The Long Walk
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4.1 • 140 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE
The brilliant and chilling first novel Stephen King ever wrote tells the tale of the contestants of a diabolically cruel competition where 100 boys start the “long walk” and there is only one winner—the one that survives.
In a dystopian near-future, America has fallen on hard times. Sixteen-year-old Ray Garraty is about to compete in the annual grueling match of stamina and wits known as the Long Walk. One hundred boys must keep a steady pace of four miles per hour day and night, without ever stopping. The winner gets “The Prize”—anything he wants for the rest of his life. But the rules of the Long Walk are harsh and the stakes could not be higher. There is no finish line—the winner is the last man standing. Contestants cannot receive any outside aid whatsoever. Slow down under the speed limit and you’re given a warning. Three warnings and you’re out of the game—forever.
Written by King when he was a college student and published in 1979 under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, The Long Walk is an unforgettable and timeless masterpiece that showcases King’s genius for character building and his visionary storytelling.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Stories about dystopian societies where people compete in deadly games for public amusement are a subgenre of their own—but you’ve never heard it done the way Stephen King did it here. Teenager Ray Garraty and 99 other boys are competing in a yearly challenge. It’s simple: keep walking at a steady pace…until you can’t. The last boy standing wins. The rest will die. What sets this novel apart is that it isn’t about worldbuilding. We don’t need to know the details of this bleak future or the competition. Instead, King focuses squarely on Garraty’s gruelling, torturous experience. We’re right there in his head as he contemplates his physical agony, drifts over his favourite memories, and makes friends with the boys he’s walking with. Getting to know and genuinely like those kids with Garraty is particularly brain-breaking, as he’s forced to simultaneously hope they’ll each drop dead. Read this complex teenage character study before you see the movie adaptation.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Ray Garraty along with 99 other teen boys has entered the Long Walk, a grueling march at four miles per hour that continues until only one person is standing. The losers receive bullets to the head. As the march progresses, the numbers dwindle, the challenges of continued marching increase, and the senselessness wears on the participants' state of mind. King (writing as his alter ego, Richard Bachman) delivers another psychologically dark tale with commentary on society, teenage life, and cultural entertainment that is still poignant decades after its original publication. Kirby Heyborne's skills shine in the narrative passages, which he executes with a good mixture of rhythm and emphasis. Heyborne's light and youthful-sounding voice exudes the needed attitude of the mostly male adolescent characters. However, some of his character voices for the teens feel created just for the sole purpose of clearly distinguishing them, rather than matching voice organically to personality. His female voices lack substance, but since there are so few of them, listeners will not be too distracted. A Signet paperback.
Customer Reviews
It was great!
This book was fantastic. If you ignore problematic bits. It was great. The ending was very clear to me but I know some people were unsure, not sure why. I was very captivated despite it seemingly being a stagnant plot. If you don’t like gore, I wouldn’t suggest reading it, as there are quite a few bits that made my stomach twist. Otherwise. Wonderfully sad and suspenseful
The Long Walk
Outstanding start, I can’t wait to read the marvellous action.
Thanks for adding it on this app!
Dissapointed
The ending was not expected and it was quite the let down. I felt the book dragged out for a long time with repetitive story lines to lengthen the book.