20250710 Thursday

Book log: Rage (1977)

Rage is Stephen King's first book published under the Richard Bachman
pseudonym. Although the author drops a little hint that the book is 
written under an alias early on in the book -- "She finally broke 
down and told him that Richard Stark was really Donald Westlake, who 
writes sort of funny mysteries under his real name" -- it would take 
several years and a few more books before anyone confronted King with
their suspicions. Later, King voluntarily took the book out of print 
because of its school shooter theme and apparent connection to actual
school shootings.

The book has parallels to Carrie -- a high school outsider takes 
revenge on their teachers and fellow students -- but there are no 
supernatural elements, and the story is written in first person. And 
the narrative is sort of reversed here. The confrontation comes early
on in the story, and most of the story takes place inside the 
classroom after Charlie Decker, the main character, has murdered two 
teachers and taken his class mates hostage. The book was published a 
few years after the Stockholm hostage situation that gave name to the
Stockholm Syndrome, and we see that Charlie Decker's classmates 
become sympathetic towards him during their captivity. Even more 
interestingly, a situation that reminds me of The Breakfast Club 
arises, with the students opening up about their teenage 
insecurities, their feelings, and their experience, or lack thereof, 
with sexuality. Through their confessions they experience a 
heightened sense of unity and solidarity. We also see the class mates
spontaneously colluding to punish Ted Jones, an unsympathetic co 
student, in a scene that reminded me Friedrich Durrenmatt's The Visit
(Der Besuch der alten Dame, 1956). I was positively surprised at how 
Bachman/King managed to build and interesting story from a premise 
that seemed trite and heavy handed, but in the end the main character 
remains underdeveloped and problematic.