Smythe: Rereading The RUNNING MAN

James Smythe at The Guardian has posted the latest leg of his journey through the Stephen King universe -- The  Running Man.  A highly reflective piece, Smythe found a deeper appreciation for this novel as he reread it.  Like most everyone on planet earth, he was not moved by the film adaptation.  "It's awful!" Smythe laments.

Smythe writes,

This time, I read the book and much preferred it. Maybe I'm more attuned to the sadness now; maybe I'm better with the weaker Ben Richards, the desperation that makes him enter the competition. It's decently written: not King's best, but not his worst. The structure is interesting too, echoing his other dystopian game show novel of the period, The Long Walk. Where that novel counted down the boys left alive as part of the text, here the short chapters are on constant countdown, starting at 101. You know when the book is going to end: the timer tells you. It's a pacey device, and one that serves the game-show content of the novel, and this is a good book; mid-tier King.

read the full article at /www.guardian.co.uk