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Summary: I will never read another book again!!
Review: I can't tell you how many times I have read this book. It is about courage, strength, love, hope, disaster, evil, good, and triumph. The characters are meticulously developed in a way that you can not pick a favorite. They are all superb. This is the ultimate battle that has ever been written about. It hits too close to home. I wish this adventure could have gone on forever. It is my bible.
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Summary: A Good begining that fails to deliver in the end
Review: After reading the raving reviews given by other readers, I must give another side to the story. King's book starts out wonderfully, a disease (Captain Trips) runs rampant throughout the world. Though after the disease runs its course, Stephen King was not able to continue in the course of a good science fiction, he turns to mystical powers and magic to finish his story. The Stand would have been much scarier if there was no magic and based solely on the aftermath and rebuilding of society after the disease. The use of mysticism in his stories only exposes his weakness as a writer.
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Summary: WHAT CAN I SAY?
Review: ASIDE FROM THE SHINING, HIS BEST. A BIG, AMBITIOUS BOOK! I RECENTLY READ "DANSE MACABRE" AND HE SAID THAT "THERE WERE TIMES WHEN I ACTIVELY HATED THE STAND!" I CAN DIG IT, IT TOOK ME A LONG TIME TO READ IT, AND WHEN I WAS FINISHED, I WASN'T DISSAPOINTED. HE COMES THROUGH (ALMOST) EVERYTIME!
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Summary: Well-written and horrifyingly plausible.
Review: I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked up the unabridged version of The Stand, knowing as I do that Stephen King is sometimes subject to severe verbal diarrhea. But when I read this version, I realized just how much was missing from the original version of the book. The extra text serves to further develop the characters and the plot of the story and heighten the suspense. King has also modernized some of the references in the book to make the story seem less like 1977 and more like 1997, a fact which this reader appreciates. I guess I'll have to go buy the hardcover edition to add to my Stephen King collection now. You will not be disappointed if you read the full-length version of The Stand
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Summary: King As Anthropologist
Review: We have all seen those cheesy, big-screen film versions of Stephen King's novels or indeed seen the previews for these so-called cinematic endeavors and known to stay away. Cujo comes creeping to mind. And some of us have read King disguised as Richard Bachman thinking somehow if he used a different name we could fool ourselves into believing we weren't reading King so that with our guard down we would have that sudden epiphany we craved, that understanding of King's popularity, yet the book still flew right out of our hands and into the wall. Thinner comes sailing back to mind. So when a friend insisted I read The Stand, I browsed the first few pages prepared to gather further evidence that Stephen King was grossly misunderstood in that people actually thought he was good. Alas, 1141 pages later, as I close a book that is so dog-eared both its front and back covers are taped onto its middle, I have yet to find a shred of evidence to support my theory. In fact, as voraciously as I read, I have rarely, if ever, had my thoughts so virtually egged on by a book that at times I had to (reluctantly) put the page-turner down to reflect on what King had just shown me.
Every human walking the planet needs to read The Stand, for while its premise is based on 1% of the population being left to re-organize earth, and specifically America, after a calamitous plague, what we really learn from the ensuing struggle between the protagonists and antagonists is how we as humans should behave in a pre-plague state with earth still heavily populated and not much space, material goods or innocence left to share. King deftly paints several very clear portraits of survivors of the Superflu, some encompassing mostly good, some mostly evil. Oddly, he manages to make all characters sympathetic in some way although we feel as though our plight is that of the protagonists'. But by putting all of his survivors in the same predicament (no electricity, no fresh food, no clean shelter, no comradeship), he illustrates that in the end, good or evil, we all require to same elements to thrive. Some may not like the ending because at first peruse, it can feel ambiguous. Shouldn't good simply triumph over evil, one might ask, versus King's ending that shows good mostly coming out ahead but with evil still choking out breath? The answer is no because in the end, the fittest will thrive and survive, and King's most evil antagonist is also most certainly quite fit. King's ending is realistic despite the frustrations that come with it. I do not give this book a 10 not because it fails to enthrall. I withhold the 10 due to three minor areas where King fails to entertain: I would have enjoyed seeing a protagonist pilgrimage from a western state to Nebraska, King's hub for the good, versus having all come from the eastern part of the United States. Secondly, as an African-American, I would have enjoyed more modern and less stereotypical references to black people. Lastly, as a human being in general, I would have enjoyed a greater cultural mix in the survivors. If King had represented more completely a pre-plague population in his remaining 1%, we should have seen not only those named Redman and Bateman but also those named Nguyen, Mohamed, Rodriguez and Caporale. However, these issues do not detract from the book's ability to provide about not only human nature but also about King that well-sought...epiphany.
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Summary: Quite possibly the best book I have ever read.
Review: Stephen King's greates novel in its finest form. This is not horror. The breadth and scope of this novel reaches above and beyond anything King has wrote and will write. The magnum opus of his career. The book by which everything else Stephen King does in his career will be judged by. Quite possibly the finest book I have ever read. The tale is an apocalyptic vision more frightening then anything else King has ever imagined. It tells the tale of a world destroyed by death, of the coming of the Dark Knight to lead the world into the apocalypse of Hell, and of the soldiers of light who attempt to rescue humanity from the forces of evil. This book explores our innermost thoughts and feelings, it probes into our fear of the unknown, it delves into the fear of Hell itself. It also deals with our beliefs in the supernatural, our beliefs in God himself, and the choices we make that create our lives.
I found the ending, which has been criticized often, as sensational. This book deals with God, Satan, and the struggles of humanity to rid the world of evil. It deals with inner evils inside of us, but it deals with the notion that man, at his heart, is good. An epic tale of fantasy, this is the greatest book I have ever read. I have read Faulkner, I have read Steinbeck. This beats them all
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Summary: Write More Like this One
Review: The Stand has got to be the best Stephen King book ever written. He definately needs to turn out another book like this. He better hurry though, we've been waiting long enough. If you want to introduce someone to Stephen King this is definately the book to suggest
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Summary: OH MAN!!!
Review: The stand is the BEST book in the universe! You can't have a better story than this: deep, strong and complete. The people who are saying that King can't write surely have not read this one. Every fan of the King must have this book. The caracters were so alive that i can still remember their names (it's true that I've read it five times!) If you want a book, a good one, pick this one and you won't be sorry
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Summary: One of the worst endings ever!!
Review: The first half of this book was incredibly wonderful. When the disease was spreading and society was breaking down, it had all the makings of a wonderful apocalyptic thriller. The latter half dragged badly. It seemed to take forever for the two camps to form up and make decisions as to what to do. It appeared that Captain Tripps managed to impair the thought processes of all those who survived. Then, finally, to top it all off, after all the build-up, God just "manifests" himself with no justification, no explanation, and absolutely no reasoning behind it, and he kills all the bad guys. It was just an incredibly massive build up over a period of 900 pages with the most flat, useless, and inexplicable ending ever written. I think King figured he would write an extra special ending, and he ended up trying way too hard. As a result, this book left me with a totally empty feeling. I had always wanted to read one of his books, because a lot of people talked about him, and they said he was very good; however, I was also warned about his bad endings. I must say I never expected this, so I must say this: Stephen King, you had your chance
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Summary: Stephen Kings' best book by far!!
Review: This was the first Stephen King book I every read. Once I started it I couldn't put it down for anything. His plot really makes you wander if there really is some disease the government has that they could use to kill us all. My advice: Read it and then read it again
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