Fun little trivia about The Long Walk novel while we wait for the movie
Stephen King wrote it in his freshman year of college (what were you doing freshman year?/j) Even at that age, guy had talent.
The story takes place in a dystopic United States where young men, mostly teens and early 20s, are made to walk until they are killed or die of exhaustion. Arguably, it's the 1st example of teen dystopia and King wrote it in the 60s and got it published in 1979.
There is no definitive prize, only whatever the winner asks for. Since most of the participants are poor, we assume they ask for huge sums of money or something similar.
The story is just 100 boys going on a hike across the country. A very deadly hike. A deadly hike where you aren't allowed to stop for food, sleep, or bathroom breaks and your fellow hikers can be shot dead for leaving the trail or trying to pop a squat to take a shit.
The contestants are all volunteers. Many read The Long Walk as a metaphor for war and how it takes young men and kills them indiscriminately + how young men feel compelled to sign up for something they don't fully understand until their own mortality is staring them in the face.
The Long Walk is not a race but an annual death march watched by people all over the country. Instead of lions and gladiators in a coliseum, it's Mom and Dad taking the kids to watch a parade of exhausted teenaged boys walk down main street with soldiers at their backs.
