Rating: 
Summary: AMAZING
Review: Before even taking this book out from the library, I had already read both 'The Long Walk' and 'The Running Man', and both are in my collection. I enjoyed these two novels, and in fact, they are high on my list of King's best books. ('Salem's Lot being the best.) However, I got this book for 'Rage' and 'Roadwork', and was both disappointed and satisfied. Here's why:I started with 'Rage' because it was the first in the book and I hadn't alredy read it. It started off all right, but something about Charlie--the main character who is insane--didn't seem right. I don't believe after attacking another student, they would allow him to stay at school, but that's what you get. The novel is short and has equally small chapters, but it seemed too strange somehow. I finished it but did not enjoy it very much. (The fact that he was killing in cold blood for no reason seemed odd for a King story. I am used to some strange ability or gift, not this. But, oh well.) I moved on to 'Roadwork'. I read it, and unlike other King books, the story took too long to develope. I continued on, however, and enjoyed the ending. Well, it could have been better, but it wasn't bad. So here's my opinion: if you're looking to buy this, make sure you enjoy at least 'Rage' or 'Roadwork' first. If you're still not sure, just buy 'Running Man' and 'Walk' separately. You'll save some money and be happier than having two other books you'll never read. My opinion is this: it got four stars because of the middle two novels...they are excellent and could only be the work of the one and only Stephen King.
Rating:
Summary: "Rage" is the best thing King has ever written
Review: First of all, if Stephen King is afraid that his writing will inspire some teenager to murder someone or take a school hostage, he is flattering himself. I don't think King, while extremely entertaining and imaginative, is quite enough to make anyone do anything that drastic. King taking it out of print is hypocrisy, pure and simple:"Rage" is obviously sympathetic not to the people that Charlie Decker, the high school student on a rampage, is terrorizing, but is written from HIS viewpoint, and sympathizing with HIM, which is entirely legitimate. This also points to the pretty obvious fact that at some point or another King felt the way Decker did as an adolescent or a young adult, albeit not murderous. I first read the novella when I was 14, and was stunned that a writer could connect so poignantly with alienated individuals like myself. I've read pretty much everything Stephen King has written with the exception of "The Dark Tower" series, which I have no desire to read, and still feel that "Rage" is the only piece of literature per se that King has produced. Taking it out of print is shooting himself in the foot.
Rating:
Summary: Didn't read Roadwork; still, an amazing book.
Review: I didn't read Roadwork because I was itching to get into some of King's longer stuff (I wound up reading Bag of Bones and Insomnia and I am now rereading The Talisman before I move onto Black House). But the other three books more than make this book worth your time. Rage and The Long Walk are fun and interesting. Quick, compelling reads that are, surprisingly enough, TIGHT. As King gets older, he seems to relax a lot more and really allow himself to roam around and explore the worlds he is creating, but these early works didn't mess around. Less than 200 pages each and they still leave the reader with vivid images and a definite sensation of having listened to a really great story. The Running Man is genius, and aside from Bag of Bones it is the best King book that I have read (I still haven't read The Stand or It). I think it deserves a spot beside Fahrenheit 451 and Brave New World as a visionary Dystopia novel (it isn't quite up to 1984 or Clockwork Orange standards, but honestly, what is). And the ending informs on our current world in a provocative way that really makes one think about the world's perception of America (I won't give away the ending, but it made me understandably uncomfortable when I read it). And who knows; maybe Roadwork is good too. ;)
Rating:
Summary: Best fiction I've ever read!!
Review: I read this collection about 8 years ago, and the images were so vivid that I still remember them clear as day. Since then, I have read a few of King's other books and seen some of the movie renditions, and I belive that none of them even compare to the quality of the four stories in this book. (The movie version of Running Man was a major disappointment after reading the story.) My favorite of the collection was Rage, followed by The Long Walk, The Running Man, and finally Roadwork. I highly recommend this collection to those who love King and especially to anyone who has yet to read his work and would like to see an excellent sample of his talent.
Rating: 
Summary: Very different
Review: I think that the best way to characterize these books would be to look at the reviews. People who have liked these books have also generally appreciated books like 'Salem's Lot--I take this to mean that these people have very little taste for the finer points of literature and are after only a story (which Lot still didn't provide very well--King misplaced some of his characters and abadoned a promising start, but that's for another review). If that's what you're in search of, you should be adequately satisfied here. As these books progress along a timeline, the presence of a story begins to become more and more evident. But, let's go one by one. Rage: By most standards, this book is really quite bad. It's obvious with it's point and decidedly unrealistic in its depiction of the students, their reactions, and the school system in general. King occasionally departs from reality even further in an attempt to make a point, as with Charlie's interchange with his psychiatrist. Overall, though, I found this story engrossing for reasons that I can't quite explain. I took an interest in Charlie, perhaps because I had a similar adolescence, and so I cannot call this book a complete failure, though it is a decidedly sophomoric entry. The Long Walk: Another obvious effort to get a point across. Both of these first two books were written before Carrie, so my conclusion is that King was probably naive enough at this point to think that an author deliberately went about inserting his message into his work. Perhaps he read Atlas Shrugged one too many times (a feat like that is difficult to duplicate). The analogy between the Walk and life is obvious, but still entertaining, and the story maintains a consistent pace and interest. At this point, the books are getting better. Roadwork: The best in the collection, by my standards. King still tries to make a point in this one, but he does so with a realistic character (at least at first blush) and a much lighter hand. Contrary to some reviewers, I found this story to be engrossing and entertaining, despite the fact that it was the only one of these books that I didn't read in a single sitting. King's natural talent for creating characters that the audience can relate to and feel for shines through in this book, and I'd recommend it even outside of the collection, though it is a little too mired in the environment and conditions of the late seventies for some younger readers to relate to. The Running Man: Here there is an abrupt dip in the message factor of the book (something that King admits to himself in the introduction). This is a story, plain and simple--there's no overtones to be had, just pure science fiction. As "just a story" the book is okay--it's decidedly predictable, and there's nothing new here for anybody who has even a passing familiarity with this sort of book (the apocalyptic, social control dystopia book), but it still manages to be entertaining in the fashion that most King books do. This is a book that most authors would not have written--I think that almost anybody else would have written it as a short story--but it still manages some entertainment value. Overall: This certainly isn't the best work King ever did, primarily because Bachman died before he finished developing as an author. Some of the books are decidedly sophomoric, but most King fans shouldn't be too disappointed. For the casual reader, I'd say that this is a great book to pick up for an air trip or a lazy afternoon if you can find it (due to issues with the Columbine shooting, Rage, and The Bachman Books as a corollary, have been taken out of publication), but it isn't what you'd call "serious reading."
Rating:
Summary: This is a review for Rage
Review: It makes me somewhat angry that a book like Rage has to be shelved because of an incident like Columbine. It's one of the best books I've read in a long time, a book I would tell other to read in an instant, but I can't. The novel has been pushed in to oblivion because it deals with a school shooting. Yes, it deals with teenagers being violent, and blowing up emotionally, and then it also deals with them coming to grips with everything, realizing who they are. That may be what disturbes most people about this book. When they realize who they are, what they realize is far from pretty. But at no point did the story feel forced. Everything these teens said fit with their characters. Everything they did fit with what was being thrown at them.
Do I think this book is dangerous? Not at all! It actually shows the danger of holding your fears and problems inside. That's why Charlie went crazy. He held everything inside, just so he could conform to the norm. And conforming led him to something... well, read the book and find out. That's why, in the end, everything works out in it's own twisted way. And yes, this book is twisted. Very twisted. But not dangerous. What happens in the end was was truelly frightening though. If you can get your hands on a copy, grab it. You'll never be able to put the book down. The pace is fast, the story is amazing, and the characters are so well thought out that you'll feel that you may have actually known them. This is one of King's best books.
Rating:
Summary: Best fiction book I've ever read.
Review: Simply stated, this book is the best fiction book I have ever read. This book is actually the four early Bachman books rolled into one tremendous read. This isn't the typical King formula of characters caught up in a supernatural landscape, but believable characters in plausible situations. I have read hundreds of fiction books. This one is the best by far, and my all time personal favorite. It was the first book I read by King, and hooked me to purchase other King books, some of which were disappointing.
Rating:
Summary: This here review only concerns the brainstorming "Rage"!
Review: This is a Richard Bachman book. Here one male individual, due to some roadwork around his home, blows his top and gets destructive against this consumer's society that does not provide individuals with peace and quiet, security and a healthful and healthy future. he becomes berserk and he starts destroying anything that comes from there, from out there, from this society, and then symbolically this society itself. And he does that to celebrate Christmas and New Year. His solution is final and has no return. This book reveals that a society that does not provide people with an outlet for their desire for change, a procedure for them to change their society in a way or another, they have to turn violent one way or another, either violent against other people or violent against themselves. The development of globalization is a perfect demonstration of this phenomenon. The global process is not under the control of the people, so they become discontented and they may become violent : violent in demonstrations, violent in their everyday life, violent against other people or themselves, even suicidary. Their aim becomes the pure and simple destruction of everything they can lay their hands on and that represents, in their eyes, this global society. Here it will be a McDonald restaurant. There it will be a confrontation with the police. Overthere it will be the destruction and looting of stores. And so on without any limits. This book is a call for a society where every individual will be associate with the decisions and will be able to air their ideas, opposition or agreement, a society where the opinions of individuals will be absolutely crucial, asked for and respected. And this starts at the local level. This book is very pessimistic about our society, but maybe our society deserves this pessimism. Dr Jacques COULARDEAU
Rating:
Summary: "Rage" against censorship!
Review: This is one of my favorite collections of Stephen King's short stories. It's really too bad he's decided to make "Rage" unavailable in future printings. I assume this is why he's released the three other stories in this collection, individually. While I can't say I agree with his decision, in fact it's very saddening to me, it IS his prerogative to do so. It's just a shame that today's society seems to blame the media for the actions of a handful of mentally unstable teenagers across the USA; while their actions are wrong, so are the actions of the bullies at school who've pushed one too many times, and the teachers and parents who turn a blind eye to these situations. That said, I really wish he'd reconsider his decision to pull the plug on "Rage". It was my second favorite story in this book ("The Long Walk" being 1st on my list!) and I'd hate to see it fade away like that. As a matter of fact, I tracked down another copy of this version of The Bachman Books for that reason alone. I find censorship to be detestable in any form, and hate the idea of not being able to read a story ever again just because of the actions of a few. Should "Catcher in the Rye" be banned as well, just because it's been found in some killer's possession? It all just brings up too many questions which require careful consideration and not a knee-jerk reaction to whichever way the wind blows today. If all "offensive" texts were censored, whether by the author or by the government or some other group, we'd be left with a sterile, more horrifying society - a place I surely would not like to live in. This is the main reason I wanted to write a review of this book. I love each story for different reasons. I love "Roadwork" because of the idea of fighting for what you believe in. "The Running Man" was quite disturbing, and definitely MUCH more worthwhile than the movie. "Rage" was an excellent story of a boy pushed over the edge by life in general, and all the thoughts that run through his mind. I've always been fond of stories that allow you a peek into the mind of the insane. "The Long Walk" is by far the BEST story in this book, and easily one of the most disturbing things I've ever read. One reviewer here said it was boring and repetitive. I couldn't disagree more. The horror of it all is slow to build, but you soon realize that you're caught in something WAY larger than you, much like a small fly in a spiderweb. In the same way Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" was terrifying, so is this, but in a much deeper, even more senselessly violent way. I also find it rather interesting that at least two of these stories are still quite relevant. It's no accident that "Rage" and "The Long Walk" are my two favorites... I explained why I love "Rage". "The Long Walk" is disturbing because it's really not that far from today's reality if you think about it. Sure, it's quite a leap, but there are many shows such as Survivor and Boot Camp where people are pushed to their limits, with actual danger involved if you're not strong enough (physically or mentally) or not resourceful enough. While these shows are a long way from murder, one wrong move and a participant's life could easily be in jeopardy - all for the almighty dollar and a bit of fame. Hey, kids... it's all fun and games till someone loses an eye, right? In conclusion, if you've never read these stories and you're a fan of the macabre, I'd highly recommend that you find a copy of all four of these stories, whether through this site's auctions or even your library. They're well worth it. There's not much of the supernatural in these books, if that's what you're looking for, but what's there is true psychological terror, which I find infinitely more interesting because of the possibility that these things CAN happen.
Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: This is what J.D. Salinger would write like if J.D. Salinger could write.
|
