The Stand: Complete & Uncut

by Stephen King

book data

26,022 ratings, 4.28 average rating, 2,221 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		50%
4		31%
3		14%
2		2%
1		0%

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published

May 7th 1991 (first published 1978) by Signet

binding

paper, 1168 pages

characters

Stuart Redman, Glenn Bateman, Nick Andros, Tom Cullen, ...more

setting

The United States

isbn

0451169530 (isbn13: 9780451169532)

description

SF writer Spider Robinson wrote a scathing 1978 review of The Stand exhorting readers to grab strangers in bookstores & beg them not to buy it. The St...more

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10/21/07

Jessica rated it:

(review of isbn 0385199570)

bookshelves: happyendings-

recommends it for: hypochondriacal jersey commuters

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

Like this review? yes (18 people liked it)

17 comments

04/25/08

Tim Pendry rated it:

(review of isbn 0385199570)

bookshelves: horror, north-american

recommends it for: Anyone

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

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01/31/08

Chris rated it:

bookshelves: apocolypse, fantasy, horror, top-shelf

Read in June, 2008

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

Like this review? yes (8 people liked it)

5 comments

03/30/07

Jameson rated it:

(review of isbn 0385199570)

Read in January, 2007

recommends it for: Everybody

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

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01/31/09

Christina Stind rated it:

(review of isbn 0517219018)

bookshelves: 2009, fiction, post-apocalyptic

Read in May, 2009

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 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 two. And if that wasn't hard enough to comprehend, the survivors start dreaming. And they dream the same dreams, very powerful dreams about an old black woman or a scary scary dark man. Slowly, people gravitate towards the east and the old woman - or to the west and the dark man.
These two symbols of good and evil - Mother Abigail and Randall Flagg - gathers followers around them and two very different types of states are created. A democratic one and a dictatorship. And neither of the states are content to just live the other one alone so a conflict is sure to happen some way or another.

This is a book about good v. evil, it's a book about faith. It's very clear that the two new societies represent the good and the bad in people and that people are drawn to one of the two. But to accept this, they have to accept that the old way of living based on rational thinking doesn't cut it anymore - now people have visions and are acting based on what they dream. Mother Abigail claim to be in contact with the Lord and as a spiritual leader of the settlement in the West, she tries to teach them to believe in things they can't see - and that sometimes you have to do something that doesn't feel right or wise because it's the will of the Lord.
This is a book about Christianity. King often refers to The Book of Job and it is the kind of Christianity where you are tested, beaten down and hurt a lot but just have to endure it and keep on going because God wants it. It's the God who told Abraham to sacrifice his son, we're dealing with. And if the good people in the east wants to deal with the evil in the west, they have to be willing to make sacrifices along the way.

It is also a book about a modern life focusing too much on the material things. When there's no one around to keep it going, electricity and other modern conveniences we take for granted, disappear. No more cold drinks - except if you can find a cool stream to cool them in. And it's a world laid bare because of human mistakes - because we distrust each other and want to make sure to be one step ahead of each other so if they use something bad against us, we have something worse - even though we've signed treaties that we would never do that. And when the bad thing happened to us, well, of course we shared it. It's about basic human nature - and it's not always pretty. But some characters rise above it and faces the wrong they did earlier and try to fix it and becomes better people for it.

The only thing that really bothered me was the amount of characters - or more exactly that they sometimes are hard to keep track of. Sometimes a character appears and is presented like you already know them - and I found myself flipping backwards through pages to find out who exactly that character was - only to discover they were introduced in the next couple of pages... But the amount of characters are also a good thing because he kills of quite a few of them - even ones who survived the flu in the first place but then die because there's no one around to help them when they fall into a well or get a burst appendix!

With so many characters, it's hard to pick a favourite - except for Kojak of course, one of the very few surviving dogs and a beautiful and very intelligent one at that. Tragic that the flu killed man's best friend as well. But besides Kojak, I really liked the deaf-mute Nick Andros and the unwilling leader Stuart Redman. And Tom Cullen the retard - what's not to love about Tom? (Maybe his display of stuffed animals?). But the book wouldn't be the same without the Trashcan Man - or without the Kid who is one of the added characters in this complete edition.

This book is epic in it's scope and for a long time I tried to read it as fast as I could - but in the end I didn't really want to finish it because I knew some of my favourite characters would die and because I'd been with these people for so long so I didn't want to let them go...

A lot of people say that King has a problem with ending his books. I really liked the way this book ended (a nice variation over evil imploding on itself) - and that, like in many King books, we are given enough knowledge to know that although evil may be beat this time, it is never destroyed. It will always rise again.(less)

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11/30/08

Savinipop rated it:

(review of isbn 0385199570)

Read in January, 1992

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

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08/28/08

Fiona rated it:

(review of isbn 0340951443)

bookshelves: 2008, books-i-own, treasured

Read in September, 2008

recommends it for: anyone

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

I'd never read a SK book before but for some reason this one jumped off the shelf for me. So I bought it and then I though I better read it before someone put me off such a thick book.

Two weeks later...

I walked around the house like a zombie. I walked reading from room to room. I thought about it during the day and dreamed (rather unpleasantly) about it during the night.

I read it a little too fast - I wanted and needed to find out what happened and was complet...more I'd never read a SK book before but for some reason this one jumped off the shelf for me. So I bought it and then I though I better read it before someone put me off such a thick book.

Two weeks later...

I walked around the house like a zombie. I walked reading from room to room. I thought about it during the day and dreamed (rather unpleasantly) about it during the night.

I read it a little too fast - I wanted and needed to find out what happened and was completely paranoid about Stu dying. (My favourite character) I never considered that everyone else would go and die as well!

I'd like to read it again and take my time, but I think I'm going to break down crying with every Larry Underwood scene because next to Stu, I loved him. And poor Glen, poor Ralph.

I felt sorry for Harold too because it was such a waste of a life. I hated him for killing Nick, in the end it wasn't wholly the Dark Man's doing - he made plenty enough choices from his own free will. But just the way he died and the many opportunities he had to be better... I always hoped beyond hope he'd make the Right choice.

Stephen King produced some of the most real feeling characters I have read in a long time. That is the strength of the book - the characters because you care about them so much it feels as if they are real. To me, they are quite real and that is why it hurts when they die. I think on a second read it is going to be worse because I'm going to be taking my time rather then reading it so hungrily I'm sure I rushed through.

However, despite this... the climax with Flagg was a little anti-climatic and detracted a lot from the grief I should have felt from losing Larry, Glen and Ralph. It felt slightly rushed - slightly hashed together and not very well thought out. I suppose I was expecting some big show down but it never came.

The Stu's escape back to the Free Zone was a little long and protracted, slowing down what should have been an amazing ending. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy it - in a way after Larry & co dying I was a little shocked and it didn't really set in until Stu talked about them.

My whole heart was hurting when I read the end of this book at about 0530 though tears were slightly dry.

I loved this book, but the ending could have been better. Maybe it should have been two books rather then one?

(less)

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

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12/14/07

Lisa rated it:

(review of isbn 0385199570)

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

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07/12/07

Lucy rated it:

Read in July, 2008

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 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 ending thing, which sometimes annoys me.

And I think I was expecting more of an apocalyptic final good versus evil battle-see who finally wins kinda thing-which this really wasn't (see above 'end without an ending' note).

Also, I can't help but read anything with 'the faith thing' in tow (meaning, my faith, Christianity, Lutheranism, etc.)and with theology bouncing along behind, and so the backseat role that the whole God side of things took in the story bothered me a bit. I mean, this is like the good versus evil battle. And sure, people are and will always be somewhere in between. But on the good side of things, the God side of things, I guess I expected more well, faith. But of the 'good' people there was ONE, count her, ONE character for whom faith played any sort of clear role. The others were kinda just pulled along for the ride, not really believing but going along with it and maybe at the most thinking there was something bigger going on. And for a few at the end, maybe a little more than that...but overall, not so much. If you're going to to an epic kind of good versus evil battle and bring God into the picture, it would seem to me you could at least bring God into the whole picture and not just kinda smear Him around the edges.

And what about that edge-smeary God? Does this God seem to paint an accurate picture of God in whom I believe? Not so much. There were plenty of missing pieces. Plenty. And what about Jesus? Yeah, didn't see so much of him, either. And the Holy Spirit, forget about it.

At the same time this is a book that doesn't claim to make any great theological statement or even a great faith statement to begin with. It is just a thriller, a horror-ific kind of story that dips into things beyond its depths. And I didn't read it expecting to encounter any deep faith-filled understanding, I read it to pass the time and take my mind off things for awhile. If you enjoy Stephen King, read it. What the hell. If you don't, then you already know that there's something out there you'd rather read instead.

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03/27/09

Holly rated it:

(review of isbn 0385199570)

bookshelves: favorite-books

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

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07/11/07

Mike rated it:

(review of isbn 0385199570)

Read in July, 2007

recommends it for: fantasy/horror dorks

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.

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12/29/08

Christian rated it:

(review of isbn 0385199570)

bookshelves: favorites

Read in January, 2009

recommended to Christian by: Korey Hunt

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

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11/24/08

Joanna rated it:

bookshelves: lost-, plain-ol-fiction

Read in January, 2009

recommended to Joanna by: Carlton Cuse & Damon Lindelof

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

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10/15/08

Jenny rated it:

(review of isbn 0385199570)

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

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08/20/08

Roy rated it:

(review of isbn 0385199570)

Read in January, 2009

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

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03/17/08

William rated it:

(review of isbn 0385199570)

bookshelves: horror-fiction

Read in August, 1978

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

If he never wrote another word, Stephen King deserves to be remembered for this, his contribution to the "Disaster Novel" genre. (NOTE: This review applies to the ORIGINAL release of the novel, not the "Special Edition")
It begins innocuously enough, with an army officer running away from his base. But he has left it too late, and he carries a new disease into the world. Over the next months people begin to die, in small numbers at first, then in their hundreds, thousand...more

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09/04/07

Jenny rated it:

Read in October, 2007

recommends it for: King lovers

This 1138 page book is a doozy. It took me from 8/31/07- 10/09/07 to finish. (yeah, a month and ten days) during combat!
In the beginning of the book you were introduced to so many characters and it was a little hard to keep track, especially when he didn't paint any of them in a good light. But eventually you side with Frannie (at least I did) and the book rolls on. As always, King takes a plausible idea and turns into a fear. Without ruining it, "The Stand" is a story about res...more

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08/31/07

Robotribble rated it:

(review of isbn 0385199570)

recommends it for: Frickin' Everybody. <3

Apparently Stephen King is a hardcore sadist, and ejoys the prospect of destroying entire civilizations in stories.
Good to know I'm not the only one.

This book was... most amazing, to say the least. The characters [as they are in all of King's stories] are very in-depth, and I became very attached to Nick Andros, because he's just cool like that. I actually started to read it a second time [but realized we had 'salem's Lot and never finished], which is rare for me, because I usu...more

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03/29/07

jacky rated it:

(review of isbn 0385199570)

bookshelves: dystopia, horror, king, movie, own

Read in June, 1999

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 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 and they cough or sneeze...more

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08/06/08

Emily rated it:

(review of isbn 0385199570)

I'm really having a hard time rating this book. I read it in high school and it really affected me. I had seen the miniseries and was impressed by King's commentary on society and relationships. It's the same reason I liked his story IT...it wasn't for the gore and fear, it was for the friendships and human spirit. The child-eating clown was just an added bonus of interest.

The Stand, however, contained several scenes that were too much for my young mind and I remember feeling so ...more

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