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The Running Man

by Stephen King, Richard Bachman (Pseudonym)

3.69 of 5 stars 3.69 · rating details · 32,296 ratings · 759 reviews

The year is 2025. The Running Man is America's favorite television game show. Ben Richards is the program's latest contestant—and the Hunters' latest target in a rigged game of death.

Paperback, 219 pages

Published May 4th 1982 by Signet (first published December 1981)

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Dec 07, 2012 Kay rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: people who expected more action and less contemplation from the Hunger Games

Recommended to Kay by: people who think Surivor should be a little more *real*

Shelves: apocadystopia, grittier-than-sand, journey-not-destination

WARNING: Do NOT read the author foreward. It totally gives away a climactic ending. Thanks to the GoodReads community for warning me.

I feel like I just ran a marathon with a heart condition. As soon as I opened the book, I was swept up in the story and couldn't stop until the fiery, breathless end. I don't say this often. It takes a while for me to feel comfortable in a new book. I like to feel things out, come to my own conclusions. But Stephen King, in his insidiously masterful way, lured and...more

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Feb 12, 2013 Brandon rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: fans of dystopia, hatred of reality TV, action movie fans

Shelves: dystopia, in-the-year-2000, 2011, uncle-stevie

It’s the year 2025 and society is very different then what we know today. Unlike those that claim today the United States is the land of the free and that the ultimate “American Dream” is attainable by anyone, the system is now designed to keep those who are below the poverty line to stay just where they are. However, there is a way out, sign up as a participant in “The Games”. Yes, you can compete on a variety of dangerous game shows in an effort to obtain large cash prizes and get you and your...more It’s the year 2025 and society is very different then what we know today. Unlike those that claim today the United States is the land of the free and that the ultimate “American Dream” is attainable by anyone, the system is now designed to keep those who are below the poverty line to stay just where they are. However, there is a way out, sign up as a participant in “The Games”. Yes, you can compete on a variety of dangerous game shows in an effort to obtain large cash prizes and get you and your family out of the gutter.

The novel follows Ben Richards, a man whose daughter has recently become quite sick. Without the means to hire a doctor to help her regain her health and tired of his wife having to turn to prostitution as an income, Ben signs up as a contestant. The only problem is that Ben has been cast in the most dangerous show of all, “The Running Man”. In the competition, you need to stay alive for a period of 30 days. Sound easy? Oh yeah, you need to hide from “The Hunters”, people whose job it is to find you and cut your time on the show short. You also need to avoid exposure to the masses as people can receive cash awards if spotting and reporting you. If that report leads to your death, they are eligible for an even higher cash reward.

Constantly on the move, Ben travels all around the United States in search for a place to hide, if only for a little while. He limits his stay for only a day or two at a time, fearful that his spot will be exposed as he mails in the required tapes day to day. Attempting to stay on the run for as long as possible, the final prize of $1 billion dollars is quite alluring. While he does receive some help from a few disgruntled members of society, it does little to help as he has to fight his own paranoia in resisting the urge to distrust everyone.

I know you need to suspend your disbelief for someone else’s vision of the future, especially when you’ve past a lot of the eras in which King has pinpointed specific events (i.e. a major outbreak in 2005) to occur. However, there really are no specifics into how society degenerated so rapidly in the 90s and the early part of the 2000s, which I dislike. Maybe it’s the crime fiction fan in me that needs to know so much in regards to details (thanks a lot, John Connolly) but I find myself craving that – especially in a dystopian society. I NEED TO KNOW WHY. *

Overall, I enjoyed the novel – not quite to the extent that I enjoyed other King books but it was entertaining nonetheless. As I said earlier, my need to know how society had changed to what it was sort of ruined my enjoyment. Obviously, that’s no fault of King’s as he clearly intended it to be that way. Supposedly, the man wrote it in a week so detail was not something he was going to dwell on.

I will say this - the ending (the very final chapter) was awesome. I'm not sure if I've giving anything away but it's the ultimate act of rebellion. I actually laughed out loud. I'm not sure if that's supposed to be a good thing or not, either way, it was outstanding.

*** Reviewers Note *** Yes, I’m aware that I still loved “A Long Walk” despite its lack of details surrounding society’s turn towards “The Long Walk” itself. I felt that this book suffered more considering society appears to be in far, far worse shape.

Also posted at Every Read Thing (less)

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May 31, 2013 sj rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: re-read, read-with-heather-l, sk-in-order, the-motherfucking-future, yorwtfiw

When I was young and not quite so jaded, I still believed that film adaptations were a good idea. I am pretty sure The Running Man was the book/movie that changed my mind about that.

I'd seen the movie more times than I care to admit before I read the book for the first time (my dad was/is a HUGE fan of all things Schwarzenegger [wow, really spellcheck, you recognize that name?]) and I almost DIDN'T read it because I thought the movie was TERRIBLE and that meant the book had to be, too, right?

Wro...more

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Feb 16, 2012 Luis rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: distopías, stephen-king

Con esta novela, Stephen king intenta plasmar las situaciones extremas a las cuales nos exponemos con tal de salvar a nuestros seres queridos, no importa la situación si el fin justifica los medios, aunque eso implique morir con tal de salvar a otros.
(El final es de película)

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Nov 08, 2008 Abdullah Suliman rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

من أسوأ الروايات التي قرأتها على الإطلاق !
الأسلوب سيئ جدًا .. الأحداث مملة .. الترجمة ركيكة
كانت سعادتي لاتوصف حينما أنهيت قرائتها ...
حتى الفيلم الذي تم انتاجه بناء على الرواية كان سيئ لأبعد الحدود
مع أن الفكرة أعجبتني وشدني العنوان لكني صُدمت تمامًا حال انتهائي من قرائتها

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Feb 22, 2013 Kelly Leigh rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dystopian, action-adventure

Unputdownable, gritty, depressingly dystopic, bleak, fast-paced, action-y, the story revolves around a highly popular televised game show, The Running Man. Its vast viewership is comprised of desensitized sheeple, their eyes glued nightly to this reality show of sorts. The Running Man premise involves a man running for his very life, with the ephemeral hope of survival, Hunters hot on his heels. If he happens to win, a substantial cash prize his reward, he and his family can live like royalty fo...more Unputdownable, gritty, depressingly dystopic, bleak, fast-paced, action-y, the story revolves around a highly popular televised game show, The Running Man. Its vast viewership is comprised of desensitized sheeple, their eyes glued nightly to this reality show of sorts. The Running Man premise involves a man running for his very life, with the ephemeral hope of survival, Hunters hot on his heels. If he happens to win, a substantial cash prize his reward, he and his family can live like royalty for the rest of their lives, which most likely wouldn’t be long in the grand scheme of things, for their lungs are moments from collapsing due to the hazardous environmental conditions, i.e., dangerously polluted air, and the breathing masks to curb the toxins are too pricey for the penniless general public.

And the powerful network conglomerate behind this heinous TV show? FreeVee. As in free to view for the poor-as-dirt society. The FreeVee executives draw in gargantuan ratings nightly by allowing audience participation. How can these drooling drones possibly help this TV monopoly run by powerful, money-hungry, maniacal executives? They, the sheeple, turn into tattle-tales and report any possible Running-Man sightings, which in turn gets relayed directly back to the Hunters, who are always suspiciously moments from apprehending these desperate individuals. Individuals who only signed up for the The Running Man in order to receive monetary compensation for their direly destitute and malnourished families.

The society populated within this tome is bleak - in case I didn’t portray that well enough above - and brutal and are surely governed by a New World Order. Though there wasn't politicking going on or discussed whatsoever, I couldn't help but ponder that the dystopic world us readers were introduced to was in fact the byproduct of a fascist government that prods its denizens to horrifically and callously turn on their neighbors. And by prods, I mean merely suggests. And like good little mindless sheeple they obey with nary a second thought to pinpoint the Man’s/contestant’s whereabouts. Just so these sadistic malcontents can watch the Running Man apprehended on national TV, and at the end of the day, they come away with nothing more than compensation and bragging rights that they helped bring down a Running Man. A man that they are told to viciously hate. A man whom they’ve never met. A man that they applaud getting gunned down in cold blood all for the sake of ratings. Scary notion indeed. Which is why this book was a highly entertaining read. And one I would highly recommend. And surprisingly left me with much food for thought. (less)

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Kelly Leigh I just read a review by Melissa Marr for Splintered and supposedly people said Splintered was comparable to Wicked Lovely series. Thus far I don't see...more
Feb 23, 2013 06:06pm

Kyle Kelly wrote: "I just read a review by Melissa Marr for Splintered and supposedly people said Splintered was comparable to Wicked Lovely series. Thus f...more
Feb 24, 2013 07:42am

Jan 31, 2008 Laura Leigh rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Laura Leigh by: Steven Matthews

The biggest problem with this book is that I decided to read Stephen King's introduction first -- where he gave away the ending. Bah! Still, it was a good journey to see how the protagonist got there, though the end was anti-climactic for me. For a writer just learning his chops when this was written, it's pretty damn good.

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May 21, 2013 Marwa A. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, dystopia, 2013-reads, thriller-mystery

The Running Man is dystopian novel by Richard Bachman (also known as Stephen King).
It isn’t a horror novel, it is more of a dystopian, thriller story.
Set it 2025, the world is different from how it is today. The society is controlled by a big business that maintains power using disturbing television shows. Ben Richards, the protagonist, goes on a show called The Running Man in a desperate attempt to get money to save his dying daughter.
The story is fast-paced, gritty and depressing. I've enjoy...more

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Mar 25, 2012 Vojtěch rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Velmi čtivá sci-fi aneb Stephen King trochu jinak. Pokud bychom chtěli, mohli bychom z celého příběhů vyčíst kritiku jakýchkoli totalitních režimů. Důsledky jednoho z nich vidíme v ne moc vzdálené budoucnosti.
Kniha se čte jedním dechem a zjišťujeme v ní, co jsou lidé ochotni obětovat pro peníze, kterým se jich nedostává. Běh o život patří mezi špičku a také mezi tituly, jež jsem v poslední době četl.
Stephen King potvrdil svoji autoritu, kterou si v literání sféře vypěstoval. Běh o život je důkaz...more

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Mar 14, 2009 Theresa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009

I don't even like Stephen King, but this was recommended on a blog for people who really liked The Hunger Games so I thought I would give it a shot.

It reads very quickly and is highly addictive. The gist of the story is that in the year 2025, Ben Richards is out of work. His 18 month old daughter is sick with the flu and neither Ben nor his wife can afford to take her to a real doctor. Ben is from the poor side of town and decides the only way to save his daughter is to become a contestant on on...more

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May 02, 2013 Cameron rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In many ways, The Running Man reads like the novelization of an action movie, but one that is written by someone really trying to interject some deep-rooted social meaning into it all. That makes for a tale that is both suspenseful and entertaining as well as far-fetched and heavy handed. Interesting mix.

The premise is essentially the source material for The Hunger Games. But, before anyone gets too self-righteous over King's originality, The Running Man borrows heavily from 1984 as well as some...more

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Jan 24, 2013 David Wu rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Disguised as Richard Bachman, to the surprise of most fans, the story of ‘The Running Man’ takes place in America and also in the future of 2025. The book tells the story in which in the year of 2025, America is controlled by a big business center in which they maintain power by putting on saddening shows. The main character Ben Richards is joining the show “ The Running Man” in order to save his daughter and wife from illness and hunger. In this show, Richards is given some money and a head sta...more

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Sep 18, 2012 Jabberjawocky rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Bearing virtually no resemblance to the film from which it was allegedly adapted, The Running Man tells the story of a dismal future where high stakes game shows have run amok. The poor are all but forced into life-threatening competitions by their dire circumstances. Ben Richards is one such individual, volunteering himself so that his family can afford medicine for his sick daughter based on his performance in the reality's most popular show entitled "The Running Man". The game involves taking...more

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Jul 13, 2012 Sakura87 rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: autori-nordamericani, thriller, dist0pia, novecento

Tra Farhenheit e 1984... con il tocco del Maestro.

E’ impossibile non paragonare questo libro a La Lunga Marcia, partendo dal fatto che entrambi sono stati scritti da King sotto lo pseudonimo di Richard Bachman.
Come in quell’altro, infatti, L’uomo in fuga è ambientato in un futuro distopico; ma mentre la narrazione lì era fortemente circoscritta alla Marcia, stavolta possiamo ammirare l’America del 2020 in tutta la sua crudeltà: la Rete, infatti, ricorda molto il Partito di 1984 di Orwell, cui pr...more Tra Farhenheit e 1984... con il tocco del Maestro.

E’ impossibile non paragonare questo libro a La Lunga Marcia, partendo dal fatto che entrambi sono stati scritti da King sotto lo pseudonimo di Richard Bachman.
Come in quell’altro, infatti, L’uomo in fuga è ambientato in un futuro distopico; ma mentre la narrazione lì era fortemente circoscritta alla Marcia, stavolta possiamo ammirare l’America del 2020 in tutta la sua crudeltà: la Rete, infatti, ricorda molto il Partito di 1984 di Orwell, cui probabilmente King rende omaggio (in una scena, infatti, il protagonista sente tanfo di cavoli rancidi…vi ricorda qualcosa? Ma sì, è l’incipit di 1984!). In questo terribile futuro, un misterioso governo spadroneggia alterando qualsiasi tipo d’informazione, i libri sono caduti in disuso, e i cittadini sono plagiati con moderne tri-vù che ricordano tanto sia gli schermi del Grande Fratello, sia i megatelevisori di Farhenheit 451. I programmi più in voga sono sadici show televisivi, in cui i concorrenti rischiano fisicamente la vita.
E mentre i borghesi fanno il bello e il cattivo tempo fingendo di non vedere, nei quartieri poveri e nei ghetti la gente muore di fame e di malattie polmonari causati dall’inquinamento prodotto dalle fabbriche…
E’ in uno di questi sudici quartieri che vive Richards, il protagonista, insieme alla moglie e alla figlioletta, malata di polmonite. Per poter salvare la neonata, che necessita di costosi farmaci, e offrire una vita più dignitosa alla famigliola, l’uomo decide di vendere la propria vita: sarà selezionato per partecipare allo show più crudele di tutti, quello che nessuno è mai riuscito a vincere. Una spietata caccia all’uomo appassionatamente seguita da tutte le tri-vù d’America, e a cui tutti i cittadini sono invitati a partecipare segnalando alla polizia e ai Cacciatori gli spostamenti del malcapitato concorrente, che incarna tutto ciò che vorrebbero esorcizzare: la povertà dei ghetti che fingono di non vedere. A Richards non resta dunque altro da fare se non diventare l’uomo in fuga, sperando di sopravvivere un mese per poter guadagnare il miliardo di nuovi dollari in palio…
Una narrazione densa e gremita di suspance, per un libro breve da leggere tutto d’un fiato, spietato e caustico come sanno esserlo solo i libri di Richard Bachman. Non sono esattamente quattro stellette intere per via di una certa scena finale inverosimile come possono esserlo solo le americanate, ma nel complesso la conclusione è convincente e il romanzo non poteva che terminare in questo modo.

Ps: la Prefazione è una piccola perla; chi volesse sapere com'è nato Bachman, avrà pane per i suoi denti.(less)

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Jul 04, 2012 Jade rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, kindle

After loving the book Rage, I felt like a bit more of that great Stephen King anger directed at the man. This book gave me what I needed.

Completely different from the Arnie film, yet in all the right ways. It's more true to life and follows the emotional turmoil and survival instincts of a man who has nothing to lose, after paying for his families survival with his own life.

In reading through I was constantly annoyed at the bourgeoise separation, with no attempt made to connect with the poorer...more

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Jun 12, 2012 Mandy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Stephen King introduces this novel with an essay about his pseudonym-- Richard Bachman-- in which he explains that Bachman was something of an alter ego for him-- a chance for him to publish his earlier works that came from a different man than he is today. That's exactly what The Running Man is.

The Running Man is a classic Stephen King novel, but with a much younger, more cynical air. The Running Man isn't a horror novel so much as a dystopian novel, a commentary on society. Set in the year 20...more

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Jul 28, 2011 Tien rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: thriller, dystopia

Wow, just wow. It's totally beyond my expectation. I don't love it but I'm really impressed.

It is set in a dystopian world (in the US) where there is an obvious line of separation between the rich and the poor. The poor being absolutely trodden, used & abused by the rich & ignorant-middle-class. Benjamin Richards is desperate; his 18 month old daugther has pneumonia and they don't have the funds for a doctor. And so he took the plunge. He did the only thing he could do: he went to the Ga...more

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Jul 23, 2011 Book Concierge rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The year is 2025. The poor and downtrodden are relegated to a mean ghetto, where they have little hope and virtually no opportunity. But though he’s been unemployed for a couple of years, Ben Richards is determined to get some money to help his wife and sick child. He decides to apply for one of the game shows that are constantly shown on Free Vee. For every hour he outruns the Hunters he earns one hundred New Dollars. If he can keep running for 30 days, he wins and earns a cool one billion. The...more

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Jun 20, 2011 Books-treasureortrash rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, reviewed

Book Review: 3 Treasure Boxes

If your infant daughter was sick and dying and the only way to raise the money to save her was to sign up for a competition that resulted in your death, would you sign up? The Running Man examines this question and shows what a young father would go through to save his baby, with some unexpected results.

Stephen King wrote The Running Man, one of four books written under the pen name of Richard Bachman. This book is a dystopian science fiction, taking place in the Uni...more

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Jun 11, 2011 Ryan Rebel rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Stephen King lovers, or anyone looking for dystopian goodness

Recommended to Ryan by: Chantel

Shelves: reviewed

This book certainly lives up to its title. It's fast-paced through and through. The dialogue is curt, the writing is snappy, and the chapters are bite-sized (even the titles of the chapters are formatted to create a sort of frenetic tension). This is a quick, fun read, but is one of the dystopias I have read that doesn't really have a whole lot of depth to it.

There are plot bumps. There aren't too many plot holes per se, but I would call them plot bumps because I got the feeling that something s...more This book certainly lives up to its title. It's fast-paced through and through. The dialogue is curt, the writing is snappy, and the chapters are bite-sized (even the titles of the chapters are formatted to create a sort of frenetic tension). This is a quick, fun read, but is one of the dystopias I have read that doesn't really have a whole lot of depth to it.

There are plot bumps. There aren't too many plot holes per se, but I would call them plot bumps because I got the feeling that something should be a plot hole fairly often, but could never put my finger on exactly what the problem was. Maybe because there wasn't much of a story, just a list of reasons why a scenario like this could play out. You can tell that the idea for the game came before the idea of the society.

The society is serviceable. It's appropriately dystopian, but I was wishing for more detail. The protagonist's plight is very real, and honest. I don't quite understand why the society works the way it does, but King does a good job of making us think about government, class, etc.

The protagonist reflects this in that he is a fun character, but again, not terribly deep. In fact, one of the few attempts to provide depth to his character was one of my least favorite parts. At one point in the book he learns the truth about the government covering up the truth about pollution levels, and he decides to go on a shallow crusade against it. I found this kind of annoying. Otherwise though, he was a gloriously irreverent character, able to be deathly serious and laughingly humorous at the same time. His one-liners were so good that I don't care that he wasn't developed as much as he could have been.

The rest of the characters were pretty much caricatures, but good caricatures. I found some of the ideas at play a bit of a stretch, but I was willing to concede to them. The action was good. The futuristic tech was outdated (if that makes sense). The futuristic proper nouns were kind of silly, but acceptable ("Rich folks smoke Dokes!, Free-Vee, Newsies). The ending was awesome.

I look forward to reading Stephen King's better work, but if you're looking for something fast and fun (which doesn't mean it can't be gruesome or sad at points), this certainly qualifies.(less)

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Mar 21, 2011 T. Edmund rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was pretty surprised to see this book lurking around a second-hand store. You see, I've been familar with the film since growing up. If you'd asked me prior to seeing this document I would have bet on that movie NOT even beeing based on a book, let alone a book by the famous S. King

My second surprise was of course that the book was good. I probably shouldn't have been so naive as to think the book would be anything like the spandex rubbish that the movie was, but whatever.

Running man depicts a...more

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Jan 13, 2011 Austin James rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror

Want a quick weekend read? I just finished "The Running Man" yesterday. It's by Richard Bachman (also known as Stephen King).

The book was written in 1982, but it's far more relevant today than it was back then. The book is about a reality television show called The Running Man. Contestants on the show are hunted until they are killed. If they last 30 days, then they win a billion dollars. Only the game is rigged, so it's not possible to win.

The book has themes of class inequality (life isn't too...more

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Jun 01, 2009 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: scifi, boys, grown-up-books

So after The Long Walk, I thought I’d try giving another book by Stephen King, once again written under the pseudonym of Richard Bachman (I’ve got an old, falling apart paperback with them both included). The Running Man is another science fiction novel set in a bleak, but not too distant, future in the US where Ben Richards enters a deadly game show contest to try and make money to care for his sick daughter. “The Running Man” is a televised game show where the contestant, Ben Richards, is proc...more So after The Long Walk, I thought I’d try giving another book by Stephen King, once again written under the pseudonym of Richard Bachman (I’ve got an old, falling apart paperback with them both included). The Running Man is another science fiction novel set in a bleak, but not too distant, future in the US where Ben Richards enters a deadly game show contest to try and make money to care for his sick daughter. “The Running Man” is a televised game show where the contestant, Ben Richards, is proclaimed to be a deadly enemy of the government and the public. He is given a lump of money and is sent running. His goal is to evade capture and execution by the law enforcement, civilians, and a team of professional hunters. He also must produce and mail in two video clips of himself every 24 hours. Every night, his clips are broadcast to the public, where he is slandered as a murderer and scoundrel to incite the public into killing or turning him in for monetary reward. Basically, he doesn’t stand a chance. For every hour that he survives, he wins a certain amount of money (which is to go to his family in the inevitable event that he is caught and killed). If he is caught, he will be killed. Basically, King has created another live or die game that focuses on the human fascination on the spectacle of violence.

The world in The Running Man echos the same dystopian US that King wrote in The Long Walk, except the world of The Running Man is somehow a little more bleakly hopeless and more divided between rich and poor. I don’t know why, because The Long Walk was certainly desperately hopeless, but there is absolutely no glimmer of happiness or hope in The Running Man. From the very first chapter of the book, it’s somehow evident that Ben Richards, his family, and the entire human race is doomed to failure. The pace of The Running Man is much faster, but there’s something about the hopelessness that nullifies the exciting race of the game. As the number of pages left in the book dwindled and the plot grew ever more dire, I became annoyed with the book. As exciting and intriguing as the concept is, The Running Man just doesn’t go anywhere. Although parts of it are fun and, on a whole, the book is very much readable, I found the book to be a little disappointing. I’d recommend it to die hard Stephen King fans or to readers needing more after the more interesting and faster page turning Long Walk…(less)

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Sep 27, 2012 Tim Lapetino rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Well, the first thing to say is that this book only bears a passing resemblance to the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie.

And that's not really a bad thing. While the movie took a hard right turn away from this source material, it's not because it's a bad book. In fact, it's a dark, gripping story that has more in common with 1984 (and Hunger games, I'm told).

The basic story is that in a world of rampant hunger, horrible air pollution, and corporate greed, the opiate of the masses is TV. Violent, hor...more

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Jul 15, 2012 Heather Boustead rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: action-adventure, audiobook, dystopia, horror, thriller, suspense, science-fiction

The Running Man
By Stephen King
Writing as Richard Bachman

In a time where poverty is the norm, Ben Richards is willing to forfeit his life to save his eighteen month old daughter who is dying of influenza. Richards is soon chosen for The Running Man, a reality TV show where everyone is hunting him for a prize. When nowhere is safe and you must survive to earn your prize what would you do to win?

I don’t remember watching this movie but I know if I were to ask my mother she would swear I have seen...more

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Jul 04, 2012 Kim rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

***Warning*** DO NOT read Stephen King's introduction to this book before you read the book. He gives away the ending! Booo, Stephen King. Of course, the introduction was all about King mourning the fact that people eventually firgured out that it was him writing under the Richard Bachman pseudonym, so maybe giving away the ending was a little bit about revenge. Still, why would an author sabotage himself that way? But I digress...

I decided to read this because I realized that I hadn't read any...more

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Apr 08, 2012 Robyn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dystopian, page-turner, reviewed

That really should be like, four and a half. Also, as if enough people haven't said it already: SKIP THE FOREWARD.

Two of my favorite things: Stephen King and Dystopian Fiction come together in this novel, mostly to good effect. The pace is brisk, the world is believable, Ben Richards has a strong, identifiable voice.

His actions throughout the story are very clever, but not unbelievably so. That was probably my favorite thing about this; Ben never crosses that line that lots of "quick thinking,...more

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Feb 12, 2012 Greenjasminetea rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-read-2012

Richard Bachman (Stephen King) seemed to write "The Running Man" as if in a stream of conscious trance. Spare, with very little flourish, this 1982 novel is about an America of the future of 2025 in which the economy is so bad that some will enter gladiator type 'games' to earn money.

Ben Richards is such a man. He enters the Games Building with the intent to get a place on one of the game shows to earn money for his deathly ill daughter.

Snarky and sarcastic, he draws the attention of the Games n...more Richard Bachman (Stephen King) seemed to write "The Running Man" as if in a stream of conscious trance. Spare, with very little flourish, this 1982 novel is about an America of the future of 2025 in which the economy is so bad that some will enter gladiator type 'games' to earn money.

Ben Richards is such a man. He enters the Games Building with the intent to get a place on one of the game shows to earn money for his deathly ill daughter.

Snarky and sarcastic, he draws the attention of the Games network biggest show, The Running Man, a game in which the 'contestant' is declared an enemy of the state, given a head start and then hunted by Hunters for 30 days.

Televised, Richards becomes the most popular Runner as he defies and inflames a thirsty viewership even as he continues to desperately stay alive.

The popularity of Suzanne Collins's "The Hunger Games" may have renewed interest in "The Running Man" given the similarity of the game-to-death plot but having read both, I may have to tip the scale to "The Running Man". Not because it is a better written book (it isn't) or that Bachman/King did a better job of world building (he doesn't) but what "The Running Man" did well is that foresaw that the addictive quality of reality television BEFORE reality television existed by almost 2 decades.

In "The Running Man", the game is not used to keep the public in line via terror by a corrupt government, it is used to keep the public entertained so it can be distracted from the actions of the corrupt government and anyone who has seen the rise of FOXNews since the early days of the second Gulf War can understand that or how the public can be entranced by a spectacle (ie the Kardashians) even though the public might suspect it is fake and goes against whatever the public may 'say' (via polls) is their moral values.

Bachman/King also got the desperation and aloneness of Richards very, very right. Author did not try to make the future a slick place. It is dirty and crumbling and isolated. Anachronisms such as a lack of cell phones (unknown in 1982) increase that isolation by keeping Richards in the dark because of lack of access to communication. Also, in 1982, cable TV as we know it now was only starting. In 1982, the big networks of ABC, CBS and NBC still wielded massive control of message. Such control makes the Games even more plausible.

Perhaps that is why "The Running Man" is, in my opinion, the better survivor contest novel and also why I give it a 5-star even though writing and editing quality probably should put it at 3.5-4 star nove. It both foresaw the future while using its present (1982) to fashion a lean, mean story that paraodoxically seems more plausible for 2025 (just around the corner) than it may have in 1982.

Oh and the last scene is eerie. Don't want to give away a big spoiler but it is very, very eerie.(less)

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Dec 27, 2011 Christine Ward rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Originally published under King's pseudonym Richard Bachman, this long short story/short novel is a fast-paced tale about a game show in a near-apocalyptic United States. In 2025, the gap between rich and poor is unimaginable, with the poor having few options - work at a number of menial jobs, for example, as an engine wiper behind a leaky radiation shield at General Atomics - or signing up for one of many game shows where the losers are maimed or killed. The protagonist of this story, Ben Richa...more

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May 27, 2013 Dina Nabil rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: استعاره-مكتبه

كل اسبوع بحب اتفرج على برنامج امريكى مترجم على قناة دبى وان اسمه "كيللر كاريوكى" او بالعربى الكاريوكى القاتل...و هو برنامج شديد السخافة و البلاهه و بتقوم فكرته على ان المتسابق بيغنى كاريوكى بينما يتم صعقه كهربائيا مثلا او يحط رجله فى حشرات و شعار البرنامج : كلما استمتعت به اقل كلما استمتع به الجمهور اكثر

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2Gi5i...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKRlEJ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWmD0c...

حاولت لفترة طويلة تشخيص سبب متابعتى للبرنامج ده على الرغم من كل لزجته و سخ...more كل اسبوع بحب اتفرج على برنامج امريكى مترجم على قناة دبى وان اسمه "كيللر كاريوكى" او بالعربى الكاريوكى القاتل...و هو برنامج شديد السخافة و البلاهه و بتقوم فكرته على ان المتسابق بيغنى كاريوكى بينما يتم صعقه كهربائيا مثلا او يحط رجله فى حشرات و شعار البرنامج : كلما استمتعت به اقل كلما استمتع به الجمهور اكثر

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2Gi5i...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKRlEJ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWmD0c...

حاولت لفترة طويلة تشخيص سبب متابعتى للبرنامج ده على الرغم من كل لزجته و سخافة فكرته و تنفيذه...و اخيرا اهتديت ان جمهور البرنامج -ولا استثنى نفسى- يخرج شحنه سادية مخبئة على هيئة ضحكات رخيصة
******************
اذا ما علاقة برنامج الكاريوكى القاتل بروايتى الاولى مع ستيفن كينج الهارب؟؟ امممم ربما لا شئ على الاطلاق, ربما بعض الشئ, ربما كل شئ

لكن فكرة تلك البرنامج اخذت تلح على طوال قراءتى للكتاب ففى الحالتين جمهور مشتاق لرؤية الالم و التوتر على وجه انسان اخر ...ربما كانت الهارب مشابهه جدا لثلاثية العاب الجوع لكن تلك الاخيرة تبدو اكثر اتقانا
******************
هو كتاب
page-turner
اكيد...لكن ده مش معناه انه كتاب حلو...هو مثير لكن مش تحفة ادبية
******************
اقدر اقول انى عجبتنى فكرة الكتاب اكثر من الكتاب نفسه ...يعنى كان ممكن يتنفذ بشكل اعمق انسانيا على ما اعتقد

الاهم هل الهارب تدفعنى لقراءة اعمال ستيفن كينج الاخرى؟؟ امممم اعتقد ان الاجابة : نعم
(less)

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About Stephen King

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his parents separated when Stephen was a toddler, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family...more Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his parents separated when Stephen was a toddler, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family was at the time, and in Stratford, Connecticut. When Stephen was eleven, his mother brought her children back to Durham, Maine, for good. Her parents, Guy and Nellie Pillsbury, had become incapacitated with old age, and Ruth King was persuaded by her sisters to take over the physical care of the elderly couple. Other family members provided a small house in Durham and financial support. After Stephen's grandparents passed away, Mrs. King found work in the kitchens of Pineland, a nearby residential facility for the mentally challenged.

Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and then Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated from the University of Maine at Orono in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.

He and Tabitha Spruce married in January of 1971. He met Tabitha in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University of Maine at Orono, where they both worked as students. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.

Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many of these were later gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.

In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching high school English classes at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.(less)

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Quotes from The Running Man

“In the year 2025, the best men don't run for president, they run for their lives. . . .” — 24 people liked it

“He understood well enough how a man with a choice between pride and responsibility will almost always choose pride--if responsibility robs him of his manhood.” — 10 people liked it

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