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.
