The Running Man is a dystopian thriller novel by American writer Stephen King, first published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman in 1982 as a paperback original. It was collected in 1985 in the omnibus The Bachman Books. The novel is set in a dystopian United States during the year 2025, in which the nation's economy is in ruins and world violence is rising.
The story follows protagonist Ben Richards as he participates in the reality show The Running Man in which contestants, allowed to go anywhere in the world, are chased by the general public, who get a huge bounty if they kill him.
The book has a total of 101 chapters, laid out in a "countdown" format. The first is titled "Minus 100 and Counting ..." with the numbers decreasing, ending with the last chapter called "Minus 000 and Counting" (or, in some versions, simply "000").
The Running Man …
The Running Man is a dystopian thriller novel by American writer Stephen King, first published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman in 1982 as a paperback original. It was collected in 1985 in the omnibus The Bachman Books. The novel is set in a dystopian United States during the year 2025, in which the nation's economy is in ruins and world violence is rising.
The story follows protagonist Ben Richards as he participates in the reality show The Running Man in which contestants, allowed to go anywhere in the world, are chased by the general public, who get a huge bounty if they kill him.
The book has a total of 101 chapters, laid out in a "countdown" format. The first is titled "Minus 100 and Counting ..." with the numbers decreasing, ending with the last chapter called "Minus 000 and Counting" (or, in some versions, simply "000").
The Running Man was very loosely adapted into a film with the same name in 1987, five years after the book was released. The adaptation only retained the general idea of the violent show and a few names. The film starred Arnold Schwarzenegger as Richards. The film was later made into a video game released on several home computer platforms. A new film adaptation of the novel is in development with Edgar Wright directing and Michael Bacall penning the screenplay.
This is one of the cases where the movie is better than the book. I have read another book King wrote as Bachman, The Long Walk, and the memory of it still stays with me even after 30 years. The Running Man did not manage to impress me as much. Maybe I am less impressionable now, but also because the book is not nearly as good. I felt the writing was abusing adjectives and the whole portrayal of the world of 2025 aged liked milk.
Instead of reading this short book, just re-watch the movie with Arnold. Much more entertaining.
