The Running Man by Stephen King Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Running Man
Book Review: A great story
Summary: 5 Stars
This story was a great story written about the future. It also was a great action story. I liked how one thing happened and then all of a sudden you were hit with another thing that happened. This had a great ending one that I did not think was going to happen.Book Review: A raw and in your face, fun, fast read but DON'T READ THE INTRODUCTION
Summary: 5 Stars
This was the first Bachman book I've read by Mr. King. I was just expecting it to be another SK book that followed most of his guidelines, and I was wrong by a long shot. This book was a lot more gritty and cruel than a lot of his other books. King doesn't beat around the bush when he writes as Bachman, he gets straight to the point. It was fast paced with a lot there to keep you turning the pages. The only complaint I have is that in the introduction of being Richard Bachman, King gives away the ending to the book for some stupid reason. Other than that, it was a great read. Highly recommended, especially because this was the only SK book I ever read that made me crack up on the last page (In a good way).Book Review: Absolutely Phenomenal
Summary: 5 Stars
This is Stephen King's second best book, behind only The Stand. This is a superbly written action story. it has a great plot, moves quickly and draws you in to this nightmare like no one else can. the book does start out a bit slowly, but picks up tremendously, ending with one explosive (literally) ending! Don't watch the movie--you know the one with Ahnold! in it, because it was terrible. the adaptation screwed up the story. i wish that someone would do a true movie adaptation of this Stephen King masterpiece.
Book Review: An action novel with a suprising amount of social commentary
Summary: 5 Stars
Let me preface this reveiw by urging anyone who has seen the movie to not judge the book by it. This book, although not 1984, is far more profund than anything with Arnold Schwarzenegger in it. Ben Richards, the lead character in The Running Man, is accurately described by one character as an anachronism- he beleives in fidelity and virtue in a bleak dystopian world obsessed with 3D Perverto Mags and watching their fellow man killed on the "Free-Vee". However, he is poor and his daughter is ill...the paltry unemployment check must be used for food and he does not wish to see his wife reverting to prostituion. He turns to the Games, barbaric exploits of human suffering to appease the masses, and is chosen for the most prestigious, dangerous, and rewarding game- The Running Man.
In The Running Man the one doing the running must elude the Hunters for 30 days, using the whole world as his arena. However, the running man must send two videotapes per day back to the Network- enabling the Hunters to pinpoint his location. Nonetheless, Richards is resourceful and skilled at dissapearing into the bowels of large cities- he has nothing to lose except his life, and knows that the money he makes will reach his wife regardless of whether he lives or dies.
I couldn't put this book down, but upon finishing it, (incidentally the ending hits a perfect note for a dystopian novel) I realized there was more to the book than "met the eye", if you pardon the cliche. Stephen King (although this book was writen under the psuedonym of Richard Bachman) includes enough social commentary -be it concerning class division, pollution or the television's ability to put blinders on one's eyes- to entice someone looking for more than just an exilarating action novel.
Highly reccomended, but avoid the movie like the plague.
Book Review: An excellent thriller!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
It's 2025. The world's poor live in abject poverty while the rich live in highrises ignoring the starving masses grovelling around them. Dissent is repressed by heavy handed police, and the ironically named Free Vee (the TV went out of style years ago) with its sadistic game shows. These macabre shows - with names like 'Fun Guns' and 'Dig Your Own Grave' - tempt desperate slum dwellers with quick cash but in order to obtain the prize money the contestants must put their body and pride on the line for the enjoyment of the millions of viewers across the world. One man, Ben Richards, driven by the inability to provide for his wife and influenza stricken daughter, decides to join the hundreds of impoverished who line up before the enourmous Games Building for a chance to win the elusive prizes. Richards however is different from the average drug addict or street bum who tries out for the games. He's fit and smart - exceptionally smart. So intelligent that he's picked for the most grueling show of all: 'The Running Man'. A game where the player must try to stay free as long as he can as he tries to hide from the rest of America and a group of elite special forces called the Hunters. If the contestant is caught before thirty days (an impossible goal) the game is over and the contestant killed.
I immiediatly began to enjoy the main character, Ben Richards from the very start. King creates a typical outcast of society, and rebel of authority but then adds a more sensitive side to the character. Balancing Richards' scathing wit with his powerful love for his family the author makes Richards both intensly charismatic and convincing. Defintely one of my favourite literary characters ever. However King doesn't stop there. The supporting characters are all really realistic as well especially people like Evan Mcone - the sinister leader of the Hunters - and Bradley - the streetwise visionary who is attempting to start a revolution.
King also adds a little bit of satire in his novel. In 'The Running Man' he brings to light how TV is a dangerous weapon which can be used against people. The Free Vee in his novel is a horrible object which pumps propaganda and manufactured happiness into the homes of millions across the nation. It easily suppresses the masses who would otherwise rise up in rebellion. With America today inudated with war propaganda and mindless reality TV shows it is not difficult to find the parallel between the story and reality. In times like these this novel gives an important warning that not everything you see on the boob tube is real.
The novel combines this satirical edge and realistic characters into an exciting storyline which will keep you 'running' through the book as fast as you can to reach the action packed conclusion. An excellent intelligent thriller every one should read.