Rating: 
Summary: His masterpiece
Review: "The Stand" is perhaps the best book King ever wrote! You cannot put this book away until you've read the last page. Although it has so many pages - 'cause you never know what will happen on the next one.This books takes place in the future - almost the whole mankind is dead because of a manmade epidemic. That's the time for the last, ultimate fight on earth- between the good and the bad, between Satan and God - and their chesspieces on earth, mother Abigail and Randall Flagg.
Of course both of them are having their own assistants - Stu, Ralph, Nick, Glen, Tom and Larry for the "good guys" and Lloyd, Harold and Nadine for the other side. Of course there are many more characters, who are almost as important as those i wrote down, but the list would be to long, because ther are no minor characters in this book, every small thing one person did is later on very necessary. King wrote many individual psychologic charecters - one as credible as the other one. You can understand every step a character has done, and you will be surprised how this book ended - and after the last page you had the same feelings like Harold an the others: Joy, Pain, Dissapointment, Happyness, Anger. It's really the best book I've ever read - buy it, you'll love it!!!
Rating:
Summary: short, no; good book, yes
Review: I found The Stand, Complete and Unabridged by Steven king to be an excellent book. It has many great characters, such as The Walking Dude, Randall Flagg, Mother Abigail, and the assortment of everyday people who manage to survive the Captain Tripps plague. The epic tale tells of their journey from across the country to Boulder, Colorado, and that of those drawn to Las Vegas and Randall Flagg. King weaves a complex story line, with many twists and turns in the plot. He is considered a bit wordy by some, but I enjoy the detail in his writing. The complete and unabridged version of The Stand has almost another large novel on the first edition of the book, and the story line is not changed, but the additional detail changes the character of the book somewhat. It develops the characters and their personalities more, and allows the readers to become more familiar with them. The evil present in Flagg, Trashcan Man, and the others attracted over the mountains is present in most people, they just never experience an event that brings it out. The death of 99 percent of the population allows those who survive to do what they want, and it brings out the worst in some and the best in others. This is definitely a five star book.. It is not only an enjoyable and engrossing read, it makes you think about what side you and those you know, if any of you survived, would be on if something similar occurred. I feel that those who believe that this book is overly long are entitled to their opinions, and for some people it is. If you do not enjoy books with incredible detail or if you like to have everything over in four hundred pages, this is not a book for you. Then again, you will not like most Steven King books. However, if you enjoy detailed books, Steven King is for you.
Rating: 
Summary: Good: great depiction of the end, Bad: long, Ugly: The end
Review: Stephen King's uncut "The Stand" is long, long, long. Arguably too long. Thankfully, the sheer bulk of this book does not detract from King's surprisingly good characterization and the compelling plot hook - a virus that wipes out just about the whole world save a small percentage of the population. Both are handled well, with believable people and graphic depictions of the aftershocks of such a virus. Only in the end, when metaphysical religious mumbo jumbo takes over, does the epic "The Stand" truly falter. The uncut version of this book is a doorstop, easily surpassing 1,000 pages of text. Most of it is very good. The depictions of the virus' impact on the world are scary and well portrayed. We see well-written and detailed glimpses into the lives of our main characters - too many unnecessary and lengthy glimpses, admittedly - that allow us to know these people inside and out. And we are drawn into the world of the few survivors as they try to rebuild the world that was lost. The first half, maybe two-thirds, of the book sail along briskly despite the time King takes to dwell in insignificant character details. The latter portions of the book, however, are a disappointment. A building mystery and a strong tale of survival ultimately leads to a hokey pseudo-religious showdown that fails to compel. By this point, you're turning pages not because you ant to see the mystical action unfold, but because you have already read 700 pages and are therefore compelled to keep going. A very poor end to an otherwise great buildup. That criticism isn't to say the book isn't worth reading. The portions of the book that are strong - and that's most of it - are simply great. King is a better writer than some credit him as being, the story is fascinating, and the bleak future disturbing. Really great stuff (though I am inclined to read the original, "cut" version to see how it compares). King fans are likely to enjoy this regardless, so pick it up. Non-King readers are warned about the extreme length, much of it unnecessary. Yet those same readers should know that if they enjoy disaster stories, post-Apocalypse tales, stories about the breakdown of civilization and other such themes, "The Stand" will fit right in with your tastes. It is a well-done look at a future we hope we don't have. (They just might want to stop before the disappointing end).
Rating:
Summary: Look What They Done to My Book, Ma
Review: OK, so obviously this isn't "my" book in the sense that I wrote it, but long-time fans and admirers of "The Stand" like me consider the book to be a masterpiece and are kind of possessive about it. I was excited about reading an expanded version of The Stand, in supposedly its original state as submitted by Stephen King to his publisher in 1978. I was very dismayed that this edition actually contains some *new* material that Mr. King wrote around 1989. As a result, this edition suffers from some temporal dislocation. An example: the rock singer Larry Underwood goes to a girl's apartment where she has displayed a "Love Story" poster -- very 70s. Then afterward he goes to a Freddy Krueger movie. NOOOO! This just doesn't work for me. It takes me right out of the dark spell that the previously published "Stand" put me under. I still give it 4 stars because the story is so powerful. But if you haven't read "The Stand" yet, I would really recommend that you read the truncated (edited) version first.
Rating:
Summary: Epic Tale of Good VS Evil
Review: I bought this book at a local bookstore in 1994 after seeing the miniseries on ABC. I got the Signet mass market paperback edition with a photo cover of Gary Sinise and Molly Ringwald. The book is about the survivors of a plague after a "superflu" virus kills most of the world's population. Sides are taken. The good are led by the 108-year-old Mother Abigail. The evil are led by the demonic Randall Flagg (a villain in several of Stephen King's novels, such as "The Eyes of the Dragon" and his "The Dark Tower" series). Those of you who have seen the miniseries, read the book anyway. It has a lot more to it. Of course, there is swearing, sex, and lots of death and destruction, so it's not for the overly-sensitive. There are lots of characters: a hick, a pregnant girl, an obsessed nerd, a rock star, a judge, a bisexual woman, a farmer, a prisoner, a mental patient, etc. Everybody is sure to find someone that they like in here. This is a very long story (over 1,000 pages), so make sure that you have a lot of free time. In a two-part introduction, King explains how and why this version of "The Stand" came to exist. That's an interesting story in itself. If you've read the original version published in the 1970s, I'd recommend that you go ahead and read this version, too. It's much more complete. There are nice black-and-white drawings of several scenes. I did read part of the hardcover edition in high school, and I noticed that the Signet paperback edition is missing at least one line. In "The Circle Closes", below "He woke at dawn.", the line "He had his boots on." is missing. Odd. Anyway, this is a great book.
Rating:
Summary: Exceptional Masterpiece from the mind of Stephen King
Review: The Stand is, more or less, a story depicting the end of the world. It begins with an accidental outbreak of super flu from a government facility, which soon breaks free to wreak havok on unsuspecting humans and animals. Almost everyone dies, and does so considerably fast. The army tries to stop it, but no one succeeds. Those that DO survive are people who have a natural immunity to the bug. Eventually these lucky souls band together to form a sort of community. The atmosphere is bleak and gritty. It's depressing, but at the end of the tunnel they find a light through each other. They try and maintain hope and see it through to the end, while fighting the seemingly impossible at the same time. Not a feel good book necessarily, but then again most horror isn't. Suspense was built up when it should have been, and most of it had my back muscles stung up pretty tight. Stephen King is one of those authors who has a natural talent with characterization. The Stand is no different, and although there are several key players to keep track of, I wasn't confused as I have been in some of his other novels. I can't speak of a "main character," because there were several, and each person brought forth their unique traits, their past histories, and their own individual purposes, that were important to the plot. Each one enhanced the tale, and without this important element the story would not have succeeded so well. I didn't like everyone, but thankfully those I didn't care for got less time than the others. Some may see the page count of this one (817) and fear it would be too slow for them, rest assured it's not. The pace goes along surprisingly well for such a lengthy read.
Is the Stand haunting? Well...it's never fun to imagine that basically the entire world is dead and you are left alone, forced to seek out other survivors and make them your new family because your real ones are dead. It's not fun to go into the street and be greeted with the stench of decaying corpses, or to no longer have electricity and signs of modern times. Getting wrapped up in the story like I did, I was able to imagine what this would have been like, and let me tell you it wasn't pretty. That theme alone was creepy. The end of the world isn't a time I'd want to live in, especially if it goes out this way.
Rating: 
Summary: What Can I Possibly Say That Hasn't Already Been Said?
Review: I think the title of this review speaks for itself. I was able to get my hands on a hardcover copy of "The Stand" before Christmas last year; the copy is the Gramercy (Random House Value Publishing) reprint, having been published back in 2001. The retail price of the book lists for $45; the normal discounted price is about $20; Barnes & Noble offered its stock of the book for about $13, but I got my copy for $5--five measly dollars. The book is in like-new condition, but the dust-jacket is a little beat up, but for five bucks I didn't care. I must say, though, that the physical quality of the Gramercy reprinted book (binding and pages) is a little lesser than Doubleday's reprint of the book back in 1993 (the full-version novel was orginially published three years earlier, back in 1990).
After I got it, I put off reading this book for a while because it seemed intimidating (also, I'd been reading too many reader reviews); but then about a month ago, I told myself: I'm going to read this sucker and I don't care how long it takes me--turns out, about four weeks. I'm not going to endeavor to describe the story's plot, since several hundred earlier reviews attempt to do so.
"The Stand" is considered, by some, to be Stephen King's masterpiece; "The Stand" is considered, by some, to be, well, most certainly *not* a masterpiece. I have mixed feelings about the book--it's not the best book I've ever read, but it's not the worst book I've ever read, which is why my rating is three stars. However I have to disagree about the Gramercy publisher calling "The Stand" a Modern Classic. "The Stand" provides ample evidence of how much of an inconsistent writer Stephen King actually is. In the memoir/how-to book "On Writing", Stephen tries his very best to come across as an "authority" when it comes to novel-writing. Yet, "The Stand" shows that Stephen can, with a clear conscience, break almost all of the "rules and regulations" he provides in the writing book.
Also, the Complete and Uncut novel is almost too long for the story's own good--the story is too complex. There are some awesome parts/scenes in the book, but as a whole the novel is quite forgettable. Stephen employed way too many characters and the book's climax is sheer idiocy (after over one thousand pages, I guess I got my hopes up too high).
This book was the one that took Stephen over a year to write, due to a rather bad case of Writer's Block--and one aspect of the book that almost gave me a case of "Reader's Block" is this: the original manuscript of "The Stand" was written back in the '70s and was first published (in truncated form) back in 1978. But what made me confused, as I got more into the book, was separating the original time-frame with the updated time-frame. Before Stephen re-released the book in its full form, he updated the novel's time-frame to 1990 (and the first month of 1991); contrarily, there are some parts/scenes/whole chapters that retained that 1970s feel. Instead of having expanded the story, in which probably all the '70s manuscript remains, Stephen should have completely overhauled the novel for its re-release back in 1990--but, considering the bout of Writer's Block he suffered, twelve years later Stephen probably found overhauling the full-length story a bit to daunting of a task.
Overall, "The Stand" is, I feel, worth reading, if your attention-span/belief-suspension can hold out for 1,153 pages. Is "The Stand" Stephen King's masterpiece? Maybe. Is "The Stand" a Modern Classic? Nope, sorry, it's not.
Rating:
Summary: Oh, please!
Review: I see there are still people complaining about this book. Ha ha ha! You get the USA population (well almost 99.9% of it)wiped away (along with the rest of the world) there are two poles: Bad and good; there are several extremely likeable characters(I don't know why but Stuart is my all-time favourite hero); there are nightmares, there is crying (remember Larry losing his mother? Or Susan's death), laughter, dawning, betrayal, promises and broken promises, hope, humanity, insanity, cannibalism, other-worldly things, an epic journey, small-town nightmares, action packages full of vivid tales, several frights, even a nuclear bomb and a fantastic display of post-modern, capitalism-kneaded, material USA. And I ask you: What does a reader want more? and what's better is that this is served to you by one of the most talented figures in the 20th century. Respect please!
Rating: 
Summary: Throat clearing in civics 101
Review: My expectations when I picked up this book were high. It is one of the longest one its author has written and it is reputed to be the best. I haven't read them all, so I wouldn't be a good judge of that, but I can say it's not as good as The Shining. This is not because of the subject, which is nothing less than Armageddon, courtesy of a virulent strain of the flu ("Captain Trips") which, after having been unexpectedly released in an American military facility, proceeds to kill over 90% of Americans (and presumably, of humanity) within about a week. The small number of survivors is then assaulted by dreams, one of a positive and one of a negative force. Each force guides them to its respective stronghold, Las Vegas and Boulder. A bunch of survivors (an East Texas cowboy, a pregnant single woman, a rock semi-star, a sociology professor, a smart dork, a retard, a mute, a schoolteacher, an arsonist, a smalll-time criminal, among others) must choose to align themselves either with good or with evil. So what's wrong with this picture? Nothing wrong with the first part, the description of the end of civilization after disease strikes is very well rendered. The second part is perhaps too long: it also seems to contain King's political views (the good guys are virtually anarchist-libertarians, the bad guys are essentially fascists). Again, that's not necessary bad. The third part is just too short, and badly put together. The good guys manage to reach the evil city after hundreds of pages of scene-setting and then everything's over in the blink of an eye. The bad guy, Randall Flagg, had potential, but somehow failed to come together. King is always telling us that he can do this or that (give you prostrate cancer, or a head-ache, or a VD) just by looking at you, but as an evil presence he doesn't even approach the Overlook Hotel. I would have liked to have seen greater degeneration in the evil city. It comes across just as a place which is unusually orderly and well-functioning, but were people are scared. That's also a good description of Singapore, and I don't see that city as a terrible place to live. While I'm not Stephen King, I can easily imagine new dark rituals taking place in Las Vegas, awful, pre-Columbian monsters coming to life in the desert to guard the Eastern marches of the Devil's Kingdom, and a horrible damnation coming to all creation. Just reading about life in Nazi-occupied Ukraine is more terrifying, and it actually happened. Instead of this we get a smiling guy with a third eye who can levitate a couple of inches above the ground. Instead of devilish hordes of demi-humans (such as Lovecraft would have provided) we have just ordinary human beings who actually do nothing too terrible. Instead of a memorable clash between good and evil we get Civics 101 (including the Burial Committee and the Lampost Checking Squad). And although there are a few references to countries other than the USA, they are perfunctory. If we're dealing with cosmic evil, it should at least be global. I thought this was supposed to be "a tale of ultimate horror", like the sub-title says. It's not that none of the characters are likeable. Some of them are OK. Harold Lauder is not bad, although he should have done more things to show he was brilliant. We are always told he is, but he doesn't show us. Texan Stu is OK and Larry the musician is actually pretty good. Nasty slut Julie is actually excellent, really repulsive and quite real. Mother Abagail is OK, but she dies too quickly and doesn't give us enough fireworks: what use is being God's chosen if one can't even smite some hellspawn or call down the fire from the heavens? Even Moses had his serpent staff. Flagg begins well, but then he honors his name and flags down to just vaguely threatening. Since when does the devil need to negotiate everything with his followers? Since 1962 Marvels Comics we've known that the bad guy needs to be much stronger than the good guys in order for suspense to build up. As the end aproaches, Flagg looks actually weaker than the good guys and the end was, to me, very disappointing, The book is actually three stories. The first one, the end of the world, is pretty good. The second one, living after the plague is not bad, but full of padding. The third one, the confrontation between light and darkness, is a let-down. I'm not exactly sorry I read the book, but I would probably not have done so if I had read this review before. There's just too many good books around.
Rating:
Summary: My thoughts on Stephen King's The Stand
Review: I liked this book a great deal because of Stephen King's vivid character traits. His gruesome details really added texture to this novel in particular. The characters' emotions have a profound effect upon the reader. Stephen King inflicts sadness, anger, disgust, fear, and a wide variety of emotions. The best part of this book was the climax. The sides of "good" and "evil" are basically waiting for the other to make an offensive attempt at war. The tension is high, and you think that you have the ending figured out, but it comes as a complete and total surprise. The story takes several unexpected turns, and as all of King's novels it is shocking. The story elements in this book are excellently blended into a labyrinth of thought and a colorful tapestry of detail. The characters are distinct, and you soon believe that they are real. Theme plays a massive roll in this tale, and it is extemely possible that these events could happen. With this book i am singin nothing but praises
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