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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I’m so glad I decided to read this. I had been in a bad reading slump for a few months, and there’s no better cure for that (for me at least) than to read some Stephen King.
This felt very different from his usual work, which I know was his intention with his Bachman books, but it still feels different from say The Long Walk, or even Rage (by far his worst book that I’ve read). King is always a character guy, first and foremost, but with The Running Man it felt like he was focused a bit more on the ideas and the world. Ben Richards is a pretty interesting character, but compared to the usual King protagonists, he’s not too deep. Richards serves as more of a vessel for King to build up this dystopia, and I think he works very well. I really like that he’s kind of a dick and rather unlikable. There’s a lot of interesting ideas that King cooks up here, I assume some of them are heavily influenced by the early Reagan era based on when it was written. The class divide, the control of information, lots of great stuff that he explores, maybe not in the most sophisticated or in depth way, but still interesting enough. King is also pretty clearly heavily influenced by Ray Bradbury, specifically Fahrenheit 451. Bradbury always talks about how that book is supposed to be about how television is evil and making the public dumber (love how everyone just kinda ignores that when teaching and discussing that book), and King takes that idea and runs with it. This is such an enjoyable and interesting thriller, and I’m very glad that I read it. Just saw on Wikipedia that it apparently only took him a week to write this entire book. It’s not very long but goddamn, that’s just nuts. People always shit on King for not being able to write a good ending (I have always disagreed with this take), but I think he nails this one. I didn’t see it coming, even though I probably should have, and I’m glad that I never had it spoiled for me. I like that he resolves the story but also leaves some things up in the air, gives me a lot more to think about.
I’ll finish this review by mentioning one line from one of the last few chapters that was memorable to me. “Say your name over 200 times and discover you are no one”. I like that you can take this literally, as names (all words really) start to look like gibberish when you repeat them too many times. But it also leaves me with a lot to think about, both in the context of the book, and in a vacuum as it’s own sentence.
This felt very different from his usual work, which I know was his intention with his Bachman books, but it still feels different from say The Long Walk, or even Rage (by far his worst book that I’ve read). King is always a character guy, first and foremost, but with The Running Man it felt like he was focused a bit more on the ideas and the world. Ben Richards is a pretty interesting character, but compared to the usual King protagonists, he’s not too deep. Richards serves as more of a vessel for King to build up this dystopia, and I think he works very well. I really like that he’s kind of a dick and rather unlikable. There’s a lot of interesting ideas that King cooks up here, I assume some of them are heavily influenced by the early Reagan era based on when it was written. The class divide, the control of information, lots of great stuff that he explores, maybe not in the most sophisticated or in depth way, but still interesting enough. King is also pretty clearly heavily influenced by Ray Bradbury, specifically Fahrenheit 451. Bradbury always talks about how that book is supposed to be about how television is evil and making the public dumber (love how everyone just kinda ignores that when teaching and discussing that book), and King takes that idea and runs with it. This is such an enjoyable and interesting thriller, and I’m very glad that I read it. Just saw on Wikipedia that it apparently only took him a week to write this entire book. It’s not very long but goddamn, that’s just nuts. People always shit on King for not being able to write a good ending (I have always disagreed with this take), but I think he nails this one. I didn’t see it coming, even though I probably should have, and I’m glad that I never had it spoiled for me. I like that he resolves the story but also leaves some things up in the air, gives me a lot more to think about.
I’ll finish this review by mentioning one line from one of the last few chapters that was memorable to me. “Say your name over 200 times and discover you are no one”. I like that you can take this literally, as names (all words really) start to look like gibberish when you repeat them too many times. But it also leaves me with a lot to think about, both in the context of the book, and in a vacuum as it’s own sentence.
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
dark
fast-paced
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Excellent pacing. Interesting idea. Didn't like any of the characters.
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
mostly just excited for the movie, but this was fun
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated