After the disappointment of Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol (I really enjoyed all his other stuff), I wanted to read something that I knew I’d enjoy. So I dusted off an old favorite (at least metaphorically, it was an ebook) and fired up Stephen King’s The Long Walk.
Apparently set in a alternate history United States, and originally published in 1979 under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, The Long Walk follows a group of 100 teenage boys as they participate in, you guessed it, The Long Walk.
The Long Walk works something like this: On the morning of May 1st of each year, 100 boys, chosen by lottery from all eligible applicants, gather on the Maine/Canada border, and at 9am start walking down the road. They need to maintain a speed of four miles per hour, and if they fall below that limit for a total of 30 seconds, they get a warning. After their third warning, 30 more seconds under the limit and they get “ticketed”.
There are no breaks of any sort, and they’re not allowed to interfere with each other, or leave the road. The last boy to avoid being ticketed is declared the winner, and receives The Prize, anything he wants for the rest of his life.
In the book, the winner makes it over 400 miles.
You might wonder how interesting it could be to read about guys walking down a road for 384 pages, but if you’re a fan of King’s style, you’ll like this one. The interaction between the walkers is great, and even though the world the Walk takes place in is only explained in conversational tidbits, enough is revealed to rank it fairly high on the list of twisted dystopias.
In any case, it’s short, easily available, and a pretty fast read, so if you’re in the mood for something other than the usual action-packed spectacle, I heartily recommend this one.
dude!you stole my idea. well sorta.
http://exitofhumanity.blogspot.com/2009/10/similar-i-think-not.html
tim
dude!you stole my idea. well sorta.
http://exitofhumanity.blogspot.com/2009/10/similar-i-think-not.html
tim
@Tim Well, I had to get you back for reading The Hopkins Manuscript after I mentioned it 😉
I started Swan Song once 20 years ago, but didn’t finish it. I remember liking the post-nuclear apocalypse aspect of it, but I forget what I didn’t like about it at the time. I have the ebook so maybe I’ll give it another try after The Stand, though I expect that to take me a few weeks. (Doing the audiobook.)
@Tim Well, I had to get you back for reading The Hopkins Manuscript after I mentioned it 😉
I started Swan Song once 20 years ago, but didn’t finish it. I remember liking the post-nuclear apocalypse aspect of it, but I forget what I didn’t like about it at the time. I have the ebook so maybe I’ll give it another try after The Stand, though I expect that to take me a few weeks. (Doing the audiobook.)
You have to read Swan Song. It’s my second favorite book. Also where I got my ‘Fear Death By Water’ handle. I notice new stuff each time. Also since Dark Advent is unknow to you I bet you haven’t read Skeletons by Al Sarrantonio right? Well read on and be chagrined!
“Skeletons is one of those books that might have ended up in the Zombie category but belongs here at the End of the World. In Skeletons, the Earth has fallen into the path of a galactic plane of space dust, this space dust causes skeletons of the dead both long past and recent to rise and kill the living. This book is different than the usual zombie attack book, because the skeletons don’t just wipe out the living, they fight amongst themselves. Great leaders and warriors from the past such as Abe Lincoln, General Lee, Grant, and Khan return in skeletal form and fight amongst each other. Mean while the remaining pockets of humanity are left trying to survive in this new world overrun by the skeletons. This is a very imaginative story that makes a great read, the story flows well and Sarrantonio does a stellar job of flushing out his characters including the skeleton of Abe Lincoln.”
Tim
You have to read Swan Song. It’s my second favorite book. Also where I got my ‘Fear Death By Water’ handle. I notice new stuff each time. Also since Dark Advent is unknow to you I bet you haven’t read Skeletons by Al Sarrantonio right? Well read on and be chagrined!
“Skeletons is one of those books that might have ended up in the Zombie category but belongs here at the End of the World. In Skeletons, the Earth has fallen into the path of a galactic plane of space dust, this space dust causes skeletons of the dead both long past and recent to rise and kill the living. This book is different than the usual zombie attack book, because the skeletons don’t just wipe out the living, they fight amongst themselves. Great leaders and warriors from the past such as Abe Lincoln, General Lee, Grant, and Khan return in skeletal form and fight amongst each other. Mean while the remaining pockets of humanity are left trying to survive in this new world overrun by the skeletons. This is a very imaginative story that makes a great read, the story flows well and Sarrantonio does a stellar job of flushing out his characters including the skeleton of Abe Lincoln.”
Tim
Have you read Plague Year by Jeff Carson? I heard about it a year ago it’s about nano’s that get louse. If you love World Wide devastation the ecology crashing and cannibalism, you might like it I did. About SK love his early stuff never read The Walk but sounds like a hoot, his recent stuff saddens me.
Have you read Plague Year by Jeff Carson? I heard about it a year ago it’s about nano’s that get louse. If you love World Wide devastation the ecology crashing and cannibalism, you might like it I did. About SK love his early stuff never read The Walk but sounds like a hoot, his recent stuff saddens me.
Hey Don, yes, I have read Plague Year.
Here’s what I wrote about it back in 2007: “More recently, I read Plague Year, by Jeff Carlson. This one was just okay to me. The premise was interesting, a world-wide nanoplague that kills everyone who’s below a certain altitude. But it never really paid off. I was never really into any of the characters, and the ending felt like it was just a setup for a sequel.”
Did a sequel ever come out?
Hey Don, yes, I have read Plague Year.
Here’s what I wrote about it back in 2007: “More recently, I read Plague Year, by Jeff Carlson. This one was just okay to me. The premise was interesting, a world-wide nanoplague that kills everyone who’s below a certain altitude. But it never really paid off. I was never really into any of the characters, and the ending felt like it was just a setup for a sequel.”
Did a sequel ever come out?
I read this 4 or 5 times in English but it wasn’t until I read it in French (after moving to France) that I understood that it was really about the Vietnam war (the futility, no real winners) – great book even though you can tell that the author wrote it when he was young (and unpublished).
I read this 4 or 5 times in English but it wasn’t until I read it in French (after moving to France) that I understood that it was really about the Vietnam war (the futility, no real winners) – great book even though you can tell that the author wrote it when he was young (and unpublished).
Huh, that’s actually really interesting. I’m not very good at recognizing overarching symbolism in books, and generally just focus on what’s happening in the story. But now that you mention it, I can definitely see the parallels, and he did write it as Vietnam was winding down.
Thanks for the comment.
Huh, that’s actually really interesting. I’m not very good at recognizing overarching symbolism in books, and generally just focus on what’s happening in the story. But now that you mention it, I can definitely see the parallels, and he did write it as Vietnam was winding down.
Thanks for the comment.