The Long Walk !?!?!?! what a end???

[Bojan89]

Hey,
I finished a few minutes ago The Long Walk...and i couldn´t stop to read this book, I read it without sleeping !!! I love this book, BUT what a end???
I hoped Garratys wish is to stop this Long walk in future or something like that.
But THIS end i read,was bad.
I wish that Mr. King write a bit more after finishing the long walk about Garratys life,how he will live after this horrible marche.
but this end,"he runs to the dar boy in the shadow..."(i read it in german,so i try to translate it) is a very, very bad end...

I read so much and hoped a good ending,but it was a bad end...

Sorry about my english, it is bad,i know,but i hope u can understand me :-)

[rjt65]

Hey Bojan 1-Welcome---

2- I loved the story and ending...as in life not everything wraps up and these open ended ending leave us to ...think..the possibilities..enjoy the journey friend!


PS i think there might some translation gremlins at work there too....

[Matticus]

I think SK's point was to show there was no winner...not really.

[hipmamajen]

I think Matticus is right, that we were supposed to see that after all that there was no real winning at the finish line.

I felt the same way as you, though. I wanted to find out what he did afterward, what his wish was and how his life was different because of The Long Walk. I'm sure that would really change a person's outlook on life!

So, I understood the ending, but I was left wanting more :)

[cwalrus]

I liked the end. It was my theory that he saw the spirit of Pete McVries beckoning to him since that turned out to be his best friend during the walk. Whether it was real, supernatural or imagined is debatable, but that was my theory. I agree that the ending demonstrates that there really were no winners. He was in excruciating pain both physical and mental. Don't think there is any real way to recover from his experience even long after its over. I think it's better that SK left the future to our imaginations. I think that he simply was never the same and that no prize could really compensate for what he went through.

[Bojan89]

Yes, I know that he will show us,that there is no winner, but i don´t like the end, because i want to know how his life will was different after the Long Walk.So I think i have the same problem like "hipmamjen" :-(
But thank you al for your answers :-)

[Matticus]

He was crazy, that's how it went. :laugh:

I can understand the need for something like this but it seems like it takes so much away from the journey. What we were supposed to know about him was told in the pages, and that was volumes.

[jenboxer77]

I like endings like this. They leave room for interpretation. There are many possible endings. You can dream up your own ending. :)

[boogerb53]

Yes, I know that he will show us,that there is no winner, but i don´t like the end, because i want to know how his life will was different after the Long Walk.So I think i have the same problem like "hipmamjen" :-(
But thank you al for your answers :-)

I think that, Constant Reader, is for YOU to decide....

[Rabid Assassin]

I havent heard of this is it a book or a short story?

[Moderator]

The Long Walk (http://www.stephenking.com/library/bachman_novel/long_walk_the.html) is a Richard Bachman (Stephen King) book.

[Bojan89]

@boogerb53 : I think you are right, i have to decide for my own,how his life will continue...

@ Rabid Assassin : It´s a book, a great written book,like all the other books of S.K. :-)

I have a big problem...

everytime,when i read a book of Stephen King, I think its my favorite book :( i have read over 20 books of SK,and I dont know which is the best...one of my favorites is The Stand =)

[boogerb53]

I havent heard of this is it a book or a short story?

It's a Richard Bachman short story.

[Blaine is pain]

I am quite happy to read this thread because I was also quite shocked at the end of this book.

Obviously my first feeling was disappointment to not know how Garraty had used its final win.

But as the majority of you I thought about it and I think that :
- Surely SK wanted that there are no winners in such a "game"
- I hate this sort of endings at the first sight but after some time I really change my mind and love it because they let us all the room to imagine. In my opinion SK does not imagine his readers to be lazy guys, we are part of the story so we have to participate even after the book is over...

PS: Sorry for my english, French people are known to be bad with english, aren't they ?

[catnoel]

Usually Bachman books end darkly. Sometimes there isn't a winner in real life!!

[blunthead]

I am quite happy to read this thread because I was also quite shocked at the end of this book.

Obviously my first feeling was disappointment to not know how Garraty had used its final win.

But as the majority of you I thought about it and I think that :
- Surely SK wanted that there are no winners in such a "game"
- I hate this sort of endings at the first sight but after some time I really change my mind and love it because they let us all the room to imagine. In my opinion SK does not imagine his readers to be lazy guys, we are part of the story so we have to participate even after the book is over...

PS: Sorry for my english, French people are known to be bad with english, aren't they ?Thanx for your good post, and welcome! Your English reads pretty well to me.

[Blaze_04]

Woww..Im now end Long Walk...Its really good story...Every man is war for not dying...But me too dont understand end...Some people say now really win nobody..But when we read story we see last years winners....Right??...By the way 1 winning yes..Its real...I think its shadow Mcvires's Ghost....And this end some like The Dark Tower....Walking never end...Restart...Again...Again...Am i wrong think you?

[kingricefan]

This is my favorite Bachman book. I was shocked by the ending the first time I read it too! We all want happy endings but life isn't like that, right? I think SK tried to stay true to form and tell the truth with this ending.

[brandt813]

Truly one of my favorite SK stories (yes I know it's a Bachman, but I rank it high among everything written by SK). It's hard to believe something with such an almost mundane setting (a bunch of guys walking, walking, and walking some more) would be so riveting!!! I couldn't put it down the first time I read it, or anytime I've read it since. It's a story (along with Rage, Pet Sem, and It), that it's almost like I can't wait until I get to read it again!

[hitherehilbilly]

I always thought that at the end, the shadowy figure symbolized death. And Garraty dies. Also, when he "found the strength to run" he no longer had any fatigue or pain.

[SUDOOLE]

I havent heard of this is it a book or a short story?

It's only the best short story that the King has ever written. It was written as Richard Bachman, published as a collection titled The Bachman Books, included with Rage, The Running Man, and Roadwork. Although you can by it bound as an independent story in paperback. And the end is without a doubt a great one. It's all about the cockiness of the young mind and how quickly innocence can be shattered - and for what? Dude ends up losing his mind. All he's wishin for is that it never happened. My guess is if Stephen had ended after the Walk, it would have ended in suicide.

[sam peebles]

I always thought that at the end, the shadowy figure symbolized death. And Garraty dies. Also, when he "found the strength to run" he no longer had any fatigue or pain.

Yeah, that's what I always got out of it too. I don't think it's McVries ghost or the Major. Garraty is dying. There are no winners of the Long Walk.

[catnoel]

I beleive this was a Bachman book right? Usually those books do not have a "happily ever after ending"ll!!! This one was about the journey not the end!!!

[phoenix1327]

this is one of my fav SK stories...i'm sorry that you didn't like it...i like most of you (seemingly) can't stand the cookie cutter, happy ending, crapola that the media/hollywood and half the rest of the world wants to cram down my throat. that's why i come back to SK so often...because life is not always clean cut and happily ever after!!!

[winters21]

I have just completed The Long Walk for my independent reading project. I need some advice on this project. My professor has us making our book analysis into our own version of the book into a movie . My problem is not the analysis but the actors that might be cast as the main characters! Since they are all teenage , approximately sixteen year old boys it is hard for me to cast them since most young male actors are not of that age and I want to be creative and yet authentic. All of you on this message board seem creative and insightful , any suggestions? I would be so grateful I am in a creative meltdown!

[AlvinS]

Very interesting. Everyone here seems to assume that he did survive. I read it way way back when I was in the 5th grade, and my interpretation then was that Mr. King left it up to the reader to decide if he lived or died. I prefer to think he lived, myself, but I think that question was part of the power of the story. I liked the ambiguity of it myself.

[michal]

That's the only truth my fellow constant reader: The long walk never ends, and somethings once we do them, are infinite to us.

[xaviermuskie]

Just read this book for the third time, and here's my take on the story. The long walk is a metaphor for life, with the walkers representative of the opportunites and options available to us. One by one, as our long walk proceeds, these options and opportunities are either disregarded by us or taken away by an outside force, until we finally become our own version of Garrity. In this sense, the ending is not a surprise, as all of our own long walks end in the same way.

BTW, I'm new here and I can already tell that I will lose hours from my life reading the various posts.

[pandora]

Loved the Long Walk. I use this book all the time when someone say's they have never liked reading, or can't get "into" a book. Works every time!! The people I "hook" always want more after they have finished. Best bait in the pond!!!!

[mrsbreece]

More of a short story, or short book. I really enjoyed the ending to this book/story.

[tillyn]

Like i said before , always leave them wanting more.

[JSinn1018]

I just finished reading it and the ending is very vague. My guess is Garrity died but I don't really know. Games like The Long Walk is not totally unbelieveable. We have Fear Factor and Survivor and stuff. Maybe in the future gameshows will be as extreme as the Long Walk. The general public is pretty sick,I mean we live in a society where millions watch men and women eat and regurgitate bull testicles(ala' Fear Factor) and stuff. So in that The Long Walk has definetly got a timeless quility.

[brandt813]

I just finished reading it and the ending is very vague. My guess is Garrity died but I don't really know. Games like The Long Walk is not totally unbelieveable. We have Fear Factor and Survivor and stuff. Maybe in the future gameshows will be as extreme as the Long Walk. The general public is pretty sick,I mean we live in a society where millions watch men and women eat and regurgitate bull testicles(ala' Fear Factor) and stuff. So in that The Long Walk has definetly got a timeless quility.

Heck, human history has also seen such glorious "fun" as the Roman Gladiator Games. I mean history is filled with horrible torturous events (the Spanish Inquisition, the Holocaust, etc), but the Roman Games were actually MEANT for entertainment!!!

With all the reality crap that's out there, raise your hand if you think we're heading down the road to the MODERN Gladiator games (the one thing that might stand in the way is that we couldn't use animals like lions to kill and eat the gladiators, because anymore animal rights seem to outweigh the value of human life!)

[JSinn1018]

Heck, human history has also seen such glorious "fun" as the Roman Gladiator Games. I mean history is filled with horrible torturous events (the Spanish Inquisition, the Holocaust, etc), but the Roman Games were actually MEANT for entertainment!!!

With all the reality crap that's out there, raise your hand if you think we're heading down the road to the MODERN Gladiator games (the one thing that might stand in the way is that we couldn't use animals like lions to kill and eat the gladiators, because anymore animal rights seem to outweigh the value of human life!) I think so. My roommate sells mixed martial arts gear and the UFC and MMA fighting as a whole is becoming huge. Full blown Gladiator death-sports are not unthinkable. The hilarious thing is we think were so evolved but really change is just a variation on the past.

[DaveBond21]

I think that, Constant Reader, is for YOU to decide....

Precisely. It's up to the reader. You could argue that Garraty dies at the end of the story. There are countless possibilities. I doubt that his life and health were normal after the Long Walk.

[Machine's Way]

My favorite short story of King's by far!! The ending is great and leaves it up to the reader to decide. But I agree is there really a winner? I would love to see this in a movie, but done right. A very depressing story but one of the best in my opinion.

[wendyk90]

i agree this should be made into a movie!!!!! hint,hint

wendyk90

[Raq]

Yea and it should be directed by Frank Darabont..I'm sure he could make something awesome of it....just please keep Mick Garris away from it...
As it goes for the ending, it's one of the best, and one of a kind...Totaly enigmatic and as open for interpretation as parris hiltons legs...Just think about it..you couldput basically anything there and people would go 'yeah that could be it'...As long as it goes for short format stories this one is my favourite

[brandt813]

FYI---Frank Darabont is actually slated to do The Long Walk. He's just got other projects in line first. For Frank to do it, I'll be happy to wait!!!

[Raq]

Yea, I've heard that he is attached to direct :) and I will be more than pleased to see him do that

[kieronjs]

Frank talks about plans to direct 'The Long Walk' in this 2008 interview at Lilja's Library. I think you'll like what he says (the 'Long Walk' part is about two thirds of the way through the interview).

http://www.liljas-library.com/showinterview.php?id=49

[GBPack1]

Just finished reading it last night. I have to say at first I was a little taken aback that there was no clear cut ending, but after I sat there and took it all in I appreciated the fact that SK allowed me to interpret and let my imagination go.

[Matthew.Degnan]

I just finished this the other day (after about a year of wanting it) and I LOVED the end... i felt like shouting "Whats happens next!" when I finished it lol.

Like the way that all the way through, not just the end, there is room for interpretation...

I want Rage now... lol

[Raq]

the ending is awesome..Kinda shows you that there is no real winner in a game like that..that's just one of thousands of my interpretations...

[faithraine96]

I actually loved the ending. All of the King books I've read have had some sort of a twist in them (thats probably why I love them so much), and the ending for me was a very Bachman-like end. Ray had finished the Walk, had surpassed all the other guys, and then Death or something walked up to him. A very comfusing end, but VERY Bachman-like. Just like the other Bachmans, you just have to say WOW at the end (especially in Rage and in this one.)

[LauraJo]

I always interpreted the ending as Garrity's final choice; I thought that the shadowy figure was maybe Garrity's father who was 'squaded' (although I dont think we are ever told exactly what 'squaded' is - I just assumed they were killed in some way) beckoning to his son to come and join him in the afterlife, and that Garrity was by this time half-insane and so tired he 'ran to catch up with him'.

[doowopgirl]

Couldn't agree with you more about the end of the Long Walk story. There was no other ending possible. Life goes on and on and on... if you are lucky. The constant building horror of the situation and the strange comeraderie that formed and how it took on a very strange routine. I shudder just thinking about it

[glyde69]

Hmmmm, I never interpreted Garraty dying at the end. Might be time for a re-read.

[Chelle71]

The Long Walk is, i think, one of SKs best novella's.....how else could such a game end? He was a kid and had lost his mind....

[xP3AC3MAK3Rx]

Every day on it's own...

I understand the book and the 'unsatisfying' ending as a metaphor in two ways.
We as the reader are Garraty, and as Garraty is told several times during the walk, there is no prize to be won at the finish line, that they are being 'betrayed' [we all feel at some point don't we?].

The same 'unsatisfying' ending that Garraty has to face, we also have to as the reader, at first sight only, though!

The walk is a metaphor for life itself, and as we know, there are no prizes to be won when we cross the finish line / die [at least that's up to speculation or belief].
It's only what you make of your walk, and how you deal with the pain, the inconveniences, the horrors of life, and if you will be there for others, even if it seems as you would do a disservice to yourself. For Garraty, the result of being only second in the long walk, would ultimatly mean his death, which makes it even more meaningful when he cares (or doesn't) about others being shot.

I see Garraty's walk only as a test of his own naked self, and as a lesson to himself, as he learns quite a bit about other people, human nature, and of his own.

I'm not sure what to make of the ominous character calling for Garraty in the end, but I think the hand on his shoulder which gives him power to even run in the end, can only exist because he cared about others on his walk. I really believe that the hand on his shoulder, belongs to the same figure who's calling Garraty from the distance.

Whom that hand belongs to? I think that answer is to be given by everybody to themselves. My guess, it is the one you think, from whom your power derives...to go a little further, every day on it's own.


Tommy
http://twitter.com/xP3AC3MAK3Rx

[Johnny Smith]

I didn't like the ending at first, I wanted a happy ending to this one. I think he died in the end.

[IstillInsistIseeTheGhosts]

This is among my favorites of King's and I thought the end was amazing...We're not supposed to know what happens to Garatty after the walk...I always assumed in my mind that he kept running for his lost friends and ended up with them in the end because of his body's weakened state..that's just me though:)

[dwalters]

The first time I read it I was really disappointed that it ended the way it did, but it being a Bachman story I should have seen some kind of tragic end coming. On subsequent read-throughs I've come to appreciate it more and more though. It's that final nail in the coffin when the mind just completely snaps. Bravo I say.

[mylife4usk]

I always thought that at the end, the shadowy figure symbolized death. And Garraty dies. Also, when he "found the strength to run" he no longer had any fatigue or pain.

I thought the same thing the first time i read it :) Course I didn't WANT it to be death., but...it could have been. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon ends sort of the same way., when Trisha closes her eyes at the end it could mean that she dies., again I choose NOT to believe that after the hell she went thru., much like Garraty. On the 2nd read, I think he went crazy at the end., hell wouldn't you ? I know I would IF i survived that is. lol

I hope Frank Darabont makes this into a movie, we can't let this die! Go Go Darabont! Stephen King's own (best) director.