This novel was published in 1982 (because its publishing was refused in the 70’s) and it can be classified as one of the classical ones by Stephen King.
In the manner of Brave New World this is a novel of anticipation and a dystopia, it shows the american society of 2025 that is a dictatorship where the economy is ruined and violence is everywhere in the country.
We follow a hero named Richards who belongs to the poor class and his only way to earn money and pay caring for his highly sick daughter is to participate to a horrible TV show. In this show, the participants are tracked through the country by hunters who kills them if they are found, and all the people are able to report a participant if they recognize one of them. Sheila, the wife of Richards receives money for each hours Richards will survive.
Stephen King in this novel denounces the human behavior. In fact, all the people in this futurist society are addicted to the TV that broadcast extremely violents shows where poor people dies for entertaining rich people instead of reading books, somebody who reads books is considered to somebody weird. And the pollution is really high, some people catch cancer just by breathing the air of the city.
I recommend this novel where we can find action, suspense, and even humor.
I’ve already read Stephen King but not this book and I’ve really liked it so I think I’m going to read this one.
Unfortunately, I never read this author… But I loved Shining, the adaptation (by Kubrick) of the novel wrote by Stephen King and so I made the project to read it.
This TV Show, in a novel of anticipation with hunters, doesn’t it remembers you of the recent novels as The Hunger Games? It’s really a topic of the XXIth century, but it may be a topic of the XXth century too…as if it was something we feared from a long time.