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A review by kjanie
The Long Walk by Stephen King, Richard Bachman
5.0
5/5 stars
Holy hell, this book was phenomenal! I have never read anything like this and doubt I ever will. It was gritty, brutal and thought-provoking, bringing out all of the emotions me. The premise of this book alone is enough to know how blunt and cruel this story was going to be. Even though what was happening was so awful, I couldn't look away, I was hooked from the very beginning. This book was just so engrossing, time completely escaped me while I was reading. Even now after I've finished the book I can't seem to get it out of my head. I expect that the moral questions it raises, the characters and the dark world of this novel is going to stick with me for a long time. The Long Walk was such a physical book, I could feel the pain and agony of these characters. I could feel their struggle, their anger, their madness; this book evoked some of the deepest emotions from me and left me utterly exhausted.
The Long Walk is the event of the year. One hundred teenage boys, selected out of even more candidates, partake in the gruelling event to win the ultimate prize: all that the heart desires. The rules are simple: they must walk at a speed of at least four miles per hour, otherwise they get a warning. If they earn three warnings within two minutes they are shot dead by the soldiers looming behind them. The last person standing wins and by last person standing I really mean last person living.The winner will gain unbelievable fortune, but is that really worth it? The walk is gruelling, painful and psychologically damaging to say the least. But worst of all, it is a spectator sport. Thousands flock to support their favourites and to cheer when someone dies, no thought of the humanity in the participants.
As you probably would have guessed by the synopsis, this was an intense book through and through. Every single part of the book had this feeling of rising tension and oncoming doom. My gut was twisting while I was reading and I couldn't help but feel scared, even though nothing was happening in the moment. One part of me wanted to read the book as fats as I could so I could know what happened, but the other was so scared because I knew nothing good could come out of it. It was a dark and gritty book, perhaps the darkest that I've read. Stephen King wrote this superbly in that it was so emotionally captivating and the atmosphere of tension was all consuming. This made the book completely addictive and memorable. It's been about a week since I finished it and the book still creeps its way into my brain constantly.
I think something amazing about this book that I've never experienced before is the pure physicality of it. Slowly, I began to feel exhausted alongside the characters. I could practically feel their pain, their tiredness, their cramps and the feelings of hopelessness. I've never been in an experience of extreme physical pain like these characters, but it was described so vividly I could feel my feet throbbing as if I were the one who had been walking for three days straight. This is one of those books that are able to seep into you senses to control what you're feeling and thinking. This just contributed to the soul-consuming nature of this book. It's not one that I could read, put down and forget about. I was completely enslaved by the story and it wasn't going to let me go.
The emotional complexity of this book just flawed me. Every emotion or state of mind imaginable in a situation like The Long Walk was considered by the author and deliberated on in the book. Some characters went mad, others in a catatonic-like state but others were driven by pure competitive nature. The anguish of the characters was so tangible as we watched them dance in and out of consciousness, sanity and companionship. This book is a measure of humanity in its darkest times as it really put these characters to the test, showing just how ruthless but also how outstandingly empathetic they can become. Each character was complex and riven by various forces, giving this book a strong sense of reality and believability. But with so many complex characters in such an awful situation came the emotional anguish of me as a reader, who had to watch it all unfold.
I was so sure that this book was going to get repetitive, I mean, these characters are just walking for days. This wasn't the case though, instead it was the characters that really brought this book to life. The characters were volatile, intriguing and their lives were well fleshed out. Of course, in an event like this relationships would unfold as they are forced to spend time with each other day in and day out. It was these relationships that made the book more bearable as they were filled with friendship and humour but also bitter rivalry and animosity.
In particular, I loved our main ‘Musketeers’ as McVires called them. It was this close circle of complete strangers that were thrown together in the worst of situations. Their relationship ranged from moments of happiness and trivial games to competitive ruthlessness. Through this we also got to know the stories of many of the characters and their reason behind signing up for such an awful event. The pure humanness shown through these characters made this book so much more appealing and engrossing, because at some points the people who are being killed, you know them well.
This book was also really thought-provoking, especially regarding reality TV and the role audiences play in society. It was absolutely disgusting how the crowds would gather in the hopes of seeing someone die, they revelled in it. It really made me think about how people view others pain and suffering, do we sometimes watch these things for enjoyment? Also the whole psyche around why people would choose to join such an event is fascinating. What would make someone sacrifice their life with only a one in a hundred chance of winning. It was these thoughts that have really stuck with me and I'm sure they'll continue to long into the future.
I could talk about how this book was thought provoking and meaningful, but it was also enjoyable just for the fact that it was gritty, dark and thrilling. As soon as I heard someone talking about the plot of this story, I knew that I had to read it. The storyline was volatile and cruel, with people dying all over the place in new ways. This book really was a thrilling ride with one of the most interesting premises that I have ever read. Yes, the walk was horrible, but I couldn't look awayunapologetically twisted, but in the best possible way. My only real criticism would be the ending, even though it was necessary I wish some stuff was explained more along the way.
Me to Stephen King at the end of this book:
“They're animals, all right. But why are you so goddam sure that makes us human beings?”
Holy hell, this book was phenomenal! I have never read anything like this and doubt I ever will. It was gritty, brutal and thought-provoking, bringing out all of the emotions me. The premise of this book alone is enough to know how blunt and cruel this story was going to be. Even though what was happening was so awful, I couldn't look away, I was hooked from the very beginning. This book was just so engrossing, time completely escaped me while I was reading. Even now after I've finished the book I can't seem to get it out of my head. I expect that the moral questions it raises, the characters and the dark world of this novel is going to stick with me for a long time. The Long Walk was such a physical book, I could feel the pain and agony of these characters. I could feel their struggle, their anger, their madness; this book evoked some of the deepest emotions from me and left me utterly exhausted.
The Long Walk is the event of the year. One hundred teenage boys, selected out of even more candidates, partake in the gruelling event to win the ultimate prize: all that the heart desires. The rules are simple: they must walk at a speed of at least four miles per hour, otherwise they get a warning. If they earn three warnings within two minutes they are shot dead by the soldiers looming behind them. The last person standing wins and by last person standing I really mean last person living.The winner will gain unbelievable fortune, but is that really worth it? The walk is gruelling, painful and psychologically damaging to say the least. But worst of all, it is a spectator sport. Thousands flock to support their favourites and to cheer when someone dies, no thought of the humanity in the participants.
As you probably would have guessed by the synopsis, this was an intense book through and through. Every single part of the book had this feeling of rising tension and oncoming doom. My gut was twisting while I was reading and I couldn't help but feel scared, even though nothing was happening in the moment. One part of me wanted to read the book as fats as I could so I could know what happened, but the other was so scared because I knew nothing good could come out of it. It was a dark and gritty book, perhaps the darkest that I've read. Stephen King wrote this superbly in that it was so emotionally captivating and the atmosphere of tension was all consuming. This made the book completely addictive and memorable. It's been about a week since I finished it and the book still creeps its way into my brain constantly.
I think something amazing about this book that I've never experienced before is the pure physicality of it. Slowly, I began to feel exhausted alongside the characters. I could practically feel their pain, their tiredness, their cramps and the feelings of hopelessness. I've never been in an experience of extreme physical pain like these characters, but it was described so vividly I could feel my feet throbbing as if I were the one who had been walking for three days straight. This is one of those books that are able to seep into you senses to control what you're feeling and thinking. This just contributed to the soul-consuming nature of this book. It's not one that I could read, put down and forget about. I was completely enslaved by the story and it wasn't going to let me go.
“Just go on dancing with me like this forever and I'll never tire. We'll scrape our shoe on the stars and hang upside down from the moon.”
The emotional complexity of this book just flawed me. Every emotion or state of mind imaginable in a situation like The Long Walk was considered by the author and deliberated on in the book. Some characters went mad, others in a catatonic-like state but others were driven by pure competitive nature. The anguish of the characters was so tangible as we watched them dance in and out of consciousness, sanity and companionship. This book is a measure of humanity in its darkest times as it really put these characters to the test, showing just how ruthless but also how outstandingly empathetic they can become. Each character was complex and riven by various forces, giving this book a strong sense of reality and believability. But with so many complex characters in such an awful situation came the emotional anguish of me as a reader, who had to watch it all unfold.
I was so sure that this book was going to get repetitive, I mean, these characters are just walking for days. This wasn't the case though, instead it was the characters that really brought this book to life. The characters were volatile, intriguing and their lives were well fleshed out. Of course, in an event like this relationships would unfold as they are forced to spend time with each other day in and day out. It was these relationships that made the book more bearable as they were filled with friendship and humour but also bitter rivalry and animosity.
“They walked through the rainy dark like gaunt ghosts, and Garraty didn't like to look at them. They were the walking dead.”
In particular, I loved our main ‘Musketeers’ as McVires called them. It was this close circle of complete strangers that were thrown together in the worst of situations. Their relationship ranged from moments of happiness and trivial games to competitive ruthlessness. Through this we also got to know the stories of many of the characters and their reason behind signing up for such an awful event. The pure humanness shown through these characters made this book so much more appealing and engrossing, because at some points the people who are being killed, you know them well.
“Crowd was to be pleased. Crowd was to be worshipped and feared. Ultimately, Crowd was to be made sacrifice unto.”
This book was also really thought-provoking, especially regarding reality TV and the role audiences play in society. It was absolutely disgusting how the crowds would gather in the hopes of seeing someone die, they revelled in it. It really made me think about how people view others pain and suffering, do we sometimes watch these things for enjoyment? Also the whole psyche around why people would choose to join such an event is fascinating. What would make someone sacrifice their life with only a one in a hundred chance of winning. It was these thoughts that have really stuck with me and I'm sure they'll continue to long into the future.
I could talk about how this book was thought provoking and meaningful, but it was also enjoyable just for the fact that it was gritty, dark and thrilling. As soon as I heard someone talking about the plot of this story, I knew that I had to read it. The storyline was volatile and cruel, with people dying all over the place in new ways. This book really was a thrilling ride with one of the most interesting premises that I have ever read. Yes, the walk was horrible, but I couldn't look awayunapologetically twisted, but in the best possible way. My only real criticism would be the ending, even though it was necessary I wish some stuff was explained more along the way.
Me to Stephen King at the end of this book: