The Long Walk

Stephen King

Jan 2016 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

In this #1 national bestseller, master storyteller Stephen King, writing as Richard Bachman, tells the tale of the contestants of a grueling walking competition where there can only be one winner—the one that survives.

Against the wishes of his mother, sixteen-year-old Ray Garraty is about to compete in the annual grueling match of stamina and wits known as the Long Walk. One hundred boys must keep a steady pace of four miles per hour without ever stopping...with the winner being awarded “The Prize”—anything he wants for the rest of his life. But, as part of this national tournament that sweeps through a dystopian America year after year, there are some harsh rules that Garraty and ninety-nine others must adhere to in order to beat out the rest. There is no finish line—the winner is the last man standing. Contestants cannot receive any outside aid whatsoever. Slow down under the speed limit and you’re given a warning. Three warnings and you’re out of the game—permanently...

Ratings and reviews

Do not waste money on this book unless you like chapter after chapter of roads and roadsides being described. Nothing happens of importance in 95% of this unbearable read. In summary: boys walk a long time on endlessly described pavement. They physically get tired, then everyone dies. The end

I think this shows its age or maybe is more reflective of it's time, but there is a really brilliant application of true horror here, with sophisticated social commentary layered underneath. The horror of being nonchalant about death. The horror of nhialistic choices. The horror of societies morbid fascination and observance of atrocity as entertainment. And then capped off with an ending that is uniquely existential. It's a unique idea from King, executed on a simple, dark, miserable imagining of America.

Not since Pet Semetary have I experienced the depth of introspection in characters. The whole examination of life, death and everything in between. This better NOT be made into a movie, robbing it of its subtext and humanity for the sake of visual action.

About the author

Stephen King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent work includes the short story collection You Like It Darker, Holly, Fairy Tale, Billy Summers, If It Bleeds, The Institute, Elevation, The Outsider, Sleeping Beauties (cowritten with his son Owen King), and the Bill Hodges trilogy: End of Watch, Finders Keepers, and Mr. Mercedes (an Edgar Award winner for Best Novel and a television series streaming on Peacock). His novel 11/22/63 was named a top ten book of 2011 by The New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller. His epic works The Dark Tower, It, Pet Sematary, Doctor Sleep, and Firestarter are the basis for major motion pictures, with It now the highest-grossing horror film of all time. He is the recipient of the 2020 Audio Publishers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2018 PEN America Literary Service Award, the 2014 National Medal of Arts, and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.