The Long Walk
The Long Walk is one of Stephen King’s oldest novels, published in 1979. As my current favorite book, I thought it more than deserved to be my first blogging review. It was originally published under his pseudonym, Richard Bachman. The novel takes place in a dystopian-type society where 100 boys a year are chosen to participate in an extensive walk. To be chosen for The Walk is an incredible honor, and many remain on a waitlist year after year for their chance at eternal glory. The only problem is, 100 boys begin the walk, but only one will finish it alive.
The story focuses on a 16-year old boy named Raymond Davis Garraty, or Garraty as he is referred to throughout. Garraty left his hometown in Maine, where he was providing for both his widowed mother and his girlfriend, Jan, to participate in The Walk. He is accompanied by many new friends at the start of The Walk, who come from all different places and have very different life stories. The only similarity in their stories is that they led them to participate in this death-trap of a competition.
The boys must keep a pace of exactly four miles per hour, no more and no less, or they will get three warnings, and eventually, buy themselves a “ticket.” Obviously, after that, they will no longer be a part of The Walk. Garraty and his friends must look out for each other as they encounter different cities, types of terrain, and mental weaknesses. Though they all want to stay together to make it as far as they can, only one will win.
The Long Walk includes a storyline filled with disaster, grief, and pain. However, the book also focuses on themes of the meaning of life, the meaning of death, and what really matters when looking back from the end of the road.
