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The Long Walk cover art

The Long Walk

By: Stephen King, Richard Bachman
Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
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Summary

In the near future, where America has become a police state, 100 boys are selected to enter an annual contest where the winner will be awarded whatever he wants for the rest of his life.

The game is simple - maintain a steady walking pace of four miles per hour without stopping. Three warnings and you're out - permanently.

©1979 Stephen King (P)2009 Penguin Audio

What listeners say about The Long Walk

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

This book is so wonderfully narrated, it is a whole new experience listening to it as opposed to reading it. Kirby Heyborne really brings it to life and does the voices of all the poor boys so well. One of the best narrations,I have listened to. This book lends itself perfectly to an audio version. A sad tale really but captivating. You really feel every mile of hard road.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Better than the brand name version

The late Richard Bachman's best work after The Running Man (Rage is sadly out of print, apparently forever now) and finally on Audible. It takes a while to get used to the pitch of Kirkby Heyborne's voice but given the average age of the walkers is around seventeen, it makes sense. Heyborne's range is also accomplished enough to do justice to the voices, particularly those of Stebbins and Barkovitch who are the kind of characters that truly need nuance.

Indeed, the characters make the book so memorable given that there is no real plot, instead reading what amounts to the analogue version of reality television. It works too, having drawn just deep enough into the world to flesh out the walkers. Each is memorable, given their time in both the sun and the rain and you feel for them in the way you'd be hard pressed to feel for any contemporary young adult protagonist.

Yes, it is a cheek to narrate only three out of the four Bachman books and then sell them individually rather than as a full collection. My advice, buy this and The Running Man and write a letter to the publisher telling them how much you hate them. But buy anyway.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

finally on audible

I read this book years ago and forgot how good it was. the only negative is the price as these are a collection of short stories from one book. so should be priced accordingly.

the narrator delivers the story well and subtly changes accent for different characters .
I loved it hope you do to

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Reality TV, as it will be.

This book was published 1979, the first reality tv show was aired in 1973 and it was a family show, here King pushes the format to the most extreme and manages to capture a future as it is developing. Every year reality TV demands more cruelty towards its participants, here he gives us a perfect example of where that will take us.

A bit long for such a bleak story but still engaging as the characters are given real concerns and desires that all could recognise, an amazing achievement considering how many we meet in this race to be the last contestant walking.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

good story but poor ending. end felt very rushed

felt like he suddenly got bored of writing the long walk and gave up. The ending was pretty much non existent. more like the book just stopped rather than ended.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Captivating

brilliant storyline, captivating, couldn't put it down, Stephen King at his best. would totally recommended

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

should be taught along side Shakespeare...

there's so many layers to this story. literally king at his best! he grasps the depth of youth but encapsulates the moral struggles we all face in one beautiful, heart wrenching, debasing story 👌

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5 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Walked every step with them

How 'Bachman' aka King manages to create a tale with depth, humanity and interest from such a claustrophobic situation (as he does time and time again is astounding. Characters shine, your stomach will churn and your feet will pound simply from listening.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing.

Very grim. Got through it in couple days very gripping. Well narrated, once you start couldn't stop thinking about it until I was finished.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An incredible horror tale....but...

Completely ruined by a weak and emotionally devoid narration .
This tale, written by King under his Bachman pseudonym, is one of his finest. There are no ghosts, and the only monsters are the citizens of this futuristic dystopia who line the streets to watch. It's been many years since las I read it, and as my eyes are now very poor, I bought this audiobook. The tale is heavily character driven , so it screamed out for a versatile and emotive narrator... what it got was a monotone, weak, threadbare effort, mailed in as an afterthought to pay some bills.
Truly awful!

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3 people found this helpful