I went to Half-Priced Books today and found an old copy of The Bachman Books with “Rage” in it. I watched this video the other day and couldn’t believe I found a copy for $4.99! Loved your video, but I did want to read it myself as well. 😆
Alfred Hitchcock had a similar situation with his movie 'Psycho'. A man who had murdered a few women saw the movie and was inspired to kill another, he was subsequently caught. Hitchcock was asked if he felt any responsibility for the man's actions and he responded, at least in part, by asking what movies the man had seen before murdering the previous women.
I was able to get my copy of thr Bachman collection at the Mississippi Comic Con for 5 dollars. (They definitely didnt know how much it was worth.) Rage and Carrie have similar themes about mental illness,abuse and violence. I think the only reason Rage was pulled was because of the realism of it.
Perhaps ironic that the similarly themed "We Need To Talk About Kevin" by Lionel Shriver should have been turned into an award winning movie and that both book and film are now regarded as modern-day classics.
It was my student Jeff Cox in 1988 who took a class hostage after reading Rage. He asked for me however, I was at a debate tournament at the time. Was it the book? At school, teachers noted his intelligence, even when he was doing poorly. “He had a lot to say and knew how to say it,” said Doug Campbell, San Gabriel High’s debate coach. “He saw things that other kids didn’t see at his age.”
Correlation does not imply causation, I do not believe a piece of media has the power to make someone do something like this, its a bigger problem than just what children are consuming for entertainment when it gets to the point of murder.
I love this book but I definitely see why they pulled it. Charlie is painted really sympathetically and you're meant to understand and relate to him in many ways, but not outright excuse his actions. Though its a great story, I think a book from the perspective of a school shooter that paints him so sympathetically, who has so many things go right for him and is very in control as you said, unfortunately takes on a whole different interpretation with the context of the modern day.
I can only assume the title is directed at your fellow late-Millennials, because most folks my age have very much heard of Rage and are well aware that Richard Bachman is actually Stephen King. This "double life" was part of the the inspiration for The Dark Half, and there is an essay titled, "Why I was Richard Bachman" at the back of The Regulators, which younger folks might not know. Kudos on an informative video.
The interesting thing is that Stephen King himself said in another unrelated interview that by banning a book all you do is make so more people seek it out and want to read it. So if he truly felt that way then by banning this book he would have acomplosh the oppsite that they were hoping for??
Stopping a book from being printed definitely limits the number of people who would read it. Sure, persistent persons will find it, but most persons aren't persistent.
@@bramdelorijn8460 Ive got the book, Ive got all of his books. Stopping a print is pretty much teh same thing. When they ban a book thats what happens. They dont destroy those that have been printed.
@@J.NeiraAuthor Most King fans will read it at some point. And the high price it goes for shows that there is a demand for it... and thats due to it being cancelled.
@@interghost Most casual King fans have probably only read a dozen or so of his stories. Hard-core fans will read them all, but they're only a minority of King fans, like with every fandom. I can compare it to Harry Potter, where tons of Rowling fans have never read the Cursed Child play.
I also got my copy in the Bachman Books but I was sooo lucky because I got it second-hand for about £10. I was expecting it to arrive without Rage in it!
First time viewer here. Really like your thorough analysis of this book. I look forward to your other videos. (But wow, you speak really fast! Slow down a bit 😃😃.)
I have and read this years ago and never knew until this year it was out of print. Did you read Roadwork in the collection? That one is kinda wild to read now too.
There's also Rose Madder. It's not out of print, but most King fans generally disliked it, even King himself said that the book tries too hard. If you'd make a video on that, that would be pretty cool, unless you have already.
If the american government and parents are incapable (or unwilling, more likely) to grant a good educations to children, which would make school s h o o t i n g s something that doesn't happen (you know, like in any other country in the world), then the artists should not need to feel responsible to do so.
Rage is actually a pretty good book that squarely within King's classic era. It's got moments in it where King gets totally carried away by inspiration, like in the bit just before he shoots the teacher where he's describing the cosmic dimension of what he's doing and how his life trajectory led him to that point. It's the kind of stuff King could only write when he was younger and miserable. You don't get that kind of stuff in his books after the 1980s, unfortunately. I hate to say this, but like David Bowie, King started to fall off after he got clean and sober. In the early 80s, during the height of his drug and alcohol problems, his writing has a really strong melancholic streak and you could see that he was still chafing at the idea of being a popular horror writer, which is why you got things like Different Seasons where he was still toying with literary aspirations. That was best King. After rehab though, it seems like he was just paying bills and had acquiesced to his fate. That was around the time he wrote Needful Things. It was all mostly downhill from there, imo.
No, fuck off with this absurd "this artist was only good when they were an addict" garbage. It's such a backwards, disgusting mindset. And King himself would tell you to fuck off with this nonsense. His addiction is something to look nostalgically back on because you "miss old King." His addiction almost killed him and ruined his family. Substance addiction and pain is not a requisite for good art. King didn't "fall off" after he got sober. He wrote and published some of his best work post-sobriety. Considering your attitude, I'd doubt you'd agree to save face though. He's been writing, literally, pretty much his entire life. He's been a published author for over 50 years. Living life is going to affect your art and outlook. It's really that simple. No artist is going to have the same voice for over 50 years. And let's stop acting like all pre-sobriety King is "all good" when it really wasn't. Novels such as Christine, Cujo, Thinner, and The Gunslinger are very flawed works. I enjoy them all, but they are hardly his most well-rounded novels. And Tommyknockers, the last novel he completed before sobriety, is widely consider one of his worst books.
Most of us "mellow" (mature) as we age. It isn't something specific to Stephen King. And complaining about it is a sign of immaturity and arrested development.
Not sure if someone has already mentioned, but I was able to get an older edition of The Bachman Books from my library. In case you want to read & can't afford to buy.
I found that edition in a used book store YEARS ago. People will use whatever they want to justify being inhumane to other people, so in that regard I feel like it... opens art to undo responsibilities. However, I think it's up to him to decide how and if his art is presented. (Admitting a bit of hypocrisy there, as I feel that Lucas tinkering with the original Star Wars movies was a BAD move. But movies by their nature cease to belong to a singular author at a certain point of their production. And most of the the story changes and FX additions were BAD or aged poorly.)
You referred to Rage as a novella but it says novel on the cover. I think of King's book Elevation as a novella, but it also calls itself a novel on the cover. One definition I've seen is that a novella is 7,500 to 40,000 words and Rage has about 54,000 words. I say "about", because word count varies depending on which tool does the counting. It's actually not so obvious to count the words. There are a lot of ambiguous situations where people and tools disagree. Elevation has about 27,000 words so it clearly falls into that definition of a novella, but the book will call itself a novel for marketing purposes.
The "secret" book that I "never heard of"? Come on, I used to be a big fan of The King and I read the german translation when it was published in 1988. I thought it was quite good. Later I wrote song lyrics for my band titled Cain Rose Up (yes, I have been edgy. Good times). To answer your question: well, it's his book, so if he feels like it should not be reprinted, then it's a good thing that he is in a position where the publishers cannot do so without his permission. I am strictly against censorship, but as long as people have access to the books they want to read, I'm good. (I like the part where you say "this one is hard to find. I found it on ebay". Also, there seem to be several audio books right here on yt) If you are still reading this, here is a bonus thought for free: Is Running Man also out of print? I am asking because this book ends with a man flying a plane into a skyscraper, and in september of 2001 I wondered what an incredible visionary The King is and how life imitates art in the most obnoxious, disgusting ways.
I had such a hard time finding this until I started looking for the german version. It was so much cheaper and easier to find. But I'm wondering if maybe the translation wasn't that good cause even though it's a short read it kinda felt longer than a lot of his other books. I'm not at all saying it's bad. This is just one of those book where I really can't figure out whether I liked it or not. Does anybody else have a book like that?
I saw the Bachman books and I heard about rage. I won’t read it because of issues I had with school and someone spreading a rumor I would do it. But I like the cover of the original.
Anda! Love your channel..btw. But yea...read the book...and other masterpiece by Mr. King...very reflective of teenage angst...and you cant help but to see Charlie as a hero and a voice for teens of the time. However..that fictional life in society is not the reality of today...and I too can honor Mr. Kings wishes to pull the book. Especially as so many children are suffering from recent events. And in my opinion....if we had more regulations on the matter...then we could continue to enjoy books like RAGE...because they would still be deemed "fantasy" and not a reality (which were living in now). BUT ANYWAYS...Thanks for covering this book. Love the channel. ✌️❤
I read "The Bachman Books" in high school. None of the books affected me in a bad way. I think it's interesting that "The Running Man" involves a plane crashing into an office building. I remember "Roadwork" being my favorite. All four books involve guns. I probably thought guns were cool at the time. Now, I just think they're dangerous.
I cant believe how many times i saw this book cover and didnt realize it was a desk he was sitting on and not a wall. Mind you, i never read the book and had no clue as to the plot, but still!
I went to Half-Priced Books today and found an old copy of The Bachman Books with “Rage” in it. I watched this video the other day and couldn’t believe I found a copy for $4.99! Loved your video, but I did want to read it myself as well. 😆
That's so awesome! I searched at my used bookstore for ages and ended up on ebay haha. I hope you enjoy it!
You put a lot of work in for such a small channel. I’ve enjoyed your recommendations and reviews!
Thank you so much! I really appreciate your kind comment.
Alfred Hitchcock had a similar situation with his movie 'Psycho'. A man who had murdered a few women saw the movie and was inspired to kill another, he was subsequently caught. Hitchcock was asked if he felt any responsibility for the man's actions and he responded, at least in part, by asking what movies the man had seen before murdering the previous women.
I was able to get my copy of thr Bachman collection at the Mississippi Comic Con for 5 dollars. (They definitely didnt know how much it was worth.) Rage and Carrie have similar themes about mental illness,abuse and violence. I think the only reason Rage was pulled was because of the realism of it.
Perhaps ironic that the similarly themed "We Need To Talk About Kevin" by Lionel Shriver should have been turned into an award winning movie and that both book and film are now regarded as modern-day classics.
At the time he wrote Rage, it must've seemed like something that could never happen in real life.
That's scary 😳
There was the Texas Tower shooting in 1966 which I think inspired both Rage and Apt Pupil.
It was my student Jeff Cox in 1988 who took a class hostage after reading Rage. He asked for me however, I was at a debate tournament at the time. Was it the book? At school, teachers noted his intelligence, even when he was doing poorly. “He had a lot to say and knew how to say it,” said Doug Campbell, San Gabriel High’s debate coach. “He saw things that other kids didn’t see at his age.”
Correlation does not imply causation, I do not believe a piece of media has the power to make someone do something like this, its a bigger problem than just what children are consuming for entertainment when it gets to the point of murder.
I love this book but I definitely see why they pulled it. Charlie is painted really sympathetically and you're meant to understand and relate to him in many ways, but not outright excuse his actions. Though its a great story, I think a book from the perspective of a school shooter that paints him so sympathetically, who has so many things go right for him and is very in control as you said, unfortunately takes on a whole different interpretation with the context of the modern day.
An audiobook version is available on youtube.
Yes, listened to that before eventually getting the collection she has.
I can only assume the title is directed at your fellow late-Millennials, because most folks my age have very much heard of Rage and are well aware that Richard Bachman is actually Stephen King. This "double life" was part of the the inspiration for The Dark Half, and there is an essay titled, "Why I was Richard Bachman" at the back of The Regulators, which younger folks might not know. Kudos on an informative video.
Yeah. She says all of that in the first 10 seconds of the video.
The interesting thing is that Stephen King himself said in another unrelated interview that by banning a book all you do is make so more people seek it out and want to read it. So if he truly felt that way then by banning this book he would have acomplosh the oppsite that they were hoping for??
He didn't exactly ban it, just doesn't do new print runs anymore, the book is available as an audiobook on youtube if you'd like to listen to it.
Stopping a book from being printed definitely limits the number of people who would read it. Sure, persistent persons will find it, but most persons aren't persistent.
@@bramdelorijn8460 Ive got the book, Ive got all of his books. Stopping a print is pretty much teh same thing. When they ban a book thats what happens. They dont destroy those that have been printed.
@@J.NeiraAuthor Most King fans will read it at some point. And the high price it goes for shows that there is a demand for it... and thats due to it being cancelled.
@@interghost Most casual King fans have probably only read a dozen or so of his stories. Hard-core fans will read them all, but they're only a minority of King fans, like with every fandom. I can compare it to Harry Potter, where tons of Rowling fans have never read the Cursed Child play.
I also got my copy in the Bachman Books but I was sooo lucky because I got it second-hand for about £10. I was expecting it to arrive without Rage in it!
I read in eighth grade and recall loving the book. I have two or three copies around the house because I know how hard it is to find.
So proud of my hardback Bachman Books. Too bad its a library edition. :(
First time viewer here. Really like your thorough analysis of this book. I look forward to your other videos.
(But wow, you speak really fast! Slow down a bit 😃😃.)
i just got into your content and its so good! ty for your hard work :)
~Another great video!
I’ve heard of & read this book, I loved it.
A few years back i found an old copy of the bachman books on the free book rack at the library. I scooped it up quick!
I have and read this years ago and never knew until this year it was out of print. Did you read Roadwork in the collection? That one is kinda wild to read now too.
There's also Rose Madder. It's not out of print, but most King fans generally disliked it, even King himself said that the book tries too hard. If you'd make a video on that, that would be pretty cool, unless you have already.
Oh interesting. I'll have to look into this one. Thanks for the info!
Love your content!
Thank you!
I’ve listened to the audio book. I didn’t listen to it much but I will try it again soon since I can’t read it.
If the american government and parents are incapable (or unwilling, more likely) to grant a good educations to children, which would make school s h o o t i n g s something that doesn't happen (you know, like in any other country in the world), then the artists should not need to feel responsible to do so.
Rage is actually a pretty good book that squarely within King's classic era. It's got moments in it where King gets totally carried away by inspiration, like in the bit just before he shoots the teacher where he's describing the cosmic dimension of what he's doing and how his life trajectory led him to that point. It's the kind of stuff King could only write when he was younger and miserable. You don't get that kind of stuff in his books after the 1980s, unfortunately. I hate to say this, but like David Bowie, King started to fall off after he got clean and sober. In the early 80s, during the height of his drug and alcohol problems, his writing has a really strong melancholic streak and you could see that he was still chafing at the idea of being a popular horror writer, which is why you got things like Different Seasons where he was still toying with literary aspirations. That was best King. After rehab though, it seems like he was just paying bills and had acquiesced to his fate. That was around the time he wrote Needful Things. It was all mostly downhill from there, imo.
Couldn't disagree more. Some of his latest books have been among the best he's ever written, and he's never really had a decline in his abilities.
No, fuck off with this absurd "this artist was only good when they were an addict" garbage. It's such a backwards, disgusting mindset. And King himself would tell you to fuck off with this nonsense. His addiction is something to look nostalgically back on because you "miss old King." His addiction almost killed him and ruined his family.
Substance addiction and pain is not a requisite for good art. King didn't "fall off" after he got sober. He wrote and published some of his best work post-sobriety. Considering your attitude, I'd doubt you'd agree to save face though.
He's been writing, literally, pretty much his entire life. He's been a published author for over 50 years. Living life is going to affect your art and outlook. It's really that simple. No artist is going to have the same voice for over 50 years.
And let's stop acting like all pre-sobriety King is "all good" when it really wasn't. Novels such as Christine, Cujo, Thinner, and The Gunslinger are very flawed works. I enjoy them all, but they are hardly his most well-rounded novels. And Tommyknockers, the last novel he completed before sobriety, is widely consider one of his worst books.
Most of us "mellow" (mature) as we age. It isn't something specific to Stephen King. And complaining about it is a sign of immaturity and arrested development.
@@MrSwinefuzz It's a sign of having good taste in art.
Love your Creepshow shirt.
Not sure if someone has already mentioned, but I was able to get an older edition of The Bachman Books from my library. In case you want to read & can't afford to buy.
im thinking about getting his book coming out this September with Holly Gibney in the lead
🧐🧐🧐 this could be a premise to a Stephen king novel.
Ohh I'm not the only one who got Breakfast Club vibes from reading this book
In the 9th grade we had to do a book report on it. Turns out its banned in schools.
I found that edition in a used book store YEARS ago. People will use whatever they want to justify being inhumane to other people, so in that regard I feel like it... opens art to undo responsibilities.
However, I think it's up to him to decide how and if his art is presented. (Admitting a bit of hypocrisy there, as I feel that Lucas tinkering with the original Star Wars movies was a BAD move. But movies by their nature cease to belong to a singular author at a certain point of their production. And most of the the story changes and FX additions were BAD or aged poorly.)
I have that collection! I should try selling it! (Wasn't that crazy about the stories)
PDF version is available on internet archive
You referred to Rage as a novella but it says novel on the cover. I think of King's book Elevation as a novella, but it also calls itself a novel on the cover. One definition I've seen is that a novella is 7,500 to 40,000 words and Rage has about 54,000 words. I say "about", because word count varies depending on which tool does the counting. It's actually not so obvious to count the words. There are a lot of ambiguous situations where people and tools disagree. Elevation has about 27,000 words so it clearly falls into that definition of a novella, but the book will call itself a novel for marketing purposes.
I sold my copy for $1500... I needed the money
I’m a creep
The "secret" book that I "never heard of"? Come on, I used to be a big fan of The King and I read the german translation when it was published in 1988. I thought it was quite good. Later I wrote song lyrics for my band titled Cain Rose Up (yes, I have been edgy. Good times).
To answer your question: well, it's his book, so if he feels like it should not be reprinted, then it's a good thing that he is in a position where the publishers cannot do so without his permission. I am strictly against censorship, but as long as people have access to the books they want to read, I'm good. (I like the part where you say "this one is hard to find. I found it on ebay". Also, there seem to be several audio books right here on yt)
If you are still reading this, here is a bonus thought for free:
Is Running Man also out of print? I am asking because this book ends with a man flying a plane into a skyscraper, and in september of 2001 I wondered what an incredible visionary The King is and how life imitates art in the most obnoxious, disgusting ways.
That shirt is a creepshow shirt, right?
yea from the segmant called fathers day
I had such a hard time finding this until I started looking for the german version. It was so much cheaper and easier to find. But I'm wondering if maybe the translation wasn't that good cause even though it's a short read it kinda felt longer than a lot of his other books. I'm not at all saying it's bad. This is just one of those book where I really can't figure out whether I liked it or not. Does anybody else have a book like that?
what is it called in german?
@@iknowwhattheyare It's called "Amok".
@@its_Reelzyy Vielen lieben Dank :)
Rage Steph kings short stories it was okay I like boogeyman & mist better
I saw the Bachman books and I heard about rage. I won’t read it because of issues I had with school and someone spreading a rumor I would do it. But I like the cover of the original.
Anda! Love your channel..btw. But yea...read the book...and other masterpiece by Mr. King...very reflective of teenage angst...and you cant help but to see Charlie as a hero and a voice for teens of the time. However..that fictional life in society is not the reality of today...and I too can honor Mr. Kings wishes to pull the book. Especially as so many children are suffering from recent events. And in my opinion....if we had more regulations on the matter...then we could continue to enjoy books like RAGE...because they would still be deemed "fantasy" and not a reality (which were living in now). BUT ANYWAYS...Thanks for covering this book. Love the channel. ✌️❤
Im a big king fan, mainly due to my mother. Yet I've never heard of rage.
I read "The Bachman Books" in high school. None of the books affected me in a bad way. I think it's interesting that "The Running Man" involves a plane crashing into an office building. I remember "Roadwork" being my favorite. All four books involve guns. I probably thought guns were cool at the time. Now, I just think they're dangerous.
I cant believe how many times i saw this book cover and didnt realize it was a desk he was sitting on and not a wall. Mind you, i never read the book and had no clue as to the plot, but still!
Hardly a "secret" Stephen King book that people have never heard of. Try less clickbait to be taken seriously.
Really cheap way to title the video.
I totally agree with you.
Thank you for the recommendation and i love your shirt
I still have the paperback Bachman Books that I bought 30 years ago. Glad I held on to it!