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Stand, The : Expanded Edition: For the First Time Complete and Uncut (Signet)
by Authors:
Stephen King
Paperback Description:
In 1978, science fiction writer Spider Robinson wrote a scathing review of The Stand in which he exhorted his readers to grab strangers in bookstores and beg them not to buy it.
The Stand is like that. You either love it or hate it, but you can't ignore it. Stephen King's most popular book, according to polls of his fans, is an end-of-the-world scenario: a rapidly mutating flu virus is accidentally released from a U.S. military facility and wipes out 99 and 44/100 percent of the world's population, thus setting the stage for an apocalyptic confrontation between Good and Evil.
"I love to burn things up," King says. "It's the werewolf in me, I guess.... The Stand was particularly fulfilling, because there I got a chance to scrub the whole human race, and man, it was fun! ... Much of the compulsive, driven feeling I had while I worked on The Stand came from the vicarious thrill of imagining an entire entrenched social order destroyed in one stroke."
There is much to admire in The Stand: the vivid thumbnail sketches with which King populates a whole landscape with dozens of believable characters; the deep sense of nostalgia for things left behind; the way it subverts our sense of reality by showing us a world we find familiar, then flipping it over to reveal the darkness underneath. Anyone who wants to know, or claims to know, the heart of the American experience needs to read this book. --Fiona Webster
Average Customer Rating:
The REAL Apocolypse! The FINAL Armageddon!
At an army base, an alarm goes off...a guard named Campion is ordered to shut the gate. Panicked by the terror he see's in the screens and what he hears ("We're dropping like flies in here!") Campion uses logic over military orders and bails from his post, and shortly thereafter flees with his wife and son.
His actions prove to be fatal for 99% of the world. The special superflu virus the government was working on, follows Campion on his journey through several states, ending up in a tiny pit-stop Texas town. Campion's fate is sealed at this point, but the fate of the world at this time is still unknown.
Within 3 months, the Earth is scoured with the virus, which is dubbed "Captain Trips" by many. It was interesting for King to describe just how easily an airborne deathgerm could travel (Man orders take out burger, passes it to fast food worker, who later kisses his girlfriend, who later flies to Cleveland to see relatives, hence the food place, airplane, airports, etc. etc. you get the picture.) and kill off nearly the entire population.
From here on out you have the survivors of good and evil. The evil are led by someone they often refer to as "the dark man". His name is Randall Flagg. Flagg is basically the "devil in disquise" and calls upon his minions through dreams. They slowly make their way, the pyro-maniac, the convict, the crazy lonely girl etc. etc. to Las Vegas, it's here in "Sin City" where Flagg is setting up his Headqaurters and surveying the talent that has surrounded him for leadership of his evil purposes.
The good are drawn also by dreams, by an elderly woman on a porch by a cornfield. She calls herself Mother Abigail and she said she is receiving messages from god to gather the good and head towards Colorado. One of the men who found campion crashed into a gas station in Texas, en ex Vet, is Stu Redman. Stu meets up with an old painter, and later they run into others; a rock and roll singer, a deaf/mute and a retarded man They find vehicles to help them towards mother abigail and their destiny of Colorado.
Several stories dot this landscape of an opus that King has put upon his readers. Many complain it is to stretched out but it is actually beautifully done as it all comes together for an epic story of the ages.
Some qoutes from the book that may give some insight into the book:
--"I just came from the Vermont, believe me,you do not want to go there, there is nothing to see".
--"He's coming! Bring out your dead! He's coming! The dark man! ....HE'S COMING FOR YOU LARRY!"
--"Not only that, but do you have any idea what it will smell like in 2 weeks? 5 million bodies rotting in the hot July sun".
--"Campion! Close the gate! Close it! We're...dropping like flies in here!"
--"I will set you high in my council Trash, and I will set you to BURN!"
-- "I don't know how many ways I can say this: the so-called 'superflu' does not exist."
--"Why is it that every time I try to read into this one's mind, all I keep seeing is the moon?"
--My name is Tom Cullen. M-o-o-n that spells Tom!
The story follows the characters lives up to the point of Captain Trips Taking over the earth. It happens slowly, most in denial of any real threat, while the media spins it off as a flu virus, government orders marshall law and tries to keep a lid on what is already a sitution out of control. With the 2 groups getting settled in their base camps, treachery arises, a scout team is sent out, more mass destruction is planned, and Mother Abigails flight for God's will clashes with the evil that is Randall Flag. Truly one of the greatest reads of our generation, Only King could paint the true picture of what the earth would be in this state...and as the opening quote of the movie "the stand" says...
"This is how the world ends, This is how the world ends, not with a bang, but with a whimper".
-Enjoy!
Top of the list for my favorite all time books
The Stand is one of those books that I read every couple of years. The best time of year to read this book is in the summer. The characters are rich, the story a page turner. It's themes soar far beyond the genre of horror. You can't help but think what it would be like to be the last remaining survivor in your entire town, or one of a few in a large city. The clash between good and evil is an age old story, but as told here the very existence of man is at stake. Similair in many respects to morality tales of old, this book has a modern edge that keeps you glued. I am telling you, you read the first chapter of this book you will not be able to put it down and you will read it again and again.
One of King's Best
The Stand, Complete and Uncut is an awesome read! The book is long, but the reader is rewarded greatly with King's excellent character development and world building. I can't recommend this book highly enough to any Stephen King fan.
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