The Bachman Books

These four novels have nothing whatsoever to do with the supernatural, as King was using his pseudonym early on as a vehicle to write and publish fiction outside of the expectations he had created under his own name. Surprisingly, despite his other novels having monsters, ghosts, and demons, these stories have less mainstream appeal and seem more like a young author trying to be literary. And achieving it, in my opinion. All four of these books are dead serious, and delve deeply into their characters' psychological underpinnings. Before he died from "cancer of the pseudonym," as King calls it, Bachman did branch out into King territory with his next and last book, Thinner, but the early ones are in their own category. For a different show more take on Stephen King's writing talents, and maybe an appreciation for his diversity and ambition as an author, give The Bachman Books a read. show less

I loved all the stories in this book.

"Roadwork" was really good and touched me a bit since I am experiencing the city wanting to destroy my home to make way for an unnecessary road project. Bart's total frustration with the project that bleeds over to other aspects of his life (job and marriage) tugs at the heartstrings and the ending he chose kind of feels like a pinch to the gut.

More tightly written than I have come to expect from Stephen King, although that may be that I have read more of his later works, and fewer of the early ones. These stories are intensely memorable - the basic conceits worm their way into the subconscious, and make looking out at the world just that little bit stranger. For me, "The Long Walk" and "Thinner" stand out from the other two novels, but I suspect that different people will react to different stories. These stories are not in your face horror, but the creeping horror of the way that humans can lose their humanity, as they fail to respect the humanity of others.

it's a little strange to me that there are so many typos in this edition. they're all reprints and assuming these typos (many of them major) are in the originals, they should have been fixed here. ignoring that, we've got stories here that are, at least it seems to me, more...politically pointed than king's stories often are. eminent domain, pollution, class, and devolution of humanity (a common theme, i suppose).

these stories are novellas, and each is long enough to review in its own right.

rage: in the introduction, he says that he wrote this in high school, but revised it much later. it feels like a young, early work, and it needed more maturing. the story itself is pretty solid, but it just didn't work for me all that well, show more especially the ending, which is vintage stephen king, and so certainly had potential, but was just poorly done. in general, there wasn't enough depth and character background. also in the introduction, he says that the story used to be named getting it on; i wish they hadn't changed that. (1.5 - 2 stars)

the long walk: i tried not to have expectations of this, because i knew i only remembered small pieces of it, but i also remember really liking it the first (only?) time i read it. as i was going through it this time, i was thinking that it was overly long, but in retrospect i actually think that it was just right. it dragged a bit, but i think that matched what was happening in the story, and it helped the reader (this reader, anyway) to get to the point that the kids get to; to see the pointlessness of it, and the inevitability. for me, it actually had to be that long or i think i would have missed some of the point. i thought he did a really nice job with this one, and kind of find it endlessly fascinating to think that we (societally) could get to this kind of place. which i think he revisits in the 4th book in this one, the running man. (4 stars)

roadwork: this is so well written. i have no idea why it took me forever to read, because it's a pretty fantastic character study on the effects of grief and subsequent spiral into insanity. (and *so* quintessential stephen king that i can't believe anyone would think richard bachman could be anyone but him, or had stolen a manuscript from him.) the last few pages were a disappointment compared to the rest, but not enough to bring it too far down for me. it also just all seemed like...such a waste, and it didn't make that much sense for bart to do what he did, but i guess since he was going crazy that i couldn't expect it to?. i really like that the title of this one refers to more than it seems to.
"His windshield wipers beat a steady back-and-forth tune, and beyond their sweep snow that had been defrosted into slush ran down the Saf-T-Glass like tears." (4.25 stars)

the running man: (i wonder how 9/11 has imprinted onto our nation's consciousness, and how that incident might affect someone's feeling about the end of this story. i remember really loving this story, along with the long walk. i think i must have been fascinated with the idea, basically, of the gladiators, and that anyone would actually watch someone fight for their life for sport. and in this story, being a part of hunting him down. it seemed like such a statement of where we're going, and soon, but also so far from what i could imagine on my own. i thought these two stories said so much about our culture and our lack of humanity, what we're willing to sacrifice and become for the sake of entertainment. i also liked the gore in each of them, at the time. now, maybe twenty years later or more, i feel ... actually largely the same. except that we've moved far technologically, and we do see these things - videos of people being killed, mauled, what-have-you. and we click, and we watch, and we forward. i remain un-understanding of it. that this story is more reality than fantasy says more than i'd like it to. (4 stars) show less

Two dystopian stories (The Long Walk & The Running Man) and one drama (Roadwork). All three of them laced with despair.

However, these main characters are all the type to witness (anti-Black) racism and not say anything. Which made me feel more detached from them and their lives.

Even if they main characters themselves were not racists. They did nothing to stop it. Which is very realistic, but again, it made me care less about them.

I did enjoy the side character Bradley Throckmorton from The Running Man. I think that's why I prefer that story over the other two.

The quality of these novels varies enormously. At the bottom we have Rage. This is a trunk novel and it shows. New editions of the Bachman Books don't include it. Not much of a loss. King says this is because a disturbingly high number of kids who've gunned down people in American high schools have owned a copy. I suspect that it's because it's shit!

The problem being, that there's no point to the novel. It either needs to be full length with many points or a short story with one... but there's no point at all! This is because there's no reason for him to 'get it on'. Charlie is entirely without motivation and his hostages are entirely without motivation in assaulting Ted.

At 131 pages this is hardly a chronic pain but it could all be show more over so much quicker if it weren't padded out with boring pointless stories told by Charlie and the others.

What a load of crap.

At the other end of the spectrum is The Long Walk.

It's set in a 1979 alternate reality where apparently the Nazi's developed nuclear power and there have been some knock on effects in American culture. You can basically ignore that though as the entire novel takes place from the point of view of Garrity who is walking along with 99 other boys. If you stop the guards shoot you. Last one walking wins a prize.

Something of a testament to King's ability that he can sustain your interest for so long while working within such narrow confines. There's none of the detailed reams of backstory that King usually uses (to the detriment or completion of the story depending on your point of view): just the boys dealing with themselves and each other.

I have to wonder about the mental state of a man who would think up an idea like this. The happy place is a dot to him. show less

The Bachman Books collects the first four (of five) novels that Stephen King chose to publish under a pseudonym.

It opens with an introduction where King tries (and sort of flails at it) to explain why exactly he adopted a pen name. For me, this intro was the most enjoyable part of the book. Reading it, you get the sense that King felt like he was caught doing something dirty and is attempting to explain himself with his hands in his pockets and a guilty smirk on his face.

Rage
Maybe describing Rage as 'Stephen King does The Breakfast Club' is too obvious, but there it is.

Charlie Decker decides to 'get it on' one day. He shoots his Algebra teacher and takes the class hostage. Rather than freezing up into a state of catatonia, the class show more becomes group therapy and there is much soul searching.

I have to be honest and say that I think the main character, Charlie is a pretty irritating character. I felt like my sympathies were misplaced. Ted (a character who is dumped on through the story) was a much better (and more sympathetic) character than our star.

And even though the novel was short at a hundred and seventy pages, at the end it felt like it was dragging. Despite the promising set up, this book didn't grab me. I'd say it's the weakest of his novels I've yet read.

The Long Walk
Now here's something. A virtually unknown Stephen King novel that is excellent. A vaguely science fiction novel in a fascist state that runs an annual competition called 'The Long Walk'. A group of one hundred young people (you must be under eighteen) start at the Maine/Canada border and walk south. You must walk a minimum of four miles an hour. Fall below that and you receive a warning. After three warnings you are shot by the impassive soldiers following behind in a half-track. The last Walker wins.

I'd always figured that Rage would be the Bachman book that was 'worth reading' because of its notorious reputation if nothing else. And yet The Long Walk blows the so-so Rage to pieces. It is a much better book. Through the course of a novel, you come to know a small group of boys, not wanting to become too attached, knowing that they must all die for the Walk to end. King is excellent not just in detailing the constant tension of literally being followed by your would be killers, but in describing all the microscopic, miserable little details of the death march. You feel like you are marching with them as the scenery rarely changes and their bodies fail.

It's very similar to a book I just finished recently, Battle Royale. It is leagues better in quality though. Battle Royale was trashy pulp trying to defend itself by pretending to be something more. The Long Walk is something more, disguised as trashy pulp.

Roadwork
There's a freeway extension coming through. It will require the demolition of both Barton George Dawes' home and office, and that's something that Bart just can't let slide.

The book is interesting and well written, but there's just something wrong with it. I think part of the problem is that the book is for the most part a drama, but there's this sort of thriller going on in the background. First thing Bart does is purchase a couple of guns while arguing with a voice in his head. Yet it's too far in the background. I guess I would have preferred the suspense elements of the book to be sprinkled more liberally through the entire narrative rather than surfacing from time to time only to submerge again while Bart's midlife crisis/breakdown continued.

The writing is pretty impressive, considering Stephen King wrote so well about Bart's midlife crisis while he was such a young guy and the ending was pretty strong. Maybe I would have liked it better if it had started with the standoff and then was presented as a flashback. But then I would be making the book into something that it is not.

The Running Man
Ben Richards needs money in a bad way. He has nothing to lose, but a lot to live for. His desperation drives him to sign up for The Running Man, free-vee’s hottest game show. If he can survive being hunted for thirty days, he will win the grand prize of one billion New Dollars. So far the record is eight days.

The Running Man is about as stripped down a book as Stephen King is likely to write. In the introduction he mentions it was written within a week and published with very few changes. A very straight ahead thriller that churns right along with barely a pause for breath.

The book is fast paced and fun with a wallop of an ending, but the social commentary is a little heavy handed. A fun book and the most simply entertaining of the Bachman books in this collection, but it is far from being top-tier King.

Overall, The Bachman Books is probably the weakest of Stephen King's novella collections. The Long Walk is excellent and worth a read and The Running Man is a goof (though not as fun as it should have been), but Rage and Roadwork are both too problematic to be enjoyable. show less