The Stand in Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge

May 28, 2007 Jessica Haider rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, book-to-film, thriller-thriller-night, dystopia, fiction, its-the-end-of-the-world

I haven't read many Stephen King novels. The Stand was the first one of his books that I ever read. It is still one of my favorite novels. This apocalyptic novel raises the age old theme of good vs. evil in an excellent, engaging story that keeps you on the edge of your seat. ...more

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Nov 13, 2010 Kelly rated it liked it

Shelves: adult, apocolypse, fantasy

The Stand is a post-apocalyptic behemoth that explores the world after a rapidly moving government-created virus kills 99.4% of the population. King covers a lot of ground in the expanded and uncut version. He creates a multitude of main characters that are given the full treatment of textured back stories. But like a lot of King’s books, it’s really about the plot, not the evolution of characters. An epic battle of good vs. evil unfolds as survivors begin to have dreams about an elderly black w The Stand is a post-apocalyptic behemoth that explores the world after a rapidly moving government-created virus kills 99.4% of the population. King covers a lot of ground in the expanded and uncut version. He creates a multitude of main characters that are given the full treatment of textured back stories. But like a lot of King’s books, it’s really about the plot, not the evolution of characters. An epic battle of good vs. evil unfolds as survivors begin to have dreams about an elderly black woman named Mother Abigail and an ominous denim-clad wanderer named Randall Flagg. Mother Abigail and her followers convene on Boulder, Colorado to remake the American democratic system while Flagg’s followers, a generally more fearful and corrupt bunch, take Las Vegas as their own. It becomes quickly apparent that even through America is mostly empty after the superflu, they still won’t be able to live in separate camps, but are going to face off in a battle that will claim either Boulder or Vegas as victim.

Even at 1,100 plus pages, the book is very easy to read. Parts are sluggish, especially the parts in Boulder when the elected council is meeting endlessly and talking very directly about their intents to remake the American political and social system. Other parts can be downright chilling, such as our meeting with The Kid, a sociopath whose brief appearance provides one of the most abhorrent vignettes in the whole book.

Despite the high-interest premise and a huge variety of interesting and weird characters, I knew the road that each was traveling and where they would finally arrive. There is far too much foreshadowing and the end of the book was a bit of a letdown after the long road getting there. With a battle being waged between the Devil and God perhaps I should have expected that the ending would involve the divine, but it seemed an easy out.

Of course this book is not without merit. It’s huge and sprawling and tackles a number of interesting issues about good and evil, the role free will vs. fate, and the innate nature of man. It even leaves readers with some pressing questions, chief among them whether the human race can ever really ever start over. ...more

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