“Just go on dancing with me like this forever and I’ll never tire. We’ll scrape our shoe on the stars and hang upside down from the moon.”

this is one of those books thats supposed to make you physically ill and in pain; and if it doesn’t, then im not sure what will. despite the fact that the summary reads as if this is a battle royale ala hunger games type book, its really not. it has the sort of vibe that feels too real and physical and at the same time like a faraway thought, if that makes sense.

every year, an annual contest called the Long Walk takes place, where 100 boys enter, and the winner gets ‘whatever his heart desires’. every contestant has to maintain a pace of 4 miles per hour, or more, not less, as they will be warned. for every warning, they will need to walk a whole hour for it to be revoked. if they do, however, get three warnings, and decides to slow down even more, they will get shot immediately, and as a result, will both lose the game and lose their life.

“They’re animals, all right. But why are you so goddam sure that makes us human beings?” 

i enjoyed this book a lot, but decided not to do a review immediately because after a while, it was hard trying to figure out what i liked the most and what i thought of it. and now that im writing this, im trying really hard to organize and try and figure out what i can get out of all my thoughts on this book.

from the first chapter you immediately know how important the physical aspect of the book is. even if you thought and would outwalk 99 other contestants, theres a higher chance you’ll die from exhaustion by the end of it. you feel the optimism and downward descent to a living hell throughout the entire book.

we only get to see things from Garraty’s perspective, whos also the main character, and the only time we get to know about anyone else is when he interacts with them or starts keeping an eye on them. and yet, none of these other characters are easy to forget. the relationship between the boys were extremely complicated and intimate, teetering between the willingness for the other to kill and real camraderie. every time i read about a gunshot, i hoped desperately that it wasn’t one of the guys i knew because they were so genuine and pleasant to read more about as their characters developed.

“If people just took it a day at a time, they’d be a lot happier.” 

something about this book was very sincere in the midst of hardship and torture, and despite what King might have intended, characters such as McVries and Garraty made the trip extraordinarily pleasant, if not more emotionally painful.

 this novel is something im always going to keep in mind. not only was the text exciting and visceral, but deep within me it hit something of a chord. some people might not like the novel. its crude, awkward, and depressing. but on the other hand, it challenges, breaks, and strips bare the human soul, and ultimately, an intense experience is the sympathy that such an act invokes.