This is the second instalment in my Bachman fest! Stephen King wrote 'The Long Walk' in the fall of 1966 and the spring of 1967 and apparently it was one of those books that wasn't accepted for publication at the time and was then put in a box until its publication in 1979.
I'll cut to the chase, I loved this book! For so many reasons it shouldn't have worked but it did on so many levels. It is set in a near future America and 100 teenage boys are chosen to take part in the long walk of 450 miles through the streets of America. They have to keep on walking and get a warning if they slow down to below 4 miles an hour. They only get 3 warnings,if they slow down or stop walking after that they are shot!
This is a pretty gruesome book and it pulls no punches, I don't think it could ever be turned into a film! For me the main reason it worked so well is because of the originality and imagination of the situation but really Stephen King's (Richard Bachman's) characterization is what steals it for me. It is written in the third person but we get inside each of the boys heads and I really did love all the characters and feel a connection with them. I almost felt exhausted for them and could feel their pain.
This is by far the best of the Bachman books I have read so far and to be honest it is probably one of my favourite Stephen King books ever. Loved it.
10/10
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