The Running Man by Stephen King Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Running Man
Book Review: An exciting read that lacks the usual King depth
Summary: 3 Stars
We've all heard the story about the writer who booked himself into a hotel on Friday and walked out Monday morning with a complete book in his hands (it was the Bible - he'd stolen it from the room). With The Running Man, though, we have a complete novel that was written in only three days - and was published with almost no changes to that original draft. Is it even possible to write a decent novel in three days? Yes - but, obviously, The Running Man is not your typical Stephen King novel (which is a large part of the reason it was published under the pseudonym of Richard Bachman). Action is the gas pedal, and King floored it from page one until the very end. Surprisingly, though, there is some pretty decent characterization of the main player - and a heavy undertone of social commentary worked into the book.
The setting is a future America in which society has totally fractured, leaving those on the wrong side of the tracks doomed to a life of misery. Ben Richards personifies that social inequity - unable to find work because of his antiestablishment ways (for some reason, he didn't want to keep working at a job which exposed the old family jewels to dangerous amounts of radiation leakage), he can't take care of his family - his wife keeps turning tricks for money, and his 18-month-old daughter has the flu and will likely die without proper medicine. There is only one way out for him - the Network Games. The whole nation is fascinated with the Free-Vee game shows, shows such as Treadmill to Bucks or Swim With the Crocodiles. No show satisfies the bloodlust of the public like The Running Man does, though, and a man of Richards' temperament is just the kind of player the show is looking for.
The game is simple. Richards is paraded out in front of the cameras, castigated as a dangerous low-life, then turned loose on the streets. A few hours later, the show's Hunters begin going after him. Richards wins money for every hour he can avoid capture (and by capture, I mean bloody death - broadcast live to the whole country), with bonuses for any cops killed along the way. Best of all, the viewing public can win money for themselves by turning him in if they see him. Richards proves himself a worthy contestant indeed - the Game in fact, will never be the same.
This is one of my least favorite King novels, primarily because it's so action-oriented. It doesn't put down roots, and it doesn't delve completely into the minds of any characters other than the protagonist. It is, in fact, like a weak film adaptation of a King novel - stripped of all the nuances that make King such a special writer. That's not to way this isn't an exciting novel because it is - that's about all it is, though.
Book Review: And a car goes into the crowd!
Summary: 3 Stars
To this point in the Bachman Books (where I originally read the story), King had been steadily improving as his alter ego. This was definitely a step back. King himself said that he thought that this was probably the strongest piece from the collection, since it didn't bother itself with a message (an outright lie, since there are obvious criticisms of America's voyeuristic society contained within the piece), a statement which really puzzles me.The story here isn't told exceptionally well--I don't see it as being up to King's usual standards. The chaptering is actually a little hokey, and has almost nothing to do with the actual plot of the book (a minor problem, but something which bothered me to no small extent). The story itself is uniformly depressing--there is no catharsis in this work. Just like at some points in the Talisman, the bad just builds and builds until everything comes to a bad conclusion.
All things considered, this isn't a really reprehensible work, but it disappointed me, after seeing just what King is capable of. This is a story that most authors probably wouldn't have written, for that matter--it would seem to conform better to the dimensions of a short story. As a read for a short airline flight, it fits the bill, but if you're looking for meat, it's just not there to be had.
Book Review: And now for something completely different...
Summary: 4 Stars
King wrote many unpublished works before hitting the big time. Later, when the publishing house was scrabbling madly through his attic, searching for anything to publish, they came across a load of early stuff which they published under the pen name of Richard Bachman. When this didn't work, they re-titled stuff as 'Stephen King writing as Richard Bachman'. This seemed to work better ... shows what a name can do!Running Man, though well written by anybody else's standards, is certainly not up to the usual King benchmark. It lacks the depth of the later King books. Having said all that, the story is entertaining and the characterization of Ben Richards, the protagonist is exceptional. In short, Richards is in a life or death race. He wins - he escapes poverty. He loses - he dies. Trouble is, no one has ever won. The game is televised and (fairly obviously) biased against the contestant.
In later years, King claims that there was no ulterior message in Running Man, though to me it seems that he highlights the problems of a generation who are glued to the television screens, how gullible they are to anything they see on the silver screen, and just how far the major networks will go to retain 'customer loyalty'. Also, as I write this, just after the awful attacks on WTC and the Pentagon, it strikes me that it was not only Tom Clancy who foresaw the threat of an aeroplane attack on a building.
Running Man is not a long book. It's an easy weekend read that will leave you amused but maybe a little sad about the future.
Book Review: Another Bachman Book.
Summary: 3 Stars
Once again, just as Thinner, this book was not very good. It was entertaining enough to get through it but it didn't keep me on the edge of my seat as his other books do. For some reason, he has a different writing style in the Bachman books. Maybe that was done purposely. I don't know. Whatever the reason, I don't like the writing style at all.Book Review: Another excellent King book . . .
Summary: 5 Stars
The Running Man is the story of Ben Richards and his risk to make money for his desperately poor family. It is the year 2025 and there are the very rich and the impoverished. Free-Vee is a television that is installed in every person's house that shows game shows where people are used for entertainment so they can make money-- even if it costs them their lives. Richards decides that he has no other choice other than to be on one of the game shows to win money. The book talks about what he has to go through in order to be chosen to be on a show. Finally, he is chosen for the show "The Running Man" where he is sent out into the streets and then proceeds to run from hunters who are trying to find him and kill him. The book talks about his near escapes and his encounters while running across the country from the hunters as well as everyone in the country. The book is excellent from beginning to end and is hard to put down. The chapters are short which makes the book goes extrememely fast. The ending is one of the best endings to a book I've read in awhile. A must read!!