Put One Foot In Front of the Other

I feel like I haven't written anything in so long! I'm thinking it's because of that end-of-the-quarter crunch that just makes me go crazy. At least I'm finally done with my sprint to read as many Stephen King books as possible. I will still read them, of course, but I'm all done with the forced speed reading. Oh, don't forget to check the announcements page regularly, people! I will updating and getting rid of old information when new stuff happens to stay on top of it! And now, speaking of Stephen King.
So while I was on my mad dash, I happened to pick up a book called The Long Walk, written by Richard Bachman. For those of you who don't know what that means, Richard Bachman is Stephen King's pseudonym that is not quite so secret as it once was. I have been having a hard time properly enjoying Stephen King books and I picked this up expecting another 3-star worthy book, but I was very wrong! This book is by far my favorite I've read by Stephen King.
The Long Walk is about this event that takes place in Maine every year (well, someday) that involves 100 teenage boys. Boys sign up of their own free will to participate in The Long Walk, a walk to the death. The boys line up at the starting line and just start walking, which doesn't sound bad at first, but after a couple of days it isn't so fun anymore. You see, when you get tired, you can't just stop. You have to keep walking at 4 MPH or above for as many days as it takes because when you stop, you die. Brutally. You are killed by a firing squad. You are warned three times, once for every 30 seconds you stop, and then your life stops. It doesn't matter if you have a leg cramp, if you get Pneumonia, or even if you have to go to the bathroom. You stop, you die. So why sign up? Because these boys are poor, and the winner gets all the riches he can imagine plus one other grand prize. But what does that do to you? Walking with no sleep, feeling your legs turn to mush, fearing for your life for days and days and days until you are the only one left living? I'll tell you what, it's no picnic.
This is one of those books I can picture Suzanne Collins reading when she was younger. I can picture her going, "A world where kids are sent to a game show, where they are murdered in front of people and the last one living gets a comfortable life? Hmmm...." This book was eerie, very eerie. You get to know the characters and then you have to learn to let each of them go. They are dying all around as you march through Maine. The reactions of these boys is so realistic, it is a little scary. Maybe that is why I liked this book so much more than the other books by King, because it wasn't necessarily horror, it seems to fall a little more under a dystopian category, although we are never told the year or how The Long Walk started.

I really liked this book, and if you like The Hunger Games, I would definitely recommend it. You can see little bits of the book that most certainly acted as inspiration for that series. Be forewarned, this book is about teenage boys trying to prove how tough they are. That means language, and a lot of it. But if you have read King before, you know this already. Also, there is some more sexual material. Not extreme, but again, these are teenage boys looking to brag to their new buddies. You are warned! If these things don't bother you, I seriously suggest you go out and get a copy to read ASAP.



Rating: 4/5