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Loading... The Stand (original 1978; edition 2012)by Stephen King
Work InformationThe Stand: The Complete and Uncut Edition by Stephen King (1978)
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By far my favorite King novel. This is the second time I’ve read this, the first being back ‘08. It was even better the second time and I caught things I either missed or glossed over the first. I love the way King weaves multiple themes and ideals together that make not just an interesting story but one that makes the reader actually think. I couldn't tell you how many times I've read The Stand. I read the original version as a young teen and the uncut, and far superior, version when it came out. Less scary than most of his books, it is one of his best works for character development. There are some uses of language that haven't aged well, but they were true to their time period (1978) and clearly born of ignorance rather than hostility. This read was as ever a delight, but in many ways even more so as my spouse, who doesn't like scary things and is definitely the gentler spouse, asked me to pick out a Stephen King for our out-loud book. He knows how much I love the author, and just asked that I be willing to skip any bits that were too much for him. I gladly did this, there were only a couple, and enjoyed the story of Kojak more than ever because of how much my husband loves dogs and his delighted cries of "What a good boy!" throughout the book. I first read The Stand in high school. It was a revelatory experience then, what with its fascinating characters, grotesque horror, and overt fantasy. But revisiting now, over a decade later, has given this book a new color. Not just because of the pandemic, though the parallels are eerily prescient, but because I understand these characters better than I did when I was fifteen. I understand their motivations, and I am in awe of King's extensive backstory and character work. Even the villains are multidimensional people. That's what made me fall in love with King's work back then, and that's why I still love it now.
In short (well, not so short), this is the book that has everything - adventure, romance, prophecy, allegory, satire, fantasy, realism, apocalypse, etc., etc. Even Roger Rabbit gets mentioned. ''The Stand'' does have some great moments and some great lines... But the overall effect is more oppressive than imposing. Is contained inContainsHas the adaptationIs an expanded version ofAwardsDistinctionsNotable Lists
Fiction.
Horror.
Suspense.
Thriller.
HTML:This is the way the world ends: with a nanosecond of computer error in a Defense Department laboratory and a million casual contacts that form the links in a chain letter of death. And here is the bleak new world of the day after: a world stripped of its institutions and emptied of 99 percent of its people. A world in which a handful of panicky survivors choose sidesâ??or are chosen. A world in which good rides on the frail shoulders of the 108-year-old Mother Abagailâ??and the worst nightmares of evil are embodied in a man with a lethal smile and unspeakable powers: Randall Flagg, the dark man. In 1978 Stephen King published The Stand, the novel that is now considered to be one of his finest works. But as it was first published, The Stand was incomplete, since more than 150,000 words had been cut from the original manuscript. Now Stephen King's apocalyptic vision of a world blasted by plague and embroiled in an elemental struggle between good and evil has been restored to its entirety. The Stand : The Complete And Uncut Edition includes more than five hundred pages of material previously deleted, along with new material that King added as he reworked the manuscript for a new generation. It gives us new characters and endows familiar ones with new depths. It has a new beginning and a new ending. What emerges is a gripping work with the scope and moral complexity of a true epic. For hundreds of thousands of fans who read The Stand in its original version and wanted more, this new edition is Stephen King's gift. And those who are reading The Stand for the first time will discover a triumphant and eerily plausible work of the imagination that takes on the issues that will determine our survival. Cover artwork ©2020 CBS Interact No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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Still, this is an excellent book that was hard to put down. There's no one who writes like King; his dialogue is nearly perfect and the characters are pretty well rounded.
Well worth it. ( )