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The Long Walk

Author: Stephen King
Publisher: Signet Book
Category: Book

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Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

84 reviews
Sales Rank: 25355

Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 384
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 4.1 x 0.4

ISBN: 0451196716
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780451196712
ASIN: 0451196716

Publication Date: April 1999
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: New book. WE USE PRIORITY AIRMAIL ONLY for books from the USA. UK & European delivery is 7-10 days. Over 2,000,000 books sold to Amazon customers

Customer Reviews:

Showing reviews 6-10 of 84

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The Good Book April 24, 2007
14 out of 17 found this review helpful

The Long Walk is now widely know as having been written by Stephen King but was origionally published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. This book is also availaible with three other of Richard Bachmans' books (Rage, Roadwork and The Running Man).

This is one of Stephen King's best novels (or, novella's as it is quite a short book) as it is very origional and gripping. An exciting read which I thoroughly especially because of the very interesting concept of 100 young boys (all aged roughly sixteen) 450 mile walk across America. Althought, it is unclear whether the winner is the last contestant alive or the first cross the finish line after the extremely long walk.

The rules of the long walk are:
. Walkers must not drop their speed below 5 miles per hour
. Everytime a Walker drops his speed below 5 miles per hour (including stopping) he is given a warning.
. You cannot quit once The Long Walk has started.
. Three warning and then if you slow down again you are killed.

The Long Walk is a gruesome, suspenceful horror/thriller novel which I would highly recomend to fans of the genre of of Stephen King. Although I agree with other reviewers that it was dissapointing not to find out the surprise after all this waiting (I'll try and explain without leaving any spoilers) the way the winner is at the end of the walk suggest that they are in no fit state to enjoy the prize, whatever it may be. Very creepy.

5 out of 5 stars

Bachman style... March 8, 2007
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

I read The Long Walk under Kings' other name; Richard Bachman when I was just 14. 10 years on and King is still taking up all the room on my bookcase. The way he takes such a simple plot and turns it into a mind gripping psychological thriller every time amazes me. This is such a simple yet brilliant story that all die-hard King fans should read.

5 out of 5 stars

A true horror novel. February 6, 2007
15 out of 16 found this review helpful

This novel is contains a horrific story - simple, uncomplicated but genuinely nasty, and its great stuff! There is something so simple about its premise: a walking marathon of 450 miles, competitors cannot stop or allow their pace to drop below five miles an hour, if they do, they are warned a maximum of three times and given a time limit to pick the pace back up. When an entrant fails to get back up to speed in time (and the longest warning is only three minutes), they are disqualified via a bullet in the head. Last man standing wins.

I'm not sure what is nastier, the shooting of the young men as they become more and more weary, or the crowds that gather to support the sick spectacle.

One unfortunate chap walks the sole of his shoe off, and quickly wears his sock away to nothing. His foot - obviously - takes longer to be ground to pulp, but it gets there eventually; and after all the effort, his head takes a bullet. Shame.

No monsters, vamps or anything like that; just King's version of a world where the all powerful media feed the consumers whatever they want; even if that happens to be mass public executions.

The reviewer above complains that we don't get to find out what the prize is. That is incorrect. The novel does tell us what the prize is, but it is only mentioned once. So, the prize is....? You'll have to read it, sorry. Just pay more attention than the reviewer above.

All in all, a fun packed read.

5 out of 5 stars

the long build up to an exceptionally annoying ending August 24, 2006
16 out of 20 found this review helpful

The reason i give this book 5 stars is because it is a fantastic book, an amazing insight into the human mind and the sickness of human nature. But be warned the ending will leave you exasperated and wanting more as is the norm with stephen king's books, however i strongly recommend you buy this fantastic masterpiece and make up your own mind about the ending.

5 out of 5 stars

King at his best July 15, 2006
22 out of 23 found this review helpful

What a story!!For such a simple plot,King builds up characters you can really identify with and feel for.The reader can feel the fear and pain along with his or her favourite character.With the advent of reality T.V.,one feels this tale is not set in too distant a future,and that scares me as much as the guards in the book,and the punishments for walking slower than 3 miles per hour.The cameraderie built up between the walkers is admirable,and displays King,s faith in the human creature.There are similarities between this and Mr.King,s "Running Man" but I do not see this as a fault,just a need to re-tell a fantastic story.This does not have the speedy action of "Running Man" or the out and out horror of "Carrie",but I found it really creepy in a disturbing my sense of right and wrong way.One feels for the "heroes"of the walk,but surely greed was their motivation to start the walk,so one cannot help but think "well you asked for it".A great read