Stephen King's "The Long Walk"

[JDFP]

This is an older gem that King had written under his Richard Bachman pseudonym. You can generally find it as part of "The Bachman Books" collection that's generally not too difficult to locate at used bookstores if it's not still in print. I'm not for certain if it has been released as its own individual paperback except for the original printing under the name of Richard Bachman (and best of luck finding that gem! It's probably worth a pretty penny). Here's a brief spoiler warning: the work is older than I am, but there's your spoiler warning. Synopsis for those who haven't read it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bachman_Books *** THERE BE SPOILERS BELOW *** Damn, I forgot how freaking good this work is to read! I actually enjoyed it so much I was saddened that it had to come to an end without continued development of the main character, Garraty. At the end of the work, it is mentioned that Garraty sees a grinning "Dark Man" beckoning him onward in front of him some distance after he has defeated everyone else in the Walk. Did anyone else imagine this to be Randall Flagg? I don't recall this character making an appearance in any of "The Dark Tower" series? Any scholars here to educate me if he appears again? I think it would be fascinating to re-visit this character and this "multi-verse" that King (as Bachman) creates in this great work of writing. There are two downsides to this work. The first is the ending. I wanted more, damnit! I was not content with the ending of Garraty being summoned by Flagg/"Dark Man" and that's all she wrote, folks. The one thing that I truly despise about most King works (even his earlier works) is that he just doesn't know how to properly end a work. He either abruptly ends it or just continues to ramble on and on... ("Insomnia" comes to mind). This is the case of abrupt endings. The second downside is that the richness and greatness of this work has really made me realize that King just has a very difficult time in writing nearly as well as his early work. I know we've discussed this ad nauseam before, but I think when King got to a point where he stopped writing out of necessity (putting food on the table, his kids) and more for "eh, I'm a great novelist!" then it just changed his writing style. Anyway, Frank Darabont has the rights to a filmed adaptation of this work and I'm certainly looking forward to seeing it. If anyone can pull it off and do it well, it will be Darabont. According to the wikipedia article (yeah, cause we all know wikipedia never deceives us) Darabont is hoping to get to the film soon and do it more as a low-budget film. I think it would be entertaining if done properly. Anyone have any thoughts on "The Long Walk" if you've read it? j.p.

[ProfessorChaos]

loved "the bachman books", especially "the long walk"...not quite as good as "road work", but still a great story.   never took the ending to have anything to do with randall flagg, i just figured it was the spectre of death haunting garraty. not sure of how well this could translate to the screen, could be very good or very bad. seems like darabont does a great job of bringing king's vision to life, so i am slightly optimistic.

[childofgilead]

If they were to ever put this to screen, if there are not flapping footsteps going over the end credits I'll be pissed.

[SRP76]

I don't want to see this as a movie. The whole book is mainly inner thoughts. All you "see" is a bunch of dudes walking. And walking. And walking. That's pretty boring.

[LouCipherr]

I don't want to see this as a movie. The whole book is mainly inner thoughts. This. The Long Walk is one of my favorite Bachman (King) stories of all time. I actually listening to the audiobook as opposed to reading it (yeah, yeah, sue me, I like technology and don't have the patience to sit down with a book anymore.. ) and it was certainly a great experience. Highly recommended to those who haven't heard/read it yet. So Frank Darabount has the film rights to this, eh? All I can say is, he was hitting home runs with SK movies until he did the last 5 minutes of The Mist. Hopefully he doesn't fuck up the end of this one if it ever gets made.

[JDFP]

This. So Frank Darabount has the film rights to this, eh? All I can say is, he was hitting home runs with SK movies until he did the last 5 minutes of The Mist. Hopefully he doesn't fuck up the end of this one if it ever gets made. Really? I LOVED the ending of "The Mist", it made the film for me. I was in the theatre with three other guys and I just started bursting out laughing and they looked at me like: 'Dude, just wrong...' and then they started laughing too. I thought it was fantastic and I give kudos to Darabont for having the balls to go ahead with the ending he used. 99% of other directors would have taken the easy cliche way of 'oh, the good guys are always victorious over bad!' so this ending was fresher and against the norm to me, which made me enjoy it even more. Then again, I'm a sick, sick person sometimes. j.p.

[LouCipherr]

I dunno, the ending came as quite a shock and was nothing like the ending of the story. I was so used to FD nailing SK's movies perfectly from novel to film, then The Mist's ending hit and I was completely taken back. It seemed like a cheap, unrealistc ending to the flick compared to the book. Even Stephen King backed FD's ending to The Mist, I just didn't like it. I wanted it to end like the book and was surprised it didn't, considering FD's track record with SK film adaptations.

[DjfunkmasterG]

I dunno, the ending came as quite a shock and was nothing like the ending of the story. I was so used to FD nailing SK's movies perfectly from novel to film, then The Mist's ending hit and I was completely taken back. It seemed like a cheap, unrealistc ending to the flick compared to the book. Even Stephen King backed FD's ending to The Mist, I just didn't like it. I wanted it to end like the book and was surprised it didn't, considering FD's track record with SK film adaptations. Wah wah wah... LOL J/K I am with you on that one. While i thought everything in the movie was almost spot on (Sex Scene was missing... DAMN YOU Frank) The ending change was not a good thing in my opinion, although I think I stated earlier I sort of liked it, I take it back I want the apocalyptic ending.

[Legion2213]

Loved the ending of The Mist (movie). It was a depressing kick to the bollocks after all they'd been through, but props to the director for not taking the easy option and having the army sail in and save the day. Also loved the HUGE monster that was wandering around towards the end of the movie..."Project Arrowhead" fricken' rocks!

[LouCipherr]

Wah wah wah... What are you whining about? I hated the ending. Where is the :finger: smiley when I need it?! It was a depressing kick to the bollocks after all they'd been through, but props to the director for not taking the easy option and having the army sail in and save the day. That was the great thing about the ending of the original story - there was no 'save the day' or happy ending. It didn't end like the movie, but there certainly wasn't a hopeful outlook.

[Legion2213]

I claim ignorance as to the outcome of the original novel...I'll see if I can track down a cheap-ass copy on eepbay.

[Danny]

i really dug the long walk, but my favorite of the bachman books stories is rage, that was a really dark story that just really left you feeling sort of wiered out by imagining the whole thing. as for the guy at the end i read someone where about the subtext king put into it, it wasnt flagg but i cant quite remember, something about him always going to see someone ahead of him, doing better than him, who had gotten further and he had to overcome. some people think its randall flagg, or ghosts of dead walkers but i think he had just lost it and to his now broken mind he couldnt stop because of this indoctrinated idea of certain punishment, so his mind constructed this 'dark walker' who would be in front, always there to attempt to overtake, so he would never have to stop, never have to slow down and be punished.

[LouCipherr]

I claim ignorance as to the outcome of the original novel...I'll see if I can track down a cheap-ass copy on eepbay. It is worth every minute invested in the read. I have a certain affinity for his short stories, and this one is definitely the top of the heap. You won't be disappointed.

[Danny]

It is worth every minute invested in the read. I have a certain affinity for his short stories, and this one is definitely the top of the heap. You won't be disappointed. i gotta disagree with you about the mist, i think its that rare instance where the adaptions changes are better. Kings version ends with the usual king "nothing will ever be the same!" schtik he always does. In the movie version just AFTER the most opportune moment the military show up. there not the facist villain for once, they just show up too late. its so much more unexpected and crushing that they were just seconds late than the kings usual cock tease of "this is just a tiny bit of a long story you will never see". In the film they werent utterly hopeless, the event was only temporary and if they held out longer it could have been a happy ending, but even after all they whent through only a bit of rash judgement leads in a truly soul crushing finale that has so much more of a lasting impact than kings usual bag which wasnt anything i havent seen before.

[LoSTBoY]

The Long Walk: Is one of my top 3 stories (never made a list but it's probably there), I feel like I made a post about this ages ago but it may have been on the old forums. It's the best of Steven King in it's simplicity, shows even a novella can be better than a series of books telling the same story. It still reminds me to keep on walking when my legs start to tire, listening out for that first warning. The Mist film ending: Utter pish, it was all good until that last bit which had nothing to do with the story.   The story ending, if I recall, is they find a transmission on the car radio and the story ends as they drive on through the mist. Dawn left that kind of ending and it worked well, same would have happened here. JP, your very quickly becoming my favourite poster, if only for reminding me to see Sons of Anarchy on your sig.