Rage (The Bachman Books)

For those of you who don't follow my bookstagram page (a_readers_diary), I have been DYING to read Rage, the only problem is I could only find copies for $400. Luckily enough, the library had an older copy of The Bachman Books, meaning Rage was included!! So needless to say, I'm not planning on reading all four books, just Rage.

 

Now, Richard Bachman, aka Stephen King, pulled Rage off the shelves and out of publication in the late 1990's because it was associated with several school shootings. Since the book was about a teenager holding his class hostage after shooting two teachers, King decided enough was enough and pulled it.

So, lets meet Charlie Decker.

Honestly, I liked him.

He had a hard time growing up. He was always picked on for one reason or another, whether it be at school, the playground, or at home. That's right, parents can be bullies too. But one day, he snapped and by snapped I mean, assaulted a teacher with a wrench. When he finds out he's set for expulsion, he knows now is the time. It's now or never. He sets his locker on fire, shoots the teacher, and begins taking over the class. Another teacher gets in the way?

*bang*

Not anymore.

Charlie's in charge now and he wants everyone to know it.

Once his classmates realize what's going on, they're unsure of what to do.

Take him down?

Fear for their lives?

Or maybe just go along with his plan?

When the class begins chatting, they learn just how many secrets their little town has.

They find ways to hurt each other without Charlie having to pull he trigger again.

It's not hard to lay everything out in the open, but what's going to happen after this?

I think that's why I enjoyed this book so much.

It's not heart in your throat traumatic.

It's not graphic at all.

It's almost as if you're a bystander just taking it all in.

Which is how I imagined Charlie felt, I think the idea was he didn't realize what was happening until it happened. He didn't want to do these things, but something inside of him wanted that power. He wanted people to know he was just along for the ride, whatever happened was truly up to the class. He even says at one point that he knows he's lost control over them. I think that's when the fog cleared and he realized he was hurting. 

I also feel obligated to say that I wanted to read this book 30,000 times more once I realized it was out of print. Something about telling me I can't have a book just makes me want it even more.