The Stand

"The Stand" is a very entertaining, highly readable story about an apparently world wide pandemic and post pandemic world. The style of the narrative is easily followed modern conversational American English. The book is quite lengthy by the standards of modern American Popular Fiction. Although I enjoyed it very much, it was similar to reading three shorter novels. There are numerous characters and storylines. I feel it is definitely an adult book and speaking as a father, I would not allow my young children to read it at all and although I would allow my high school children to read it, I would insist on parental participation. I have been reading various novels about pandemics and I would have to say that this is my favorite. I liked this far better than "The Andronmeda Strain" although "The Stand is far lengthier. "The End of October" was a good, well written, medium length novel that I also liked. A well intentioned person guided me to "The Eyes of Darkness" by Dean Koontz. Although I liked that novel very much, it is not really a pandemic novel as far as I am concerned. As far as movies, I am enthralled by what seems to be a forgotten 1959 movie "The World, The Flesh, And The Devil". It is not exactly a story about a pandemic, but in some ways it is a distinction without a difference. Of the popular modern contemporary male American authors of fiction, Stephen King is definitely among my favorites. I have read several of his novels. I put this at or near the top of the list. I also enjoyed 11 22 63 very much and a collection of stories combined in one work called "Four Seasons". This work under review has many interesting aspects to it. The story goes beyond the pandemic episode and has a metaphysical "Good Versus Evil" aspect to it, parts of which I found fascinating. Parts of the story also have a "Lord of The Flies" feel to it. Parts of the story have a dystopian sense. Due to the length of this novel and the fact that it is mostly easily followed, I purchased both the book on Kindle and an accompanying audiobook narrated by Grover Gardner. Mister Gardner is one of my favorite audiobook narrators and he does his usual professional job on this book. I often listened while commuting. When possible I read along and the narration was very faithful to my Kindle version. I am glad that I did both read and listen. In summary I am quite glad that I read and listened to this book. It is one of my favorite Stephen King novels and probably my favorite pandemic novel to this point in time. Probably the most difficult part of this reading experience is the length of the book. But the book is highly readable and makes a very good candidate for an audiobook. Grover Gardner did an excellent job. Due to the length of is book I intend to take a break from Stephen King. But he is a very good author and I fully intend to return to his writing in the future. Thank You for taking the time to read this review.

"The Stand" is a novel set in 1990 after a flu strain called Captain Trips breaks out in the world, causing 99% of the population of the world to perish. The survivors are called by an angelic and demonic being in their dreams to come to them to create a new society. The angelic being, an old woman of 108 in Nebraska, leads her people in the city of Boulder, Colorado, in peace and happiness. The demonic being, Randall Flagg, leads them in hate and fury, and kills all who oppose him. As more people follow their leaders, they must fight for what they believe in, and for the fate of all of humanity. "The Stand" is a novel about death. "The Stand" is a novel about rebirth. "The Stand" is a novel about the pure good of the world. "The Stand" is a novel about the evil of the world. This novel has so many elements to it, yet is still written masterfully by Stephen King, allowing the plot to be organized and appealing to a reader. Not only that, but the characters within the novel are relate able. The Trashcan man, though seemingly insane, may appeal to those who live in rough situations. Stu Redman can relate to those who don't have much, and have lost much as well. Glen Bateman can relate to the people of intellectual pasts, and so on, and so forth. The meat of the plot is excellent, with Captain Trips annihilating nearly all of human and other forms of life on Earth. Also, the Mother Abigail vs. Randall Flagg plot line can be traced back into the bible. With the likes of Elijah vs. the Priests of Baal, or Daniel vs. The people of Babylon. In all of these stories, a providential power delivers them from their Devilish enemies. The same thing is found in "The Stand". Mother Abigail is not unlike any Old Testament prophet anyone has ever read about, with Randall Flagg literally being described as, "He ain't Satan', she said, 'but he and Satan know of each other and have kept councils together of old." (King, 515). This biblical sort of good vs. evil plot is done beautifully by King, as he truly does write very moving plot through this age old tussle of good and evil. To conclude, "The Stand" is also a story about love, hate, envy, and sadness. Whether this love is love between a friend and a friend, a lover and a lover, or a follower and a leader, there is so much of that love element in the novel. This love probably comes from the immense amount of sadness that comes from the story, and love comes from that sadness. Sadness for those that are lost, or the things that are gone. And from the love, will come the envy and the hate. The envy of what isn't theirs, the hate over what isn't theirs. Overall, "The Stand" is an incredible, and fearfully realistic, post apocalypse world about rebuilding, fighting, and finding there own inner peace.

Back in 1978, Stephen King was well on his way to becoming the biggest selling author of all time. On the back of three great classics that were Carrie (1974), ‘Salem’s Lot (1975) and The Shining (1977), King had already established himself as the Master of Horror, a title to which, even today, he has become a bit tired with. He had now hit the big time, didn’t need to worry about money or work again – he had achieved his lifelong dream (becoming a full time writer). The Shining had become his first bestselling hardcover novel, perhaps influenced by the fact that Brian DE Palma’s 1976 adaptation of Carrie had become a box office success, allowing audiences to discover King in a new medium that they might not have done so had it not been for the movie. His first three published novels had been hard-core horror novels, all three contemplating his status as the King of Horror. King’s next novel would be a change of pace. It would still include elements of the horror genre, a genre in which he had spent his entire life surrounded by, even as a child, but his next novel would also have elements of science fiction and would actually become a sociological look at the human race. But first, he would have to kill them all. On the heels of the Shining, King had been inspired by the Patty Hearst case (a case that involved both kidnapping and terrorism), to write a novel surrounding these events, but not long into the novel, he gave up, after having seen on the news, a chemical spill that had happened in Utah. Not long after this, King’s mind started working overtime and he came up with a novel about something similar that would wipe out the human race, allowing only a few remaining characters to be left behind and deal with the tragic events that had been enforced upon them. Wanting to write an epic on par with Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, King went about creating a vast landscape in which he left nothing out, allowed nothing to bypass the story – this would become the ultimate epic novel. The Stand begins with this primary thought. The basic premise of the novel is that a government research facility, after having spent time creating a super flu bug (Captain Trips as it is known in the novel) to be used in biological warfare, is accidently released on to the base. Everybody dies except for one man, Charles Campion, a security guard, who grabs his family and evacuates that base, heading across Northern America, unaware that he has the flu like virus, infecting everyone he comes into contact to. So King weaves out his tale, introducing us to a multitude of characters, some good, some bad, showing us the effects of Campion’s actions, watching minor characters contract the flu, watching them suffer through the eyes of our main characters, all of diverse backgrounds. King is clever in letting us see how the virus takes hold, how it acts as a chain mail across all of America, letting us get to know the characters, watch the human race become extinguished through their eyes, letting us see their pain, letting us get attached to them so that we can go on the journey that they will inevitably have to take. King is a genius at creating a wide variety of characters, and not since Dickens, has any writer ever managed to capture a whole society of characters that all can be identified by the reader. Of the good, there is Stu Redman (an everyman from East Texas, the main character pretty much of this large epic), Fran Goldsmith (a young pregnant girl from Maine, who becomes one of the main heroines of the piece), Larry Underwood (a singer from New York), Nick Andros (a deaf mute who passes through Shoyo, Arkansas), Glenn Bateman (a retired college professor that taught sociology and is one of the characters that King uses to speak his own thoughts on society and bring about theories of what will likely happen now that over 99% of the world’s population is dead), Tom Cullen (a man who is more like a boy due to a very low IQ. He develops a great relationship with Nick, learning new things through Nick’s teaching. He spells every word M-O-O-N), Ralph Bretner (a farmer who always seems to see the lightness in everything, never thinking himself superior to anyone, he ends up becoming one of the main heroes of the peace) and Mother Abigail (a 108 year old from Nebraska, who still makes her own biscuit. The main characters dream of her, using her as a guiding force of help along the way. She is a prophet of God and for a short while leads them until letting them make it on their own). There are also plenty of main characters who are on the side of evil: Lloyd Henried (a killer/robber who ends up in prison as Captain Trips spreads across America, being left to die until he is saved by his new leader), Harold Lauder (a friend of Fran’s. Before the flu hit, Harold was the butt of jokes, hated by everyone, even his own parents. He has a crush on Fran and loves her, and becomes jealous and full of hate when she revokes this love and ends up with another of the main characters instead), Nadine Cross (a school teacher who has visions of the Dark Man, visions that they would become lovers and eventually married. She loves Larry also, but can’t allow herself to act upon this love as her heart and mind belongs to the Dark Man), the Trashcan Man (a psychopath who has developed an obsession of burning everything in his path. He is one of King’s most interesting and memorable characters. His loyalty to the Dark Man knows no bounds “my life for you”, yet he ends up becoming something of an anti-hero), Randall Flagg (the Dark Man, the Prince of Evil, the antithesis of Mother Abigail, he is gathering his troops to Las Vegas and trying to create an army that will eventually wipe out those that stand against him. He is one of the greatest villains in the King universe and has appeared in more than one of his novels). Had this been a book written by any other writer, the premise of the novel would probably have been the characters get together, stand against the Dark Man and his minions and save the day. But this is a King novel, a novel of epic proportions. We don’t just see the Stand that will ultimately take place, we see a large cast of characters coming together, creating a new world together, creating a new life together and King shows every single point of this. The world building in this novel is fantastic, on par with the greatest of fantasy novels (including Tolkien). You really get to know the characters, to love them and hate them, feeling like they have become a part of your family. You feel enriched by them, allowing yourself to be taken on this journey with them, fighting for your own survival as well as theirs. When King first wrote this back in 1978 and sent it to his publishers, they were shocked by the size and scope of the novel. They replied back to him, saying they would have to cut the book by about four hundred pages in order to sell it. King was distraught by this, but as he was still establishing himself as a bestselling writer, he felt he had no choice but to succumb to Doubleday’s wishes and so he himself cut over four hundred pages out of the book, missing out a lot of what made the book very important. The Stand was eventually published in 1978 and quickly went on to become King’s masterpiece, the book all fans seemed to love and say was his best. King has actually gone on record as saying “to some fans, I could have written nothing after The Stand, and they wouldn’t have cared.” Fast forward to 1991 – King was toying around with the idea of releasing The Stand as it was originally intended. After receiving permission from Doubleday to go ahead with this idea, King began working on an updated version of The Stand, changing the premise of the book from the late seventies into the early nineties, including new background like HIV/Aids, changing the sociological background of the characters, without allowing them to change in anyway. As he says in his forward to the new version, “you won’t find the characters behaving any differently or going down roads and on journeys that they never went on before”. It was the same story but it was bigger and it was allowed to become complete. And so The Stand: The Complete and Uncut Edition was released in 1991 and this is the version fans say is the one to read. Not having read the original edition, I can only go on hearsay that this is the version that is far superior and much more enjoyable. This is the one I have read four times. Is The Stand King’s greatest book? In my opinion, it isn’t. As far as I’m concerned, King would go on to write even greater books, but this is definitely one of his most memorable, most exciting works. It is also, along with The Dark Tower series, the one book that seems to have a lot of fans in such diverse thought – some say it is a book that is a work of genius, an epic masterpiece that flows high on every level (I am of this thought) and some say it is too long, not worth the hype, boring and they couldn’t get through it. Whatever your way of thinking becomes, it is most certainly a book you have to read at least once in your lifetime. Despite its length, I would go on to say that it is a perfect place to start for readers just getting into King. It includes all the elements that make him one of the greatest writers of all time – fantastic, realistic characters, a great premise of a story, writing that takes you in, grabs you and doesn’t let you go, and great world building that allows you to feel that you are actually there with the characters, going along with them for the journey. While this book is not my all-time favourite of King’s (that says more about the brilliance of his future works than about this actual novel), it is definitely in my top ten and one I enjoy coming back to again and again. For me this really is the perfect five.

The Stand. Ein Meisterwerk. Ich lese gern Endzeit-Thriller. Aber ich erfuhr erst über die Kindle-EN-Bestsellerlisten, dass ein Stephen King mal ein Buch in dieser Richtung verfasst hat. Der Preis für ca. 3 Euro auch noch unschlagbar günstig. Die Bewertungen sehr gut. Also heruntergeladen. Und später gelesen. Ja, das Buch umfasst in der Kindle-Version 1300 Seiten. Aber irgendwann, spätestens ab 33 %, hofft man eigentlich, dass das Buch nie zu Ende gehen möge. Zumindest ging es mir so: je näher ich dem Ende kam, desto weniger wollte ich, dass dieses Buch jemals ein Ende hat. Stephen King ist in diesem Buch einfach ein Kunststück gelungen: man beginnt, sich mit den Protagonisten anzufreunden. Als wären es die besten Freunde. Man beginnt, mit den Protagonisten zu leben. "Was würde Stu jetzt tun?" ... Bzw. man beginnt sich zu fragen, was wäre, wenn man in einer ähnlichen Situation wäre. Gleichzeitig passieren manchen Protagonisten Dinge, die einen mitfiebern lassen. A la "Neeeein, das kann der King doch nicht tun." ... Und ich gebe zu, ich habe King 1-2 mal "gehasst", dass er so mit seinen "Helden" umgeht. Die Story ist in drei Teile aufgeteilt. Zuerst vernichtet King 99.5 Prozent der Menschheit. Einfach so. Schon bevor diese Epidemie um sich greift, werden die wichtigsten Protagonisten vorgestellt. Ebenso deren emotionale Befindlichkeiten. Das schleppt sich vielleicht etwas zu Beginn. Aber als dann die "Supergrippe" richtig ausbricht ist jeglicher Zweifel vergangen. Vor allem Nick hat es mir in dieser Situation angetan: ein taubstummer Charakter, der immun ist, während um ihn herum eine ganze Kleinstast stirbt und Insassen in der Gefängniszelle sitzen ... Im zweiten Teil geht es um das Heranwachsen und Zusammenwachsen einer Gemeinschaft. Das Neugründen einer Gemeinschaft. Dies ist der längste Teil und mag vielleicht manchen Lesen verschrecken. Aber er ist interessant, weil es um existenzielle Fragen der Menschheit geht. Diktatur? Oder doch lieber Demokratie? Im dritten Teil kommt es dann zum ultimativen Kampf Gut gegen Böse und das mit sehr bescheidenen Mitteln auf der Seite der "Guten". King gelingen Horror-Szenen, die will man sich nicht einmal im Alptraum vorstellen. Wie z. B. die "Flucht" aus dem toten New York nur durch einen Tunnel möglich ist, der ... natürlich ... voller Leichen ist. Ein "Leseerlebnis", das mir garantiert in Erinnerung bleibt, so intensiv und packend wird diese Szene von King beschrieben. Mir blieb mehrmals beinahe das Herz stehen und eigentlich wollte ich nicht weiterlesen. King schafft es auch, "übernatürlichen" Kram ins Buch einzuflechten und mich nicht abzuschrecken. Das sage ich so, weil ich davon immer abgeschreckt werde. Mein Gedanke dann: "Oh nein, nicht so etwas." ... Aber hier gehört das einfach dazu. Hier sind die Charaktere die wichtigsten. Stu, Nick, Larry, Fran, Glen, Tom, ja ... der Tom. Ich mag Tom. Jeder Leser wird Tom mögen. ... That spells M-O-O-N!!! Laws, yes! Ich muss zugeben, dass ich nicht weiß, was ich lesen soll, nachdem ich DIESES Buch gelesen habe. Es ist einfach zu groß.

Nonostante la lunghezza possa intimorire, il libro si legge benissimo, in pieno stile King la suspense è tale che quasi non ci si accorge di averlo finito. L'edizione Kindle è realizzata molto bene, sono presenti anche le immagini del libro originale.

Gran libro

O livro é sensacional e muito gostoso de ler, apesar de enorme - mas essa é uma característica das obras de Stephen King. Recomendo demais a leitura!