Stephen King can be a bit of a polarizing author. I know some people who hate him and find him completely overrated. And I know other people who love every single thing he puts out, even if it’s pretty openly a brush fire.
I, however, find myself firmly in the middle of the road when it comes to the man many think of as the modern master of horror. Going into a King project is always a gamble for me–some of his work I absolutely love, some not so much, and some I hate. So I wasn’t sure what I was in for when I started The Long Walk (which has actually been on my TBR for months now. Oops.) So many of Stephen King’s knockout bestsellers and blockbuster adaptations (It, Pet Sematary, The Shining, or Carrie, for example) get tons of attention across bookstagram and from readers in general, so it’s always interesting to check out one of his less hyped works.
Hardly a new release, The Long Walk was published back in 1979 under the pseudonym Richard Bachmann, and has been rereleased in a few different forms since. Like many of King’s other “classics”, it seems to have stood the test of time and is still easily relatable.
The novel takes place in a dystopian version of our society in which young men enter a prestigious contest called, of course, The Long Walk. In this contest, 100 carefully chosen teenaged boys must walk continuously across the East Coast of the U.S., keeping a steady pace of 4 MPH, until only one walker remains.
The winner of the walk is rewarded by having anything he wants given to him, no questions asked, for the rest of his life. But the risks for this lofty reward are high: any walker who drops below 4 MPH, stops, takes a break for any reason, or goes off course is killed on the spot by a group of emotionless and dutiful soldiers. You win by being the last one left alive.
While The Long Walk isn’t going to be one of my new absolute favorites, I enjoyed reading it and found it really interesting. There are not a lot of dynamics at play here, but it manages to explore some different aspects of humanity and make the reader think. The entire story takes place on the path of The Long Walk, following the same core group of young men as they risk their lives and make this journey. It was interesting to see how they think about life and death and risk and reward, and the things they realize about themselves along the way.
Another thing that’s really compelling about this book is that it’s so easily relatable. While some dystopian novels may seem far off or inaccessible, perhaps sometimes too futuristic, we can almost all relate to the boys in The Long Walk. Most of us have walked at some point. And there’s a good chance you’ve even walked far enough or long enough that you got tired along the way or wished you could stop. So it’s easy to take that experience from your own life and put yourself in the boys’ shoes. Imagine that time when you were walking and wanted to take a break or stop. Imagine that pain and fatigue that comes with traversing long distances. And then imagine that if you stop, even to take a break, you’ll be shot. Your life literally depends on your ability to keep going.
Walking doesn’t seem like such an extreme activity until you start to see how the boys fall apart both mentally and physically after walking for days on end, and then it becomes truly horrifying and even heart wrenching at times (like when the boys discover there are two brothers entered in the walk, meaning they started this journey knowing one of them would likely have to watch the other die. Heart. Wrenching.)
While I didn’t love the ending, it was definitely realistic and spoke to the overall horror of the situation. The Long Walk is a fast, easy, and really interesting read, and it will definitely have an impact on you in that short amount of time. It’s something a little different, especially since some dystopian novels nowadays are a bit over the top, but this one delivers the same sort of message in a more understated way. It’s also easy to see how this novel helped pave the way for the modern dystopian YA novels we think of now, like The Hunger Games and Divergent.
This is probably one of the shortest reviews I’ve ever written, but I wanted to share my thoughts on this one! Has anyone else read The Long Walk? What did you think? Do you have an underrated favorite from Stephen King? Let me know in the comments! You know I’d love to talk. <3