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The Stand (Modern Classics)

By Stephen King ( Gramercy )

Release Date: 2001-08-21
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Product Description
Arguably the greatest horror novel ever written by the greatest horror novelist, this is a true Modern Classic that was first published in 1978, and then re-published in 1990, complete and unabridged, with 150,000 words cut from the first edition restored, and now accompanied by unusual and imaginative line art. The total copies for both editions, in hardcover and paperback, exceeds 4 million worldwide.

The Stand is a truly terrifying reading experience, and became a four-part mini-series that memorably brought to life the cast of characters and layers of story from the novel. It is an apocalyptic vision of the world, when a deadly virus runs amok around the globe. But that lethal virus is almost benign compared to the satanic force gathering minions from those still alive to destroy humanity and create a world populated by evil.

Stephen King is a brilliant storyteller who has the uncanny gift of putting ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, giving readers an experience that chills and thrills on every page.

Amazon.com
In 1978, science fiction writer Spider Robinson wrote a scathing review of The Stand in which he exhorted his readers to grab strangers in bookstores and beg them not to buy it.

The Stand is like that. You either love it or hate it, but you can't ignore it. Stephen King's most popular book, according to polls of his fans, is an end-of-the-world scenario: a rapidly mutating flu virus is accidentally released from a U.S. military facility and wipes out 99 and 44/100 percent of the world's population, thus setting the stage for an apocalyptic confrontation between Good and Evil.

"I love to burn things up," King says. "It's the werewolf in me, I guess.... The Stand was particularly fulfilling, because there I got a chance to scrub the whole human race, and man, it was fun! ... Much of the compulsive, driven feeling I had while I worked on The Stand came from the vicarious thrill of imagining an entire entrenched social order destroyed in one stroke."

There is much to admire in The Stand: the vivid thumbnail sketches with which King populates a whole landscape with dozens of believable characters; the deep sense of nostalgia for things left behind; the way it subverts our sense of reality by showing us a world we find familiar, then flipping it over to reveal the darkness underneath. Anyone who wants to know, or claims to know, the heart of the American experience needs to read this book. --Fiona Webster

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Product Reviews:

Flagship King
I had long avoided this book because of it's length. I just wasn't sure that even a great author like Stephen King could keep me captivated for that long with a stand alone novel. I was told by a co-worker that I was not a true Stephen King fan if I had not read "The Stand", and the gauntlet was thrown down.

I loved this book. From start to finish I was hooked. The first section of the book describing you spread of the "superflu" as well as it's aftermath and the consequences suffered by the main characters was stand alone. It was amazing how he could have written in so many different characters and storylines and still leaving me caring about all of them a great deal. He then manages to tie everything together in a masterful way.

It was definitely a "heavy" read. It took a lot of time and attention, but I was rewarded by the wonderful story that he had put together. This book transcends the decades that have past since it was written and released.(Keep in mind that when this book was written there was no talk of a great bird flu pandemic)

Don't be afraid of the length of the book. If you are a "constant reader" then he will keep you from page one up until the final sentence. This book IS that good.

Self contradictory mish-mash ( jamesshoo )
*** SPOILERS FOLLOW ***
Stephen King nearly gave up on this book because he couldn't figure out how to end it. He ended up writing new chapters which took the book in a new direction, without changing the old ones.

The result is several contradictory sections spliced together. First the characters are told by God (dreams) to travel to Kansas. Once they get there, they immediately are told to travel to Colorado. That's how the first two-thirds of the book are spent, with the original disaster and then the main characters traveling to Colorado and beginning to fix the city up.

Yet God then tells the "good" characters that they sinned by settling down in Colorado instead of killing The Dark Man! So a few of the heroes are sent to the Dark Man's headquarters by God. Even that trip ends up being a waste because the evil destroys itself, while the "good" characters are captured and helpless!

The result is that everything the good characters do is futile and has nothing to do with defeating the villain. The book ends up being a bunch of interesting but disconnected vignettes about surviving the end of civilization. Good & evil never really battle each other.

Masterpiece by Stephen King
I first read the abridged version of THE STAND back when I was in high school in 1976. I was amazed by the characters Stephen King created. The story was full of "what-ifs" that really made you stop and think about what it would really be like to be alone in this world.

I immediately purchased the unabridged version when it was published. I enjoyed Stephen King's candid comments on the edition. I was pleased to learn more about the characters I had already come to know, and the addition of little bits of information that added flow to the horror that unfolds in the story.

I highly recommend this book to anyone. I don't believe that you have to be a Stephen King fan to appreciate THE STAND.

King's best work
I'm not going to bore you with too many details about what the novel is about as everyone else has already covered it, but I would like to say that "The Stand" is my favorite book of all time and although Stephen King's "It" is a masterpiece of a different kind, "The Stand" is definitely his best work.

An Ageless Story
This is a long one, 1141 pages; it was so thick I cut it in half at Chaper 48 so it was easier to handle. It was a used paperback; so no harm done. I never tired of this reading though, since it is an ageless story of good vs. evil. It is slower in the first half with King really getting into the thoughts and minds of the people involved who survive a Super flu that almost wipes out the entire world's population.

King, however is a great writer and does a brillant job. He really gave me a lot to think about as to why do some people drift toward evil while others drift toward good during their life. Throughout the book King expresses his feelings and his emotions in his characters.

The story is faster moving past the half way point; it becomes very suspenseful and excitng. There is action, romance, happiness, and sadness; I really did enjoy this one. It left me with thinking about the simple things in life and how important they are and how every person has something of value to add to our lives.

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