I'm sorry but I cannot, in good conscience, give this anything less than 5 stars. Even though there were a few parts that aggravated me--mostly in book 3--the good far exceeded the bad. It took me nearly three weeks to read this 1153 page monster, and amazingly I was never bored with it. Such an epic tale, biblical in scope, with some truly remarkable character development. I'll be remembering this one for a long, long time to come.

I read this book ages ago, but it's fresh in my mind every time I wind up stuck in traffic underneath the Hudson.

It's about almost everyone in the world basically catching a bad case of the Plague and dropping dead. This premise doesn't seem very far-fetched, which could make it either more or less entertaining, depending on your temperment.

Here's my opinion about good old Stevie King: he's got a real problem with endings. He'll spin these long, terrific stories, but way too often they're all based in suspense, and he lures you to page 600 or whatever, and leaves you high and dry. I read the first half of _It_ in sixth grade and had to stop, as the book had completely deprived me of my ablity to sleep. Two years later, I'd finally recovered enough to brave It again, and the ending was so stupid that I sorely wished I'd saved myself months of clown-terror wakefulness by finishing it the first time. I mean, don't get me wrong, the guy can write. But he almost invariably writes himself into a corner, and his endings are a let-down.

The great thing about The Stand, to me, is that King a. demonstrates that he's aware of this problem and b. uses his weakness jujitsu style, combined with wish-fulfillment, to great effect. You can just see him crouched at his typewriter, chewing on something and grumbling, "Christ, what's my problem..... These goddamn endings.... I just need a deus ex machina."

I liked the Stand. The Stand's good stuff. It's not one of the scary ones (well, it's scary in a different way than, say, The Shining), and in addition to having an ending I appreciate, it also gets pretty silly, but still: Recommended. Yep.

A-choo!

It's the greatest novel of all time.

Every time I revisit this novel, it's like seeing old friends, I just love the characters.

The Stand is one of my all-time favorite books, and I think it is the most unforgettable. A must read if you are a SK fan, and a must read if you love Good vs Evil!

“None of us want to see portents and omens, no matter how much we like our ghost stories and the spooky films. None of us want to really see a Star in the East or a pillar of fire by night. We want peace and rationality and routine. If we have to see God in the black face of an old woman, it’s bound to remind us that there’s a devil for every god—and our devil may be closer than we like to think.”

A plague has escaped a lab killing most of the population, only a few, a mere fraction of the whole, has immunity or manages to survive being infected.

It is over in a matter of weeks. Civilization grinds to a halt, then collapses, and then falls into chaos.

A Mad Max world is born.

A virus that kills 99.4% of the people it infects is a very stupid virus. Even the Black Plague had a 20% survival rate, so for a virus to act this stupidly, it would have to be man made. The last thing any virus should do is kill the host. Death of the host leads to death of the virus.

n  ”Now most of the young folks and old folks were gone, and most of those in between. God had brought down a harsh judgment on the human race.”n

Invariably, we can’t help bringing God into any situation where we think a judgment has been handed down on humanity, but he/she doesn’t have anything to do with this. This is man destroying himself. Some would make the case that God could have interceded, could have saved us if we had been worthy, but then when have we ever been ‘worthy’? Since we are made in his image I do think sometimes what God, if he exists, likes least in us is what he likes least about himself. The whole theory of God is built on good and evil. If evil exists, then oddly God exists. The Vatican has been working relentlessly to prove for centuries that pure evil exists to justify the whole need for their continued existence.

The proof might be rising out of the ashes of this virulent plague. n  ”He was coming, Flagg was coming like some terrible horror monster out of the scariest picture ever made. The dark man’s cheeks were flushed with jolly color, his eyes were twinkling with happy good fellowship, and a great hungry voracious grin stretched his lips over huge tombstone teeth, shark teeth, and his hands were held out in front of him, and there were shiny black crow feathers fluttering from his hair.”n

The survivors are dreaming about the Dark Man, and they are dreaming about the old black woman in the cornfields of Nebraska. These dreams are as vivid as they are confusing. There is a battle for their souls going on. They must choose. Do they go to Randall Flagg, or do they flock to Abagail Freemantle?

You would think it would be an easy decision. Don’t most of us think of ourselves as good people? Of course, we would join Abagail, the self-anointed prophet of God. Except, maybe it isn’t so clearly cut; as the two groups grow, it is starting to look like an even split. Abagail brings her flock to Boulder, Colorado, wanting to use the natural barrier of the Rockies to be the dividing line between her “good people” and the evil people following the Dark Man.

Not to mention that she knows there has to be a reckoning.

But are they evil? When people from the Boulder Free Zone mingle with those from the Dark Side, they find them to be normal people, just like the people they left back in Boulder. The biggest difference is that they are afraid, and fear, as we know, is the most insidious and easiest way to control people. It becomes very clear that Abagail’s army is really only fighting one man, one man with supernatural powers. n  ”Nevermore. Tap, tap, tap. The crow, looking in at him, seeming to grin. And it came to him with a dreamy, testicle-shriveling certainty that this was the dark man, his soul, his ka somehow projected into this rain-drenched, grinning crow that was looking in at him, checking up on him.”n

So it is sort of interesting to speculate about whether there are truly evil beings like Randall Flagg in the world, waiting for their opportunity, waiting for people to need someone larger than themselves to lead. Their power grows as people choose to believe in them. As long as civilization exists and people are reasonably content, a person like Flagg is never given an opportunity to thrive.

We through our own discontent empower evil.

This novel is one of the King epics. A fan poll on Goodreads, The Best of Stephen King Poll, shows that his fans still believe this is his best book. My favorite book, and the one that I feel will be considered his masterpiece, is n  ITn, a book that I feel really brings together all of his best skills in building characters and shows off his gift for creating twisty, scary plots . IT is #2 on the Goodreads poll. Pennywise, in my opinion, might have had as large an impact on reading/watching audiences as Norman Bates in Psycho. Once you have been introduced to Pennywise try walking past a storm drain without giving it a wide berth.

The Stand has a large cast, and most readers will have a favorite character. I liked several characters, actually, and wondered if I was going to find myself in a George R.R. Martin universe where identifying with a character was tantamount to self-inflicted grief. I was fortunate to stick with Stu Redman. He is a hick from Texas who continues to show hidden depths as circumstances shape and reveal his character. He made me smile with the following response, when it looks like dire circumstances may lead to a slow death: “Ralph came over to Stu and knelt down. ‘Can we get you anything, Stu?’ Stu smiled. ‘Yeah. Everything Gore Vidal ever wrote—those books about Lincoln and Aaron Burr and those guys. I always meant to read the suckers. Now it looks like I got the time.’”

Gotta love the thought of a redneck from Texas reading the unabashed New York homosexual.

In the forward, Stephen King talks about the meeting he had with the publishing group about the size of The Stand. It was originally published at about 800 pages, but then when they decided to reissue the uncut version, he was able to put back in about 400 pages that he had been forced to excise. ”I reluctantly agreed to do the surgery myself. I think I did a fairly good job, for a writer who has been accused over and over again of having diarrhea of the word processor.” He agreed to the cuts because the publishing team made a compelling case. They were able to show him the sales from his previous four books, the profit margin, and if he sold the same number of books of The Stand, how much slimmer the profit margin would be, because of the cost to produce the 400 extra pages. So the cuts were not made for editorial reasons, but for common sense accounting reasons. King was very happy to have the orphaned material reunited with the rest of the book.

The book does bog down at times for me. I think that is inevitable with a book this size. King is taking on some larger themes here and for the most part keeps all the plates spinning in the air. I read a lot of post-apocalyptic books, and I’m sure if I ever let myself be put on a couch, a psychologist will explore those reasons thoroughly, but one thing I notice, while I am immersing myself in The Stand, is that I have a greater appreciation for my life and the cocoon that civilization wraps around me to keep me safe and provide me with the necessities so that I can have the time I want to read, putter, and write. Maybe I’m not as obsessed with the END OF THE WORLD as much as I am finding new ways to appreciate the wonderful life I do have.

I have to admit, though, that I had to agree with lifestyle philosophy of the sociologist Glen Bateman. n  ”But Bateman himself hadn’t wanted to get in on the ground floor of society’s reappearance. He seemed perfectly content—at least for the time being—to go for his walks with Kojak, paint his pictures, putter around his garden, and think about the sociological ramifications of nearly total decimation.”n

I would hope I could ignore the siren calls of the ancient, wise woman in Nebraska and the seductive pull of The Dark Man and just enjoy the peace and quiet of a more tranquil world without the constant noise of people talking on their cell phones, music blaring from cars, planes taking off from airports, and millions of electrical lines humming.

It is truly amazing any of us can think.

f you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
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A heartfelt thank-you to Norma and Brenda for including me in this 1,300 page marathon journey of a novel.

I was kindly offered the opportunity to become part of the “traveling sister read” earlier this month. Such a great concept and what an incredible experience. I enjoyed every minute of it. All of our discussions, opinions and back-and-forth chats. So interesting to share each other’s thoughts as we made our way through the book together. With such an incredibly long book we managed to keep one another on track. It was great fun trying to figure out where the story would take us. I can't imagine tackling this book without them!

A 5 star book as well as a 5* reading experience! Thank-you to my 2 new Canadian sisters!
In the end, the book left me with just one question: is mankind doomed to continually repeat his past mistakes?

To see the full traveling sister review please visit Norma and Brenda's blog at:
Http://twogirlslostinacouleereading.w...

M-o-o-n, that spells “long book that is brilliantly engaging and worth the ride despite the sudden and rather deflating ending.”

But for real, I read this 20 years ago and I still can’t shake that scene going through the underground tunnel. So scary. King is a legend of horror for a reason and this book is just overflowing with great characters and lots of intensity.

M-O-O-N spells spectacular!

I first read THE STAND in the early 80's. It was during the Christmas break- I lived out in the boonies with my family, and after the holiday hoopla was over -I planted myself in my favorite chair and sat there for 4 days devouring every page-(only leaving for bathroom breaks, meals and sleep).

30+ years later my reading experience was a little different. I read it with my Goodreads friend Lisa- who had the uncut version, while I had the original- I stopped and started as she caught up- there were huge amounts of messages back and forth- on the characters, the differences in editions, who we loved- who we hated, and everything and anything we could think of to discuss. It was a month long read...

...but the one thing both experiences did have in common was- I LOVED IT each time!!



At a remote U.S. Army base, a strain of influenza is accidentally released. Despite a lock down- soldier Charles Campion is able to escape with his wife and child. By the time the military is able to track his whereabouts- Campion has spread the disease around parts of Texas- triggering a pandemic which kills off 99 percent of the population.

The one percent are left in survival mode- spread out over the entire country and plagued by strange dreams about two individuals which eventually draw some to Nebraska and some to Las Vegas.



Hemingford Home, Nebraska- Is the home of Abagail Freemantle— "Mother Abagail" a 108 year- old woman who receives visions from God. She is the embodiment of good.



Las Vegas, Nevada- is where Randall Flagg has set up shop- Randall is also called The Dark Man and The Walking Dude. He lives to cause death and destruction and has supernatural powers which allow him to be human, animal or demon. He is the embodiment of evil.



King said that he "wanted to write a fantasy epic like The Lord of the Rings, only with an American setting"- and that is just what he did. THE STAND is a wonderful epic fantasy adventure about good vs evil- One that I would recommend to anybody who hasn't read it yet, and even to those who have!

Amazing writing and development, but it was so lengthy that the good bits got lost in a sea of utter crap. Not worth reading. Ending is quite disappointing. I was going to give it two stars for it wasn't that horrible really, but it wasted a lot of my precious time and therefore it gets one star. Nothing more.


Old review (back when it was unfinished):
I finished about half of this book (which is a million pages), and I am suddenly feeling very unmotivated to finish it. Don't get me wrong, Stephen King is a WONDERFUL writer, but the story seemed to drag on and on and on. At times, I felt like I could easily give this book a 5-star rating, and at other times, I felt like throwing it from a 10-story building. If this book was shorter, and if SK wasn't so attached to ALL the crap he writes, and if he believed in deleting CHAPTERS that aren't necessary/important nor related to the plot, then this would have been, indeed, a great book.

I don't want this to stop you from reading it, though. I have a lot of other books I'd like to read before ever continuing reading this.

When a novel is 1,439 pages long obviously there are many ups and downs in the story. However this is one of the best examples of good over bad I've come across (and not even the most extensive I read either). To be honest I'm not trying to damn it with faint praise, just the opposite. But having read many classic narratives this for want of a better phrase ... let's say... and I will...
isn't in the same league. Stephen King is an excellent writer being a fan of both him and scifi, this is very enjoyable indeed, nevertheless a little long -winded. The characters and plot are quite exciting though and the various mad situations memorable. The top of the list, Mother Abagail at 108 dominates the few scenes she is in. Prophet or mad woman? Her unpretentious manners will...
charm, and only the facts resolved at the end can tell the tale. Another unique human or more likely phantom is the Dark Man, Randall Flagg (if he had any) to his friends , who chill the nervous opponents with strange powers in the bleak setting...a virus has killed 99% of the Earth's population, the dying gives this deep pathos in the extreme, and the survivors seek refuse but where? Las Vegas of course to the evil, Boulder, Colorado the good ...cannot explain that . A few thousand people left and they still need to kill each other! NOT ENOUGH CARNAGE FOR ALL... Sad. The backgrounds of the poor inhabitants are the most interesting parts in the whole event. From normal life and problems to the ultimate disaster in history...Love, hate, bombs, more killings and various struggles to live and prevail into the next day never fails to move the reader, as they in the land of total death try and try to keep breathing . The snows in the Rockies you can feel in your bones as the unfortunates suffer . Car wrecks block the streets and highways with numerous dead, grotesque bodies inside, tumultuous tunnels trap travelers who can't exit. And consumers will turns the page and continue this epic . A fine voyage in a place that no one would like to experience...for real.

M-O-O-N. That spells Terrific

I have had this book on my shelf forever. Well based on a receipt I found stuck in the book since May 1984. I think I started it but never finished. With the COVID-19 pandemic ongoing it seemed a perfect time to dig out this book and read it. Compare Stephen King's apocalyptic version to what is actually happening.

In the novel a man escapes from a government biological testing facility resulting in the spread of a mutated strain of the flu that will wipe out 99% of humanity within weeks. The survivors are left to try and rebuild society. They have something else in common besides having survived this flu. They share dreams. They dream of a 108 year old woman who urges them to build a new community in Boulder, Colorado. This is Mother Abagail, who emerges as their benevolent leader. They also dream of Randall Flagg, a.k.a. The Dark Man. He represents the evil and is building a community in Las Vegas.

It is easy to make comparisons to the bible. Even the survivors are sinners. God is angry. But there is hope. It is the story of good vs. evil. Thankfully COVID-19 is nothing like the pandemic Stephen King unleashed in this story and I hope we will all survive and things get back to normal. Whatever the new normal will be.

M-O-O-N. That spells “Damn, what a great book!”

I knew King had it in him, I am a fan of his brilliant 1977 haunted house thriller The Shining, but I did not expect this.

The best post apocalyptic novel ever?

Maybe, that is a broad category teaming with great work from talented writers, but King’s The Stand is an epic, genre defining work.

My friend Michael has a profile statement, something to the effect of finding our next 5 star rating. I like that sentiment, and am excited by the opportunity that our next favorite book is out there waiting to be read; a new best friend of an author to whom we’ve yet to be introduced. Here’s mine. I’m late to the party, just reading this for the first time in 2015. I think I was always a little intimidated by the length. It’s a beast, and I was a glutton for punishment reading the 1990 extended version, weighing in at a heavyweight 1153 pages. But it’s a runaway train, grabbing the reader up and taking him or her where Stephen King wants to take you.

Yes, it’s a book about a devastating plague, but also so, so much more. King weaves in an allegory about the viruses amongst us. There is also the spiritual quality of the book, King shows how we are sinners in the hands of an angry God, and that dreamers will survive – and survivors can still dream.

I could not help making a comparison with the Left Behind series, and associating Flagg to Nicholai Carpathia – though King’s characterization is far more complex and well rounded, and like Milton’s Satan, the most interesting character here is the villain. This makes me appreciate his The Gunslinger series and I want to search out Flagg and read more about him.

This is also an American epic and in its context an American eulogy. King shows us the good the bad and the ugly of what we are and what we can be. An observant reader will see references to Ursula K. LeGuin (word for world is woods), to Jim Morison, Edgar Allan Poe, Woody Guthrie, and hell even Rod McKuen.

I know Mr. King and have enjoyed many of his works and I have now been amazed by his finest.