Reviews

Rage by Richard Bachman

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chaseyb's review against another edition

4.0

SO different from Stephen kings other works. Sad someone exposed his pseudonym, would have loved to see what he would have come up with.

meadforddude's review against another edition

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2.0

A quick read that simply doesn't execute its premise in the most compelling fashion. Effectively, this is The Breakfast Club via King's peculiar viewpoint (I was surprised too), but King's empathy for his protagonist feels wildly misplaced, and the late-book implications that we've merely been subjected to the ramblings of an unreliable narrator are tantalizing but frustratingly under-realized.

In a way, I wish king *hadn't* taken this out of print, as the sheer banal mundanity of the after-school special dramatics successfully renders the taboo elements of shooting up a school maudlin and uninteresting. Since it's been withdrawn from publication, this book has acquired an air of transgression that's subsequently been conferred onto the act itself, lending it an outlaw thrill it doesn't deserve, which no doubt appeals to the disgruntled youth who considers it. But really there's no great way to reckon with this book.

It's not King's (or Bachman's) worst effort, I'm sure. At the very least, it's head and shoulders above Cell, my pick for the nadir of King's oeuvre.

absbia777's review against another edition

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2.0

Rage has such an interesting history. Here's a bit of a rundown for those who don't know. Rage has a history of violence behind it. It's about a troubled teen who shoots two teachers and holds a class of students hostage. This can be disturbing content within itself. But there are a recorded FIVE school shootings from the time it was published that were supposedly inspired by this book. That's pretty crazy. So Stephen King understandably had it pulled from publication in 1997, saying enough is enough. This book is not available anywhere. Luckily, my library has a first edition copy of The Bachman Books, which contains Rage. Score!

As for the story itself, it was just sort of okay. I didn't really like everything going on with Charlie and didn't care for his little stories of his life. It was just too short to invest an interest in.