The Stand {1978}

I'd been warned by others that "The Stand" is a lot of book for not very much payoff, but I felt that that the ending wasn't as much of a let-down as I'd been led to believe. Certainly the antagonist of the story was rather one-dimensional and we never got to explore his background as much as some of the other characters, and the eventual culmination of the conflict between the "good" and the "bad" fell a bit short. It's definitely not a feel-good story, and was downright depressing at times, but I'm glad I wasn't dissuaded from giving it a read. ( )

This is the expanded edition. It would get 5 stars from me, but I think perhaps the expansion lets the story drift just a bit with too much background. Excellent story, classic good vs evil mixed with a virus outbreak causing a post apocalyptic world. Well told and compelling. ( )

Marvelous storytelling

1326 pages of pure character development. The Stand is ambitious, it is heartbreaking, it is exciting, it is flat out terrifying at times. It's been a while since I got this invested in a story as I did for this one. It is not without flaws, but the things it did right outweigh the bad.

Pros:
Characters, characters, characters. Not only does The Stand feature a huge number of characters, each one is exquisitely crafted. Every one, from Stu Redman to Larry Underwood, from Nick Andros to Lloyd Henreid is given a life, a personality and a believable journey that takes them from regular run of the mill people to the heroes and villains of one of Stephen King's most acclaimed epics.

Plot and pacing:
The Stand is HUUUUGE. And for a book this long you would expect many slow moments, and while there definitely are some dull moments the story is constantly moving to a satisfying degree. The novel is divided into three clearly distinct parts, giving a satisfying feel of progression and closure. The last section of the book flies by.

Emotional moments:
Due to the deep character work done all of the truly important moments hit. Even beginning with the deaths due to the superflu. Even those characters that you know will die, like Frannie's parents and Larry's mom, do manage to make a profound impact on the reader. The latter moments can be a bit unexpected and in some cases pretty devastating.

Randall Flagg:
Here's a villain that not only is utterly terrifying, but that at times also feels human, even when he clearly seems to be anything but. The connection with the larger King mythos also helps, but even without knowledge of his involvement in other Stephen King stories, Randall Flagg does evoke a sense of dread few other villains get to accomplish.

Cons:
The soft magic "system" , or perhaps the lack of a system. Now, I know that The Dark Tower established an interconnected magic system throughout most of King's works and The Stand does make allusions to the concepts of ka and the shinning, but as a self contained story the magic is a bit too obscure. This works just fine for the villain, but the conclusion is a bit confusing as that last scene in Vegas doesn't seem to have an explanation within the context of the story.

Ultimately the con is so small and the pro's so many and so well deserved that I cannot but give thos book a 5 star rating. ( )

I have the edition of this book that has all the pages. If you read it, be prepared for the long haul, as it moves at a snails pace. It's after a Pandemic. The remainder of society forming into groups. Daily survival is a struggle in this battle between good and evil on the human and supernatural level. A book well written with characters well formed, slow at times but so is life. Sacrifices of life and tremendous hardship have to be made for any hope of winning in the end. ( )

Enjoyed the characters, but I feel it dragged out too much and was more predictable than I hoped for ( )