Author: Stephen King
Publisher: Scribner
Rating: 4/5
Buy: Amazon | Bookshop.org

You can feel the creeping dread as the miles go on in The Long Walk.

That’s really what got me about this book. Nothing necessarily needs to happen for you to feel uncomfortable. They’re just walking. And walking. And walking.

You know the rules. You know what happens when they can’t keep the pace. So every time somebody starts slowing down, you already know what’s coming.

And somehow that never really gets easier to read.

I also couldn’t stop thinking about how much the Walk reminded me of life.

We’re all walking. We just don’t know how long we’re going to be walking for.

You spend your whole life trying to get to the next thing. School. Work. Money. A better job. A promotion. Whatever it is. And you keep thinking that once you get there, you’ll finally be able to slow down a little.

Except there’s always something else.

That’s where I started thinking about work.

We all know a boss out there who almost brags about working until midnight. Almost seems proud of it. Like the fact that they worked until midnight somehow proves how committed they are.

And then they’re disappointed when you don’t do the same.

If you don’t make the job the most important thing in your life, what does that say about your commitment?

That’s the part of The Long Walk that really got under my skin.

Because that’s basically what these boys are being asked to do.

Keep going.

Don’t stop.

Don’t slow down.

It doesn’t matter if you’re exhausted. It doesn’t matter if you’re hurting. It doesn’t matter if you’ve had enough.

You keep going.

And the further they get, the more the Walk stops being about winning and becomes about simply making it through another mile.

I think that’s why the book feels so much more depressing than I expected it to.

These are kids. They’re talking about home and girls and their lives and what they want to do afterward. And while they’re doing that, they’re walking toward their own deaths.

There’s something really messed up about how normal everyone around them makes it seem, too.

People are standing along the road watching.

Cheering.

Waiting to see who makes it.

And the boys themselves joke about it and talk about it and try to keep each other’s spirits up.

It’s almost like everyone has agreed to pretend this is normal.

Maybe that’s part of what makes it work so well.

Because isn’t that what people do?

We get used to things.

Something terrible happens and eventually it just becomes another Tuesday.

And these boys keep walking.

⚠️ SPOILERS BELOW

If you haven’t read The Long Walk, stop here.

The ending is what really sealed the whole thing for me.

Garraty wins.

Except he doesn’t really seem to understand what winning means anymore.

He sees the figure ahead of him and starts walking toward it.

And I actually liked that ending.

Because I don’t think the Walk was ever really about reaching a finish line.

It was about continuing.

And isn’t that life?

You spend so much time thinking about the next thing you’re supposed to reach. Then you get there and there’s another thing waiting.

So you keep walking.

And eventually, whether you’re ready or not, you reach the end.

That’s a pretty damn bleak way of looking at life.

But I think it fits the book.

I had a few issues with it. There were definitely stretches where the repetition started to wear on me. They’re walking, they’re talking, someone is struggling, and then they’re walking some more. I understand why King wrote it that way, because we’re supposed to feel that exhaustion along with them, but there were times when I felt the pacing myself.

Still, I finished the book and kept thinking about it.

I went into The Long Walk expecting a dark story about a bunch of boys walking until there’s only one left.

I ended up thinking a lot more about life, work, burnout, and how easily we can convince ourselves that constantly moving forward is the same thing as actually getting somewhere.

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