September Group Read: The Stand by Stephen King, Book Two
Talk 2014 Category Challenge
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1luvamystery65
The Stand by Stephen King
Book description from Amazon - "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 sides -- or are chosen. A world in which good rides on the frail shoulders of the 108-year-old Mother Abigail -- and the worst nightmares of evil are embodied in a man with a lethal smile and unspeakable powers: Randall Flagg, the dark man."
From Wikipedia - "The Stand is a post-apocalyptic horror/fantasy novel by American author Stephen King. It expands upon the scenario of his earlier short story, "Night Surf". The novel was originally published in 1978 and was later re-released in 1990 as The Stand: The Complete & Uncut Edition; King restored some text originally cut for brevity, added and revised sections, changed the setting of the story from 1980 (which in turn was changed to 1985 for the original paperback release in 1980) to 1990, and updated a few pop culture references accordingly"
August Book One link https://www.librarything.com/topic/178358
October Book Three link https://www.librarything.com/topic/179008
Book description from Amazon - "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 sides -- or are chosen. A world in which good rides on the frail shoulders of the 108-year-old Mother Abigail -- and the worst nightmares of evil are embodied in a man with a lethal smile and unspeakable powers: Randall Flagg, the dark man."
From Wikipedia - "The Stand is a post-apocalyptic horror/fantasy novel by American author Stephen King. It expands upon the scenario of his earlier short story, "Night Surf". The novel was originally published in 1978 and was later re-released in 1990 as The Stand: The Complete & Uncut Edition; King restored some text originally cut for brevity, added and revised sections, changed the setting of the story from 1980 (which in turn was changed to 1985 for the original paperback release in 1980) to 1990, and updated a few pop culture references accordingly"
August Book One link https://www.librarything.com/topic/178358
October Book Three link https://www.librarything.com/topic/179008
2luvamystery65
I hope you join us for the August-October read of The Stand by Stephen King. For September we will be reading Book Two. I have not read this book before. If it is a reread for you let us know if you are reading the original version or the newer expanded version.
Please post spoilers using the spoiler featurelike this . Also, post the chapter you are referring to if you are talking about something specific. General comments, thoughts or rants are welcome.
Please post spoilers using the spoiler feature
3-Eva-
I couldn't stop after the first book and wait until September, so now I've finished the second book too. Overall impression? There is a lot of characters here!! I'm reading the original (shorter) version, but it's quite long enough for me - I obviously don't know what parts I'm "missing" from the extended version, so I can't say if it's better or worse. One thing I wondered about was (and I can't give you the chapter number since the original has different chapters than the revised one - so here's a spoiler thing to cover the whole of book two:) when they ask Tom Cullen to go be one of the spies, they hypnotize him "again," but I don't remember them hypnotizing him a first time (other than that thing he does to himself) - is that in the extended version? Or is it understood in both? Or did I just read extremely sloppily and miss it completely? Does anyone know if/when the first hypnotization (is that a word?) takes place? .
4rosalita
>3 -Eva-: I just finished Book Two; I'm reading the expanded version. Regarding Eva's spoiler question, it is mentioned in a committee meeting when they are picking who to send west that they had tried hypnotizing Tom earlier and were successful. So his earlier hypnotization is mentioned but it's not something that was shown "on stage", so to speak. I'm not sure if that scene is in the original version, as I don't have access to a copy.
5-Eva-
>4 rosalita:
Thank you so much!!! I managed to locate that section in my book and compare it to the extended version and that portion is indeed not in my copy (it's the end of Excerpts from the Minutes of the Ad Hoc Committee Meeting August 13, 1980/1990 if anyone else is interested).
Thank you so much!!! I managed to locate that section in my book and compare it to the extended version and that portion is indeed not in my copy (it's the end of Excerpts from the Minutes of the Ad Hoc Committee Meeting August 13, 1980/1990 if anyone else is interested).
6rosalita
>5 -Eva-: That's very interesting — I think I would have thought the hypnosis was a bit out-of-thin-air myself if I hadn't read the setup scene. I wonder if there's a guide online that details all the bits that are added into the extended version that aren't in the original. I'll have to look.
7-Eva-
>6 rosalita:
I can only imagine that the process of cutting it down in the first place was close to impossible without making some sort of sacrifices. If you read both copies back to back, I have a feeling there will be lots of things that become clear or more developed, since there is a 400-page difference! I'm just happy that I hadn't read that part and then blatantly ignored it. :)
I can only imagine that the process of cutting it down in the first place was close to impossible without making some sort of sacrifices. If you read both copies back to back, I have a feeling there will be lots of things that become clear or more developed, since there is a 400-page difference! I'm just happy that I hadn't read that part and then blatantly ignored it. :)
