Review: "Rage," by Richard Bachman (Stephen King)

Finally, I've read this elusive novel! The first thought I had after reading this was: It's a shame this book is no longer in print. The reason it was removed from print, by request from Stephen King himself, was because the novel was found in the locker of Michael Carneal, a bullied boy who opened fire on students at Heath High School in 1997. Given the sensitive nature of the novel, I can certainly understand King's decision to stop its print. However, after I read the novel I was very surprised to find it was nothing I had expected it to be. In all honesty, I've read a lot fiction that remains in print that has more violent depictions of gun violence in schools than was displayed in Rage. Forgive me if that comes off as insensitive; I in no way want to play down the sheer terror and trauma that comes from any violence in a school. I simply mean that Rage doesn't deal with as much forward and utterly gruesome violence as some other books out there. In fact, many of King's characters in his other novels have been far more violent than Charlie was in Rage. What I read was a book that dissects a troubled teenage boy's mind. The entire novel is a psychoanalysis into what caused this boy to hold his entire class hostage at gunpoint. And what we are told by the characters (but mainly by Charlie himself) is that he grew up in a violent home and was bullied at school. Textbook... What really troubled me (not in a bothersome way, but in such a way that I knew this book was hitting an emotional chord in me) was the way the kids reacted to being held hostage. They were, for want of a better word, blasé about the situation. At times they were quite well-humoured and seemed almost to enjoy being there. Only in a few instances did they become jumpy or frightened. This is a curious juxtaposition from what we often see in real life hostage situations, where the hostages are extremely frightened to the point of hysteria, begging for their lives, or screaming and trembling uncontrollably. It creates this gigantic spotlight on the children in that classroom and forces us to observe their behaviour. And I think this contrast is why the novel is so powerful. It draws a clear line between Charlie and the other children, between troubled young man and the people who didn't ask to be held hostage. But interestingly enough, I found myself wondering, who exactly is the victim in all this...? This novel is short, and in true King (Bachman) fashion, you can't help but keep turning the pages until the end. I know this book is hard to come by, but it was well worth my months-long search for a copy. From a purely entertainment standpoint, this is a must read if you're a King fan. I think there is a lot that can be learned from Rage (and books of a similar nature) in why violence in schools happens. Or, to look at it more broadly, we can learn why and how violent behaviour in adolescents develops in the first place. It gives us a window into the mental health of youth, in particular youth that have been bullied. And it may provide us with answers on how to act before it is too late for everyone. In defence of Richard Bachman and Rage, I don't think the book created a monster in Carneal in 1997. I think the tendencies were there in a boy who had gone through the ringer, and Rage may have been the final straw for him in a overlong, delayed cry for help.