Book Review | The Long Walk by Richard Bachman (Stephen King)

The Long Walk is a dystopian novel by Stephen King published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman.

On the first day of May, 100 teenage boys meet for a race known as "The Long Walk." If you break the rules, you get three warnings. If you exceed your limit, what happens is absolutely terrifying.

I've been asked on many occasions if I've read this book, and I never stopped to wonder why. Of course I see now why this book has been recommended to me throughout the years. It's like asking someone who's afraid of clowns if they've read IT. The Long Walk is a perfect fit for me. I wish I had read it sooner! I wish I had read The Long Walk prior to the upteen billion dystopians I've already experienced in recent years. It kept reminding me of The Hunger Games instead of vice versa as it bloody well should have been.

I listened to The Long Walk on audio which was a great experience. Grab it off Overdrive if you have yet to read this one. There's an amazing introduction by Stephen King included with the audio. I have the "Bachman Books" on my shelf so I pulled it down to read the introduction again only to find a completely different introduction! If you've already read the Bachman Books, you might be interested in reading the second introduction King wrote for it.

I've put off reading Bachman over the years. Up until now I think I've only read The Regulators (right after reading Desperation) and Thinner (right after watching the movie). I've had some deluded idea in my mind that I wouldn't enjoy them like I enjoy a King novel. I can't speak for the rest of the Bachman Books, but you don't get more Stephen King than The Long Walk. He really, really thought no one would know Richard Bachman was Stephen King?! No one writes like Stephen King. In my opinion, no one even comes close to writing like Stephen King. So now I have some more reading to do!

The Long Walk was a great way to end a not-so-remarkable reading year. It serves as a good reminder of how important it is to pull down the back titles throughout the year and enjoy some gems I've been missing out on.

8/10: Great Read