The Long Walk

De: Stephen King

Narrado por: Kirby Heyborne

In this number-one national best seller, "master storyteller" (Houston Chronicle) Stephen King, writing as Richard Bachman, tells the tale of the contestants of a grueling walking competition where there can beonly one winner - the one who survives.

In the near future, when America has become a police state, 100 boys are selected to enter an annual contest where the winner will be awarded whatever he wants for the rest of his life. Among them is 16-year-old Ray Garraty, and he knows the rules - keep a steady walking pace of four miles per hour without stopping. Three warnings and you're out - permanently.

With an introduction by Stephen King on "The Importance of Being Bachman".

©1979 Richard Bachman (P)2010 Penguin Audio

ONLY,---- WHAT A STUPID WORD!

A MOMENT LATER, A RED HEADED BOY'S FACE WAS BLOWN AWAY
A Good book, written by a great author. I am in agreement with several of my fellow reviewers: Beverly- Who would have thought kids walking would make such a good story. I am always amazed in how King takes so little and does so much with it. A woman tied in her bed, a man stuck in bed and being tortured by a crazy lady, a girl lost in the woods etc... King is the expert at building characters. I have said it one hundred times, King's books are so scary because we get to know the characters and care what happens to them. Khadeejah- Story was intense. Mostly towards the end, these kids are in so much pain, physically and mentally and the writing is intense, which leads to Dustin- My feet still hurt. I felt I was on the walk, I felt tired, physically and mentally, I was worried I would get three warnings. I also agree with Jenna- Want to know more about the state. The United States these boys live in, is not very well explained. A police state is hinted at, but no world building is done here. Course, I hark back to character development, King rarely builds universes he seems to like us to use our imaginations to come up with what we think.

I liked the book and it pulled at my heart strings.

I GAVE HER MY HEART
SHE TOOK IT APART
WHO GIVES A FART

Great story, poor editing/sound design

The narrator inflicts the pain and plodding nature of this story, and drags you along the path relentlessly s the characters in the story.
The only issue is that every so often, a sentence will hard cut off, it takes you out of the moment and makes it difficult to follow.

Dang what a book

I really like the description of all the characters; I fell in love with them through the beginning, middle and end. Though the story line and the gruesome descriptions were fantastic, I just couldn't grab ahold of the ending. It left me like what? Haha! Makes me want to call Steven king myself ! But this book was awesome all and all !

Bad editing

I have read this book before and have always thought it was my favorite one. This audible one is also really good. The story is still excellent and the reader is really good. The only thing that bothered me was the edits of when the reader paused to take a break and then would start again. I felt like they were not properly edited to transition well. It would cut off and begin again like it skipped a sentence or a few words. Other than that it was still a great listen and worth the credit.

A bit drawn out

The character development as well as the voice acting were great but I just felt the book was a bit drawn out.

Well dodge ram...

this story was intense. I didn't want it to end. pretty horrifying. got me wondering if I could walk across two states non-stop... probably not...

The audio tend to cut out sharply at the end of paragraphs. sometimes a while word gets cut off. But it's not to bad. the narration is really good

it was OK

I enjoyed the story very much. It's like a voluntary hunger games but it was more brutal add psychological in that Stephen King way. what I didn't like was the voice actor and the editing. the voice was very annoying at times of great stress or sadness for the characters. the editing was choppy. some words were cut off and there were audible clicks between takes.

A plodding tale by King as Richard Bachman

As with many stories by Stephen King, the premise is only a backdrop for the intrigue. Nearly all King tales chase the workings of the mind and the perceptions of reality held by each character's view. To start, a dystopian future a la the Hunger Games is the setting for a promise of unlimited riches via a forced march of 100 where winner takes all -- the winner being the last / sole survivor, as to drop out means instant death for the unlucky contestant.

Please be warned of lots of plot revelations in the following paragraphs.

I'm hoping this is an early work, for while King is want to venture into incredible circumstances, the starting premise is rather strained:
parents don't appear all that concerned that their offspring are heading into almost certain death; the contest -- for boys only, by the way -- is voluntary, yet the boy's families aren't presented as being in such dire straits as would warrant this plunge into peril. Neither do the boys appear to have enlisted to remedy a burning desire; they speak rather nonchalantly as to their reasons why. Let's assume allegory (death of adolescence) and go from there.

King has repeatedly stated that his Bachman writings were darker and more moody than when writing under his own name. With this I concur. I'm more comfortable in believing this story as presenting the myriad ways of dealing with the loss of childhood. The "winner" is the sole character who may play forever on, while all others have gone on to the next place.

If you've read numerous Stephen King tales -- I have -- you'll know that he can still captivate and draw you in even if the premise takes an initial stretch of the imagination. (Think Pennywise in IT) The characters are fairly well presented, though it's difficult to work credible backstories for a dozen or so, so several remain a bit 2 dimensional. The interaction is a comfortable romp however, hinting of later efforts and better honed abilities. It's still a most readable effort, and I'd recommend it to you just to enjoy his wordplay. There is a rather unusual ending, which I'm still mulling over on as to whether it's a charm or a cheat. You'll need to do the same, I'll wager.

A unique feature of most King titles is that the reader's perceptions change with rereading. I've only finished a first run through, so my observations may notice all the more after a second or third replay. If so, I'll be happy to update this review.

So Disappointed

I was hooked from beginning but was highly disappointed. What happened to the ending? There wasn't one!!!

The Long Walk is excellent!

The reading is amazing with the slightest accent changes to bring the many characters alive.

The long walk is like watching a death march that only has the smallest shadow of hope. The conversations heard from a group of boys forced to march above 4 mph or die!

I personally really thought it was great, especially considering that the plot seems pretty simple.