Before Reading: This is the last of the four original "Bachman Books" and the last of the two that I have never bothered to read. Most of what I know of The Running Man is from the horrible Arnold Schwarzenegger movie from the 80s. I'm going to erase that from my mind and assume that it took a lot of creative liberties. I'm actually excited to read this one. I love dystopian stories and I've always thought of TRM to be an older version of the Hunger Games. Let's find out.
After Reading: Well, I finally finished the original four Bachman books, but don't worry...we will meet him again. While I wouldn't rank this as highly as The Long Walk or Rage it was definitely leaps and bounds better than Roadwork. So three out of four isn't too bad Mr. Bachman. This definitely had a lot of similarities to TLW which I obviously am a fan of so that was exciting. However...the racist and homophobic elements almost made it too hard to read. You could argue that it was how society was in this universe but still, I didn't love it. It was a short read and I took a few notes so let's do this thing.
First and foremost this story was set in the year 2025 which I still haven't decided if that is hilarious or terrifying. Also, in this ~future~ pollution has run rampant and most people (poor people who can't afford nose filters) suffer from a plague of various respiratory issues. So this is now the third time I've read a Stephen King story about some sort of pandemic that is similar to the one we are living through. Not a fan. I do want to point out that it doesn't make much sense that in a world where it's difficult to breathe that there are so many cigarette dispensers and built-in ashtrays. Even if it was assumed that in the ~future~ we would be smoking a lot, it doesn't really make sense to the plot. Also, back to the racist and homophobic parts, there was a lot of outdated language in this that I understand was used when the book was written in the 80's but with it being set in the 2020's it made it extra cringe-y in my opinion. Also, there are a lot of payphone and telephone operators for a ~future~ that has electric flying cars and "new" money. Didn't see the end of the payphone coming did you, Stephen? There is also this great scene where they are describing this amazing new technology that is essentially a six pound tape recording machine. The extent of my notes were comparing the idea that King had about 2025 in the 80's with the 2022 that we are living in now. I think I summed up the best parts.
The other thing that really stuck out to me reading this was that it was so obviously written by Stephen King. King wrote this under the Bachman pseudonym so that readers wouldn't know it was him...but if any of these readers had read Stephen King's books there is absolutely no way they wouldn't have known. Once the action got going he started time-stamping. He does this in almost every single one of his previous writings. Also, guess where the main character ends up going. Did you guess a made-up town that Stephen King invented? If you did, four new quarters to you. That's right, they end up in Derry, Maine. Derry does not exist outside the realm of the Stephen King universe. Well, I guess now it also exists in the Bachman universe.
One last thing. There is a big emphasis on technology because of course there is. The name of the technology that has basically taken over the world and is required to be in each citizens home is called the Free-Vee. Have you turned on your streaming service of choice recently? If you did you might have noticed that IMDB changed their app to... Free-Vee. Ummm. That was terrifying to see while reading this book. So that was a fun jump scare I wasn't expecting.
This was a good little read. It was quick, it had an interesting plot, it had the satisfying ending, it had a plot twist that literally made my jaw drop. I wish it didn't have such jarring language. Honestly it sucks that that ended up ruining the book for me. I didn't hate it, though. I have no intentions of checking out the movie but I think it could make a really good TV (or Free-Vee?) show that they could use the basis of the plot and take it beyond. Perhaps someone will one day. And if they do, you should check it out. Should you read the book? If you want to. I don't think it'll change your life but it might help pass the time.
Our next read is the first Dark Tower novel The Gunslinger. I have several "before reading" thoughts on this so hopefully it won't be too long until you get to read those. No promises though cause your girl is about to be on Summer vacation. See you soon!...ish.
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