WeHa Book Club

*Spoiler Free Review*

A bunch of teens locked into a life-or-death competition implemented by a corrupt government that pits the poor against each other with promises of life-changing wealth and opportunity.

Are we talking about The Hunger Games? Nope. Today, we’re discussing Stephen King’s The Long Walk, recently adapted to the big screen with favorable reviews and pretty decent box office returns.

The Long Walk was originally released under King’s pseudonym “Richard Bachman” in 1979 and it wasn’t until the mid-80s that the link between King and Bachman was officially revealed.

The alternate pen-name was originally created to allow King to release more than one book per year without oversaturating the market with “Stephen King” releases and has since expanded into an entire fictional backstory, fake author photos and various ‘easter-egg’ appearances in everything from King’s The Dark Tower to the FX show Sons of Anarchy.

Keep in mind, at the time, King’s releases, in order, looked like this:

• Carrie by Stephen King (1974)
• Salem’s Lot by Stephen King (1975)
• The Shining by Stephen King (1977)
• Rage by Richard Bachman (1977)
• The Stand by Stephen King (1978)
• The Long Walk by Richard Bachman (1979)
• The Dead Zone by Stephen King (1979)
• Firestarter by Stephen King (1980)
• Roadwork by Richard Bachman (1981)
• Cujo by Stephen King (1981)
• The Running Man by Richard Bachman (1982)
• The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger by Stephen King (1982)
• Thinner by Richard Bachman (1984)

Boy, does this dude churn out new material fast. Someone should tell him that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, am I right? Thanks folks, I’ll be here all night.

As a side note, typing out this portion of King’s bibliography reminded me that I need to do a definitive list of all of Stephen King’s books (and short stories) at some point. I’ve been diligently working my way through his library, but I still have a bunch on my ‘to read’ list. A blog post for another day.

In addition to Rage, The Long Walk, Roadwork, The Running Man and Thinner King has released three more novels under the Richard Bachman pseudonym. The Regulators was released in 1996, more than ten years after the reveal that Bachman was, in fact, Stephen King. The concept of Bachman’s fictional life was playfully referenced in the book’s introduction and was used as a literary device within the story, itself, to pair it with Desperation by Stephen King, proper.

Finally, 2007’s Blaze was apparently found in an attic by King. It was originally intended to be his follow-up novel to the debut Carrie, but the publisher decided to go with Salem’s Lot instead. Good move, in my opinion as Salem’s Lot is a far better novel with one of my favorite lines of King’s extensive career:

“The basis of all human fears, he thought. A closed door, slightly ajar.” – Stephen King

At any rate, Blaze became the latest (and seemingly final) release under the name Richard Bachman. Full disclosure, I’ve only ever read The Long Walk so far, but as a completionist, I fully intend to read them all eventually. And now that I’ve given you a full history lesson on Richard Bachman, I’ll say a few words about The Long Walk movie as well as the book that it was based on.

The plot is fairly simple and straight forward. One hundred teenage volunteers have to walk as long as they can without stopping. A pace of 4 mph must be maintained with a three-strike system in place. Once you get your third strike, you are executed. The person who outlasts all of their other competitors is given more wealth than they can possibly imagine along with one “wish” that is granted no matter how outlandish it is.

The walk starts almost immediately with very little backstory about our main character and is essentially the entire length of the book. But don’t let the simplicity fool you, this is a masterclass in character development and the telling of the human condition. I was never bored. I was emotionally ruined on several occasions. This is novel writing at its absolute finest. Boiled down the bare bones, the grand thematic elements of this story are allowed to take center stage. Great book.

And as is rarely the case, I believe that the movie holds up as an equal if not superior version of the novel. The acting, particularly by our lead Cooper Hoffman, portraying Raymond Garraty, was phenomenal. This is a story that makes for a really crappy movie without a strong cast and luckily, these guys delivered.

I’d absolutely recommend the movie and would go as far as naming the novel a must-read for fans of the dystopian, post-apocalyptic genre. Watch, read, share.

---

The Long Walk by Stephen King (as Richard Bachman)