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Stephen King's fictional horror story now seems prophetic in this pandemic season. There's well-written suspense in this excellent book as well as King's dark humor. The Stand: The Complete Uncut Edition is a must-have for the Stephen King fan who wants more details & serious, bragging rights for going the extra mile.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
What happens when the US government let's a Super Bug loose on the world? Why The Stand of course. A story of good and evil set in post Super flu/Captain Tripps America but there's more to this tale than meets the eye (well it IS a Stephen King novel now isn't)? Apparently the Super flu got a little help from one Randall Flagg, the Dark Man, The Walkin Dude...The Devil. So here's the story of two bands of survivors of the Super flu, the ones draw to Randall Flagg setting up shop in Vegas and the ones draw to Mother Abigail Freemantle..."I'm 106 years old and I still bake my own bread", in Colorado who get's her marching orders from God. The characters, both good and evil are richly drawn and the story is compellingly told. There are no "hero's" persay, only flawed humanbeings struggling to save themselves and what is left of humanity in the face of evil. Even the villians are written with a spark of humanity, no cardboard bad guys here. This is NOT a book for novice readers, it's a hard read in the beginning and the book is huge, given the scope of characters and events it had to be huge. For the ocassional reader that really wants to give this book a try, watch the mini series first, it will make the first section of the book much easier to sort through. If you love reading expansive novels like I do, grab this one up, it's well worth the time. I've probably read it 10 times myself and no doubt will reread it again many more times.Read full review
...not with a bang, but a whimper. So proclaims T. S. Eliott in the opening sequence of the mini-series based on this book, and the statement describes "The Stand" quite aptly. But reader, be warned: while the world may end with a whimper, some things do indeed end with a bang. Steven King's "The Stand," over a thousand pages in length and not for the light reader (or the faint of heart), tells the tale of a world-wide mass extinction caused by an escaped bio-weapon created by the U.S. government, and then continues to describe the experiences of the less than one percent of the population who, for some reason, survive. The survivors find themselves drawn into a supernatural battle of good vs. evil, and, in true Steven King fashion, the characters are each introduced with in-depth backrounds, personal quirks, and a blurring of altruistic and selfish traits that leaves you guessing at times as to which side they are on. And indeed, not all of the characters are standing on the same side of the line at which they began. This work of fiction will scare the hell out of you. Although the last half of the book is complete fantasy, the first half is so realistic in its progression that you are lead to believe, by the middle, that, for instance, it is perfectly feasible not only for unrelated people all over the country to have the same recurring dreams about a holy old black woman and a demon in human form - but that the woman and the demon could exist. The scary part is that by that time, you have already come to fully accept the premise - that the U. S. military developed an incurable deadly virus with a close to 100% communicability rate, accidentally released it into the country, and then purposefully infected the rest of the world while trying to cover it up until the bitter end. The scenes detailing the military rule and the horrific mass deaths (and murders) which ensue are nightmarish in their clarity. My personal favorites are the gratuitous blurbs about the "final cut" - deaths which occur as a result of the breakdown of society, such as recently orphaned children falling into wells and dying 20 hours later "as much from fear and misery as from shock and hunger and dehydration." The completeness of the tale makes you wonder if Steven King bore witness to this very chain of events in a parallel universe. I suggest this edition of the novel for two reasons: 1. This version is the unabridged one. The story was initially released with much of the character development omitted due to the added cost of printing the pages! Once King gained clout in the world of fiction (and got rich enough that he could), he had it re-printed with all of the depth he intended it to have. And besides, for the sake of getting the complete picture, what is an extra 200 pages when the total work is 1152? 2. This edition is a gorgeous hardcover. Need I say more? So, in conclusion, if you are a Steven King fan, or an american citizen with a healthy dose of skepticism as to how our contry is run, and are not squeamish about the darker side of human nature, you NEED to buy this book! You will get sucked into a journey through evil and trying times in a very possible modern-day world, and come out the other side with a greater understanding of the necessity of faith and love, and, in the words of a cricket, to "always let your conscience be your guide." I hope you enjoy this book as much as I do!Read full review
Here's the scenario - a government plague center testing viruses to use for chemical warfare lets a baddie escape. It's a killer virus with a 99.6% susceptibility, and it's on the loose and spreading everywhere. This is the setting for Stephen King's epic "The Stand". Of course, being King, the book describes the travails of multiple characters, and does it in such a way that you feel like they have become your friends and seem almost impossible to be imaginary. To me, that is King's best gift. Of course, the engaging and always interesting storylines are also a big draw. This is not only a superb and classic King story, it's also the first every of its kind trying to imagine what life would be like if an apocolypse of the Captain Tripps magnitude ever occurred. This makes it as much a sociological treatise as much as entertaining fiction. A truly awesome offering by King not to be missed. I challenge anyone to read the first fifty pages and not finish it.Read full review
The Stand is the type of book that all others must compare themselves to. I have read this book 3 times including the unabridged edition. I loved it! It's absolutely the Best Book he has done. It was a completely engrossing from the very first page to the 500+ pages in the book. The TV series movie did a decent job of captivating the book but still no movie can compare to what your imagination does for a book well except for seeing Brad Pitt Shirtless!! SHEWWW! The book started off with realistic charecters interacting wih their daily lives when a plague strikes throwing these charecters into a battle of survival with good over evil. I loved the first 75% of the book with the people surviving the new world they find themselves in but the last 25% got a bit far fetched for me but still held my interest. Some compare this book to his new one named the Cell. The Cell does not compare in quality at all. The Cell could have been the first draft perhaps but after many improvements and enrichments, the Stand would be born!! The Cell is an average Book where the Stand is a superior book!!Read full review
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