Publication Date: July 1979
‘The Long Walk‘ is apart of the Richard Bachman books, which Bachman was the pseudonym that Stephen King was writing under at the time. We are first introduced to Ray Garraty, who is getting dropped off at the starting line of the walk by his mother. Garraty is a 16 year old boy who represents the state of Maine. The long walk is an annual contest where a large group of boys gather to walk until they can not walk anymore. If they fall under a certain speed, or can no longer walk for any reason, death is the consequence that the boys will face. Whoever is the last one to remain standing is declared the winner, and is promised anything that they desire. Along the way, Garraty develops a number of friendships with the boys who are walking with him, and we see how he is able to cope with the loss of his friends who are taken out, as well as his own deteriorating health. Will he live to see the end, or will he die trying?
As for my thoughts, I unfortunately felt like I should have gotten a lot more from this, and it seems that I am the odd one out when it comes to my thoughts on this. From what I have seen, everyone loves this book, but I don’t think I am able to say the same. Stephen King is one of my favorite authors, and I am slowly making my way through his works, but I can’t say that this will be a favorite of mine.
First of all, I just wanted more from this story other than reading about a big group of boys walking, getting shot, walking some more, and getting shot some more. Other than a lot of walking, there just wasn’t a lot going on in this book, and it took me forever to finish. I wanted more depth, and when I was reading it, I would often find myself falling asleep after reading only a couple pages. I really liked the premise of this story, I just thought there could have been more to it, and there also was an open ended conclusion that left me frustrated. Even though this wasn’t my favorite, it won’t deter me from picking up more of King’s books. Overall, I rated this 3 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.
-Carissa
Carissa Reads It All 
I appreciated your thoughts on this old favourite of mine in the King/Bachman catalog. I seem to return to this one every few years because it has a visceral thrill for me. And I run marathons hehe. What a disparate array of books you read!
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Yes I read so many different types of books. I’m bound to not really like something..but I’m still a big fan of King’s.
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This is pretty amusing. I’m not a fan of SK but your ratings feels like his not usual rating from a reader. It intrigues me. Should I read the book?
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I really enjoy SK, but this wasn’t my favorite. From what I have seen from other readers though, they all seem to love this one. It could be worth a read! 🤷♀️ lol!
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Can you recommend a book of SK that you really love?
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I really love Salems Lot, The Green Mile, Duma Key, and the Mr. Mercedes trilogy ( from what I have read so far )
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Your thoughts remind me of mine about all the King books I’ve read. Always an interesting premise with little depth to the story. In fairness, I’ve only read a few of King’s books.
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There are a few of his books that I feel this way about. I also did not like ‘The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon’, about a girl getting lost while hiking… and that’s about it. Haha…but there are some that I really like, such as Salems Lot, The Green Mile, Duma Key, Mr. Mercedes.. etc.
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