Originally published in 1979, written by Stephen King (writing as Richard Bachman) this story makes me wonder if it might have been a partial inspiration for "The Hunger Games"?
The United Sates, in the future, is a dystopian nightmare.
Every May 1st the USA holds a competition called "The Long Walk". 100 teenage boys, chosen at random, walk until they cannot walk anymore.
The long walk stops for nothing, not weather, not illness, not injury, not bodily functions like eating, sleeping, using the bathroom, nothing. Contestants often suffer mental breakdowns during the walk.
If at any point the contestant stops walking or drops below 4 miles an hour, they are given 120 seconds to resume walking at 4 miles an hour, or they get a "ticket". "Buying a ticket" means being shot by soldiers with army-type rifles until they are dead.
The competition is over when only one walker remains.
The last walker, the winner, receives "The Prize", a large sum of money and whatever he wants for the rest of his life. But at what cost? A wonderfully horrific novel.
No comments:
Post a Comment