The Stand: The Complete and Uncut Edition

Ho letto la prima versione de L'ombra dello scorpione un'infinito numero di anni fa, e me ne era rimasta una sensazione di orrore, di qualcosa di malvagio che va a toccare le corde archetipiche che stanno dentro l'umanità, e questa sensazione si è ripresentata con la lettura della versione integrale, forse un po' diluita dagli orrori veri che più o meno costellano la vita di tutti noi e che ci aiutano a distinguere ciò che veramete ci fa paura e ciò che invece potremmo sopportare, categorie peraltro del tutto soggettive.
Resta il fatto che durante la lettura di tutta la prima parte del libro qualsiasi sequenza di tre starnuti è riuscita a innervosirmi.
Come sempre il Re è un lucidissimo conoscitore della psicologia umana, e qui show more indaga la mania religiosa come e meglio di un qualsiasi sociologo cattedratico, per concludere, da vero individualista americano qual'è, che è meglio non fermarsi, non aggregarsi, se si vogliono mantenere la propria autonomia e umanità.
Parlando di contenuti, la versione integrale aggiunge poco all'essenza del libro, ma è molto più scorrevole e priva di faticosi salti logici rispetto alla prima versione. show less

Years after watching the mini-series for the first time, I've finally read the book. This is definitely the largest stand-alone (1440 pages) that I've ever read. I definitely wish that I had read it sooner.

King wrote the book in multiple viewpoints from the characters, which gave insight to what they were thinking, etc. I really liked that, because while the mini-series was extremely accurate, I liked learning more about certain characters, such as Frannie and Nadine. I don't see how there was a "condensed" version of this that shorted it by 300-400 pages of plot. I feel that if anything was taken out, it would take away from the story as a whole.

The basic story is of good vs evil in a post-apocalyptic world, with some paranormal-ness show more thrown in. The population is largely reduced due to a self-mutating "flu" that has escaped a highly secured facility. The people who don't die of this disease or from the aftermath, begin having dreams of an old woman in Nebraska and The Dark Man. Mother Abigail is 108 years old (and still makes her own biscuits, mind you) and is our character of good. Randall Flagg is basically the devil. People begin flocking to either one of them. Flagg is stationed in Las Vegas, while Mother Abigail & company move from a field in Nebraska, to Boulder to establish the Boulder Free Zone.

This book introduces us to a lot of characters. Stuart, who becomes a lead man, was one of the first people to see the flu. He was even taken to a testing center so that they could monitor him and see why he was immune. I really liked his character throughout the book. Frannie was a 21 year old, freshly pregnant woman, who had to make her way with Harold (the worst/best character ever). Harold made me so mad throughout the book, but I know that his actions were necessary to the plot. We were supposed to hate him. Larry was always struggling with himself. He wanted to be a good guy, because he never had been. I liked seeing him evolve over time. Nick Andros and Tom Cullen were possibly my favorite characters. Nick was a deaf mute and Tom was on the slow side. I loved how they got along and got to communicate eventually. Tom ended up being such an in-depth character and such a key player, even though he wasn't there 100% mentally. There are too many characters in this book to talk about, but those are probably my favorite ones.

Stephen King knows how to write a story. He used phrases like, "and they never saw "such and such" again" making you think that person died. You may not find out until later on if they lived or not. Writing from the viewpoints of 15 characters and then tying it all together may seem impossible, but King does it flawlessly. Every detail was addressed and it was all interwoven beautifully. I loved the ending and I could have kept reading about what happens 20 years from then, when there is a new generation.

M-O-O-N, that spells amazing! show less

THE STAND is Stephen King's magnum opus. It is a big book, epic in size and story, with a huge cast of characters. Yet King's characteristic attention to detail makes the story come alive and transforms the characters into old friends. I have probably reread this book more than any other, and yet I never grow tired of it.

King does a good job of mixing genres in THE STAND. The initial premise -- an engineered "superflu" virus gets out of control and, in short order, kills off 95% of the population -- is pure science fiction. With its religious and supernatural elements, THE STAND can also be considered a dark fantasy. King is best known as a horror writer, and THE STAND delivers many horrors, both large and small. Larry Underwood's show more solitary journey out of New York City through a dark, corpse-choked Lincoln Tunnel is one of the most terrifying scenes I've read in any book. And Randall Flagg should be included on anyone's list of top 10 terrifying villains.

But what really makes THE STAND such a great book are its characters. Stu and Fran are one of my favorite fictional couples. Minor characters, such as the Judge and Glen Bateman, seem like good friends. But I think Larry Underwood is the pivotal character of the story, the one who undergoes the most change and emerges as the story's great hero.

Yes, I do freely admit that I am a huge Stephen King fan, and this book is primarily responsible for that. I remember when I first read it -- I was home sick from school, and reading this book is basically all I did for that week or so. Every year or so I feel the need to immerse myself again in the world of THE STAND. It will always be an old friend for me. show less

I'm not sure why I haven't reviewed The Stand yet. I've read it about twenty times; it was my go-to comfort read as a young adult; I loved the journeying and the desolation of an empty world. Maybe because I'm not sure what I can add to the wealth of reviews (of the un-cut version alone)... it's a post-apocalyptic page-turner with some of King's most enduring characters and mind-blowing events.

Still, I recently had the misfortune of reading Mr Mercedes, and my mind now needs the palate cleanser of thinking about something that's actually well written and not a colossal waste of the reader's time. I've already reviewed his middle and later works (I'd love to rave about Duma Key all over again), but here's The Stand, one of the most show more astonishing examples of raw writing-prowess, un-reviewed, and last read by me just a year ago, when I updated my very sad book-club copy to a nice fresh paperback with a spine that doesn't crack. What do you call those, by the way? Beside miraculous, I mean.

So, without comparing to that regrettable adventure in lame serial killers and retired cops with questionable wits, a quick exercise in what King does well, from the book where he (arguably) did it the best:

World-building: you build up by breaking down. King decimates the USA and it's thrilling to watch it unfold through multiple points of view. What would have been an overlong introduction to the new US through one set of eyes is instead a terrible patchwork of gripping cameos, interspersed with character introduction.

Flawed protagonists; Larry Underwood, step forward. "There's something in you that's like biting on tinfoil." "You ain't no nice guy." Larry was a dick, who redeemed himself, and both sides of him made a complete character.

Hero protagonists; Stu, the good ol' boy who steps forward in a time of crisis and gets the girl. He gets the gig by virtue of surviving, and then proves himself worthy. Nothing remarkable, except for the solid characterisation that kept him from being boring.

'Special people': by which I refer to the mentally handicapped psychic, especially young and vulnerable psychic, and the man who combines both traits; Tom Cullen. M-O-O-N that spells the character you would most like to decorate with.

Frightening antagonists: Flagg. Let me make this clear. A magic man walks out of nowhere with no history and is more convincing a threat than many a horror tale has conjured. When King decides to draw someone well, you believe in them absolutely. Speaking of which...

Sympathetic villains: Oh Harold, you troubled bastard, why did you have to be so well written? When I tell people one of my favourite King characters is Harold Lauder, I sound like a sociopath.

Unnerving imagery: weasels in the corn. Crows and wolves. Nadine's hair. The eye, the key, the stone. Someone coughing. Just play around with those for a bit, Mr King, don't mind us over here having nightmares.

Chemistry in pairings: Nick Andros and Tom Cullen (journey in). Stu and Tom Cullen (journey out). Frannie and Stu (book version, please), Stu and Glen, *picks self up from floor*, Larry and Joe. There were many meetings of minds in The Stand and each section of dialogue soared beyond the sum of its parts.

… There, that feels miles better.

In fact, I think a year might be a whiles too long between re-reads. show less

Amazing. Just amazing.

I know that there is a debate about what the best work of Stephen King is, but there shouldn't be. This is a masterpiece of storytelling in every way. It is a gem of horror, suspense, and the grotesque. It is a beautiful examination of government, the human condition, and good vs evil.

This story is scary in a way that is hard to describe. It is not a traditional horror scary, but a dreadful scary. At every new chapter, I know that something horrifying is going to happen, and it is going to one-up the last horrifying thing. It happens so often, that the death of billions of people becomes normalized by the end of the book. And this I believe is intentional. King knows that his characters will eventually get used to show more seeing corpses every new place they go. The reader gets used to it along with the cast of characters, which makes the immersion real. And the suspense that comes from the actions of the large cast of people works very well alongside the disease death.

I love characters that are easy to hate. They seem more real than the stoic badass archetype characters. There are a couple in this. Harold Lauder is my favorite. While he is childish, arrogant, and painfully impulsive at times, he feels refreshing in a dystopia genre that is full of Katniss Everdeens who have no brain and are designed to entertain those with even less of a brain. Harold Lauder might be the best written character I've ever read outside of the namesake character of Anna Karenina.

I've heard that many people consider The Dark Tower Series to be Kings "Magnum Opus." While I have not read the fantasy series, I cannot imagine it overcoming this.

King should only be considered alongside Americas greats. With McCarthy and Faulkner. This is his masterpiece. show less

This review comes just over two years after I've read it, but damn, it's still pretty fresh in my mind! I just have one word for this book... "M-O-O-N", that spells "This was such an incredible book!!!" If you read the book, you'll get the humor in that!
Through my life, I have never been a Stephen King fan, mainly because when I watched the original tv miniseries of "IT" back in the early 90's, I thought of how horrible it was, and I dim-wittedly assumed that this was what all his books were like. Fast forward 30 plus years, I decided to give him a chance. I was so blown away with his incredible writing style, and pondered over how I have spent so many years with the false notion that he was a mediocre writer. This was the first proper show more book I read of his, and I was hooked! Technically, the first actually story I read of his was "Gwendy's Box" and "The Mist", but those were both very short, so I don't consider them as being a first proper reading. I have since read "The Shining", and "IT". I was not disappointed with any of these fine stories, and I will definitely read more of his works.
The characters in "The Stand" are so incredibly well written, and the reader can completely relate to and sympathize with each one of them! Each character here feels so real. Some of them are pretty heavily flawed, and that's what makes them so identifiable and relatable. There is no such thing as the perfect character in his stories, this one included. He does go into painstaking detail with character development and the surroundings, but he really makes it work well. I've read other large novels that seem to drag on with ultra-slow burn development, and it becomes too tedious. That is not the case here. How he does it, I don't exactly know, but he really manages to keep you glued to these pages.
"The Stand" was considered by many, so I've heard, to be his Magnum Opus. As it stands now, I haven't read too many of his other books, so I can't make that call yet. However, reading this, "IT", and "The Shining", three of his most popular books ever, I can definitely say that I would agree that this is absolutely one of his best works ever. Look out "Carrie" and "Cujo", I've got you in my sights next!!!
Do yourselves a favor, pick this book up, read it, and love it! I owe a huge apology to Mr. King for not giving him a chance earlier on in my life. I'm making up for it now. show less

This is how the world ends: with a human-engineered superflu which escapes containment in the form of a terrified guard who unwittingly spreads death over a wide swath of southwestern America in his bid to escape infection. Captain Trips, they call it - until they die, and people die in droves within a matter of days. In almost no time at all, well over 99% of the American population have suffered an agonizing death. Those that are left all alone begin to dream: comforting visions of an ancient black lady called Mother Abigail in Nebraska rising up alongside nightmares of a faceless man out west. Many find their way to Las Vegas to serve under Randall Flag, the Walking Dude of their night visions, but many others flock to Mother Abigail show more in Nebraska and eventually Boulder, Colorado. As the citizens of the Boulder Free Zone attempt to reform society and make a new life for themselves, they are forced to come to terms with the fact that they are caught up in a struggle defined by their spiritual leader in religious terms. They must destroy Flagg or be destroyed by him - in a word, they must make their stand. I

I could not begin to describe the dozens of richly drawn characters King gives life to in these pages. They are ordinary people called to do extraordinary things in a world reeking of death and fear. Some are not up to the challenge, and betrayal has awful consequences in this new reality - to the betrayer as well as the betrayed. These are real human beings, flaws and all; there is good to be found even among those serving the greatest of evils, and at the same time, the good guys don't always behave in ways you think they should. There are so many points to touch on, I could write indefinitely, but what it all comes down to is this: if you're looking for a novel that will entertain you even as it makes you think, "The Stand" is for you. Oh...don't drop it on your foot. show less