From the Bookshelf of Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy…

The Stand

Stephen King

Start date: June 1, 2016

Finish date: June 29, 2016

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Why we're reading this: Group classic novel discussion June 2016
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What Members Thought

Aug 30, 2011 Tracey rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

Slightly longer review: on my blog.

I knew the beginning of the story very well: top secret research facility + oops (I don't think we ever find out what that first oops was – simple butterfingers?) + second oops of unlocked gate + fleeing guard + third oops of inattentive guards = worldwide catastrophe. A monster flu, a mega-flu, an über-flu, resistant to all treatment (or, rather, adaptive to all treatment), spreading with horrifying swiftness – augmented, apparently, by release of the same str Slightly longer review: on my blog.

I knew the beginning of the story very well: top secret research facility + oops (I don't think we ever find out what that first oops was – simple butterfingers?) + second oops of unlocked gate + fleeing guard + third oops of inattentive guards = worldwide catastrophe. A monster flu, a mega-flu, an über-flu, resistant to all treatment (or, rather, adaptive to all treatment), spreading with horrifying swiftness – augmented, apparently, by release of the same strain in other areas of the world to level the playing field, or some such. And only something like 1% of the population immune. It's very realistic. It's too realistic. I can see a situation, a chain of catastrophes, in which every single "oops" – dropped phial or whatever it was, mechanical failure in the alarm system, mechanical failure in the door seals, human failure of the guards, who should have been the last failsafe protection, playing cards in their booth instead of paying attention to their duty - all of it, easily preventable, and still happening. That's why this is one of the scariest horror novels I can think of. Not because of Russell Flagg (as much) – I was mostly afraid of the man-made epidemic.

My respect for Stephen King grows with every book of his I read, and my remorse at my long-held prejudice against him grows proportionately. This is a masterful work. Yes, I have a couple of quibbles: it seemed to take forever to move from the plot arc of the illness spreading to the arc of the survivors' quest. There is a vulgarity of language that is off-putting in most books (another status update: " I think my only, only issue with The Stand is the sheer number of people who wet their pants ... And none of them ever just "pees" much less urinates - they make wee-wee, or just make, or their bladders give way, or some such. It just starts being funny after a while." That's pretty typical, really.) But those are just quibbles. The language is part and parcel with the story, with the points of view, and, of course, with the writing style. And it took as long as it took.

The ending might not have been as ... "explosive" is hardly the right word, but I'll go with that - as it might have been. But, really, the book could have ended with a pie-eating contest between the Good Guys and Randall Flagg, and it would still be an astounding, even important book. This is a keeper. ...more

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Aug 08, 2008 Jeffrey rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: horror

King's ability to use the standard post apocalyptic science fiction novel and merge it with a real horror tale was an awesome achievement. This sweeping novel and its ultimate confrontation between good and evil is a classic.

I can count on one hand the horror books that I have read (with Pet Sematary scaring me off the genre completely), but this tale kept me riveted.

...more

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Aug 27, 2020 Brian rated it really liked it · review of another edition

3.5 stars.

This was my first King novel and I wish I had gone with the edited version. While the premise and ending were wonderful, bordering on brilliant at times, everything between should have been cut ruthlessly to keep with the pace of the story.

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