The Stand by Stephen KingMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Time taken to read - 5 days
Publisher - New English Library
Pages - 1415
Blurb from Goodreads
When a man crashes his car into a petrol station, he brings with him the foul corpses of his wife and daughter. He dies and it doesn't take long for the plague which killed him to spread across America and the world. From the author of The Tommyknockers, Misery and Pet Sematary.
My Review
A military containment fails and Captain Trips gets out, a flu that wipes out most of humanity. What is left splits into two groups, one heading to Las Vegas to see him, Randal Flagg causer of nitemares or Colorado to Mother Abigail, a beacon of hope doing the Lords work. A whole host of characters, trying to stay alive because in a world where there is only good and evil, there are more scary things than the plague.
I read this years ago as a teenager, King is or was a huge favourite of mine so a perfect choice for Halloween reads. There is a lot to take in as characters and locations change but you soon get settled in and read as the world fall apart. This is the first time I have read the uncut version however it has been so long since I read the normal version I couldn't honestly say whats new and what wasn't.
Some of it is tough going, violence, murder, sexual abuse, evil, good and thats just some of it. I am sure most people are familiar with the tones of Kings work so you know what you are in for. The Stand is a great Apocalyptic type tale with many dimensions, the fall of society, the attempted rise of society, the battle of good and evil, the trials and sacrifices and of course love, betrayal, relationships and lies. 4/5 for me this time, I love King so of course I will be reading him again.
I also read this a long time ago.
ReplyDeleteIt really was an effective and creative work. I so remember this one very vividly as I thought a lot about it and what I thought King was trying to say with it.
I do remember a chilling passage that took place in the Holland Tunnel I think?
I look forward to reading your thoughts on this when you are finished.