While this work is quite a bit different from the excellent and campy B-Movie, it contains a surprising amount of (sadly still relevant) social criticism.

The plot is thrilling and fast-moving, keeping the reader on the edge of their seat. Stephen King, who wrote this book under the pseudonym Bachman, injects several problems into the story.

These include rampant pollution that disproportionately impacts the poor, reality TV being the main staple of popular entertainment to mollify the masses, and the government using racial strife to divide and weaken the populace.

Sadly, these issues are all too applicable to today's world. The protagonist, Ben Richards, starts off as a common Joe who simply wants to secure enough money to help his ailing daughter.

However, as he witnesses the corruption, violence, and lies that maintain the status quo at the expense of the citizenry's health and well-being, he becomes radicalized.

Unfortunately, many of the injustices he sees are still present in modern America, although perhaps with a more polished veneer to掩盖 their grotesqueness.

This was thumping good fun!

This is probably the fastest I've ever paged through a King novel. King said this is also the fastest he's ever written a novel. He wrote it in the space of a week-long vacation. Impressive indeed!

I'd say The Running Man veers slightly away from the typical King novel. Most King novels are fleshed out, with the characters really developed over time, and the novels themselves being quite lengthy. But The Running Man is fast paced right from the beginning. Yet, even with that in mind, you still somehow get a good sense of the man Ben Richards (the main character). King has that uncanny ability of giving you information about the characters without you really realizing he's done it.

The thing I loved most about this novel is that I found the scenes incredibly vivid. While reading, I felt like I was watching down from a cloud above, hovering slightly above the action the entire way. It was like I was a silent observer. I could see the grungy, dark back alleys in which the very poor hustled. I could smell the smells.

It was interesting to me that King wrote this so many decades ago, for a few reasons. First, it was eerily reminiscent of The Hunger Games in many respects (the hunting of humans for sport, with a grand prize for the sole survivor and promise of a better life; the Games being played out on television for viewing; the totalitarian dystopia setting, etc). Second, it was oddly prescient, in hindsight. It shows us a world where the rich get richer and the poor are left to suffer at the expense of the rich. Sound familiar?

Something else of interest to me was the writing style. It isn't surprising to me that people caught on fairly quickly that King was the actual author of the Bachman novel. King has a few stylistic traits that pop up often that would have given it away for me. One thing King says often, regarding the telling of time is "It was quarter of nine" rather than "it was quarter to nine." Small, almost imperceptible, but something I notice he often does. Another thing, "Maggot" seems to appear in many of his novels, something King likes to use as a cursory name. There were others, but you get the point.

Ultimately, this novel was a big ol' metaphor. Aren't we all the Running Man? Aren't we all running under the false pretence that, if we just try hard enough, push a little further, we will achieve great riches and freedom...? Doesn't the government already suppress the poor for the benefit of the wealthy? Yet, the reality is that the cards are stacked against us, just as the odds were always stacked against Ben Richards in The Running Man. I know, that's a morbid and depressing view of life, but it is our current reality. If this book says one thing, it says that we can defeat the powers that seek to suppress our voices. It just takes enough courage.

This was a true page turner, and a fun book you can take with you to demolish on a long flight or perhaps a warm day on the beach. It's a book that will keep you engaged from start to finish, and make you think about the world we live in.

The last time I delved into The Running Man was well over 30 years ago. This year, I decided to revisit it once more, especially since the novel is set in 2025!

The contrast between the 1982 novel and the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger film is truly significant. In the film, it seems to be just a pretext for Arnie to engage in killings and then deliver a witty remark. However, the book is far more profound and builds up the tension right until the very end. I have a great penchant for dystopian novels, and this one was definitely worthy of being revisited.

I've noticed that there is an upcoming remake of The Running Man on the horizon. It appears promising as its director is the highly talented Edgar Wright, who gave us the superb Last Night in Soho. Here's to hoping that this new version surpasses the Arnie one and does justice to the original novel.

13th in my ongoing quest to explore the works of Stephen King.

This particular piece presents a bleak, dark, and action-packed dystopian world that is strikingly different from its movie adaptation. It has quickly become my favorite among the Bachman works so far.

Although it is clearly set in a dystopia, the parallels it draws with the world we live in today are truly food for thought.

Here is my ranking so far:

1. The Dead Zone

2. Salem’s Lot

3. The Stand

4. The Shining

5. Carrie

6. The Running Man

7. The Long Walk

8. Cujo

9. Night Shift

10. Danse Macabre

11. Firestarter

12. Roadwork

13. Rage

Next on my list is The Gunslinger, and I'm eager to see what awaits me in this new installment of my King adventure.

Interesting and Spooky


I have always said that sci-fi wasn't my thing, yet with this book, I have enjoyed it.


Starting from a dystopian world, with a divided society, we get to know Ben Richards, our protagonist. A desperate father whose only way out is to sign up for a reality show. Little by little, through his escape, this character takes shape, becoming deeper, more intelligent, and more critical than he initially seemed.


The pace of the novel is very good, the social criticism is brutal - pollution, inequality, control and manipulation of society, alienation of the masses,...., in the building, tobacco is "free"!! -, and the plot is even more original considering the time it was written - first published in 1982. Our television was still in "diapers," so to speak. We didn't even have reality shows where people's intimacy was sold!!


With this book, I have reconciled with Mr. King. Since I read some of his books in my adolescence, I hadn't read anything else until the Mr. Mercedes trilogy. And perhaps, due to the expectations, I was very disappointed. With this book, he has managed to keep me on the edge of my seat. Many of the reactions I intuited moments before they happened, but not before. He has had me trapped, and that's why I have enjoyed reading this genre, which we could say isn't mine.


By the way, I laughed - or smiled, hehe - at the preface to the work where Mr. King tells us how he felt having to publish these books under the pseudonym of Bachman instead of using his name.


For all these reasons:


Rating: 9/10

Reading: July 2019

I truly loved this book.

I have a vague memory of seeing the movie adaptation years ago, but I'm not entirely certain if I had ever read the actual book before.

This book was an absolute page-turner, with a fast-paced narrative that was filled to the brim with exciting action scenes.

The whole time I was reading, I couldn't help but feel tense for the main character, constantly on the edge of my seat, wondering what would happen next.

The futuristic setting and the unique societal makeup described in the book were extremely interesting to me. It was like entering a whole new world with its own set of rules and challenges.

The ending of the book was a complete surprise for me. It was so unexpected yet so perfect that it left me completely satisfied.

Overall, this book is definitely a 5-star read for me and I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good adventure story set in a futuristic world.

Wow... what an amazing ending.

It is truly one of the best books by King.

The story takes the reader on a thrilling journey, filled with unexpected twists and turns.

King's writing style is captivating, making it impossible to put the book down.

The characters are well-developed and the plot is engaging from start to finish.

This book is a must-read for any fan of King or anyone who enjoys a good thriller.

It will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page.

Overall, it is a masterpiece that showcases King's talent as a writer.

I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a great read.

Wow, what a great book! It is really one of the best that I have read from this author. It is a captivating book that can be read very quickly. The reading is extremely fluid. I loved the science fiction/dystopia elements of the story. Maybe the only debatable point is that I didn't fully empathize with the protagonist. However, that doesn't stop it from being an excellent work.

The book takes the reader on an exciting journey through a unique and imaginative world. The author's writing style is engaging and keeps the reader hooked from start to finish. The science fiction and dystopia elements add an extra layer of interest and make the story stand out. Although I didn't completely connect with the protagonist, I still found the overall narrative to be compelling and thought-provoking.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys science fiction or dystopian literature. It is a must-read for fans of the genre and a great introduction for those who are new to it. Despite its few flaws, it is an excellent work that showcases the author's talent and creativity.

The Running Man by Richard Bachman (Pseudonym), which is actually written by Stephen King, is one of the few Stephen King books that I, for some reason, managed to miss or got sidetracked from reading.

However, I have now decided that I truly want to change that!

Stephen King wrote an exercise book?!

Well, count me in!

womp, womp

Random Goodreader, it is with a heavy heart that I report this is not a book designed to get the flabby fan in shape. So what is it about?

The skinny gist is that in a somewhat dystopian future (2025!), the United States economy is in a terrible state. The have-nots really have nothing. And our hero, Ben Richards, is desperate to save his 18-month-old daughter from the pneumonia that is settling into her lungs due to the flu. Antibiotics are unaffordable, jobs for men in his class are scarce, and the available ones might give you some kind of testicular cancer.

The government-mandated television Network (Free Vee) is piped into everyone's home "free" to keep the masses placated with violent propaganda thinly veiled as entertainment. The programming centers on reality television with a cruel twist - think Survivor if the backstabbing was done with real knives. The Running Man is the highest rated show with the biggest payout. No one has ever survived it, so the contestants who sign up are all just desperate for the money their families will get as a payout and try to last as long as possible to get the highest death benefit.

In a last-ditch effort to help his wife and child, Ben signs on the dotted line...and away we go!

Fair warning, this isn't so much about Ben "fixing" the system, as it is Stephen King as Richard Bachman showing readers how broken and rigged the system can be. It is also a frighteningly realistic portrayal of mass delusion based on media persuasion. There will always be an agenda, there will always be propaganda, and there will always be lies hidden inside truths. But there's no such thing as good versus evil. It is, and always has been, money and power versus money and power, and the people who have it painting themselves and their rivals with different brush strokes.

And the only way to win is to not play their game.

Other reviewers have mentioned this, but in some of the editions, Stephen King writes the foreword and spoils the ending. I didn't care, but I know that it might ruin things for a lot of readers. Having said that, I think it's 100% worth your time to read the foreword when you're done. King is one of those authors who is just charming to listen to, and I think that affability is one of the reasons he is such a popular author. I want to like his stuff because he comes across as a fan of his fans.

One thing I'd like to know is whether or not our overlords at Amazon actually have a sense of humor, or if some clever grunt managed to get them to name their ad-laden television offering Freevee after the corrupt Network in The Running Man. Kudos, either way.

Recommended.

When I was young and not quite so jaded, I still firmly believed that film adaptations were a great idea.

I am pretty certain that The Running Man was the book/movie that completely altered my perspective on that.

I had watched the movie more times than I'm willing to confess before I first read the book. (My dad was/is a HUGE fan of all things Schwarzenegger [wow, really spellcheck, you recognize that name?]). I almost didn't read it because I thought the movie was TERRIBLE and assumed that the book had to be just as bad, right?

Wrong.

I find it quite amusing that the wikipedia page for the movie admits that it's only "loosely based" on the book of the same name. (Thankfully, they also include that caveat on the page for Blade Runner, or I'd be smacking some heads together). They took the names and then distorted everything else to create a movie that almost (but not quite) completely ruins the entire story.

If you haven't read the book yet but have seen the movie, throw all of your preconceptions out the window.

The Running Man is extremely bleak and lacks any of the faux-Hollywood-Happy-Ending that you'll find in the movie.

Ben Richards is unemployed, with a sick daughter and a wife who is willing to engage in prostitution to buy groceries. In an effort to earn enough money to purchase the medicine his daughter needs (and to keep his wife out of that situation), he heads down to the Games Commission one day to see if he can get onto one of the Free-Vee shows that all the poor saps watch to see other poor saps humiliate themselves.

He passes all of the tests with flying colours and finds himself the newest contestant on The Running Man (duh). It's a show where he will attempt to evade professional hunters for 30 days. He (or his family, because no one actually makes it the full 30 days) will be paid in New Dollars for every hour he manages to avoid being killed/caught/turned in. (Capture and being turned in will both result in death, though, so it all amounts to the same thing).

Richards proves to be the most resourceful contestant the Games Commission has ever witnessed. And while this book isn't the best I've ever read, the ending more than makes up for whatever other flaws it may have (and it does have them).

Really, you could just read the first few chapters and then skim until the end, but even then it'd still be a four-star book. Is it an excellent waste of time? No. But it's more than decent. And the last page will have you pumping your fist and shouting "Fuck. Yes."

So there's that.

I really, really enjoyed this book.

It is a little different from King's usual works, but it is nevertheless extremely riveting.

The story had me hooked from the very beginning, with its engaging plot and well-developed characters.

However, I was a little disappointed with the ending.

It felt a bit rushed and didn't quite live up to the build-up throughout the rest of the book.

Despite this, I would still highly recommend this one to any fans of King or those who enjoy a good thriller.

The writing is excellent, as always, and the atmosphere that King creates is truly palpable.

Even with the less-than-perfect ending, the overall experience of reading this book was well worth it.

I'm sure that many readers will find themselves completely immersed in the world that King has created and will be eager to see what he comes up with next.