Darswords

The Stand by Stephen King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow. Why am I finding myself reading/listening to such long books lately? Maybe because I don’t have to carry them around? Maybe because at least something in my life feels secure and always there? I don’t know. But this fits that bill. I will once again have to lower my reading goal to accommodate this new penchant of mine.

What a fun book! I wish I would have read it before I ever watched, much less owned, the DVD series. I saw Molly Ringwold and the rest of the cast playing in my mind as I listened. But for the most part, that didn’t interfere with the character development. Except for Harold. But I guess back when the show filmed it would have been hard to put a minor character actor through the process of losing a lot of weight while dealing with the travel with his team. I hope the new one gives us a more true-to-book Harold.

Grover Gardner, the narrator of this book, should be given all the awards he has. He was able to portray most of the characters that kept them separated in my mind as we went along. I didn’t feel the aversion of the female characters in the way I often do with male narrators. There is usually a feeling the male is making fun of the female. I do think we should just start hiring both male and female, and possibly children actors for the appropriate characters. But that is my own opinion of that.

What was fun for me was I had the book reading to me in the living room. My husband or my son, or brother would walk in and start listening with me. They all seemed to enjoy it from the point I was listening to when they felt the need to find other tasks for their day. My son became most involved. He’s in his forties and is well acquainted with the show—an excellent way to bond with others.

I read The Dome quite a while ago and King’s book about writing. Both books were fantastic, and I think by the end of The Stand, I have to admit to becoming a fan. I love how he keeps the reader involved. He makes you feel you are in the story almost always.

Some parts of the story involved a bit of the Bible and brought in demons and prophets. It felt right for the time it was written, but I wonder if we needed that. I believe that the good and evil, and I don’t think that is our position to judge who is or isn’t, will die or live, not accordingly but just chance or biological, genetic predispositions. I think that a person might have some bad luck shouldn’t make them drawn to the demon. I don’t quite know how to say that. It is worth the thought process the book takes you through, but I wonder if it could be without the demon? I think caring people might flock into teams, and those who are just looking for advantage regardless of others’ needs might find themselves in a herd situation. But again, it played out as King’s story and not offensive.

As I got into the story from the first chapter, I found King’s research quite evident. Had everyone read The Stand, we might have been more ready for our own Captain Trips. A cautionary tale all should read and glean what they can. It seems like a book two could help us figure out the next steps.

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