Let me sum up the plot for those who haven't read it. I won't be giving anything away, it's all on the back cover. Basically there is a contest held each year. 100 teenage boys (between 14 & 18 I believe) chose to walk against each other. If they drop below the designated speed limit (4 Miles Per Hour) they recieve a warning. After three warnings they are shot. The last man standing (walking) is the winner.
Sounds pretty morbid and of course it is but it's also an excellent read. King develops his characters well & you can really get inside the main character and truly feel for him (King is good at making main characters I can empathize with as opposed to Hollywood & movies where I usually find myself rooting for the bad guy).
The inspiration I got from reading this (and perhaps staying up so late) is that many of us choose irrational, even subtlely suicidal behaviors at times to intensify our lives. The way I have driven (& ridden my bike) through these city streets, taking large and unnessary risks just to beat a traffic light or compete with the car next to me is just one example of that in my life.
Reading this book and thinking about death really makes me cherish (at least in this moment) being alive. And it makes me really want to make the most of each moment. So much of our time we spend squabling with those we are close with, worrying about the dead past or possible futures that will probably never materialize. We poison ourselves physically (drugs, etc.) & mentally (fear, anxiety, etc.) and distract our minds from the noise in our heads.
I felt very clear tonight (or this morning, whatever you want to call 5AM) and I realized the stupidity of worry. Worry doesn't help one act, it doesn't help one react, it doesn't help one at all, it's just a nuerotic behavior and an attempted escape from reality.
From an e-mail I wrote : "Why fear pain? Pain in the language of life. To feel pain is to know you are alive. To satisfy and eliminate the pain is pleasure. Worry is just worry, spinning around like a spin cycle full of sewage and **** in our brains. I could vomit just thinking of it. Satisfy worry and more worry takes it's place, there is no pleasure in security, security is false and there is always the worry of keeping security secure."
What does this have to do with the book? Nothing really, that's just where my train of thought, triggered by my reading, happened to take me.
That's the beauty of these forums, and of life in genral, you can start with a particular topic or goal in mind and end up somewhere completely different in the end.
Originally posted by Pillager
Yes, I read it a few years ago Narz. He wrote under his Richard Bachman pseudonym if I remember correctly.
Right.
I don't remember the ins and outs but I do remember thinking it was a jolly good book. In fact, I think on my next trip to the library I'll look it up. I'm afraid I can't remember enough to be able to comment on the 'messages' it conveys, but I did like it a lot.
To me it can convey whatever messege you would like it to. I could completely see a person becoming discouraged or depressed about humanity as a result of this read. I just happened to examine and think about my personal values about life after reading it.
). We're close enough that I need not worry about scaring her away. She lies in bed now, asleep, as the mad yet happy insomniac corresponds with the world (or at least the elite few that are CFC 
) with this beautiful technology that is the Internet.
