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3.41 AVERAGE
3.41 AVERAGE
I liked this. It was entertaining. Kind of like an evil version of the Breakfast Club:)
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wirklich fesselnd und sehr gut geschrieben, leidet nur etwas unter der Übersetzung.
Just about as good the third time as it was the first time. Fucking excellent.
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have given this review a lot of thought and I am unsure what to say about it. I will try my best to make sense out of all the different things I want to say without rambling. First let me stand up for Mr. King here, I can understand his reasoning for pulling this book from print, but I don't agree. It is so easy to blame someone else for our own short comings, and I think King pulled this before he was blamed for the actions of a very sick teen. I don't feel this book could have sparked anything to happen unless that person was already on a destructive path. That being said this is my favorite of the Bachman books. The other three books written under the Bachman name were not ones I would revisit.
Charlie Decker is a disturbed teen and it is clear that the parent child relationship is lacking. Through out the book we get glimpses of a strained home life, that could easily put an awkward teen in stressful situations, and the fact that his parents were distant could be why they didn't care or pay attention to the warning signs. I think in a happier household or one that was more caring, there wouldn't be a story.
The characters in this book are very well fleshed out, and feel like real people. I felt I was in the classroom with these kids and watching what was going on with each passing paragraph. King has a way of writing a story that can pull you in and feel emotions, or make you relive your own experiences that is unlike a lot of authors I have read. The more I learned about Charlie, the more I felt for the character. Now I don't condone what he did at all, and as a parent I worry about my son getting older and going to school with crazy situations like this happening in today's society. However, as Charlie told his story about being bullied and picked on I began to really feel sorry for him. As a guy who was bullied in school till graduation I was reliving my own memories and it made these moments mean something to me. Thankfully I had family and a few great friends, one of which I married much much later, who helped me through the roughest of times.
My only complaint with this book is the fact there were holes in the plot I really wanted more info on. Charlie had some history that even though it was sort of explained I wanted more detail. I think if King would have put more detail into these little missing bits, I would have felt more fulfilled and this could easily be a favorite of mine.
This is a powerful novel, and very creepy at the same time. Not only has this happened several times in history, but when you read about how calm Charlie was through out the whole story, it is absolutely terrifying. To know anyone on the street could be deeply disturbed and yet so calm you wouldn't know there was anything wrong is some thing I don't want to think to hard about. Horror is great, but it is fake in the end. This is something very real happening in our society, and to me that makes this all the more horrifying.
Charlie Decker is a disturbed teen and it is clear that the parent child relationship is lacking. Through out the book we get glimpses of a strained home life, that could easily put an awkward teen in stressful situations, and the fact that his parents were distant could be why they didn't care or pay attention to the warning signs. I think in a happier household or one that was more caring, there wouldn't be a story.
The characters in this book are very well fleshed out, and feel like real people. I felt I was in the classroom with these kids and watching what was going on with each passing paragraph. King has a way of writing a story that can pull you in and feel emotions, or make you relive your own experiences that is unlike a lot of authors I have read. The more I learned about Charlie, the more I felt for the character. Now I don't condone what he did at all, and as a parent I worry about my son getting older and going to school with crazy situations like this happening in today's society. However, as Charlie told his story about being bullied and picked on I began to really feel sorry for him. As a guy who was bullied in school till graduation I was reliving my own memories and it made these moments mean something to me. Thankfully I had family and a few great friends, one of which I married much much later, who helped me through the roughest of times.
My only complaint with this book is the fact there were holes in the plot I really wanted more info on. Charlie had some history that even though it was sort of explained I wanted more detail. I think if King would have put more detail into these little missing bits, I would have felt more fulfilled and this could easily be a favorite of mine.
This is a powerful novel, and very creepy at the same time. Not only has this happened several times in history, but when you read about how calm Charlie was through out the whole story, it is absolutely terrifying. To know anyone on the street could be deeply disturbed and yet so calm you wouldn't know there was anything wrong is some thing I don't want to think to hard about. Horror is great, but it is fake in the end. This is something very real happening in our society, and to me that makes this all the more horrifying.
I've wanted to read this one for a long time, but could never find it. Stephen King let it fall out of print and called it "a good thing". Personally, I found that hypocritical. This is the guy who says "you can have my books when you pry them from my cold dead hands."
The book itself shows those shades of early King, before he became too wordy. It's not horror or supernatural, it's dark satire (and some author venting). The kid goes into school and holds a classroom hostage. The problem is what happens there. While we get flashbacks of the killer's life, he plays around with his power on the students. Like resolving an argument between girls with a fight.
Eventually, they start revealing that they're not happy, they're not the perfect choir girls parents think they are. They get pretty comfortable with a madman with the gun in the room. So much, it only takes 2 hours for them to get Stockholm syndrome and side with the madman.
The plot is implausible. It has that 70's style-over-realism thing going on. King is famous for that in the Bachman books. The ending has earmarks of 80's horror movie cheesiness. If you want to complete your King collection or have a jones for stories about school rebellion, this is a fine read. But otherwise, I think it can be passed.
The book itself shows those shades of early King, before he became too wordy. It's not horror or supernatural, it's dark satire (and some author venting). The kid goes into school and holds a classroom hostage. The problem is what happens there. While we get flashbacks of the killer's life, he plays around with his power on the students. Like resolving an argument between girls with a fight.
Eventually, they start revealing that they're not happy, they're not the perfect choir girls parents think they are. They get pretty comfortable with a madman with the gun in the room. So much, it only takes 2 hours for them to get Stockholm syndrome and side with the madman.
The plot is implausible. It has that 70's style-over-realism thing going on. King is famous for that in the Bachman books. The ending has earmarks of 80's horror movie cheesiness. If you want to complete your King collection or have a jones for stories about school rebellion, this is a fine read. But otherwise, I think it can be passed.
Rage is Stephen King’s novel infamous for being allowed to fall out of print by the writer himself. In the book’s intro in the Bachman Books collection King asks readers to stop using the book as an excuse to commit crimes. And that the FBI and criminal psychologists had spoken to him about the troublesome novel repeatedly. I don’t want to waste much more time than this on the background. It’s established lore for Constant Readers.
It’s interesting to note that a mass shooting doesn’t occur in the “novel” itself. In this borderline novella two teachers are shot and killed. And by the end all students are released. In the pages between King leads readers through a darkly comic thriller reminiscent of Lord of the Flies.
Besides the William Golding influence, Rage is the root for future stories Uncle Steve will serve us like Cain Rose Up, Carrie, and Apt Pupil. Though I’d argue that Carrie and Apt Pupil are stronger. Still, King is something like a prodigy. The Long Walk and Rage are both mature novels for being written when he was a freshman in college and a senior in high school respectively.
King once described himself as dangerous during the period he wrote Rage. I understand he was bullied during this time. Your mind is left to wonder the darkness swirling inside while plugging away at the story. The main character, Charlie, at first experiences a sense of catharsis when finally confronting the adults in the story. I think this has caused people to (incorrectly) paint him as an anti-hero. I’ve even seen some say that his actions in the book are glorified. I have to ask… were you paying attention?
Yes, Charlie’s background does have its troubles. And it’s presented as potentially the cause of the events of the story. Charlie and his classmates hold a sort of struggle session trying to solve this mystery. In fact, the last thing that happens before the first teacher is killed is a math equation is presented to the class. Charlie ruminates and identifies with the equation of all things. And this sets things into motion.
But it’s soon discovered that every student in the classroom suffers from their own issues. Our main character isn’t special in this way. You get a sense that King was exercising his character building muscles here. The students all feel three dimensional. With distinctive personalities and histories. No rock is left unturned.
King goes out of the way to make Charlie *not* an anti-hero. The root of his problems is a sort of fear that grew inside him from a young age. Stemming from a hunting trip in which his father was joking with friends that he’d slit his wife’s (and Charlie’s mother) face open if she ever cheated. Charlie bails from his tent to pee and struggles to get things flowing. This is a recurring theme in his life as he’s sexually impotent and could never bring himself to stand up to his father until it was too late.
When he finally confronts his father it’s essentially the belt scene that will later be repurposed to greater effect in the novel IT. That’s overall, how I feel about Rage. It’s a good little book. Super solid even. But these themes are explored to greater effect in future stories. I don’t want to be too critical. King is a beast for writing this thing when most of us were applying to be fry cooks. For anyone who has sat down to write a story… you understand the achievement here. A must read for constant readers.
It’s interesting to note that a mass shooting doesn’t occur in the “novel” itself. In this borderline novella two teachers are shot and killed. And by the end all students are released. In the pages between King leads readers through a darkly comic thriller reminiscent of Lord of the Flies.
Besides the William Golding influence, Rage is the root for future stories Uncle Steve will serve us like Cain Rose Up, Carrie, and Apt Pupil. Though I’d argue that Carrie and Apt Pupil are stronger. Still, King is something like a prodigy. The Long Walk and Rage are both mature novels for being written when he was a freshman in college and a senior in high school respectively.
King once described himself as dangerous during the period he wrote Rage. I understand he was bullied during this time. Your mind is left to wonder the darkness swirling inside while plugging away at the story. The main character, Charlie, at first experiences a sense of catharsis when finally confronting the adults in the story. I think this has caused people to (incorrectly) paint him as an anti-hero. I’ve even seen some say that his actions in the book are glorified. I have to ask… were you paying attention?
Yes, Charlie’s background does have its troubles. And it’s presented as potentially the cause of the events of the story. Charlie and his classmates hold a sort of struggle session trying to solve this mystery. In fact, the last thing that happens before the first teacher is killed is a math equation is presented to the class. Charlie ruminates and identifies with the equation of all things. And this sets things into motion.
But it’s soon discovered that every student in the classroom suffers from their own issues. Our main character isn’t special in this way. You get a sense that King was exercising his character building muscles here. The students all feel three dimensional. With distinctive personalities and histories. No rock is left unturned.
King goes out of the way to make Charlie *not* an anti-hero. The root of his problems is a sort of fear that grew inside him from a young age. Stemming from a hunting trip in which his father was joking with friends that he’d slit his wife’s (and Charlie’s mother) face open if she ever cheated. Charlie bails from his tent to pee and struggles to get things flowing. This is a recurring theme in his life as he’s sexually impotent and could never bring himself to stand up to his father until it was too late.
When he finally confronts his father it’s essentially the belt scene that will later be repurposed to greater effect in the novel IT. That’s overall, how I feel about Rage. It’s a good little book. Super solid even. But these themes are explored to greater effect in future stories. I don’t want to be too critical. King is a beast for writing this thing when most of us were applying to be fry cooks. For anyone who has sat down to write a story… you understand the achievement here. A must read for constant readers.
"Cuando te haces daño a los cinco años, lo anuncias al mundo con gran alboroto; a los diez, lloriqueas, pero cuando cumples los quince empiezas a tragarte las manzanas envenenadas que crecen en tu árbol del dolor. Es el camino occidental hacia el conocimiento. Empiezas a meterte los puños en la boca para acallar los gritos, sangras por dentro"
Una vez que comencé a adentrarme en la historia de Charlie, fue inevitable seguir y seguir hasta topar con pared. No quisiera escribir mucho respecto al tema porque cada comentario, ya sea en pro, en contra o sin orientación, arruina la sorpresa del texto y del como se va guiando la historia.
Es fascinante, impactante, crudo y al tiempo tan sensible, que es inevitable transportar tu propia historia a esa aula y, seguramente, tomando parte de las masas.
Leanlo, bros.
Una vez que comencé a adentrarme en la historia de Charlie, fue inevitable seguir y seguir hasta topar con pared. No quisiera escribir mucho respecto al tema porque cada comentario, ya sea en pro, en contra o sin orientación, arruina la sorpresa del texto y del como se va guiando la historia.
Es fascinante, impactante, crudo y al tiempo tan sensible, que es inevitable transportar tu propia historia a esa aula y, seguramente, tomando parte de las masas.
Leanlo, bros.
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes