Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
The Long Walk and The Running Man were good. Disappointed Rage wasn't included in this edition.
Classic. Every hit a winner. Horror.
Story : This edition of the Bachman Books includes three stories: The Long Walk, Roadwork and The Running Man. The first and last are based around reality television shows and the second story tells the tale of a man who refuses to move when a highway is to be constructed and his house is right along the path.
Language: In typical King form, the chapters are short, sometimes less than a page in length. The setting for the first is Maine and the last takes place partly in Maine. They are horror stories and include terror and gore. The book contains foul language and sexual references.
Characters: The Long Walk is told from the perspective of a young adult competing against other boys near his age. Roadwork features a man who has married and had a child and has worked his whole life in the laundry business. The Running Man features another husband and father, but one who lives in the slums and whose health has been destroyed by radiation and other hazards from his job and living conditions.
I read The Long Walk for the first time around 13 years old and enjoy it as much now as I did then. It's definitely my favorite of the three, though the other two contain such narrative and gruesome horror filled details that stick with you for a long time after reading.
Story : This edition of the Bachman Books includes three stories: The Long Walk, Roadwork and The Running Man. The first and last are based around reality television shows and the second story tells the tale of a man who refuses to move when a highway is to be constructed and his house is right along the path.
Language: In typical King form, the chapters are short, sometimes less than a page in length. The setting for the first is Maine and the last takes place partly in Maine. They are horror stories and include terror and gore. The book contains foul language and sexual references.
Characters: The Long Walk is told from the perspective of a young adult competing against other boys near his age. Roadwork features a man who has married and had a child and has worked his whole life in the laundry business. The Running Man features another husband and father, but one who lives in the slums and whose health has been destroyed by radiation and other hazards from his job and living conditions.
I read The Long Walk for the first time around 13 years old and enjoy it as much now as I did then. It's definitely my favorite of the three, though the other two contain such narrative and gruesome horror filled details that stick with you for a long time after reading.
Rage - 2/5
The Long Walk - 5/5
Roadwork - 3/5
The Running Man - 2/5
The Long Walk - 5/5
Roadwork - 3/5
The Running Man - 2/5
Brilliant set of books, my favourites were the long walk (it could happen?!) and the running man (it could also happen?!!!) Loved it.
Rage - This book was exactly the right length. It had the potential to drag on too long, and I found myself fearing it would, but he ended it at exactly the right point. It had the same feel to it as "Lord Of The Flies". You could feel something bad coming from the odd anarchy happening with the characters, but until it happened you weren't quite sure what it was going to be... Brilliant. Four stars, just because it wasn't a gripping tale. It didn't captivate me like Stephen King usually does.
The Long Walk - This book was incredibly depressing, even for a Stephen King book. Like my partner pointed out, though, if you go to Stephen King you aren't looking for rainbows and butterflies. It always messes with my head a bit when Stephen King walks his characters through the town I live in but these characters walked a road I drive every single day for work, and a lot of them died on that road. Morbid, even for Stephen King. However, it captivated me, partly because of its morbidity. I couldn't put it down. There were a few obvious and annoying errors, such as using the word "anthology" instead of "analogy" (unless there is a definition for anthology I'm not aware of that is blatantly incorrect). I think I would give this story on its own three stars.
Roadwork - Fascinating story. This entire breakdown of this man's life was amazing to witness. I particularly liked the way he began to care for the young hitchhiker. She was more than a one-night stand. That was beautiful. The whole story was beautiful and tragic and amazing.
The Running Man - Honestly, after reading The Long Walk and my girlfriend talking nonstop about "Hunger Games" I was kind of tired of the reality-tv-gone-morbid plotline by the time I got to this book. The first half of it, because of that, kind of bored. The ending made it worth it though. The frantic method in which is was written perfectly portrayed the frantic thoughts of the lead character as he tried to figure out what he was going to do. Brilliant.
Overall I am giving the whole book 3 stars because it was entirely too easy for me to put this book down at points and not pick it up for days, even when in the middle of one of the plotlines. Rage is still my favorite of the four because of the psychological and socio themes behind it. Overall, great book.
The Long Walk - This book was incredibly depressing, even for a Stephen King book. Like my partner pointed out, though, if you go to Stephen King you aren't looking for rainbows and butterflies. It always messes with my head a bit when Stephen King walks his characters through the town I live in but these characters walked a road I drive every single day for work, and a lot of them died on that road. Morbid, even for Stephen King. However, it captivated me, partly because of its morbidity. I couldn't put it down. There were a few obvious and annoying errors, such as using the word "anthology" instead of "analogy" (unless there is a definition for anthology I'm not aware of that is blatantly incorrect). I think I would give this story on its own three stars.
Roadwork - Fascinating story. This entire breakdown of this man's life was amazing to witness. I particularly liked the way he began to care for the young hitchhiker. She was more than a one-night stand. That was beautiful. The whole story was beautiful and tragic and amazing.
The Running Man - Honestly, after reading The Long Walk and my girlfriend talking nonstop about "Hunger Games" I was kind of tired of the reality-tv-gone-morbid plotline by the time I got to this book. The first half of it, because of that, kind of bored. The ending made it worth it though. The frantic method in which is was written perfectly portrayed the frantic thoughts of the lead character as he tried to figure out what he was going to do. Brilliant.
Overall I am giving the whole book 3 stars because it was entirely too easy for me to put this book down at points and not pick it up for days, even when in the middle of one of the plotlines. Rage is still my favorite of the four because of the psychological and socio themes behind it. Overall, great book.
The copy I read only contained "Rage", but it was a really well written story !! It was horrifying, but an excellent story about the struggling teenagers. It was incredibly difficult to read, but a piece worth reading. I can understand why it was banned, but if you have the stomach for these pieces of fiction you should definitely read it.
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“The Bachman Books” brings together three of the books written by Stephen King under his pseudonym, Richard Bachman, “The Long Walk”, “Roadwork” and “The Running Man”.
I’m so happy to be ending Kingtober on a high and I have also now read most of the books King wrote as Bachman. I’ve just got “Blaze”, “The Regulators” and “Rage” to go, although I know “Rage” is quite hard to get hold of.
I absolutely loved “The Long Walk”. On paper the concept sounds like it could be dull; a game show concept where 100 boys walk 24 hours a day, maintaining a constant 4mph pace at all times, until there is only one left. Somehow King’s writing pulls you in to the lives of these boys and I was absolutely hooked. You know they can’t all make it but you’re still rooting for them all. The characterisation really makes this one and we don’t spend that much time with some of them.
“Roadwork” felt like a bit of a let down to me after how good “The Long Walk” was. It felt like a lot of threads were left hanging and it was a little bland and unsatisfying to me. I think if I was going to re-read it I might try it as a stand alone book rather than as part of “The Bachman Books” to see if it was partly affected by following “The Long Walk”.
“The Running Man” is probably the most famous of the set with the Arnold Schwarzenegger film of it being a bit of a cult classic in the 1980s. I haven’t actually seen the film but I loved the book. It felt quite ahead of its time for me and the portrayal of reality tv was creepily accurate. It’s a small cast of characters and I felt like the writing really helped me relate to Ben Richards and I couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next.
Overall, this is a great set of books. The more of the Bachman books I read, the more I can see how King was found out. Although less like his genre of the time they all have that King flavour to them. I guess a writing style is kind of like a fingerprint and is extremely difficult to hide, even with a genre switch. The characterisation was pure King for me, particularly in “The Long Walk”.
Definitely doesn’t need to be read from cover to cover as they are three distinctly separate books that have just been put together in a collection for ease. If you find big books intimidating then don’t be put off by the size of this because you can quite easily just read any of the books completely independently of the others.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
medium-paced