The Stand [Mass Market Paperback]

I have always been a bit wary of Stephen King's books so I thought why not plunge into one of his most revered/loathed books by reviewers and fans alike? I wasn't disappointed at all. King, pulls you into a World through the eyes of a few survivors of a devestating plague and how as the lone survivors have to live, work, and survive together without killing each other. As in any post-apocalyptic story we have individuals who now have no fear of authority go on a rampage killing and pillaging and the survivors who just want to live are holed away cowering behind their walls. However, King doesn't go along this route (when does he ever!?), instead he pits those who survived due to Good and Evil. Throw in a bit of religious intrigue and not only do you have a book where questions arise through the characters on whether or not they believe in a God or whether they survived through pure chance just to end up fighting the Evil that lurks just over the mountains.

The characters are complex, evolving, and so life like that they could be easily recognized and easily relatable to in real life. The scenarios really helps the readers to empathize, sympathize, hate, or understand why the characters are acting as they did/are. I actually ended up supporting characters at one point and then questioning how they could have done what they did to the others...only to realize later on that from their point of view they did that to survive...something I found so refreshing. I was absolutely astounded by the evolving characters since I expected to read a book with cliched archetypes, now I know better. There are points where you wished King hadn't done what he did to one character (you'll understand later on when you read the book) since you feel so damn awful about how he was treated before the apocalypse that you wished he would end up happier in the post-apocalypse World.

If the World does end tomorrow and I needed a guidebook to help me survive the turmoil that tragedy on an epic apocalyptic scale brings...I would take "The Stand".

If you love Stephen King...buy this. If you love post-apocalyptic stories...buy this. If you love watching ordinary folks being forced to work with each other when their lives are at stake...buy this. If you really love evolving characters with each their own personalities and goals...buy this.

For my first Stephen King book, I was very much impressed by this epic novel. I'm glad I took the plunge. This book now is firmly placed in my top 10 list of books to take with me on a desert island.

5 *****'s all the way. :)

My expectations when I picked up this book were high. It is one of the longest one its author has written and it is reputed to be the best. I haven't read them all, so I wouldn't be a good judge of that, but I can say it's not as good as The Shining. This is not because of the subject, which is nothing less than Armageddon, courtesy of a virulent strain of the flu ("Captain Trips") which, after having been unexpectedly released in an American military facility, proceeds to kill over 90% of Americans (and presumably, of humanity) within about a week. The small number of survivors is then assaulted by dreams, one of a positive and one of a negative force. Each force guides them to its respective stronghold, Las Vegas and Boulder. A bunch of survivors (an East Texas cowboy, a pregnant single woman, a rock semi-star, a sociology professor, a smart dork, a retard, a mute, a schoolteacher, an arsonist, a smalll-time criminal, among others) must choose to align themselves either with good or with evil.

So what's wrong with this picture? Nothing wrong with the first part, the description of the end of civilization after disease strikes is very well rendered. The second part is perhaps too long: it also seems to contain King's political views (the good guys are virtually anarchist-libertarians, the bad guys are essentially fascists). Again, that's not necessary bad. The third part is just too short, and badly put together. The good guys manage to reach the evil city after hundreds of pages of scene-setting and then everything's over in the blink of an eye. The bad guy, Randall Flagg, had potential, but somehow failed to come together. King is always telling us that he can do this or that (give you prostrate cancer, or a head-ache, or a VD) just by looking at you, but as an evil presence he doesn't even approach the Overlook Hotel. I would have liked to have seen greater degeneration in the evil city. It comes across just as a place which is unusually orderly and well-functioning, but were people are scared. That's also a good description of Singapore, and I don't see that city as a terrible place to live. While I'm not Stephen King, I can easily imagine new dark rituals taking place in Las Vegas, awful, pre-Columbian monsters coming to life in the desert to guard the Eastern marches of the Devil's Kingdom, and a horrible damnation coming to all creation. Just reading about life in Nazi-occupied Ukraine is more terrifying, and it actually happened. Instead of this we get a smiling guy with a third eye who can levitate a couple of inches above the ground. Instead of devilish hordes of demi-humans (such as Lovecraft would have provided) we have just ordinary human beings who actually do nothing too terrible. Instead of a memorable clash between good and evil we get Civics 101 (including the Burial Committee and the Lampost Checking Squad). And although there are a few references to countries other than the USA, they are perfunctory. If we're dealing with cosmic evil, it should at least be global. I thought this was supposed to be "a tale of ultimate horror", like the sub-title says.

It's not that none of the characters are likeable. Some of them are OK. Harold Lauder is not bad, although he should have done more things to show he was brilliant. We are always told he is, but he doesn't show us. Texan Stu is OK and Larry the musician is actually pretty good. Nasty slut Julie is actually excellent, really repulsive and quite real. Mother Abagail is OK, but she dies too quickly and doesn't give us enough fireworks: what use is being God's chosen if one can't even smite some hellspawn or call down the fire from the heavens? Even Moses had his serpent staff. Flagg begins well, but then he honors his name and flags down to just vaguely threatening. Since when does the devil need to negotiate everything with his followers? Since 1962 Marvels Comics we've known that the bad guy needs to be much stronger than the good guys in order for suspense to build up. As the end aproaches, Flagg looks actually weaker than the good guys and the end was, to me, very disappointing,

The book is actually three stories. The first one, the end of the world, is pretty good. The second one, living after the plague is not bad, but full of padding. The third one, the confrontation between light and darkness, is a let-down. I'm not exactly sorry I read the book, but I would probably not have done so if I had read this review before. There's just too many good books around.

This Stephen King epic is about the end of the world and just after. Its characters goes through three parts, each with its own dangers and discoveries. First, the "Captain Trips" virus escapes from a secret U.S. Army research lab and kills more than 99% of the U.S. population. A few survivors are naturally immune. For the rest, there is no cure. The story begins much like any science fiction apocalypse; there are no supernatural elements.

In the second part, individual survivors gradually find each other. Each of them has two different repeating dreams that are remarkably similar across very different people. One dream is of a kindly old woman named Mother Abigail, who encourages them to gather in Hemingford Home, Nebraska. The other dream is about a dark man with no face, who confronts each of them with their greatest personal fear. He pressures them to surrender to his will and come to Las Vegas, Nevada. The story introduces several main characters, explores their motivations behind the destinations they choose, and illustrates the dangers of post-civilization travel.

The two groups begin settling and restoring. Mother Abigail moves with her group to Boulder, Colorado, where a panic at the plague's outbreak has left the city relatively free of bodies. Randall Flagg leads the Las Vegas group, directing them to not only restore utilities but to gather weapons. Guided by Flagg's ruthlessness and supernatural powers, they prepare to attack Boulder.

The third part has a mystical focus and sharpens the story's contrast between good and evil. A dying Mother Abigail chooses four from Boulder to confront Flagg's Las Vegas. They leave immediately with minimal provisions and begin walking west. The confrontation happens. And the story ends.

This is perhaps Stephen King's best book. First, and most importantly, it is a great story. There are also things to enjoy beyond the story. There are subtle themes in King's portrayal of good and evil. Good invites while evil intimidates, for example. And individual choices matter. There are other themes and their repeated expression gives the story a consistent moral texture. This extended version includes characters and events previously removed to "right-size" the book. Their return adds to the experience of a long journey through an extensive catastrophe. It is highly recommended; read it.

Satisfied readers might enjoy King's short story Night Surf, which plays out in the same post-Captain Trips setting. And they might want to avoid Cell. It has a similar post-apocalyptic setting, but not the depth and clear direction of The Stand.