Paperback
German language
Published Jan. 1, 1987 by Heyne.
In the near future, where America has become a police state, one hundred boys are selected to enter an annual contest where the winner will be awarded whatever he wants for the rest of his life. The game is simple - maintain a steady walking pace of four miles per hour without stopping. Three warnings, and you're out - permanently. (source)
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God I love this one so much. Sometimes it’s difficult for me to read something cover to cover, but this is one of the rare ones that keeps me pushing through the eye strain. A severely underrated classic in its simplicity.
One of Stephen King's books written as Richard Bachman originally, The Long Walk is a good book that's a very fast read. If you expect a book full of big plots and action, that's not what this is about at all.
The setting is quite simple. In this dystopian version of the US, with only few tantalizing hints of what the world is like, every year 100 boys are chosen to participate in The Long Walk. Those boys have to walk at a steady minimum pace of 4 miles an hour until there's only one man left standing, the winner receiving anything he might ask for. Those unfortunate who get warned three times about slowing down get their ticket, which is a bullet to their head. We get to follow The Long Walk through the eyes of Ray Garraty, a 16-year old boy from Maine who is a willing participant. …
One of Stephen King's books written as Richard Bachman originally, The Long Walk is a good book that's a very fast read. If you expect a book full of big plots and action, that's not what this is about at all.
The setting is quite simple. In this dystopian version of the US, with only few tantalizing hints of what the world is like, every year 100 boys are chosen to participate in The Long Walk. Those boys have to walk at a steady minimum pace of 4 miles an hour until there's only one man left standing, the winner receiving anything he might ask for. Those unfortunate who get warned three times about slowing down get their ticket, which is a bullet to their head. We get to follow The Long Walk through the eyes of Ray Garraty, a 16-year old boy from Maine who is a willing participant.
As the boys walk, we get a look at many of the 100 boys, get to experience the highs and the lows, but mostly the lows because what highs could there be if you have to walk and can't even stop to take a dump without the risk of getting a ticket for it? It's not classic horror, more the psychological kind, because all the boys are dead men walking.
The ending didn't make much sense to me, but the path is the destination in this case.
Overall rating for me was 3.5 stars, because I just didn't care much for the ending. I enjoyed it quite a lot though.
