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hakimbriki's review against another edition
3.0
Stephen King + Controversy = Curiosity.
While I understand the seriousness of the subject tackled in this book, I don't think Rage is anywhere near the best works of the author.
It is a simple, twisted and quite depressing story with a lot of shock value that lacks depth in my opinion. The narrative is engaging, which makes it a page-turner, and the protagonist is... sinister enough to keep you interested.
Overall, I would say Rage has its moments, but if you are looking for a good King story, pick another book.
While I understand the seriousness of the subject tackled in this book, I don't think Rage is anywhere near the best works of the author.
It is a simple, twisted and quite depressing story with a lot of shock value that lacks depth in my opinion. The narrative is engaging, which makes it a page-turner, and the protagonist is... sinister enough to keep you interested.
Overall, I would say Rage has its moments, but if you are looking for a good King story, pick another book.
m4riareads's review against another edition
5.0
Termino el año a lo grande, como lo comencé, leyendo al King del terror.
Rabia, una de las obras más polémicas del autor, y la primera que publicó bajo el seudónimo de Bachman, debo decir que debido a las críticas y lo que decían respecto al tema, yo me imaginaba un chico loco que hacia una masacre y ya, pero terminé encontrándome con algo mucho más complejo y perturbador, este libro nos habla sobre problemas internos, familiares, abuso, inseguridades, y nos muestra lo peor del ser humano, de lo que somos capaces de llegar a hacer en ciertas situaciones. La verdad me encantaría recomendarle este libro a todo el mundo porque está lleno de tantas cosas que hacen reflexionar de muchas maneras.
5 de 5 para ti Stephen.
Rabia, una de las obras más polémicas del autor, y la primera que publicó bajo el seudónimo de Bachman, debo decir que debido a las críticas y lo que decían respecto al tema, yo me imaginaba un chico loco que hacia una masacre y ya, pero terminé encontrándome con algo mucho más complejo y perturbador, este libro nos habla sobre problemas internos, familiares, abuso, inseguridades, y nos muestra lo peor del ser humano, de lo que somos capaces de llegar a hacer en ciertas situaciones. La verdad me encantaría recomendarle este libro a todo el mundo porque está lleno de tantas cosas que hacen reflexionar de muchas maneras.
5 de 5 para ti Stephen.
j_ausbern's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence and Violence
jpjkemp's review against another edition
3.0
Throughout you are bombarded with the many mental illness problems that impact the shooter and narrator, Charlie Decker, and that drives him to commit many of the atrocities he does throughout the book. I believe it gave a fairly accurate depiction of mass shooters, trauma and isolation pushed Charlie to kill two of his teachers and take his classmates hostage. This parallels the problems that many modern mass shooters face. However, I believe the book takes a turn for the ugly when Charlie is able to completely psychoanalyze and break down all of his hostage classmates to the point of turning on one of their other classmates, Ted Jones. Ted is seen as the hero figure throughout the beginning of the story, the confident jock who is going to take down Charlie and save the class from this terror. However, Charlie manipulates all of his hostages into believing he won't hurt them, despite taking a bullet from a sniper as he was about to shoot Ted. The hostages turn on Ted to the point of brutally beating and torturing him into a catatonic state. It was not the shooting of the two teachers or the flashback of Charlie and his father brutalizing each other that caused my stomach to turn most, but the acute manipulation of Charlie to push his victims into violent offenders alongside their new ring leader. Charlie frequently uses the phrase "getting it on" to describe what they're doing, which refers to Charlie's yearn for people to be honest and understanding with him. But you can also see a need on Charlie's part for control of his situation as he's been missing that all his life. Rage leaves you wondering throughout reading whether Charlie truly deserves the empathy that King writes him to receive, but by the end, I had completely turned to where I was in the beginning. There was hope for a holistic approach to gun violence and the possibility for an empathetic future with policy, but the ending I feel ruins the main point that King cultivates throughout, 3/5.
jayneyh314's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
“Rage” was first published under the name of Richard Bachman back in 1977 and centres around a school shooting with protagonist, Charlie Decker, killing two people and taking his class hostage. After several real life shooting incidents in the 1980s and 1990s were apparently linked to this book, Stephen King (by then known to have been the author behind the Richard Bachman name) decided to let it fall out of print and it has remained so ever since.
In my efforts to complete King’s entire body of work before my 40th birthday I was starting to think “Rage” might be a book I have to admit defeat on. There are a few second hand copies available on eBay and sites like that but they generally are quite expensive, obviously due to the rarity of it. I was fortunate to find a pdf copy on Etsy and whilst it’s hard to be sure I do think it is the genuine article, based on things I’ve read about it.
I’m not generally a fan of book bans and whilst I can see why King let this fall out of print at the end of the day it hasn’t changed anything. Just reading “Rage” wasn’t what made people become school shooters.
This is definitely not King’s best work, even in comparison to others around that time or others in the Bachman collection. It felt a little disjointed for me and the characterisation, which is something I normally love about King’s books, wasn’t there either. It was quite repetitive and, I hate to say this about a Stephen King book, pretty boring! Theres nothing hugely distinguishing about the characters to help differentiate them so it makes it a slightly more difficult read than it should have been.
Overall, not a book I’ll rush to read again and not necessarily a bad thing if you can’t get hold of a copy.
defaultnamespace's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
sighclopss's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Torture, and Violence