Ratings37
Average rating3.2
Barton Dawes’ unremarkable but comfortable existence suddenly takes a turn for the worst. Highway construction puts him out of work and simultaneously forces him out of his home. Dawes isn’t the sort of man who will take an insult of this magnitude lying down. His single-minded determination to fight the inevitable course of progress drives his wife and friends away while he tries to face down the uncaring bureaucracy that has destroyed his once comfortable life.
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King said it's the weakest novel in The Bachman Books collection so I was dreading what abomination it could be if The Long Walk was already one star material. But it was not so. Written between Salem's Lot and The Shining it's sort of a writing exercise that would be perfected in the latter book.
While not outstanding I was intrigued almost all the way through though the ending has a bit smaller bang than I hoped for. I couldn't even bring myself to finish last ten pages late at night, finished them in the morning instead. Theme of losing sanity is among my favorites (it's why I love Philip K. Dick and The Shining) so this single thing kept me going with this novel. Not as good as The Running Man but far better than The Long Walk. It had structure, it had a story, it had character motivation. I can't say the same about The Long Walk.