The Standalong : conclusion and review of The Stand

Posted by Kay on August 18, 2012 1:30 pm in 4.5 stars reads, first page | 1 comment

Last May, when I heard there was a reading of The Stand planned for the summer, I knew that I had to join in. I had been wanting to read the book for years, but had been scared by its length. The event, organized by Trish at Love, Laughter and Insanity spanned over the months of June and July and had the cool name of Standalong. Click here to visit the end of event post and read more reviews of the book.

The Standalong ended on July 27st and everyone posted their reviews then. Well, everyone but me. You see, something happened; I wrote it, scheduled it, and then… nothing. I’m not sure whether I accidentally deleted it (I wouldn’t put it past me) or if the wordpress monster ate it… Anyway, the result was, a week after the event ended, my review had disappeared and I didn’t have a copy of it. Having to rewrite it from the start really wasn’t motivating, which is why it took so much time, and why it isn’t as in depth as I had wanted it to be.

So, here we go!

* * *

The Stand by Stephen King
Pages : 1439
Genre : Horror
Stand Alone
My rating : 4,5/5

What it’s about (from Goodreads):

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 Abagail — and the worst nightmares of evil are embodied in a man with a lethal smile and unspeakable powers: Randall Flagg, the dark man.

My thoughts :

I always try to summarize the books I read in my own words, but this time around, I really felt the book’s summary said it best.

The Stand is an epic novel. Not only because of its length, but because of its multitude of epic characters, a powerful fight between light and dark and a story that spans on quite a while, with consequences that will forever impact the people left in this devastated world. It’s a journey, really, and a captivating one. I went into it planning on taking breaks, reading other books, but I didn’t : I had to know what would happen next.

There are too many characters to count in this story, so I’ll do this quick : I loved Nick, he was probably my favorite character. There are no polite words to describe what I would like to do to Harold, who I hated even more than Randall Flagg (I hate people who think they are owed a relationship just because they were standing there first, and then act on revenge!)

I really liked Franny at the beginning, but she got a little silly along the story, as she kept for herself important information and worries. This saddened me, mainly because The Stand is a world of men. There are too few female character who do anything else than sitting there and being protected. Mother Abigail has a strong presence, but she’s weak and old; Franny has personality at the start, but her pregnancy soon keeps her from any adventure. Nadine goes crazy. There are a few female characters who take important decisions or have important impact in the story, but they are often very secondary. I’m thinking of Dayna in particular; I would have loved to hear more about her journey, but it’s mostly left to the imagination.

This being said, King has a talent for writing flawed characters that feel very real. Love them or hate them, they are described with a complexity that makes them very realistic. They struggle with decisions, carry heavy pasts on their shoulders, and seeing them change as the story goes was one of my favorite aspect of the novel.

Was The Stand scary? Meh. Maybe a little, but it is not written as a horror story. There are difficult scenes to read, yes, but I have read worse in historical fiction or fantasy novels where heroes go to war against great evil. The most horrifying part for me was how realistic this felt. I kept wondering what I would do if such a thing happened, where I would go, what if no one I knew survived, etc. Scary thoughts!

Side note : when we get a dog, I really want to name him Kojak! Most fabulous dog in the world, he certainly was one of my favorite characters! 🙂

The Stand is a long metaphor for the battle between good and evil: it’s in the characters’ personal journey and in their every decisions, it’s at the heart of the story, it is even embodied by two captivating characters. Was it too long of a metaphor? Probably. I enjoyed it, and I wasn’t bored with it, but I felt the book could easily have left out some parts. (I was, after all, reading the uncut version, so it’s not surprising that I found the whole thing to be on the long side!)

I had watched The Stand TV series years ago, when I was a teen, and I remembered very little of it. Not a bad thing though; it allowed me to really discover the book as I read it, and after rewatching the series some weeks ago, I can say that the book is FAR superior to it.

Reading The Stand was a great experience and it made me want to read more books from Stephen King, who used to be a favorite when I was younger. Reading it with other readers and bloggers and tweeting about it made it an even more fun experience! If you feel like joining a similar one, Fizzy Thoughts is holding the It-along, where readers will read together Stephen King’s It. I haven’t decided to join yet since I am SCARED of clowns and I need to be able to sleep, but for non-coulrophobics, the signup is HERE!