Opinions on Rage

[crimnpsych]

They pulled the book because they thought it might have been an influence on the Columbine tragedy.

Actually, I believe that Columbine had very little if any effect on Stephen King's decision to stop publishing of Rage. Obviously I'm not in his head and I don't want to seem like I'm making vast assumptions, but I think it had more to do with a previous school shooting in Washington state in which the kid's lawyer tried to use the "Too Much Violence In the Media" defense. Part of that defense included, but was not limited to, his collection of Stephen King books which included Rage. If I remember correctly, the lawyer stated Rage was an influential factor. Also, it was reported that the shooter quoted the book during the shooting incident.

I always felt bad that Stephen King felt in some way responsible for the lives lost due to the fact that some of the shooters read this book and identified with it. I don't think this book caused anyone to go out and cause death and mayham, but I can certanily see how someone in a particular state of mind could read this book and identify with Charlie. Still, I wonder how many kids read this book and didn't do anything horrible because they found a connection to Charlie that they found no where else. And that just having that connection was enough to turn them from a bad path.

[The Outsider]

I have to say, all the people who basically tarnished Rage's rep by using it as a scapegoat of sorts for their own school shootings and such, it really makes me mad. This book is definitely not about that; its about looking into yourself, and finding out who you really are. And its about being true to yourself, too. And its about a lot of things. But its not about school shootings or anything about that. And those who didnt understand that and decided to re-enact the unimportant parts of this novella should be ashamed. I'm ashamed. It takes something out of a really meaningful, heartfelt novel.

[Donald W. DeClicko]

Rage is pretty good considering Stephen's age when writing it. Still remains one of my favorites to this day.

I hate when school shootings are blamed on books, music, & movies. What ever happened to people just being psychotic? IMO the school shooters did what they did because they were crazy. They were gonna hurt people no matter what was in the books or in the music.

[AdamS]

Love this book. Very well-written; probably my favorite of the Bachman books, although The Running Man is very close.

Looking back, I suppose this helped me get through high school. They say that sometimes teens watch violent movies or play violent video games as a way to deal with their thoughts and problems in a fictional world and therefore, not bringing real violence into the real world. After reading this book, I never got into a single fight or any kind of trouble at school. I'm not saying it's because of reading this, but who knows?

King is normally thought of as a horror writer. What can possibly be scarier than this?

As far as it goes, though, maybe parents should monitor whether or not they allow their children to read this and they should certainly discuss the book's content with their child.

[Breger3]

I've now read Rage twice (would love to get my hands on a copy of just Rage, but I'm happy with my Bachman Books) I must admit, the first time around (a couple years ago) I felt sympathy for Charlie, this time, I was like, really??? You think you have it THAT bad?? I think it just depends on my frame of mind when reading it.

I also HATE when people blame violence on things like Music, or Books, or Movies. Some people are just bad, plain and simple, I think, and it wouldn't matter if they read Rage or Little Women.

Anyway, that's my opinions, I'm enjoying reading others.

[JimmyTheGent]

actually in a hostage situation it is not uncommon at all for the victims to start sympathizing w/ their captors. that wasnt hard for me to grasp at all. and i think they started to see themselves in charlie, that any of them were just as capaeable of feeling as he did and doing what he did if pushed the right way. they all started to see that none of them were what everyone else thought they were, they all had a lot more in common than they ever could have imagined. and in highschool we generally don't realize that until after its over.

My thoughts exactly. I just finished this book and I feel what youre saying. Everyone saying "Kids want to be part of the 'in' crowd" needs to remember that Charlie wasnt part of the in crowd at all, soooo that theory doesnt really work. Everyone has a dark side and Charlie was appealing to all of theirs, no matter how small it might have been. Charlies had obviously taken him over, and I think it wasnt hard for most of them to imagine it happening to them, under certain circumstances, so it was easy for them to sympathize. As for Ted Jones, well, they all seemed to have had a hidden frustration and bitterness towards his "Big Man on Campus, My perfect life" image before that day anyways, and what made them angrier was the fact that he couldnt let the walls around his ego fall and participate with the rest of the class. Therefore, the idea that he truly felt superior to the rest of them and their hatred had been justified the entire time. Thats MHO anyways.

[Snaggletooth]

Some of y'all may be aware of this, but King himself pulled the book from future publication after the Columbine massacre. Whether this was a legal or moral decision is anybody's guess. Some of your posts regarding Rage do concern me somewhat; I'm 50-something and when I was in High School, I never had thoughts about killing any teachers. Some of the class bullies, yes, but these were strictly fantasy thoughts. Why anybody would want to identify with Evil is beyond my comprehension; and that's what the 2 Columbine perpertrators were: evil, destructive little psychopaths. If you want to read a truly scary real-life tale, pick up Columbine by Dave Cullen. It's the 1st book (to my knowledge) that examines the minds and motivations of the killers, up-close & personal. It also details their "Plan A", which failed and would have resulted in massive casualties in the school cafeteria. This makes Rage look like an Aesop's Fable, and yes, I have read all of the Bachman Books. That having been said, I can see why King published it under a pseudonym.

[The Sentimental Fool]

So for I've enjoyed all my readings & re-readings of Rage. Reading it I sympathized with Charlie, not because he had the worst life ever, therefore everyone should pity him, but because in high school you want so badly to fit in with everyone else. There's that dividing line between you and you're classmates who have Absolutely nothing wrong with them or their lives, then there are the adults within the school who you can't really identify with because sometimes you really are just a file to them. At some point or another everybody wants to "get it on". I agree with most of the other previous posts, for me the book wasn't about killing the teachers and students, it was about identifying with them and having everybody on the same level as you were.

[GNTLGNT]

Mono-syllabic reply-Book good. King great. Elle Mcpherson hot. ugh, ugh, grunt

[Anna Rose]

i loved rage! for some reason i absolutely loved charlie! he was so interesting and, im not gonna say i was rooting for him, but i loved him so much. when he got shot in the chest i was so sad, then i remembered the lock and i was smiling so much after that! and i absolutely loved that (i forget her name) the girl who goes to the bathroom comes back! that was another moment that had me smiling. i am sooo happy charlie lived!
from reading the description on the back of the book i thought it would be a lot more violent, but it wasnt. i dont even know if i would call that "holding hostage", yeah, he threatened them and killed the teachers, but all they did in the room was talk,i like to think of it more as class bonding and the way they all said good-bye! oh, it was so cute! u absolutely loved charlie! only an author as good as stephen king, or should i say richard bachman, could make me fall in love with an insane killer loved it! defiantly one of my favorites!!!