The Running Man
by Stephen King · first published 1982
31% recommend69% neutral
The Running Man is a dystopian thriller novel by American writer Stephen King, first published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman in 1982 as a paperback original. It was collected in 1985 in the omnibus The Bachman Books. The novel is set in a dystopian United States during the year 2025, in which the nation's economy is in ruins and world violence is rising. The story follows protagonist Ben Richards as he participates in the reality show The Running Man in which contestants, allowed to go anywhere in the world, are chased by the general public, who get a huge bounty if they kill him.
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Lots, I guess highlights would be... Pavane by Keith Roberts The Spire by William Golding Running Man by Stephen King Catch 22 by Joseph Heller Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?” ↗The Godfather -Mario Puzo The Running Man -Richard Bachman (A Stephen King pen name) Never Split The Difference -Chris Voss "The Godfather" is a classic that features my 2nd favorite evil genius Don Corleone (Hannibal Lecter being the 1st).…
on “Ask HN: Recommend one book I need to read this summer?” ↗Well it isn't like novels and books haven't been warning of the danger. My favorite being Stephen King's The Running Man and the first movie made from it; both are good for reasons. What we see in a video can equally change what is portrayed by careful selection of the what leads to the event being shown as well as what…
on “Real Time Person Removal from Complex Video” ↗…reading Wikipedia articles when I wanted to find some information. I then moved into a few 100 pages ish novels (Roadside Picnic is a great sci-fi read) and short stories (Stephen King is great, things like Running man for example), and then I found one larger book at a time that I wanted to get through, while reading shorter stories and articles every day or so. Focus on being interested in the book and the way it's…
on “Ask HN: How to Pickup the Habit of Reading?” ↗You're probably right that Hunger Games was the immediate inspiration for PUBG. I understand Hunger Games to basically be an American adaptation of Battle Royale though (and also derivative of The Running Man.) Battle Royale already had "cult classic" status in America by that time. The naming of the genre seems to support the notion that the public was generally aware of Battle Royale. Before Battle…
on “Why are toys such a bad business?” ↗…different product. Secondly, there is a long history of books being turned into films that do not bear much relation to the original work. A few examples from my own life. The Stephen King novella "The Running Man" was turned into a film that contained the same themes, but was a very different story. The film "The Lawnmower Man" was also taken from a Stephen King short story of the same name. The story of the film…
on “My Father's "Eviscerated" work - Son of J.R.R. Tolkien finally speaks out” ↗It reminds me a bit "Running Man" by Stephen King. I think King probably had the better idea by having the audience be able to punish wrongdoers instead of helping the downtrodden. If you could add some good mob rule hurt-the-bad-guys…
on “GoFundMe CEO: ‘Gigantic Gaps’ in Health System Showing Up in Crowdfunding” ↗>The Running Man was based on a psuedonymous Stephen King novel, FWIW Not really. "Inspired by", yes, but I wouldn't say it was "based on" it at all. The plot had almost no similarity. The future predictions were…
on “Moonbase Alpha Travel Tube Details” ↗And before that there was The Running Man and The Long Walk both by Stephen King (as Richard Bachman) that were about deadly game shows / contests in futuristic dystopias.
on “Before Squid Game, there was Battle Royale” ↗IIRC, Stephen King's "The Running Man" and "The Long Walk" predate both Battle Royale and Hunger Games and deal with similar themes.
on “Before Squid Game, there was Battle Royale” ↗"The Running man" by Stephen King was published in 1982, the movie starring Schwarzenegger was released in 1987 (another adaptation will be released this year in 2025) The story is similar to a Robert Sheckley's short…
on “Before Squid Game, there was Battle Royale” ↗Oddly enough this sounds like Stephen King's The Running Man ...
on “Combustion-derived nanoparticles in Alzheimer disease development: study” ↗Reminds me of The Running Man by Richard Bachman (Stephen King)
on “Italy Will Rebuild Colosseum’s Floor” ↗