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The bus trip was harrowing. Didn't expect tension in such an otherwise literary and thematic novel.

Allison, Kalin's momma, is on the hunt. Unfortunately, so is Orwin Porch.

The next chapter, chapter 8, is 60+ pages. At 3-5 minutes a page, well...I'm gonna be here a while.

Wait...was he a spy???

Damn, this just got really fuckin good. I love Walt. Hopefully he's a mainstay from here on out.

Chapter 6 is 32 pages and took me 11 days to finish because life sucks

Rereading with a friend to prepare for the sequel WE LOVE YOU, BUNNY!

...knowing to run when in the presence of somethin too powerful to judge.

Anne is an interesting character with intentions and motivations I've yet to fully understand. Serk is more clean cut and predictable, which makes their marriage balanced, I suppose.

Chapter five sees Kalin's momma Allison gettin some bad news she knows just can't be true. Teri thinks Kalin is dreamy, and Allison knows Kalin wouldn't have done what the cop says he done.

Audiobook is kinda bland but the story is intriguing.

"...even in death the dead might still know fear."

BARS

The boy was a bad liar and didn't deserve what happened.

This book is absolutely stunning so far. Some of the best character writing I've read.

a poker game
orwin "old" porch and his eight sons
momma porch run off with the only girl child
russel gone after kalin on egan's horse cavalry
35 pages that felt like 100 in the best way

Things just got weird: talk of mountains moving and the dead returning and a land of mist. Dig it.

TITLE CARD

lindsey is kicking kalins ass when tom walks up laughing. tom makes bets about riding. lindsey gets a lesson.

The original cut edition of THE STAND seems to have gotten rid of all the omniscient sections. Whole chapters have been omitted, but more than that is the POV of lesser characters, like Vic Palfrey and his family, have gone missing as well. Interesting stuff, and I'm sure it was a pain in the ass to pick and choose what stayed and what was excised. King eventually cut 150,000 words from the manuscript, a whole novel.

"Odetta on the Other Side" introduces one side of the coin who will eventually become Susannah Dean, Eddie Dean's wife: Odetta Holmes. We get her back story and intricate details in the run-up her absence as the other side of the coin lands in Roland's palm...

"Ringing the Changes" starts with a ride along with George Shavers in an ambulance who shares the story of how Odetta Holmes lost her legs, and Detta Walker was born. The chapter ends with both personalities being pulled into Roland's world.

"Detta and Odetta" is our first introduction of the titular Lady of Shadows: a wealthy Black woman who has a unique quirk; she has multiple personalities.

Shuffle 1: Eddie Dean is in a bad way. He's been snatched from his reality and left stranded in Roland's world without his precious heroin. He's definitely going through it, but so is Roland, who's fighting a pretty gnarly blood infection. In this chapter they both fight their battles individually until they come across the next door, labeled: The Lady of Shadows.

"Showdown and Shootout" sees Balazar get what he's owed and Eddie Dean removed from his world and added to Roland's. One of the greatest gun battles in all of literature is in this chapter.

"The Tower" isn't the tower you might think it is once you enter this chapter, but this chapter is the glue that holds together two of King's best chapters. Dig it.

"Contact and Landing" is King firing on all cylinders. The level of tension in this chapter is off the charts and only matched by the next chapter.

"Eddie Dean" is the introduction to the first member of Roland's ka tet, Eddie Dean, brother of Harry, and one hell of a heroin junkie, so much so, Roland (and Walter) think of him as The Prisoner. I love the deranged baboon on his shoulder in the tarot card image.

"The Door"

Wounded and starving, Roland sees something in the distance. It makes no sense, but the closer he comes, the more real the image. It's a door. No wall, no frame, just a door. He opens it.

"Prologue: The Sailor" begins with Roland meeting the lobstrosities for the first time. No more Shocker for you, old chap.

"Go now. There are other worlds than these."

The end is the beginning, and the beginning is the end. It all starts and ends here.

Goodbye for now, kid.

Reading the cut version for the first time. Right off the rip, the opening chapter is different. Campion escaping the base is just completely gone. No mention of it. Instead, the book starts with Stu's chapter and is horribly edited with errors everywhere.

"That's car's got a California licence plate."

Also, the first chapter is 19 pages, say thankee sai.

"Epilogue: Bill Denbrough Beats the Devil (2)" gives us some of King's best writing. All the stuff in italics is, simply put, elegant and literary.

Literary:
2. (of language) associated with literary works or other formal writing; having a marked style intended to create a particular emotional effect.

And that effect is complete emotional destruction.

Was this King's first happy ending?