Synopsis: One man escapes from a biological weapon facility after an accident, carrying with him the deadly virus known as Captain Tripps, a rapidly mutating flu that – in the ensuing weeks – wipes out most of the world’s population. In the aftermath, survivors choose between following an elderly black woman to Boulder or the dark man, Randall Flagg, who has set up his command post in Las Vegas. The two factions prepare for a confrontation between the forces of good and evil.
The Stand is the fifth novel by King and up to this point, it was his biggest story yet. When I found this book, I originally had found the massive hardcover that weighed more than a small child and honestly didn’t think I was ready to dive into something that involved. I scanned the shelf a little more and found the copy that you see to your left. Smaller and easier to deal with but still at over 1,140 pages, it was still a beast and VERY intimidating. Also, this version is the complete and uncut version that King initially wanted to print. The first edition that came out was actually shortened and cut fir cost reasons. When he got the chance to revise it and put out his truly complete narrative of The Stand, it ended up being about 100,000 words longer! You can really feel his passion for this story when you read it. The characters are so great and filled out.
You love some, hate some and in some cases learn to love a couple that you never expected to. In this apocalyptic epic, the world has become infected by a flu like virus which has been leaked from one of our very own government testing facilities. It was meant for chemical warfare and is safe to say… it works. The first few hundred pages of the book explain the process of what happened and what the disease is doing to the population. It’s starts off as the sniffles, allergies maybe. Then you have a cold which is followed by a fever. Then suddenly you’re stricken with pulmonary issues and your airway swells like a balloon while thick oozing mucous begins to come from all of your orifices. As fast as you catch it, your just as quickly dead in a horribly gruesome way. For those of you who don’t know what I do for a living, I’m a Respiratory Therapist here at our local hospital in Asheville North Carolina. While reading this I would be at work dealing with patients who needed me for respiratory needs and every single time someone would sneeze or cough, I would automatically tense up and think, ” Oh no, they’re a goner.” Sick joke, I know, but that’s what this book did to me!
There are so many times when King will be describing a perfectly normal conversation between two characters and then at the end of that chapter it would say something like, “…and then she let out a sneeze.” and you KNEW they were going to die. It has some of the best build up and intense moments that take place all before the world is only left with those who were immune to the virus. One thing that was a bit hard to keep up with in the beginning was all the characters. You are introduced to so many people at first and it’s a bit overwhelming. But trust me when I say, you don’t have to keep up with them all for long thanks to the disease. Those that are immune for some reason and that you get to know even closer are some of the most well written characters I’ve ever seen. For instance, one of my favorite characters is Nick Andros. He is a deaf/ mute who is immune and ends up being one of the leaders of the “voice” for the survivors living in Boulder Colorado. This guy literally has everything bad happen to him. If you can imagine it, it happens to him. but he somehow fights through and stands tall. Frances Goldsmith is another that I loved from the very beginning. She’s a young college age girl who is spunky and doesn’t take crap from anyone. She’s also hiding that’s she is pregnant because she doesn’t want it to effect how people see her due to her being a leader in the group.
Mother Abigail is the woman who brings together thousands of the survivors in Colorado through their dreams. She is actually using “The Shine” just like Danny Torrance has in “The Shining”. She is everyone’s beacon of hope in these dark times and is who will prepare them for the war that is to come. That war will be against the other survivors that have gathered in Las Vegas. These are people that are more rough around the edges. murderers, rapists, criminals of all kinds. They were brought together by the one and only Man in Black, Randall Flagg. Flagg is basically evil incarnate. He shows up and causes chaos everywhere he goes. He is also the main villain in The Dark Tower series and pops up throughout Stephen Kings books all the time. Some see him as a demon, others as an evil sorcerer. So there we have our plot for the ultimate battle of Good V.S. Evil. This book like I have mentioned is extremely long and full of insane amount of details. It builds the picture of this post apocalyptic world so crisply and perfectly that after reading a chapter I could actually picture everything in my mind with no issue. There are definitely some places in the story where it can drag or maybe you’re learning about someone that ten minutes later is dead and you’re like… why did I just have to read twenty pages about them?
But other than those very few moments, this novel delivers on a scale that is unbelievable. I mean come on, King gives us a virus that wipes out 98% of the population, then tells us about this new life on this baron world, throws in magic and powers and to top it all off, a war for the souls of man. What more could you ask for!? In 1994 there was a made for TV movie that came out. It came out in 4 episodes and lasted a total of 6 hours. It had a pretty amazing cast including Gary Sinsie, Molly Ringwald, Miguel Ferrer, Kathy Bates, Ed Harris and Rob Lowe. I thought it was done really well especially for the times. It stuck to the book extremely closely. I watched it right after finishing the book and was picking up on word for word lines straight from the novel which surprised me. Of course there were a few things left out or changed in the film but that’s to be expected due to the size of the book. Even with 6 hours of story telling, the movie just couldn’t have put the entire novel onto the screen. Its just not practical.
What are the major differences? (SPOILERS)
- Mainly, there is just way more story in the book than they could fit into the film. You get a lot more backstory as usual and you get to know the main characters on a much more personal basis.
- In the Novel, Larry Underwood meets a woman in New York City after the plague has pretty much wiped out all of those who aren’t immune. Her name is Rita Blakemoor and as you read about her you realize that she was a higher class, rich lady when it mattered before the virus happened. She is terrified and tags along with Larry. She ends up being more of a hassle than help in the end. In the movie, Larry actually meets Nadine Cross in the City instead. Rita isn’t even mentioned in the film. In both the book and movie, Nadine later shows that she plays a huge role for Team Flagg and those in Las Vegas.
- The book is far more gruesome with it’s details in the way people die and the way the corpses look strewed all over the streets and homes. The deaths that are described wrench a knot in the pit of your stomach. The movie adaptation being a made for TV style film couldn’t get away with what King could in his book but it still does a pretty good job and creeping you out.
I have to say that once I finished it and watched the film, The Stand quickly jumped into my top three joining The Shining and Salem’s Lot. I’m sure as I continue reading Kings work, My top 5 list will continue to change. As of right now, it goes…
- The Shining
- Salem’s Lot
- The Stand
- Carrie
- Rage
I’ve only reviewed five books now but I’ve actually read twelve. So each new review I’ll update my Top 5. I can promise you, Rage and Carrie have already lost their spots hahaha! So I think I’ll give The novel a 4 out of 5 stars and the movie a 3 out of 5 stars. Again, I highly recommend this one. Yes its crazy huge and will take a good while to read but it’s seriously so worth it! The next book up for review is Night shift! It’s actually a book of twenty short stories! Many of these stories have movie adaptations as well so this next review will be a bit different. I may even break it up into two or more seeing as there is so much material to cover. So, leave your comments and thoughts below and until next time, happy reading!
Keys to the Kingdom 