The Long Walk by Richard Bachman (Audiobook review)

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Title: The Long Walk

Author: Richard Bachman

Narrator: Kirby Heyborne

Copyright: 2010, Blackstone Audio

Duration: 10 hours, 48 minutes

Genres: general fiction, suspense

Filed in: Audiobook Reviews

Review copy provided by Blackstone Audio.



PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: On the first day of May, 100 teenage boys meet for a race known as The Long Walk. If you break the rules, you get three warnings. If you exceed your limit, what happens is absolutely terrifying.

©1979 Richard Bachman (P)2010 Penguin.



AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: Each year 100 teenage boys compete in the Long Walk. On May 1st the boys gather in northern Maine, and at precisely 9 o’clock AM they begin walking south. There are only two rules to follow: 1) you must continue walking at all times at no less than 4 miles per hour, and 2) you may not interfere with other walkers. The object of the competition is simply to be the last person still walking. The winner gets anything he wants for the rest of his life, and will never have to worry about anything ever again. The 99 losers will never have to worry about anything either, but for a very different reason. If you break either of the two rules, you get a warning from one of the soldiers that accompany the walkers. After your third warning, the soldiers pull out their rifles. For 99 of the competing boys, this will be the last walk they ever take.

The Long Walk is a pretty disturbing tale. Imagine a society where teenagers would feel like they have nothing to lose by entering a competition like this. Not so hard to imagine really since it is very much like the society we live in today. Most disturbing of all are the spectators. Hordes of people, everything from picnicking families to marching bands, line the road, watching, placing bets, cheering, hoping to see the soldiers pull out their rifles. Again, not very different than the reality we live in. Richard Bachman has exposed the darker side of humanity, upturning the rock to uncover the white, squirming reality beneath. Pretty damned disturbing indeed.

I’ve been a pretty big fan of Stephen King books for a long time now, but I have never really delved into his Bachman books. I read one many years ago and didn’t care for it, so I always stuck to the books King put his own name on. I came across The Long Walk in Blackstone Audio’s online catalog however, and it sounded like it was worth a try. I’m glad I did, because I enjoyed it quite a bit.

At the beginning of the audio recording, the narrator reads what you might call an essay written by Stephen King, titled The Importance of Being Bachman. It was not written specifically for this book, but it’s a fitting addition since it explains some of the reasons behind King’s adoption of the Bachman persona. In it, King says that Bachman has his own style, or his own voice if you will. I found that to be true all those years ago when I read The Regulators, and that’s why I never picked up another Bachman book until now.

As I listened to The Long Walk however, I was hard pressed to tell the difference. It sounded like the same old Stephen King that I know and love. I even noticed a couple of what I consider to be trademark King-isms. The first was the blue chambray work shirt. I don’t know what King’s deal with blue chambray work shirts is, but several of his novels include a character that wears one, including The Long Walk. The other thing is a particular style of phrasing that King uses at certain times. You or I might say something like, “They walked at 4 or 5 miles per hour,” but King always phrases it like, “They walked at 4 miles per hour, 5 at the most.” I bet there’s not a single Stephen King novel that doesn’t have a phrase like that, and for me it’s a dead giveaway.

That’s all just symantics though. Apparently it doesn’t matter whose name he puts on the book, it’s probably worth a read. I’ll assume The Regulators was an aberration. Incidentally, there are a few books with the name Stephen King on them that I don’t like as well.

The only thing that disappointed me a little in The Long Walk, was that Richard Bachman never really explained much about the world these boys live in. Clearly it’s very much like our own, but who came up with the idea of the Walk, and why is the army involved. The author also never satisfied my curiosity about the mysterious Major who seems to be in charge of the whole thing. People everywhere seemingly idolize him as some kind of hero, but by the end of the book he looks more like a sadistic psychopath. Only to us though, the people in the book, with the exception of the walkers, still worship him. The only thing Bachman really tells us about the world at large, is that people who speak out against the government are executed. Not very satisfying that, it only made me want to know more.

I’m always curious about the thought processes that go into creating a work of fiction. The author had to see or hear or read something that sparked an idea in his mind that made him stop and think, “That would make an interesting story.” To me, The Long Walk bears a striking resemblance to the Bataan Death March, an actual event that occurred during World War II where some American P.O.W.’s were literally marched to death, and I have to wonder if that is what created the spark in Richard Bachman’s mind. I can also see some similarities to the theme of Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery, and in fact Bachman mentions a short story by Shirley Jackson in his narrative, although he does not name the story. If you flip it around and look at it the other way, in other words look at later stories that may have been influenced by The Long Walk, I can see some definite similarities in Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games, which is also about a bunch of teenagers thrown into a life and death competition. Maybe the Long Walk caught Collins’ attention in some special way.

Narrator Kirby Heyborne is okay in my book. I was skeptical at first, but he grew on me quickly. The boys in this book experience a very wide range of emotions as the hours turn into days, and the miles continue to roll by. Heyborne handled the gamut of feelings very well, matching his voice to each situation that arose. Sometimes the amount of feeling he expressed in his voice was pretty impressive.



CHECK OUT THESE OTHER AUDIOBOOK REVIEWS:

The Shining by Stephen King (Audiobook Review)

Firestarter by Stephen King (audiobook Review)

Cujo by Stephen King (Audiobook Review)



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If you like this audiobook review, you can purchase the audiobook here:

Get “The Long Walk” by Stephen King writing as Richard Bachman (Unabridged Audiobook) from Blackstone Audio.



This audiobook review is based on the unabridged audiobook.

Audiobook review by Steven Brandt

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