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Oct 21, 2007

Jessica rated it:

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 More...

22 comments like (66 people liked it)

Jul 09, 2011

Whitaker rated it:

I’ve said before that romance fiction taps into a primal desire for comfort. It’s a fantasy, a snuggie to wrap up in curled up with hot chocolate and toasty roadhouse cookies. The Stand falls squarely into that category, and adds hot rum to the mix as well.

The subtitle of The Stand really should be A Very Norman Rockwell Apocalypse. It’s a political fantasy set in the aftermath of a GM plague: a mutating flu virus with 99.4% transmissibility. Needless to say, 75% of the world’s popu More...

3 comments like (24 people liked it)

Apr 25, 2008

Tim rated it:

Originally written in the late 1970s with a lot of pessimism in the air, the revised and rather massive 'original' version published in 1990 might meet the mood of the late naughties just as well.

This book is why King will never be 'great' but will always be read - like Conan Doyle. This has all the King themes except for the clowns, though the theme of the rictus grin on the face of the bad guy and the trickster element suggests that this archetype is central to the King world view More...

0 comments like (23 people liked it)

Jun 09, 2008

Chris rated it:

And so the Apocalypse Trifecta is complete, with my one, true favorite End of the World book. I have no idea how many times I've read it now - I know the first time was in junior high school, though, and a lot of time's gone by since then. I also think I have about three different copies floating around....

It's hard to know where to begin when writing about this book, probably because I work under the assumption that everyone has read it. But I guess that's what everyone thinks ab More...

13 comments like (32 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Jameson rated it:

A security glitch first lets a goverment-made mutant superflu loose in a facilty, then allows one of the sentries on duty to escape the barracks with his family and head cross country, the virus in tow. Within weeks the flu, dubbed Captain Tripps, or Tubeneck (because glandular swelling turns its victim's necks into thick, black tubes) is wiping out the world population (though the book only focuses on the events in the U.S., martial law and anarchy prevail. A few scattered people are immune, an More...

0 comments like (10 people liked it)

Nov 18, 2010

jacky rated it:

I love The Stand. I love it for several reasons. First, there are many characters that you get to know very well. They are deep and interesting. My favorite by far is Nick, but Stu and Tom Cullen are great, too. That includes the villains, too. I love Trashcan Man. I love how Flagg pops up in various King novels. Second, I liked how at least part of this story is possible, which is what made it somewhat scary in the beginning. While reading this book, when you are around other people an More...

0 comments like (9 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Mike rated it:

At least three of my friends recommended this book to me. I don't think I'm going to hang out with those dudes anymore. King can spin a good yarn - Misery and Thinner are pretty good. This story, however, was spread a little too thin - no...way too thin. I guess he was going for some kind of Lord of the Rings epic, but it came across as just an overlong dweeb-a-thon.

3 comments like (13 people liked it)

Sep 19, 2011

Mike (the Paladin) rated it:

I am not a Stephen King fan. That being said this is one of a handful of works by him I enjoy. Mr. King seems to have a congenital inability to write an actual “hero figure”. The fatal-flaw motif is very evident in his protagonists. This will appeal to some readers, and they find it “a touch of realism”. There are times I wonder. At any rate that isn’t quite so evident here as in his other books. The main characters while definitely within the “feet of clay” school aren’t in general carrying aro More...

3 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jul 01, 2011

± Colleen of the Crawling Chaos ± rated it:

3 1/2

It only took 2 1/2 weeks, and I have conquered The Stand! (It probably wouldn't have taken so long, except I had a show going on for most of the time.)

Anyway - I'm not really sure what to say. I liked it. I didn't love it and I didn't hate it. Let's see.

It opened up really well. It was pulse-pounding and frustrating and sad and things started out, and I was swept away with it. In the beginning it held a lot of promise.

But as things settl More...

2 comments like (6 people liked it)

Nov 10, 2011

Matt rated it:

Hopefully I won’t sound too sociopathic when I say there is something seductive about the prospect of the end of the world. On the whole, humans are drawn to order. I’m no exception. I like things to be routine, controlled, and predictable. Still, every once in awhile, especially on a bad day, I welcome the Mayans’ prophecy, if only out of a sense of deranged curiosity. The primitive, barbaric part of my mind, the part I don’t talk about at cocktail parties (unless I get drunk, which is always), More...

12 comments like (15 people liked it)

Jul 14, 2011

Yasmine rated it:

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 More...

6 comments like (4 people liked it)

May 16, 2009

Christina Stind rated it:

This is Stephen King's take on a post-apocalyptic novel. A particularly nasty flu-like disease get out from a government laboratory and kills almost all the people in the United States in a matter of weeks. And when men in power decide that it would be bad if other countries discovered that the States have experimented with chemical warfare, they release it in Europe and the rest of the world...
So this is a world where entire towns are suddenly empty of inhabitants - or with just one or tw More...

4 comments like (6 people liked it)

Nov 30, 2008

Savinipop rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

2 comments like (11 people liked it)

Sep 27, 2008

Fiona rated it:

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5 comments like (9 people liked it)

Dec 14, 2007

Lisa rated it:

I was a huge Stephen King fan, and this is his crowning glory. King said he wasn't happy that so many fans choose this book as his best because he wrote it so long ago and it's sad to think that he peaked so early. Well, he did. Nothing else was as great as this.

It is especially relevant now, with the Bird Flu scare coming up every year. The horrifying first half of the book, where (almost) everyone dies a horrible death takes us to a really fascinating and hopeful middle section as we More...

2 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jul 12, 2008

Lucy rated it:

I gave it three stars because I like the way Stephen King writes...and by that I mean the characters--the way the think, sometimes the thoughts they have-- and the way King describes things. However, as for the actual story itself, I dunno. It was o-k. For the length of it and the build up of it (I was reading the expanded, uncut edition which is literally over 1000 pages) I expected more from the end, which somehow just trickled away after the climax. And it did one of those endings without an More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

May 11, 2010

Allison (The Allure of Books) rated it:

This book is a roller coaster! I rushed through the first 750 or so pages in about a week, took a two week hiatus, and then finished off the rest in a couple of days. I'm not sure what was up with that.

I loved Nick Andros through the whole book, and then right before the end I fell for Larry and Tom as well. M-O-O-N, that spells how much I love Tom!

I highly recommend this, it doesn't stand alone as an absolute favorite for me, but its fascinating. The characters are all More...

23 comments like (5 people liked it)

Aug 08, 2011

Kathy rated it:

I have read this book twice! And can't wait to read it again! Even if you aren't a Stephen King fan, this book is one of the best every written!

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Ok, this was my third time around with this book and I love it even more! I get so wrapped up with the characters that my heart breaks for them and I cheer them on throughout the book.

With the coming of the "Super Flu" or "Captain Tripps", More...

11 comments like (3 people liked it)

Mar 27, 2009

Holly rated it:

One of my all time favorite books. It made a HUGE impact on me.

2 comments like (7 people liked it)

Dec 27, 2010

Susan rated it:

When I first read this book, I thought it was (pardon the pop culture-ism) "The Shit". I read it at least 3 times before I heard of the Unabridged version.

My favorite character back then was (of course) Fran Goldsmith. 99.6% of the populace is dead of plague and many of the leftovers are psychos -- but she's pregnant. Now, I don't like her so much (especially since Molly Ringworm keeps invading my mind), but you gotta admire the maternal, even in you're not.

My More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Mar 14, 2011

Kristi rated it:

I'm actually reading The Stand: Expanded Edition that came out a couple of years ago. So far, I love this book. It's scary to think that this virus spread so quickly. When I started reading and people started dying in the first part of the book, I was on a plane to Houston and these people just started coughing. I started freaking out, because I wondered if they had the Stand virus and if I was going to die now.

I love how Stephen King just gets you so into a character for a short pe More...

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 21, 2009

Shivering William rated it:

Stephen King has a way of making other Bestsellers feel plastic. His characters breathe. I believe them.

Sure, there are moments when the plot teeters on the edge of the campy horror flick chasm, but it never goes there. Instead, it falls into something much more human, with all its ambiguities and vulnerable conversations. Despite reputation, King is not about shock value or the gruesome (although you'll certainly get a healthy helping of the latter). He seems to be fascinated w More...

1 comment like (6 people liked it)

Sep 10, 2009

Evan rated it:

Are 11,000 pages enough to stop a bullet? This was the question that came to mind when my roommate asked if I had anything to use as target practice for when we would go shooting. Well, that was not the exact question. More of a theoretical situation, really. Suppose you are being shot at, and you have a paperback copy of the stand in your pocket, and that's where the bullet hit, would Stephen King's really thick novel be enough to stop the bullet and save your life? I was determined to find out More...

6 comments like (15 people liked it)

Jan 17, 2012

Chris rated it:

Checked this one out after hearing it was a major influence for Lost - and what an influence it is! Major ideas, yeah, but also a lot of little details seem to have made their way over from this book. So in that way, it was perhaps a bit disconcerting, and may have been more effective if I'd read this first.

Still a very effective book, though. Stephen King is never going to be known for his way with words, but the world he creates and the story he tells are both quite captivating. I've More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 01, 2011

Kit★ rated it:

The last time I read this book, which was my 2nd time, was January 22-28, 2010. I decided to give it a re-read with the Stephen King Fans group as it was the June group read. At first I thought that it was still going to be too fresh in my mind, and that I wouldn't be able to get into real well because it hadn't been that long since my last read. But I was wrong, I got into with all the ease of slipping into bed. It was almost like reading it with fresh eyes or something, noticing things in new More...

6 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 19, 2012

Melissa rated it:

This book. Wow.

Ostensibly, I've read it over the last twelve days. Finishing it took over my life just a little, and I don't know how many nights I put it down and got to bed before 4am. Probably not many. It feels like I've been living with The Stand for much longer than that, though, and in another respect, I've really been reading it for almost three years. I made my first attempt at it in April 2009. At the time, IIRC, the only Stephen King books I'd read in full were Misery, Do More...

4 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 19, 2009

Joanna rated it:

New Review:
I finally made it! I'm actually very grateful that I stuck with this one. It isn't a monumental work of great literature by any means, but I do think it's an example of very good storytelling. At first there were far too many characters to keep track of, and this threw me off quite a bit, but as the story became darker and more intense and I became wedded to the fortunes of the characters it was much more captivating. King has scattered unexpected nuggets of wisdom and insight i More...

5 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 08, 2009

Jenny rated it:

This is one of my all time favorite books. It was the tv mini-series? that got me into it, though. It was on tv one Sunday, and I watched it almost all the way through. I was enthralled, which seems kind of silly now, because it was sorta campy at times and I can compare it to the (much better) book now. But it's still pretty great.

Anyway. So I got the book, and yeah, it was *huge*. But I started reading and got totally hooked. I've since read it 4, *maybe* five times.

Th More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 07, 2009

Roy rated it:

TGIF - Thank God I Finished. That's not meant to say I didn't enjoy this book, for as you can see I've given it 4 stars. Perhaps the abridged edition would have tempted me to give a 5 star rating because this book certainly deserves its status as a classic. But man was it long. You'd have to write a pretty teriffic book with a splendidly inventive plot and compelling characters to get me to commit to well over 1000 pages of prose. That's precisely what Stephen King accomplished, particularl More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 20, 2009

Jacob rated it:

The durn gummint’s been spirmentin' on some durn scary things, and now it’s come back to haunt them: some wacky superflu got loose and killed 99% of everyone. Some folks survived, but it’s a scary world out there, full of corpses and lots of empty space. Fortunately the survivors have Mother Abigail to gather them together--but unfortunately there’s also the Walkin Dude, Randall Flagg, who’s out there looking to build his own kingdom.

I wouldn’t exactly call this a joy to read, co More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

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