Name: The Long Walk
ISBN: 9780451196712

Stephen King

#1 Bestseller Writing as Richard Bachman With an Introduction by the Author "The Importance of Being Bachman"

The Long Walk

My first experience with King (outside of The Dark Tower). A darkly philosophical page turner. I loved that the subtle differences in history compared to our world are mentioned offhandedly, rather than being explained. Ultimately these details are unnecessary, serving only to create a richer universe.

Simon Crocker

Considering the negative reviews, I thought I'd give it a go anyway, I wanted to get it read before the film comes out. I couldn't put it down, loved it. The only downside is the lack of back story. 

Charlie Harris 

Meh not a fan of it, to long to repetitive, there isn’t much characters development even the main character..the end didn’t satisfy me but I like how we can interpret it as we want to 

Eva mores 

book kinda slowed down in the middle & wasn’t perfect, but I rly liked the concept + the idea of the long walk being a metaphor for war and the spectacle of it all. beautifully done w a lot of heart 

tanya 

tori 👻

** spoiler alert **
           3.5

So, here's the thing: I feel like i've been reading SK my entire life. I really enjoyed The Long Walk, I really did.

I know this book was published in 79 but I can't just close my eyes to the problematic writing around many topics. I was going to give it 4 stars but decided against it for this reason.

Also was that dark figure just a metaphor or was it maybe Randall Flagg?

Sarah Sammis

This book reminded me a great deal of The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon minus the hinted at supernatural angle. The story was a quick and compelling read albeit somewhat predictable. I wish King had dropped more hints at the events that had lead to creation of the Long Walk. He gave enough detail to show that he must have had a fuller idea of his world and its backstory and I want in on that knowledge!

maitha mana

Sunny

My third attempt at a Stephen King book and I just felt like the whole thing was just "this is okay".

Nate Niederkorn

Lisa-Maria Hofmann

This was a very meditative read. Had great satirical value after one year people telling me I should go for a walk to stay sane.

Derek Graf

Baylie Madison

** spoiler alert **
           WHAT? This concept was enticing, and i will say the inner thought and development of Ray was well done, but there are just some gaps I can’t get behind. The mild suggestion of Ray’s sexuality? Stevens’ weird character arc? For such a long book I wish more of those things were fleshed our. Enough about Jan, seriously. I was interested in a few of the characters, but no tears unfortunately. McFrees is by far my favorite. Overall, not bad, but definitely not what I expected.

daisy

this might have the potential to be one of my all time favorite. left me sobbing really hard in the two last chapters, we got to see some of characters development throughout this book and some awakening also. the open ending really frustates me because i need to know the ending! but overall i really like this book, it feels like u are going with them on the walk because this book feels really long for a 300+ pages lol. the characters (especially the last three standing) is what makes this book enjoyable and page turning for me and i really do feel strongly connected to them and dont want them to die.. i just wish the ending could be a solid one


some of my favorite lines here:

“And I think . . . when I get tired enough . . . I think I’ll just sit down.”

“Well, that’s something you’ll get to find out, too. Plumb the unplumbed depths of Garraty. Sounds almost like a travel ad, doesn’t it? You burrow until you hit bedrock. Then you burrow into the bedrock. And finally you get to the bottom. And then you buy out. That’s my idea. Let’s hear yours.”

“How many you or I have outlasted doesn’t matter, I think. There comes a time when the will just runs out. Doesn’t matter what I think, see? I used to have a good time smearing away with oil paints. I wasn’t too bad, either. Then one day—bingo. I didn’t taper off, I just stopped. Bingo. There was no urge to go on even another minute. I went to bed one night liking to paint and when I woke up it was nowhere.”

“Walk a little bit longer,” Garraty said through his tears. “Walk a little longer, Art.”

Excerpt From: "The Long Walk" by Stephen King. Scribd.

Kristina Masone

I was in the mood for "killing games" and this fit the bill. There's just something about Stephen King's writing that I don't jive with, and I can't put my finger on it.

Maytal

I remember reading this a long time ago and it popped into my head the other day. Still just as good as I remember.

Ruth Parker 

My legs hurt. My head hurts. I think I’m thirsty. I think I’m tired. I’m pretty certain I did the long walk with these guys. Wow.

Brandy Allen

Amber Laha

I struggle with my thoughts on this one. I felt that the author took on futility and the book was exactly that, but with a great story and told in a way that had me thinking. Was he drawing parallels with Hitler? The Major makes me think of him and how Hitler put innocent people in concentration camps and plenty of people were like, "That's cool." The Major put these kids in a walk where they would end up killed, and people seemed to think that entertainment. Was he saying that life is futile? He really seemed to be obsessed with sexual thoughts, which felt out of place and disgusting at times. Also, is he a homophobe, racist; or were these the thoughts of the times, which we never get?

I did enjoy this book, but I struggle with those things and one more, why would kids agree to do something voluntary that they knew would end with them killed? It really, bothered me, especially since we never got much of a background on how this started. Where did the Major come from? How did it get started? AND why would people let it happen? 

But like I said this was a great book, because it made me think, I thought he was able to deal with the emotions and thoughts of the characters brilliantly, and made what was happening come off the pages. 
I just struggle with where I stand with this book. I liked it, but I am not sure if I normally would.

Karleigh McCarville

I don’t even know what I read. I’m so confused. It was a quick easy read but I don’t understand. And the ending wtf.

Ben Nathan

Wonderfully messed up. Supremely enjoyable and well written. The Richard Bachman books are really finding a way to keep me entertained with the combination of humor and human driven "horror". The characters are all great and the language to describe what's happening is perfect. My only issue is that I had almost no understanding of the world outside the walk.

The Long Walk #1 Bestseller Writing as Richard Bachman With an Introduction by the Author "The Importance of Being Bachman"

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