The Long Walk

Title: The Long Walk

Author: Richard Bachman

Published in: 1978

Date read: 31st December 2020

Score: 5/5

Genre: Dystopian, Psychological

Plot: (Warning, may contain spoilers):
"The Long Walk," published in 1979 under Stephen King's pseudonym Richard Bachman, is a chilling dystopian novel that offers a bleak and unsparing look at the extremes of human endurance, desperation, and the corrupting nature of absolute power.

The story is set in a totalitarian America, ruled by an unnamed Major. The central event is the annual "Long Walk," a brutal and deadly competition. One hundred teenage boys are chosen from across the country to participate. The rules are deceptively simple: they must walk continuously, maintaining a speed of at least four miles per hour. If a walker drops below this speed for too long, or stops, they receive a warning. Three warnings result in a "ticket"—a bullet to the head from the accompanying soldiers. The last boy walking wins anything he desires for the rest of his life.

The protagonist is Raymond Garraty, a sixteen-year-old from Maine, who joins the Walk with a mix of apprehension, ambition, and a naive belief in his own strength. As the Walk progresses, the initial camaraderie among the boys slowly erodes, replaced by desperation, paranoia, and the grim reality of their situation.

The novel is an intense psychological study, focusing on the mental and physical torment endured by the boys. They battle excruciating pain, hunger, thirst, sleep deprivation, and the constant, terrifying threat of immediate execution. Relationships form and dissolve rapidly, fueled by the extreme circumstances – some offer brief comfort, others descend into bitter rivalry.

The "Walk" becomes a microcosm of society, exposing the boys' deepest fears, their capacity for cruelty, and their surprising moments of humanity. The Major, a detached and seemingly all-powerful figure, orchestrates the event, which is broadcast nationwide as a form of brutal entertainment and social control.

As the numbers of walkers dwindle, the pressure intensifies. Garraty witnesses horrific deaths, battles hallucinations from exhaustion, and grapples with the morality of his own survival. The "Long Walk" is not just a physical challenge but a test of wills, where the walkers are forced to confront their own mortality and the arbitrary nature of life and death.

The climax is a grueling, hallucinatory showdown between the final remaining walkers, pushing Garraty to the absolute limits of human endurance, culminating in a profoundly ambiguous and unsettling ending that underscores the bleakness of the dystopian world. "The Long Walk" is a powerful and disturbing exploration of human nature under extreme duress.

Comments:
A truly dark story that lulls you into a sense of comfort. What could possibly be wrong with a long walk? I really didn't see the true implications of the long walk and once I had, I could not put the book down. Brilliant story, brilliantly told. At the time of writing this, there are trailers for a film adaptation what is coming out soon, that will be interesting.

Books that we've read by Richard Bachman (6):
Rage (1977), The Long Walk (1978), Roadwork (1981), The Running Man (1982), Thinner (1984), Blaze (2007)