Rage: Getting It On "Bachman Style"

Well, from what I have read, around the time of 1977, SK decided to publish under a pseudonym, Richard Bachman, for a couple of different reasons. One, his publishers thought he would be over-publishing if he released too many novels at once, and also didn't want him to release anything but horror novels. And two, he wanted to really see if he could be successful under another name. So SK pulled out of the trunk a short novel that he has began during his senior year of high school, Getting It On. He finished it up and published it as Rage.

Let me just say, this book completely knocked my socks off.

The story is simple enough, it is about a troubled high school student, who comes into school with a gun, and holds a classroom hostage in order to "teach" them harsh lessons about themselves. The book is only 170 pages, and it packs a wallop on each page. As I was reading, I was remembering back to when I was in sixth grade when I wanted to read this for a book report. I now know why my teacher was so vehemently against me reading it. I started doing some research about this book, and was amazed at what I found. Apparently, SK has allowed this book, and any version of The Bachman Books that contains this novel, to go out of print. It is now a rarely found novel that can seemingly only be found in some libraries (or in some personal collections, so it seems). How lucky am I too have purchased in sixth grade, and not have lost it since then? But in 2007 SK has been said when referencing Rage, "Now out of print, and a good thing". So, I dug a little deeper, and I found that there has been several school shootings (mostly in Kentucky, go figure) where a student has killed some teachers, and held a classroom hostage. In 3 out of the 4 cases I read, they later found a copy of Rage among the student's things. While I am one who does not in any way think that the TV, movies, books, etc. are responsible for people doing the crazy things that they do, I can see where SK might feel like if he had not written this book, then these shootings might never have happened. That's the way guilt works. I strongly believe that if someone is capable of something horrible, then they are going to do it regardless of the inspiration.

In spite of these happenings, and maybe because of them, Rage has intrigued and also inspired me. While reading the short book, I was taken with the idea of adapting it as a play. Technically, it would be easy enough. There is really only one major scene, and most of the story is centered around the interaction between the students. I couldn't get the idea out of my head. Considering the way that SK feels about the story I doubt he would allow it to be adapted, but who knows. I think that inside the "school shooting" plot, there is a wonderful story about a group of teenagers who "discover" themselves, that can't be overlooked.

I'll keep you updated if anything comes of that. Anyway, moving on to SK first short story anthology, Night Shift.

Stay tuned...