Customer Reviews

Rage

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

While wandering around in the local used bookstore, I came across a near mint condition copy of The Bachman Books by Stephen King. A few days later, I started reading Rage. Rage is a compelling (and short) novel about Charlie Decker, a junior at a local high school in Portland, Maine. One day, Charlie brings his father's gun to school with hopes of "getting it on". Now, to Charlie, getting it on was letting all of his anger out. We soon discover why Charlie does these horrible things with flashbacks to his childhood. The students that Charlie is holding hostage later discover that Charlie is the victim, not the menace. What makes this book so unique to me is that the entire story is told from the perspective of Charlie. I have found out that Mr. King took this novel off of the market after the recent Columbine incident. I personally believe that King did not need to take this book off of the shelves, but that was his decision, not mine. Many people complain that this novel is too raw and does not meet their standards for King. Even though I have only read about seven or eight King books, I can safely say that this is one of the better Stephen King novels. Highly recommended if you want a different and unique novel.

This is one of the best books I have ever read. Too bad it is out of print. I got an old (very old and tattered) copy from a friend and started reading it on the train on the way to work. Five hours later (I never got off the train) I finished it. I have read it 4 times since. Charlie really knows how to get it on. Stephen, I have read that you regretted writing this novel. Please don't. The actions of others are not in your control. I once was bitten by a rabid St. Bernard, but I don't blame you for writing Cujo.

The most interesting thing about "Rage" is its history: Stephen King began writing this novel his senior year in high school, finished it in 1971, and published it as an original paperback in 1977 under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. Years later, after it became public knowledge that Stephen King and Richard Bachman were one and the same, it was republished in hardcover as part of an omnibus called THE BACHMAN BOOKS, which contained the first four novels published under the Bachman penname (there were six in all). In the years since, all the Bachman novels have been reprinted as separate paperbacks--all except Rage. In response to the recent school shooting tragedy at Columbine High School (and the anti-media backlash it caused), King decided to pull Rage out of print, forever. He is afraid its depiction of school violence will further 'glorify' such acts of aggression.

The story itself has some obvious flaws: the plot is cliched (although, to be fair, school violence was not as common in 1977); the students in the story do not act realistically (at least, they didn't act like real students in similar situations have acted); and at times the dialogue seems wooden (not like King's modern writing at all). Still, King was good enough even back then that you could see some real talent under the surface of the teen angst. He is a master at turning a situation on its head. By the end of the 130-page book, I found myself rooting for Charlie, the troubled teen who kills his teacher and holds his classmates hostage. And I was solidly aligned against the forces of good--the cops, the psychiatrists, & the parents. On the whole, the book certainly held my interest, and it was sort of fun looking back and seeing how Stephen King, the most successful commercial writer of all time, got started.

Rage is about a highschool student named Charlie who goes crazy, shoots a couple teachers and holds a classroom hostage. The crazy thing about it is only one kid in the class really seems to care that they are the hostages. There is more of a mob mentality than anything in the room. I wonder if this book was written any time around the columbine shootings, would it have been published? Stephen King sure has come a long way. His style of writing has changed drastically. I love everything he has written!!

I own a copy of The Bachman Books, but have only gotten around to reading Rage, a book that quite creeped me out. I really didn't like the book beacause i didn't like the main character of Charlie much- maybe because i don't get him- but the book wasn't too bad. Obviously, since this is one of King's early works (I think he wrote this one before he even wrote Carrie) he can do a lot better. The idea that all those students aren't even moved when Charlie shoots their teacher- dead- to the floor- seems a little unbelievable to me. Plus, athough Ted was a pain in the neck, i still didn't see why they all started beating him to the point where he became a slobbering mess. It was alright, i guess, but King's gotten a lot better.
(Interesting fact: After Columbine, Steven King requested Rage to go out of print.)

This book looks into the mind of a seemingly normal teenage boy who loses control. After shooting two teachers, he takes his algebra class hostage, then we get a peek into the complicated problems the students are dealing with as young individuals. Great Psycho Thriller.

It's true--this novel probably wouldn't ever have been published had Stephen King not been lucky enough to release it under his Richard Bachman pseudonym. The novel, to be truly frank about it, is really quite immature. The behavior of most of the characters irreflective of reality (in a room where a man has just been shot, SOMEBODY'S going to have a rather severe reaction), the characters tend to be a little two dimensional, and the novel is obviously trying to make a statement or two about psychology and the human condition. Those aren't really attractive qualities under normal circumstances, but for some reason I found myself enjoying this book. I actually read it in a single sitting, and I have to admit that I found the story engrossing. Charlie will feel familiar to more than a few people who might decide to read this book, as will some of the other students who show up throughout the story, and having just recently left my adolescence behind I am perhaps a little bit closer to the feelings that run throughout the novel (here King's immaturity actually helped him out, though it is ironic to think that if a student were to be caught writing something like this during his senior year of high school in this day and age he'd be expelled and institutionalized). The book certainly isn't politically correct, and it's understandable why King would take it out of publication--he really comes dangerously close to making Charlie some sort of hero and trivializing the deaths that do occur throughout. All things considered, though, if you can get your hands on it this isn't a bad book to read, and it's not even King's worst effort.

Mr. King is, as we know, very good at frightening people. That's what he does. That said, RAGE is one of his scarier books for the simple reason that it is not implausible. If anything, it's one of his more realistic plots because it can-and has, in a way-happened in real life. School shootings abound, sadly. Go ahead and read it, but it's not like THE SHINING. It's raw, sickening, and very, very real.

Rage is the type of story that leaves you wanting more. The characters are so vivid and the story so entralling that by the end, I wanted more.

I've read a lot of Stephen King's novels and short stories and this ranks among some of my favorite. It's not a typical King story. It's a story about teen angst and it makes the arguement that parents' behavior truly shapes the lives of their children.

Charlie has a lot of pent up aggression that the story pinpoints to his mistreatment by his father. His father, an ex-marine, dislikes his son because he's a mama's boy. His mother isn't an enforcer, and therefore as Charlie acts out as a young boy, his father gets severely angry, and his mother gets angry at the father and in turn disqualifies the father's punishment, no matter how severe.

I believe the story is a case as like father like son. As much as Charlie, and all of us, fight his father, he's still an awful lot like him. Perhaps had he gotten into military school, he would have made a powerful soldier.

The downfall is the ending. There is a "shocker" ending, but it's not fully explained. We live in the story where everything is greatly detailed, then the ending is more or less left to the reader's imagination.

Overall, it's a great piece of storytelling. Sure, it's not the best thing King has written, but it's very enthralling. Strangely enough, this early story doesn't seem as much of King as it does an early version of another favorite writer, Chuck Palahniuk.

Read it...it's quick and interesting.

This was the first time I read a Stephen King book and I`am flatterd that I got the possibility to read this book. I have read many books but they haven't been as subscribing as this was and I couldn`t stop reading and I read it in SWedish and it was great the he discriebed Charles Decker and the locker Titus was outstanding

Patrik from Sweden Iám sorry for all the misstakes in text I just wrote Iám not so good with grammatics