The Long Walk

by Stephen King and Richard Bachman

Book Overview

On the first day of May, 100 teenage boys meet for a race known as -The Long Walk.- If you break the rules, you get three warnings. If you exceed your limit, what happens is absolutely terrifying...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451196716
• ISBN13: 9780451196712
• Release Date: April 1999
• Publisher: Signet Book
• Length: 370 Pages
• Weight: 0.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 4.2" x 6.7"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Book was filthy

Book appeared to have roach droppings on the back cover. Overall feeling was that the book was dirty. I had to wash my hands after handling the book. I did clean it and keep it rather than returning it.

Worth the ride, but the end is meh

An excellent story with character development and brilliant pacing. A Hunger Games-esque world before the times of Hunger Games. It would be a fantastic film if they ever developed it. In classic Stephen King fashion, the ending is open to interpretation, but left me feeling like how The Giver (Lois Lawry) did. A unique and surreal world that was worth living in for the read, if you're into dystopia.

Good

One of king's best novellas.

One of my top favorites

I first read this story when I was a teenager and have re-read it countless times throughout the years. Still one of my top favorites.

the best of bachman

A terrifying dystopia, this is the kind of novel that makes me want to become a high school English teacher. I read this over the summer and was really surprised that it's one of King's lesser-known and lesser-loved works, because it is equal to (if not better than) It and The Shining and many other King classics. This is the story of a nationwide competition held annually: the Long Walk. Every year, one hundred men begin walking. The competition ends when all but one are dead. The rules? You must keep walking at a pace of 4 miles per hour. If you drop below that pace, you are warned. After three warning, you are removed from the competition - with the shooting of guns. The pacing of this novel is languid and nerve-wracking as you get to know the boys in the Long Walk and watch them die one by one. Not a read for the faint of heart, this book will change the way you think about reality television and our society in general. Full of interesting philosophical questions and observations on society, The Long Walk was one of the most enjoyable literary journeys I took this summer.

The word horror has never been used more appropriately!

The Long Walk is the only book I've read that actually left me physically tired after reading it. To describe this book as scary would be misleading (and an understatement). Horrifyingly intense is the only way to sum it up. There is nothing creepy or supernatural about this story. It is like nothing that has ever been written.What makes this story so intense is the feeling that it could really happen in the near future. Stephen King is a genius when it comes to pulling you right into his nightmares. The story starts out very subtly and then you quickly learn what the contest "The Long Walk" is all about (and it aint no benefit marathon). What is truly amazing about this story is that it was written twenty years before the explosion of reality T.V. The story seems even more plausible when read today.I have never been more engrossed in a story than this one. I really started to feel the fatigue and constant dread that these boys must have felt. This book is for anyone who loves to enter a different world and be terrified. Whatever kind of sick person would like that is beyond me, but you know who you are. Read this book you will love it. Oh, by the way, keep in mind that a happy ending is never guaranteed in King's early novels.

best of "bachman"

Of all of the Stephen King books I've read under his pseudonym, Richard Bachman, this one is tops (or perhaps "Rage").I picked this up for a second read after all of the reality tv shows popped up, and I still think it's scary how close we're actually getting to this scenario.For those of you unfamiliar with the plot line, one hundred young men are selected for what is called "The Long Walk," and are watched like heros as they walk and walk. No sleeping, no slowing down to go to the bathroom, nothing. Losers are shot, but the winner gets ANYTHING he wants. Care to gamble your life with 100-1 odds based on your sheer will and ability to walk hundreds of miles?King's (er... Bachman's) pace is excellent, each character's story is interesting, but the greatest of all comes with imagining the rules and regulations and possibilities of this game. One of the networks actually picked up what sounds suspiciously like a VERY toned-down version of the game in the book. It has to do with walking or some other sort of endurance for a prize. Is it art imitating life or just plain creepy? Read this book and try and find a screening of an indie movie called "Series 7" (contestants each get a gun; the winner goes on to Series 8). They pack a serious 1-2 punch to the disturbing nature of reality shows.

Not an endurathon of a read

The Long Walk has got to be one of Stephen King's greatest short story accomplishments, up there with the highlights of the Skeleton Crew.The story is about an endurathon contest, where 100 boys just start walking, and if any competitor falls under 4 miles an hour, he is issued a warning. However, if a competitor slows down to under 4 miles after receiving 3 warnings...he is shot dead.King introduces many unique characters to us, and we begin to almost feel their personalities, and the annoying little habits that they have. King does a masterful job of removing some of the characters from the story with not much detail, really placing an emphasis on the mental drain that is occuring with the competitors in The Long Walk, they are so tired they dont even notice how or when some of their friends are being killed.The final surge towards the end of the walk is written quite ingeniously, and is even quite surprising.Overall, I would highly recommend this short story. ALthough the book may be about an endurathon, it is certainly not an endurathon of a read, the pages will just fly by.

ONE OF THE BEST SHORT STORIES EVER.

THIS WAS ONE OF THE FIRST KING OFFERINGS THAT I READ. IT WAS ALSO ONE OF THE BEST. KING KEPT THE PRESSURE ON EVERY "STEP" OF THE WAY. THE SMALL DETAILS INCLUDED IN THE STORY LINE ABOUT EACH OF THE MAIN CHARACTERS ADDED TO THE OVERALL ENJOYMENT OF THE STORY.