Book Review: The Long Walk by Stephen King

“Walk or die, that’s the moral of this story. Simple as that.” – Richard Bachman

In Stephen King’s The Long Walk, The Major hosts a competition known as the Long Walk in an alternate, military-ruled version of the United States. During this race, one hundred teenage guys, chosen at random, walk as far as they can without stopping while maintaining a minimum speed of four miles per hour. The Walk never stops. No outside assistance from the crowd is permitted but walkers may aid one another as long as they continue walking. The walk begins at the Canada-Maine border and finishes where the final walker is still standing.
They receive three warnings for disobeying the rules before “buying a ticket,” being shot by one or more soldiers. The winner is the last contestant standing, and he gets “The Prize,” which includes money and whatever he wants. The Long Walk is depicted as a mental and physical challenge, as competitors are forced to consider their own demise but become accustomed to the thought of that peace. Being ticketed becomes wanted instead of evaded due to insanity and mental breakdowns. The main character of this novel is Ray Garraty, a sixteen-year-old boy from Maine. Garraty befriends several boys during the course of the walk. The book describes their relationships, the hardships they face, and the trauma they witness or put their body and brain through.

Although The Long Walk is a mature book, it contains themes and lessons that you may not learn from other literature. It truly is a unique piece.