Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #67335 in Books
• Published on: 1985-10-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 692 pages

From School Library Journal
YA Four novels published between 1977 and 1982. In Rage , a high-school student goes berserk in the classroom, killing the teacher and holding the class hostage. Set in a militaristic ultra-conservative America, The Long Walk pits 100 teenagers against each other in a grueling 450-mile marathon walk in which the penalty is death. Roadwork is a novel of societal conflict, man vs. progress. The first three thrillers, while entertaining and gripping, occasionally suffer from unfocused and uneven writing. Unresolved questions cause them to be somewhat unsatisfying. However the fourth novel, The Running Man , in the tradition of Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (NAL, 1968; o.p.), is an action-packed futuristic romp. Protagonist Ben Richards bets his life on a TV show in order to win the money to save the life of his deathly ill daughter. The story combines social commentary, adventure and science fiction, set against the backdrop of a decaying society. This one novel is well worth the price of the book. The name Stephen King, plus the four-novels-in-one packaging guarantees this volume's success. Bet you can't buy just one copy! John Lawson, Fairfax County Public Lib., Va.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

An Excellent Anthology
Wow. I am amazed by these stories that Stephen King wrote so early in his carreer. They are all impressive and well written. They all have lasting impact. The first two are excellent psychological thrillers, complete with plenty of interesting philosophy. The third is a slow moving, character analysis of a schizophrenic. The final story is a fast moving action story. All of the stories are excellent.

Rage(5/5)- This is the reason that you won't be finding this anthology in stores. This story is about a school shooting incident. In it, a boy named Charlie Decker takes over his class after shooting his math teacher. I know it sounds ludacrously violent, but it isn't. There aren't many deaths, but alot of excitement and plenty of philosophy. It is told from the first-person (unusual for King) point of view of a killer. You get to watch his sanity slowly slip away. Very intriguing.

The Long Walk(5/5)- A tie with Rage for my favorite Bachman Book. This one involves a grim future in the style of my favorite book, 1984. In this grim, 1984-esque, future, there is a marathon held every year with 100 boys starting off on the U.S.-Canada border and they simply walk. If they go below 4mph for 30 seconds they recieve a warning. If they walk for one hour without a fresh warning they lose an old warning. If they acumulate three warnings, then stop again, they recieve a ticket a.k.a. a bullet in the head. This is the story of one walker - Ray Garraty - who enters the contest. He and others, including Pete McVries, Hank Olson, Art Baker, Barkovitch, and Stebbins. A bit predictable, but haunting and disturbing.

Roadwork(4/5)- This one is interesting. It isn't the best in the collection, but it is still an excellent story. It is a character analysis of a schizophrenic man pushed over the verge. The stoy involves a man named Bart whose house and business are threatened by a new construction project. He speaks to his dead son Charlie in his head. It should be known that in these conversations, Bart is George and Charlie is Fred (they called each other by their middle names).

The Running Man(4/5)- A fast paced story about a game show in the future where a man tries to avoid assassins. It is similar to The Long Walk just as Roadwork is similar to Rage. I like it, I just wish it had more of the philosophy that the others had. This one would be the best for young or immature readers while Roadwork would be really good for serious readers.

All in all it is an excellent anthology filled with
(disturbing moments)
Great storytelling. I really liked King's characterization and philosophy. The stories are fairly short and can each be read in a single sitting (except maybe Roadwork). Read 'em. Ponder 'em. Love 'em.

Brilliant, some of King's best work
Once again, this brilliant author has brought forth a collection of stories which prove that he does not simply write horror, and that his boundaries go far and wide. Unfortunately, it's hard to find all four of these novellas in a complete collection, due to censorship reasons, but if you can get your hands on all of them in this single volume, I would advise you not to hesitate. Built up from four different stories; "Rage", "The Long Walk", "Roadwork", and "The Running Man", King has expanded on his ability to examine the human mind and the very essence of sanity in "Rage" and "Roadwork", while looking at the future in a new light that seems too possible, almost to the point of terrifying in "The Long Walk" and "The Running Man".

The first novella, "Rage", is the one and only reason that it is so difficult to find all four of these stories in a single volume, being the only one that wasn't re-printed and individually published. Banned from bookshelves due to censorship, this story seems to prophesize down to the finest points all the tragic school shootings which have taken place, even though it was written in the 1970's, far before such a thing was hyped up. Based around the main character Charlie Decker, the reader watches as his sanity slowly slips away and drives him to execute teachers at his high school, resulting in taking his math class hostage in a vicious standoff with the police force. Although the story may sound violent, predictable, and inappropriate depending on your opinion, it proves to be more than just violence and mindless bloodshed. As the class is held hostage, both Charlie and his classmates engage in a series of flashbacks and events looking back on life, each learning something about themselves. A very good read, by far, which should be re-printed. If censorship starts here, where does it end?

"The Long Walk", which follows "Rage", is definitely the best of these four stories, and one of the two based around futuristic game shows played on violence, simply to entertain the brainwashed masses of America (along with "The Running Man"). The rules of the game shown in the story are simple. One hundred boys from the ages of 14-18 are to begin walking at the U.S/Canada border. With chronometers attached to them, they are to keep their pace above 4 miles an hour at all times. Every time one of them drops under this pace, they are issued a warning. If, after three warnings, the pace drops again, the boy is executed by soldiers armed with high-powered carbine rifles. The suspense and constant wondering of who is going to die next haunts this tale. As the plot thickens and the game starts to enter it's second and third day of straight walking, empathy sets in and the reader feels like they are among the characters, back and feet in pain from the constant work. One thing which is not mentioned about this story much is the Vietnam metaphor, reflecting how the country sends their best young men off to die, only a small number ever to return, and then pushed beyond their sanity if they survive long enough. Various other metaphors exist, but are purely speculative.

The third novella, "Roadwork", was excellent, but my least favorite of all. All of the plot revolves around the main characters fall from sanity, just as in "Rage". Barton Dawes, the main character, watches as the government tries to tear his house down to build a freeway extension, his only child dies from a brain tumor, he loses his job, his wife leaves him, and he is left with no options. The story moves too slowly at first, and their isn't much action until the final pages of climax, but the characters are believable and the plot is original, similar to the film "Falling Down". The only real complaint is the fact that the story is extremely long, but only about the last 10 pages, give or take, are used to show the final steps of Barton's sanity disappearing. However, don't let that stop you. After getting into it, the story really grabs you, whether it's loaded with action or not.

"The Running Man" finishes off this volume, telling the tale of Ben Richards, a poor man whose little girl is dying of pneumonia, as he enters a game show where he has 30 days to flee bounty hunters across the world, with all of society able to turn him in for money. If he is caught, he is brutally executed to entertain middle class America on television. If he escapes the whole 30 days, there is a billion dollar jackpot waiting for him. The end is completely unpredictable and keeps you in constant suspense. If you're going to compare it to the film, don't bother. The film is good action, but weak compared to this. The story simply grabs you in the first paragraph and doesn't let go, even after the ending.

All four stories are excellent, even though the endings of "Rage" and "Roadwork" are a bit predictable. As far as "The Long Walk" and "The Running Man" go, they are some of the best suspense you'll ever read. Looking at modern television, with "survival" game-shows such as "Survivor", "The Mole", and "Bootcamp", along with a million other clones, the reality of game shows based around death seems all too near. Frightening and exhilarating to think about. A must-have for any King fan.

Bachman (KINGman) is a genius.
I received this book in high school as a gift and it really struck a chord. I was surprised to read that it is no longer published because of incidents concerning Rage. King always seems to get it right, was he a geek in HS too? I have since ordered the book again, surely I lent it out to someone who didn't appreciate it as much as I did, and I plan on rereading the whole book again.