Book Review: The Long Walk

The Long Walk by Stephen King
Release Date: July 1979
Publisher: Signet
Audience: Everyone
Pages: 384
Buy the Book: Amazon
Book Rating: 3.5/5









Stephen King week continues at Dystopian Reviews!!! Why? Because the world won't end if I include a little horror.

The Long Walk initially published under his Richard Bachman pen name, follows Garraty as he enters into a contest known, as the title implies, only as 'The Long Walk'. One hundred people enter the contest, the winner is the last person still walking. The rules are simple: keep walking at a pace of four miles an hour; fall under that pace, get a warning; while the warnings can be dropped off, if you get three warnings you die. If you win you get The Prize: anything you want for the rest of your life. The book follows Garraty and the friends he makes on 'The Long Walk'.

While this book isn't one of Stephen Kings' better known books, I still find myself retuning to it every so often to read it. The premise is fairly simple, everyone is walking until only one of them is left alive. However, as the group dynamics begin to emerge and the walkers become disillusioned to a number of things, the book becomes compelling as you wonder who will emerge as the winner, and what each walker can be said to represent. While not specifically stated, it is implied that this takes place in the future and the American government is more despotic, 'The Long Walk' being almost gladiatorial a la Battle Royale or The Hunger Games (though entry in 'The Long Walk' is primarily voluntary).

Stephen King has admitted that this is one of his earliest books, and it is interesting to see the elements and ideas that often come to the fore in his later novels being explored in this book. Perhaps not the best example of Stephen King's oeuvre, I still find it has its own charm and, while not for all, I recommend giving it a chance and walking to your nearest library or bookstore to check it out.