The Stand

I haven't written about books that I've read lately since I've only been working on one book the last couple of weeks. I went back to revisit "The Stand" by Stephen King, a book I've read twice before. It's been at least 15 years since I last read the book, the complete and uncut edition. The book is a monster with 1153 pages and 78 chapters. I don't know what possessed me to read the book again but it was just as pleasing the third time around.

In a nutshell the book is about a government engineered "super flu" virus that is accidentally released upon America and presumably the world. Super Swine Flu? The virus has a 99% mortality rate basically devastating the world of it's population. As the survivors of the apocalyptic event slowly gather, a more sinister hand seems to be afoot. Lines are drawn between good and evil and the novel culminates in mankind's final struggle, a kind of biblical last stand of the righteous and of the darkness.

The novel is divided into three books: Book I deals with the devastation of the virus on mankind and technology throughout the country. Book II tell of the consolidation of what is remaining of mankind into two camps, one under the leadership of a dark man of the west and the other under the light of an extremely old woman living in Nebraska. Book III brings everything together in humanities final struggle between the dark man's armies and the population of the good on the other side of the Rocky Mountains, the stand.

If you want more specific information about the story, you can click on the link above. The story is way too massive for me to go into specifics without it becoming extremely tedious. Many fans hail "The Stand" as King's best work. Of that I'm not sure but I have read the book three times over the years and that does make a statement coming from me as I rarely read the same book multiple times. The book is epic and certainly classic King, the older Stephen King I prefer. Highly recommended.

There was also a mini-series of the novel that was made for TV in 1994 but I can't vouch for it's quality as I've never seen it.