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The Long Walk by Stephen King


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 By Kate A.
     Stephen King's dystopian novel, The Long Walk, is about an annual competition where 100 teenage boys must walk at a steady pace of 4 mph until only one of them remains. In the Long Walk, each boy is given three warnings, and after all their warnings have been used, they are "ticketed." Readers learn early on in the book that buying a ticket means you are shot by one of the soldiers riding alongside the walkers in half-tracks. The last boy standing at the end of the Walk wins "The Prize", which is anything they want for the rest of their lives. The story is narrated by Ray Garraty, one of the participants in the Long Walk. Ray is from Maine, where the Walk starts and most of the story takes place.
     I have read a few of Stephen King's novels and short stories before The Long Walk, but this book was different. Unlike many of his stories, this book didn't involve anything supernatural, but there was an element of psychological horror as you watched each of the walkers break down mentally to the point where they are basically lifeless bodies that are somehow still walking after going on for over 24 hours without resting or slowing down. For the most part, I felt like Stephen King did a good job portraying each of the characters and their personalities. He also describes the pain the walkers were going through so you feel like you are walking with them and experiencing everything that was happening to Ray.
     The main complaint I have about the book is that the end was confusing. I understand that King might have wanted to leave the ending open for interpretation, but personally, I would have preferred it if he had just told us what happened. Aside from the ending, I enjoyed this book, and I would recommend it to any Stephen King fans or people who like dystopian books.
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Comments

  1. SafaJanuary 24, 2020 at 7:22 AM

    I haven't read The Long Walk yet but I have read some book by Stephen King in the past. I like the way you described the plot and what you disliked about the book. I prefer to not read book with open ends but this one seems really interesting so I might check it out.

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  2. Emma MurawskiJanuary 29, 2020 at 1:32 PM

    I just read a Stephen King book and I have started to really enjoy his writing style. After reading your review, I am really interested in The Long Walk. Your review is fantastic and I like the way you described this book in a different light than most of Stephen King's other works. It almost seems like psychological horror is scarier than supernatural horror at times. I think I am going to check this book out!

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  3. Olivia ThompsonJanuary 31, 2020 at 7:25 AM

    I haven't read any Stephen King books before because they all seem really scary. The concept of this book is pretty interesting (and horrible). Overall, I think you did a good job at writing a review that described the plot without making it too complex. This book does sound interesting, and if I was interested in Stephen King books I would probably read this!

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