Hardcover, 1172 pages
English language
Published Sept. 14, 1990 by Doubleday.
The Stand is a post-apocalyptic dark fantasy novel written by American author Stephen King and first published in 1978 by Doubleday. The plot centers on a pandemic of a weaponized strain of influenza that kills almost the entire world population. The few survivors, united in groups, establish a new social system and engage in confrontation with each other. In writing the book, King sought to create an epic in the spirit of The Lord of the Rings that was set in contemporary America. King started writing The Stand in February 1975. The book was difficult for him to write because of the large number of characters and storylines. In 1990, The Stand was reprinted as a Complete and Uncut Edition. King restored some fragments of text that were initially reduced, revised the order of the chapters, shifted the novel's setting from 1980 to 10 years forward, and accordingly corrected a …
The Stand is a post-apocalyptic dark fantasy novel written by American author Stephen King and first published in 1978 by Doubleday. The plot centers on a pandemic of a weaponized strain of influenza that kills almost the entire world population. The few survivors, united in groups, establish a new social system and engage in confrontation with each other. In writing the book, King sought to create an epic in the spirit of The Lord of the Rings that was set in contemporary America. King started writing The Stand in February 1975. The book was difficult for him to write because of the large number of characters and storylines. In 1990, The Stand was reprinted as a Complete and Uncut Edition. King restored some fragments of text that were initially reduced, revised the order of the chapters, shifted the novel's setting from 1980 to 10 years forward, and accordingly corrected a number of cultural references. The Complete and Uncut Edition of The Stand is considered to be King's longest stand-alone work with its 1,152 pages, surpassing King's 1,138-page novel It. The book has sold 4.5 million copies. The Stand was highly appreciated by reviewers and is considered one of King's best novels. It has been included in lists of the best books of all time by Rolling Stone, Time, the Modern Library, Amazon and the BBC. Reviewers praised the believability of the story, the relevance of the issues raised and the liveliness of the characters, but criticized the protractedness of individual episodes, the plot dualism, and the deliberate denouement. A self-titled miniseries based on the novel was broadcast on ABC in 1994. From 2008 to 2012, Marvel Comics published a series of comics written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and illustrated by Mike Perkins. A miniseries debuted on CBS All Access in December 2020, and finished airing in February 2021.
I did it. I finished this absolute monster of a book. And it was very very good. Would recommend. I think it was more of a 4.5/5, but of course, Goodreads doesn't allow that kind of nuance....
I tend to gravitate toward post-apocalyptic books, and what better time to read a book about a superflu that kills 99% of the world’s humans (and dogs and horses) than during a pandemic? I thought I wouldn’t like the fantasy parts, but he kept them very minimal and not too crazily “out there,” making it more a statement on good vs. evil rather than God vs Demon. I had to turn off my Critical Lens for a few parts to really immerse myself. Which, tbh, I sometimes have to do with King’s books. But as always, his character development was amazing and I truly felt a loss when a character died, even the minor ones. At no point did the story feel slow, and his intense descriptions of everything added to the story instead of detracting from it. He also got an A++ for gruesome and gory descriptions. I’ll definitely …
I tend to gravitate toward post-apocalyptic books, and what better time to read a book about a superflu that kills 99% of the world’s humans (and dogs and horses) than during a pandemic? I thought I wouldn’t like the fantasy parts, but he kept them very minimal and not too crazily “out there,” making it more a statement on good vs. evil rather than God vs Demon. I had to turn off my Critical Lens for a few parts to really immerse myself. Which, tbh, I sometimes have to do with King’s books. But as always, his character development was amazing and I truly felt a loss when a character died, even the minor ones. At no point did the story feel slow, and his intense descriptions of everything added to the story instead of detracting from it. He also got an A++ for gruesome and gory descriptions. I’ll definitely be reading it again in the future.
***1/2
This took me forever to read. For a number of reasons. We moved and had busy social lives. Mostly though, I just never got into it. King is very hit or miss for me. This was mostly miss. Maybe it's because my generation knows the story already, or because we crave more action. I don't know. I'm glad I read it. It's one of those books people discuss. It just won't make the big list I keep in my head.
Un Stephen King inachevé c’est comme une choucroute au chocolat, c’est incongru. Je ne connais pas la première version de ce roman, mais les rallonges que King a décidé d’inclure dans une seconde version ne sont sans doute pas pour rien dans l’ennui qui m’a peu à peu envahie pendant ma lecture. 35% de lus, et pas encore de véritable action, les personnages évoluent, certes, et il se passe des choses dans leur vie, des péripéties quelquefois captivantes, qui relancent l’intérêt, mais malheureusement, la narration m’a paru très inégale, bourrée de descriptions superflues et pompeuses, à des moments pas forcément judicieux. Alors oui, on est intéressé par le destin des personnages, mais cet intérêt retombe trop souvent, et à ce stade de la lecture, il serait temps d’entrer dans le vif du sujet. Mais non, ça traîne en longueur, certains personnages ne sont même pas encore apparus, et ma foi, …
Un Stephen King inachevé c’est comme une choucroute au chocolat, c’est incongru. Je ne connais pas la première version de ce roman, mais les rallonges que King a décidé d’inclure dans une seconde version ne sont sans doute pas pour rien dans l’ennui qui m’a peu à peu envahie pendant ma lecture. 35% de lus, et pas encore de véritable action, les personnages évoluent, certes, et il se passe des choses dans leur vie, des péripéties quelquefois captivantes, qui relancent l’intérêt, mais malheureusement, la narration m’a paru très inégale, bourrée de descriptions superflues et pompeuses, à des moments pas forcément judicieux. Alors oui, on est intéressé par le destin des personnages, mais cet intérêt retombe trop souvent, et à ce stade de la lecture, il serait temps d’entrer dans le vif du sujet. Mais non, ça traîne en longueur, certains personnages ne sont même pas encore apparus, et ma foi, il faut à un moment donné se déclarer vaincu par l’ennui, Stephen King ou pas.
