Question: THE LONG WALK - April 31st????

[EcoEcho]

Interesting site and great members. Have a question about THE LONG WALK, written by King as Bachman. A backout date for enrollees in the story's long walk is April 31st. Since there is no April 31st, April only goes to the 30th after all, why is that date in the book?
Anyone know? Was the date an oversight or intentional or corrected in later editions? In case the date was corrected in later editions, the copy it's in is a Signet Paperback with the King Introduction, 15th printing of the 1999 edition.

 

[not_nadine]

Welcome to the boards. Interesting, I don't remember that - or I overlooked it.

 

[EcoEcho]

I've read and handled many of Stephen King's books but I didn't recall seeing it before finding it in the Library last week. How could I have missed it? - don't know, but I was delighted to find another one. A new title (meaning just discovered my me) of his is a treasure. When I first found it it felt like what I imagined it would be to experience a "parallel universe" moment.

 

[champ1966]

a "parallel universe" .

You just answered your "31st April" question.

 

[GNTLGNT]

...I once saw a tombstone with a death date of "February 30"....

 

[EcoEcho]

Guess April 31st and February 30th would only
appear on "Birthstones" in the parallel universe.

 

[Walter Oobleck]

King was trying to throw off the Mayan Calendar...musta worked! Ooga booga!

 

[staropeace]

He screwed up lol.

 

[EcoEcho]

Guess his editors did too. Wondering if it was corrected in later editions . . . even though it's not that big a deal, there are so many more "importantcies" to consider.

 

[fushingfeef]

Actually I always assumed that was a deliberate way to show that this was an alternate history/future. Who's to say that in an imaginary future there couldn't be a reworked calendar where April has 31 days? It's also likely a sly homage to George Orwell's famous opening line of the novel 1984: “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.”

 

[champ1966]

Actually I always assumed that was a deliberate way to show that this was an alternate history/future. Who's to say that in an imaginary future there couldn't be a reworked calendar where April has 31 days? It's also likely a sly homage to George Orwell's famous opening line of the novel 1984: “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.”

Well played sir,well played indeed.

#perfectanswer

 

[Walter Oobleck]

Never "caught" April 31st and I read it more than once. Johnny Cash! Since the story reminded me of time-in-service...Catch-22, may it do ya fine...I'd hazard it was deliberate. Was it the 29th or the 30th when the copters plucked what they could from the roof of the embassy in Saigon? April. If ever we needed another day in April, that would have been the year...1975?

 

[Pucker]

Seems simple to me.

This isn't your world . . . but it could be . . .

and quite easily.

 

[EcoEcho]

Sometimes . . . not always . . . but sometimes, it seems to be my world. Especially as I'm getting older.

 

[icarus]

I've just finished reading "The Long Walk" and I think its a fantastic story....I like the characters in it like "Olson" and "Mcvries" and "Stebbin", but I only realised the date April 31st, now....but I figured that in the future the Calendars must have been remade or edited somehow, but then again it may have been a misprint.... It must have been agonising for the walkers to walk that far....great ending to the story, really surprised!

 

[SHEEMIEE]

going over old ground today listening to the audio as the narrators voice echoes in the sub station where i'm working - poor Olson , ghee what a way to go!

god's garden is full of weeds!

what do you reckon he meant by that?

 

[GNTLGNT]

going over old ground today listening to the audio as the narrators voice echoes in the sub station where i'm working - poor Olson , ghee what a way to go!

god's garden is full of weeds!

what do you reckon he meant by that?

...Matthew 13, verses 24-30.....

 

[SHEEMIEE]

yeh, looking at that- cheers.

theory-

this is most definitely written in an alternative reality.

why?

simple - America, Augusta., was not bombed by invading Germany troops - there was no blitz. at least not where i'm writing from.

chapt 14 - garrett talks about the history photos of the blitz on the east coast.

so it's a Man in the high castle , follow on story- that's how i read it.

 

[SHEEMIEE]

still a cracker of a audio trip- next up Rage again.

 

[SHEEMIEE]

a faeri story by Garrety

once upon a time there was a white knight who left his castle and went out on a sacred quest , who fought off trolls and goblins and a whole **** load of wolves!!!

...a king in his castle

...And a lady fair

the king didn't dig it...

hmmmmm...