker remains; stopping for any reason incurs a warning, and at three warnings the walker is shot. Ray Garraty is a local participant and a favorite to win, and his long walk takes him through his past, into the reasons he and the other boys are walking, to the final step on the road. The Long Walk is all about concept, character, and motivation, and so is comprised primarily of an exploration of what the Long Walk is and what it entails, and an exploration of who Ray and his fellow walkers are and why they're participating. Unfortunately, the premise is never fully explained or justified, and so it feels artificial and the book is disappointing; the characterization, on the other hand, is exceptional. This book isn't quite as good as it could be, but it's intriguing nonetheless, with a chilling concept and wonderful characters. I recommend it.

What drew me to this book was the concept: the endless, desolate road, the impossibly difficult journey, the death-wish of a hundred adolescent boys. That concept is as important as the protagonist (if not moreso), and much of the book's length goes to descriptions of the difficulty and perseverance of the long journey. King writes horror, of course, and he writes it well; The Long Walk is more distanced and psychological than much of his work, but his skills transfer smoothly and make the book consistently tense and chilling. Even when the deaths get monotonous (as they are wont to do when there are 99 of them), it only contributes to the unending, harrowing struggle down the road. Unfortunately, the book's concept is never adequately explored. King reveals more and more about how the Walk functions and how it affects both participants and spectators, but he never explains why it exists. Perhaps that's intentional--and the Long Walk does become a metaphor for living and dying in real life, which also lacks an explanation--but regardless, it makes the premise feel artificial and incomplete.

Characters and motivations don't quite make up for this lack of explanation, but they are brilliantly realized. Ray, and his past; the friends he makes and the secondary characters who die along the way; what motivates each character and what eventually takes them to their death: King creates realistically detailed, individualized, compelling characters. Some back stories (primarily for Ray) and character traits (primarily for secondary characters) are over-simplified, but that's acceptable given the nuanced characterizations and character interactions (as well as the limitations of setting and plot) which do exist. The Long Walk did not quite live up to my expectations, and if there had been more reason and explanation behind the Walk itself, it would have been a better book. Nonetheless, it is a harrowing novel fueled by an intriguing concept and wonderful characters, and it's a pleasure to read. I recommend it.

Blood and Rain
Blood for the Masses

The Long Walk
By
Stephen King

Reviewed By
B.L.Morgan

5 Stars

The Long Walk was a novel that I read as a part of a collection of four ealier books written by Stephen King and released as The Bachman Books. I hadn't read a Stephen King book for some years and actually forgot how good he really is.

This is the story of the ultimate marathon and what happens to the contestants on that marathon.

The rules are simple: You keep walking until you cannot go on. When you stop soldiers shoot you. The winner gets whatever his heart desires.

Sounds simple right? Well, in the hands of an author of the calibre of Stephen King he makes it into an epic of human endurance and shows just how far a man will go to to survive.

I highly reccomnd this book. It is STRONG! If you don't like gross scenes you should stay at least ten miles away from it. But King uses the greusomeness of some of the death scenes to illustrate just how high the stakes are in this contest to the death.

I absolutely loved this book. It was almost hynotic in its ability to keep me abosorbed in the characters struggle to survive. If you want to read a novel that is guaranteed to keep you glued to the pages this is the one to grab.

Long live The King!!!

I am currently reading Stephen King's memoir "On Writing". In it he describes "The Long Walk" as probably the best of his early books. He is absolutely correct.

This book gives just another example of what he is able to do with character development. He doesn't use them as simple plot tools, but creates actual people that we develop a relationship with while reading their story.

In this book the main characters are a group of young men who have entered a contest that sounds ridiculously heinous to us, but has become the norm to them. (the story is unofficially set in a future and place not too far from where we now live)

When I first heard the premise of this book I was immediately interested. The author did not fail to exceed the expectations of this "constant reader". Whether you are a Stephen King fan or not I would recommend this book to you. It's brief, to the point, and extremely good.

THE LONG WALK (1979) and Thinner are my favorite Richard Bachman (AKA Stephen King) novels. As most King fans know, Bachman was King's alter ego who died by cancer of the pseudonym. The plot is simple. One hundred boys in a bizarre future-world start a long walk; ninety-nine die by shooting after three warnings for slowing down.

The interaction between the contestants is riveting, but what I liked about the story were the things left to the imagination. What's the purpose of the annual race? Does it provide the populace with entertainment by blood-lust or gambling. Is it used to reduce the male population or perhaps create a hero of the winner each year. Maybe it's just to let everyone know who's running things. The details of the society are open to speculation, but clearly life has become very cheap in this brave new world. It's as scary as anything in A Clockwork Orange or Farenheit 451. I'm surprised that this novel hasn't become a film, because the right director could make it pop.

Charlie M
June 16, 2008