The Long Walk

Wasn't expecting one of my favorite reads of the year to be a book with no female characters but here we are! My first King book ever and I loved it. It's a simple story with intriguing character dynamics, hints of world building, and enough nuance that our English high school class could add it to its curriculum.

What a compelling read! I was hooked from the start and couldn't put this book down. A fantastic set of characters as you really felt their descents into madness and/or death. Highly recommended.

Un final muy a lo King, una historia sencilla pero cargada de muchos sentimientos, te llegas a encariñar mucho con varios Marchadores y se puede presenciar como el cuerpo humano es llevado al extremo y como la mente se transforma en el proceso.

Il primo primo King

Se inizialmente l'ho adorato, verso la fine sono stato insofferente. Non tanto per il concept molto accattivante e coinvolgente, ma per la sua formula d'intrattenimento, che alla lunga stanca. In più la mancanza di un quadro tecnico dell'ambientazione distopica, e alcune scelte dell'autore nella parte finale del romanzo minano molto la credibilità della storia.
Però mi ha saputo intrattenere quasi sempre, i personaggi si fanno conoscere e apprezzare, è scritto decisamente bene, e sicuramente darò altre occasioni a questo autore! Promosso

Ma che finale è?! Ci voleva un finale come si deve :(

In some horrible alternative America. 100 teen boys walk and walk and walk until only one remains. The flaggers, the ones who walk slower than 4 miles per hour, the ones who physically can't go on, the ones who literally go insane are shot dead. The real horror here is WHY? Why would they do this? What is the reason for doing this? You are given little snippets of info but you are never told and sometimes that works in a book but in this instance I don't think it does. There's lots of teenage sexy smut talk that some readers will find offensive. There's lots of teenage boy philosophising which some readers will find annoying.

Before reading this book it was hard to imagine how it would be interesting to read about a group of boys walking and walking and walking but King manages to make their story gripping, harrowing and entertaining.

We took a break from reading King because everybody in our reading group was getting burnt out but we are back this month reading his stories that he wrote as Richard Bachman.

I listened to this on audio and I was absolutely loving it. It amazes me how he can take something as simple as walking and turn it into an interesting immersive story. I went into this completely blind so I had no clue what I was getting myself into. I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it so lets just say that something happens throughout this book and the first time that it happened I was shocked.

As I mentioned I was loving this story. I was sucked in just waiting for all my questions to be answered unfortunately that didn't happen. I was listening thinking I still had a lot more to go and then all of a sudden I finished the book and was like no that can't be it.

I want to give this 5 stars because I really did love it however I personally don't like cliffhangers and I like for things to be spelled out for me pretty much. I don't like being left with questions and because of that alone I can't give it 5 stars. Had he elaborated on things just a little it would have totally been a 5 star read for me.

I don't know how to rate this. Super ambiguous ending (which made me mad) not a lot of backstory and world building (which I also don't like) but it's still so....good. I think Stephen King has finally won me over because this is a book I will be thinking about for a while. This has a lot of symbolism and could be an allegory for the futility of life? I'm not quite sure but nevertheless it was well done and I understand the need for all the ambiguities even if I don't like it.

Fantastic writing, a very well thought out story, and an ending that will leave you nearly in tears.

If I had a favourite books I read this year list this would be number 1, and it's definitely one of my favourite books I've ever read now, and definitely my number one dystopian future book.

It was my first Stephen King novel, and definitely the first of many to come.

The premise of this book was so intriguing. It reminded me a little of the Hunger Games in that young people are forced to participate in an activity to the death as a form of entertainment for society. The story mainly focuses on the inner lives and relationships that develop between these young men as they walk. I found it to be compelling and depressing. The ending felt a little flat. 3.5 star read for me.

4.5

A good quick book that has me very aware of my walking speed. I enjoyed it, it's the type of horror that seeps into you over time rather than shocking you upfront.

I haven't quite made up my mind about Stephen King. Part of me is repelled by his trendiness; that part also recognizes an author with flaws of dialogue and resolution and an author who needs to better listen to his editor (or find a new editor). And yet the guy can craft a really riveting, well-told story, ie “The Body.” No work better displays both sides of King than The Stand, a wonderfully constructed tale that suffers woefully from diarrhea of the pen.

But I keep coming back because there is a draw. After a year or two away, something about King's works calls to me. Sometimes I'm glad I returned. Other times, I'm like “eh.” This time around, I am truly, genuinely surprised.

I wasn't expecting a whole lot out of The Long Walk. It's not one of the author's more notable works. The summary of the book brought to mind ideas of a potentially strong story, but greater likelihood of cheesiness. And knowing that King would have to maintain an entire novel of teenagers talking with one another frightened me.

But this novel really, truly worked. First, The Long Walk is believably scary. This isn't about killer clowns or murderous cars, it's about a society that encourages and delights in the sacrifice of its youth. Once a year, one hundred teenage boys begin walking. They cannot stop until there is only one left. What happens if they stop or walk too slowly? They receive a warning. After three warnings, they're killed. That's it. So simply terrifying. And the walk goes on day after day, because when your only choice is to live or to stop and rest, you find the will to keep going (or maybe you don't.)

But this isn't really a story about a dystopian society in love with the long walk, now is it? This is the story of war. Boys on the verge of manhood being sent on some ridiculous quest. They're spurred on by the words of a general shouting encouragement at them. They're cheered on by the patriotic fervor of the crowds that watch from the sideline, but never join the walk. They're shell-shocked and unsure why they'd even started walking in the first place. Published in 1979, The Long Walk likely was inspired by the war in Vietnam, but it could easily be about any war.

One of the things that almost doesn't work but ends up working spectacularly in this novel is the dialogue. Some of these conversations are so brilliant. Others are completely asinine. Who would believe that these individuals would have the conversations they do right after watching their neighbor being gunned down. But isn't that exactly how it is in war? Don't these soldiers become so immune to it all that while they may from time to time philosophize about life and death, they're just as likely to talk about Saturday morning cartoons? At times, the raging hormones of these one hundred became a bit over the top for my tastes, but largely I believed this group's actions and discussions.

The only area where I would've liked to have seen change was in the contemporary setting. King places these kids sometime in the sixties or seventies, I'm never quite sure. Again, this probably alludes to Vietnam, but it dates the story horribly. The boys discuss the music, the cars, and the babes of the era. In 2018, it makes an otherwise universal story sound a bit hokey at times. This was a problem that The Stand suffered from as well.

I was really pulled into this novel and I must say that while I've read relatively little of King's complete bibliography, this has been my favorite so far. There are some really wonderful passages here and the overall story is quite engaging. The Long Walk truly made me hungry for more of King's writing.

The ending was such a let down. I just did not get it. The “winner” was so mentally broken and hallucinating at the end that he saw a “black figure” and ran. The whole way I was hoping something would happen to “stop” the long walk or break the status quo for the better, but it stopped any of that potentially interesting angles. I can see why King did not want his name on this.

FALSE

3.5 stars
Okay, I skipped a lot of pages in this book because the story was dragging on but I still thought that everything was perfect, just the way it should be. And it is my fault for skipping pages
This book is SO SO deep. I loveddddd ittttt....
To me the Long Walk was a metaphor for life, except in real life, you always have to keep on walking and if you take a rest, and sit down, you don't get three warnings. In some twisted way, this book is actually merciful because of the way the soldiers gave three warnings.
The soldiers' rifles were the cold grip of death that doesn't distinguish between rich or poor, intelligent or stupid.
Gosh, I loved this book!!! :D
the feelings the author portrayed in the book were so vivid and so heart-wrenching. How everyone slowly started going insane, and how in order to survive and live rich and well, you have to let go of your own humanity.
LOVED IT

Precise rating: 4.5 ⭐

In my opinion one of King's best books. So fascinating how he can fill so many pages with 80 to 90 percent dialogue and still keep it thrilling!

This was a really interesting book. The development of the characters (especially the main character) is awesome. How fast the mindset can change from happy and excited to pure horror is really relatable. That's what makes this book so scary. You can almost feel the physical pain that they are going through.

It's starts pretty slow and gets a bit dull in the middle though.

The Long Walk by Stephen King

Pros: creepy premise, really get to know the characters, thought provoking

Cons: don't learn much about the world or why the walk is put on, crass discourse

Every year 100 teen boys join the Long Walk. They walk at 4 miles per hour, day and night, until they can't go any further and are given their ticket. The prize for the winner is great. But it's a long, long road.

This is a character driven dystopian novel that focuses on a small group of walkers in the current year's Long Walk. The characters become very real, three dimentional people. Which makes reading the book difficult, as you're slowly watching them die.

As the walk progresses and the characters discuss why they've joined it and who will survive, you're left questioning many things as the reader - are you the same as the crowd that lines the road, hoping to see blood? Or are you one of the boys, learning that you don't want to die because death is suddenly so close? Unlike the crowd you see the characters as human. You feel their pain. As someone who walked the last 100+ km of the Santiago de Compostella pilgrimmage in 5 days, I really did feel their pain. But even as you feel their pain and sympathise with their situation, you're still a spectator, safe in the knowledge that you can stop walking, sit down, enjoy today with the knowledge that tomorrow is coming.

The book also makes you think about peer pressure, and how much easier it is to go with the status quo than to fight it, even when you life is on the line.

I was disappointed that you don't learn much about the society that allows - nay encourages - the Long Walk year after year. Clues in the text indicate that America has become in some ways a police state, but the extent of it is hidden from the reader. Similarly, the early text leads you to believe that the boys volunteer for the walk, which isn't quite the case.

I wasn't a fan of some of the boys' discussion, but I accept it as realistic. There's some crass humour as well as discussions of bodily functions, etc.

If you liked the Hunger Games or Battle Royale and want a less violent, more introspective version of the same ideas, then check this out.

So many feels. It is a story about lots of youngsters who siimply have to walk until they fall and... well, it's Stephen King. You gather it. Read the book.

This book, which I read as part of The Grand Stephen King Experiment at TannerWillbanks.com, was brutal. Perhaps it is because he was writing as Richard Bachman or perhaps it was just because he was feeling extremely dark that year but whatever it was Stephen King wrote a bleak, depressing little novel here. While I ultimately enjoyed the book, it was rough to slog through it.

I had been curious to read the Long Walk after my husband had said that after reading it, that it is one book he thinks about a lot. I wasn't the least bit disappointed in this book.

In a futuristic world, boys around America sign up for the annual “long walk” where their task is to keep walking towards an unknown finish line until there is one lone walker. Those who drop out of the walk meet with fatal consequences.

In reading this story, I kept thinking about what kind of society had this country become to allow a competition like this to occur. Stephen King can certainly provoke thought and emotion through his prose. This story was disturbing, and like my husband, this is not a story I will soon forget.

Altro grande romanzo di King firmato Bachman in origine... una lunga, interminabile marcia dove il vincitore è l'unico sopravvissuto.

Un corsa crudele dove a vincere in realtà non è nessuno, ma tutti perdono in egual misura, la folla che scommette e incita i loro beniamini, i militari che seguono i concorrenti e “congedano” chi si ferma e gli stessi corridori, che perdono piano piano in piccoli pezzetti tutte le varie parti della loro umanità e infine la vita.

Per vincere non occorre necessariamente compiere l'intero tracciato, è “sufficiente” rimanere in gara, mantenendosi sempre in cammino, una storia tesa e crudele.

Un romanzo che ti porta su queste lunghe strade dove si formano odio e amicizia, lealtà e spregiudicatezza, passione e tormento. Una lunga Marcia verso le profondità di ognuno di noi, verso l'inesorabile fondo che non arriviamo mai a toccare.

Un'altra prova brillante del Re, che fa decisamente guardare con ribrezzo i libri che scrivi ultimamente.