Opinions on Rage

[cwalrus]

Having finished reading Rage, I would say that this is the first SK book that I didn't care for completely even though I found it entertaining and I found Charlie Decker to be a fascinating character. The main reason why I'm not crazy about this book is because of the almost immediate blind sympathy that Charlie Decker gets from the students he's holding hostage and the fact that they partake in some of the violence. Although I can't be sure, I think this was SK trying to combine the Patty Hearst story with Lord of the Flies, yet it never really made much sense why the 20 some odd students in the classroom would all be on Charlie's side. I can understand a few of them falling prey to Charlie's point of view, but everyone except Ted Jones pretty much grew to sympathize with a kid who killed two teachers in cold blood and who is basically using everyone to fulfill some sort of twisted fantasy. I think SK might have let this one out of print because even he must see that this story is flawed.

I don't have much of a problem with Charlie as a character or with SK using this character to tell the tale of a conflicted youth using the killings and hostage taking as a plot device to do that. Sadly, Charlie's story isn't all that unique. There are plenty of misfit youths who are tormented both by there parents and by other kids. I feel Carrie actually dealt with some of these issues in a much better way. Take the shower scene in Carrie, for instance. The mob mentality that sometimes plays itself out in schools is evident there, but there was also a sense of remorse afterward from a more evolved character like Sue Snell who knew that it was wrong and wanted to atone. I suppose Rage is more cynical in that there are no "evolved" charcters who know that what Charlie is doing is wrong. They are unfazed by having a teacher dead in the classroom as Charlie treats the hostage taking like a therapy session and ultimately manipulates them into an act of mob violence against Ted Jones (who as we learn is no saint either).

I wonder also if this story was influenced by the popularity of punk in the mid to late 70's. At 29, alas, I am too young to remember it, but if I put this story into the context of when it's taking place it makes a little more sense to me how SK could have been influenced by the nihilistic sentiment of the punk rock culture (although no specific mention of punk is made in the story - characters talked about the Rollingstones when even i suppose the Rollingstones were probably not at the height of their influence with High School students as punk or stadium rock, but I digress).

There are things that I liked about Rage(such as Charlie's portrayal of his father. Here I found the writing to be very poignant and revealing), but as I was reading it, I just felt that it was really the first instance in SK's writing where the situation and the characters seemed a bit contrived and two dimensional. Carrie dealt more competently with many of the same themes of misfit youths, schoolyard bullies, aggression, and comformity.

I think I'm going to move on to The Long Walk now. Hopefully, I'll enjoy that one a lot more.

[Moderator]

Stephen wrote the first draft of this when he was still in high school in the '60s, so the punk movement and the Patti Hearst kidnapping were not an influence.

[jackson992]

Interesting reading your opinion. I actually sympathized with Charlie killing the teachers. I was disappointed that he did not kill Ted

[Sterling]

I wish I could get my hands on this book!

[JohnDalglish]

Hi,

Personally, I thought it was an excellent story, bearing in mind that Sai King was, what, about eighteen when he wrote it.

I read it recently back-to-back with Carrie and that was interesting.

Search second-hand bookshops and thrift shops for a copy of the Bachman books containing it, Sterling.

Long days and pleasant nights

[GetRichie99]

Charlie is one of my favorite SK characters....he's such an everyday kind of guy...which makes the plot line all the more horrifying and sincere.

[Gris]

I wish I could get my hands on this book!

Sterling, this is included in the Bachman Books, which you can find on eBay for relatively cheap at any given time. Grab a copy!

[Sterling]

sterling, this is included in the bachman books, which you can find on ebay for relatively cheap at any given time. Grab a copy!

thanks a lot!!!

[Cognac]

i can see what you mean, but i think you're thinking too much lol. first of all, (this is already stated) the punk scene had nothing to do with anything. second, of course charlie and his story are quite similar to other children. thats most likely why the subject matter was used, and is easy for every reader to relate to. sai king generally writes what he knows, and everyone knows about being an out of place child. thirdly, mr. king didnt shelve the book because he didnt think it was good or relevant, it was shelved because out of place adolescents started to act it out. although i really enjoyed this book, i think you will definetly enjoy the long walk better. i have no real basis for this, except that i did, lol. thanks for posting, keep it up!

[Greg]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. However I wish there was more violence. I don't think they should have banned this book after the Columbine shootings. It wasn't THAT bad of a book dealing with violence. I also wish they had a better ending to it.