The Stand - Stephen King

Corkfeen

Been a big fan of stephen king for a few years now. But the stand has been a bit imposing just for the fact I might get bored over the 1300 pages.:D
Decided i'd do it about 2 weeks ago and what a read. It'd be up there as the best book i've read all year.
Any fans of SK planning to read it or has read it in the past?

sxt

A great little yarn I read the "short" version and then read the unabridged version a couple of years after .Epic in every way , a real page turner and pleasure to read .

Sk has got another mammoth coming out in a month or two called "under the dome" which should be fun .

http://www.amazon.com/Under-Dome-Novel-Stephen-King/dp/1439148503

tHE vAGGABOND

I read the long version and thought the first 1/3 is great, the end 1/3 is pretty good but the middle 1/3 is a bit rubbish tbh

Joeface

On my to read list

As I am only just reading my first SK book , Salem's lot.........

1300pages sounds abit much but sure we will see , once I finish the "lot". I might got with it or the Dark Tower series ., aint decided.

Corkfeen

Joeface wrote: »

On my to read list

As I am only just reading my first SK book , Salem's lot.........

1300pages sounds abit much but sure we will see , once I finish the "lot". I might got with it or the Dark Tower series ., aint decided.

Main villain from the dark tower is also the villain in the stand. The stand is a nice intro for the character I found.

Outkast_IRE

Corkfeen wrote: »

Main villain from the dark tower is also the villain in the stand. The stand is a nice intro for the character I found.

I didnt even click onto that i read the stand a year or two ago and started dark tower just on the second book now .
I like stephen kings longer books you really get to know the charecters any other reccomendations for SK long books?

speedy2007

it it that good? I have to admit the film kind of put me off...i know i shouldnt judge the book by the film but i did anyway:p

Outkast_IRE

speedy2007 wrote: »

it it that good? I have to admit the film kind of put me off...i know i shouldnt judge the book by the film but i did anyway:p

Ya The Stand is one of the not so great films from his books, a film really didnt stand a chance , way too many charecters too many different areas and plot lines to translate to a good film......

Id reccomend the book it really is a great read just expect to be reading it for a while it is long.

Corkfeen

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

I didnt even click onto that i read the stand a year or two ago and started dark tower just on the second book now .
I like stephen kings longer books you really get to know the charecters any other reccomendations for SK long books?

Didn't enjoy Dreamcatcher at all, it just didn't entertain me enough. I've heard good things about "IT" and waiting on "Under the dome".

teamB_macro

big fan of stephen king too. my fear of clowns started with IT. creepy. haven't gotten to reading the stand yet. but did like his earlier novels (carrie, the shining, christine, cujo pet sematary) and his short stories too

Outkast_IRE

Corkfeen wrote: »

Didn't enjoy Dreamcatcher at all, it just didn't entertain me enough. I've heard good things about "IT" and waiting on "Under the dome".

Yeah i would reccomend IT i found one or two of the chapters tough reading but overall a really great book .

Linguo

Love The Stand, not as crazy about the second half of the novel but the first half is a brilliant read!!! I love end of the world books!!

Looking forward to the new book, I was very impressed with Duma Key, it's great to find authors that write great material that keeps luring you back year after year!

tHE vAGGABOND

pre ordered new book without knowing anything about it bar whats said in this thread!

Agree with above poster 100% - brilliant first half - pretty rubbish second half tbh

CatFromHue

yeah i read the long version of the stand too. its pretty good but would agree that the middle 1/3 was hard to read.
i like a few of stephens kings books. needful things, the dark zone, pet semetary, and 4 past midnight would be my favourites.
i also like the way every now and in his books there are references to characters from his other books.

Paddy Samurai

Check these out if you like the stand,these graphic novels/comics are top notch.I read the book years back and enjoyed it.








Both of these are really well done,and capture the story/atmosphere perfectly.

Revolution9

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

I didnt even click onto that i read the stand a year or two ago and started dark tower just on the second book now .
I like stephen kings longer books you really get to know the charecters any other reccomendations for SK long books?

IT is amazing. Iffy final qaurter, but the build up to it alone is well worth the read.

Mackman

I love SK, ive read the unabridged version of The Stand twice. One of my favourite books. totally agree with The Vagabond, first 1/3 is just epic! middle 1/3 is still pretty good, and the final 1/3 is just meh, ending isnt great.

On a side note, just finished "Christine", another great book. The guy's a legend

blue_steel

Mackman wrote: »

I love SK, ive read the unabridged version of The Stand twice. One of my favourite books. totally agree with The Vagabond, first 1/3 is just epic! middle 1/3 is still pretty good, and the final 1/3 is just meh, ending isnt great.

On a side note, just finished "Christine", another great book. The guy's a legend

I'm amazed that nearly everone agrees the book final third is pretty poor and yet its still one of their favourite books? The problem with King is that this pattern is repeated in most of his work. Brilliant concepts that he seems to get bored with half way through. A direct result (by his own admission) that he has no idea where a story is going to end when he begins it. An ideas man, not a writer imho.

previous user

Excellent book, never got bored with this story, the film for tv series is an excellent conversion also.

Laserhead

I found the whole book pretty enjoyable, very easy to read but very hard to put down! The characters were pretty amazing, but

I thought Nick would play a more central role at the end, it seemed strange to kill him off, even if he did come back in Tom's visions. I guess I always saw him as the hero instead of Stu.

Still, I don't think I'll have as much time free in college so I'll probably leave The Dark Tower series alone until next Summer. I can never seem to find a copy of The Gunslinger anyway...

calex71

It's on my to read list aswell, just wondering will my current reading of the Dark tower series detract or add to the book? Not like I get the whole plot from dark tower like with Salems Lot maybe but just curious.

Edit: Just realised I'm in the opposite boat as Laserhead lol here http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Tower-Gunslinger-Bk/dp/0340829753/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1283990408&sr=8-1-spell

Not sure if thats the reworked version or not , there are 2 the original and one King went back and redid

Revolution9

calex71 wrote: »

It's on my to read list aswell, just wondering will my current reading of the Dark tower series detract or add to the book? Not like I get the whole plot from dark tower like with Salems Lot maybe but just curious.

A character from the Stand features in The Dark Tower series. I read the Tower first then the Stand. I loved the fact I had already met a very important character in the book by reading the Dark Tower previously. It added to it for me.

calex71

Revolution9 wrote: »

A character from the Stand features in The Dark Tower series. I read the Tower first then the Stand. I loved the fact I had already met a very important character in the book by reading the Dark Tower previously. It added to it for me.

We are talking about

Flagg or Walter O Dim

? mind is still boggling having recently finished wizard and glass and wolves of the calla. I saw the films of the stand many years ago and once I heard the name in Dark Tower I was like wft ??? So been keen to read the stand since then.

Revolution9

calex71 wrote: »

We are talking about

Flagg or Walter O Dim

? mind is still boggling having recently finished wizard and glass and wolves of the calla. I saw the films of the stand many years ago and once I heard the name in Dark Tower I was like wft ??? So been keen to read the stand since then.

Yep, that's the guy. He kicks more ass in The Stand than he does in the Dark Tower imho. So if you like him now, you'll love him later.
The final two books in the Dark Tower are controversial. Many fans dissapointed with them, although a fair share love them as well. Whatever your take on how the Tower comes to an end, don't let it stop you from reading The Stand!

Laserhead

We're talking about

Randall, though it's hardly a spoiler since he's on the back summary of the book...

Hmmm, I'm quite tempted to order The Gunslinger now...

Revolution9

Laserhead wrote: »

We're talking about

Randall, though it's hardly a spoiler since he's on the back summary of the book...

Hmmm, I'm quite tempted to order The Gunslinger now...

If you live in Dublin any decent bookstore in the city centre will have it.
If you live elsewhere you'll probably have to order it. But it's worth it.
King's original idea was basically the Clint Eastwood Spaghetti Westerns meet the Lord of The Rings. How awesome does that sound?!

Revolution9

I only finished The Stand a week or two ago. Joined boards just last week. First option for my username was Captain Trips, but it was taken already :mad: devastated. Had to use the worst Beatles song of all time instead

Laserhead

Revolution9 wrote: »

If you live in Dublin any decent bookstore in the city centre will have it.
If you live elsewhere you'll probably have to order it. But it's worth it.
King's original idea was basically the Clint Eastwood Spaghetti Westerns meet the Lord of The Rings. How awesome does that sound?!

Pretty damn awesome!

Oddly enough I look for it in Hoggis Figgis most the times I visit, but they only ever seem to have the final 3 books. I'll have another look when I go down. The worst part is that I managed to get a copy from the Derry library about two years ago, but never got around to reading it and had to give it back.

Some day...

Revolution9

Laserhead wrote: »

Pretty damn awesome!

Oddly enough I look for it in Hoggis Figgis most the times I visit, but they only ever seem to have the final 3 books. I'll have another look when I go down. The worst part is that I managed to get a copy from the Derry library about two years ago, but never got around to reading it and had to give it back.

Some day...

I picked up my copy in Easons on O'Connell Street. Waterstones in the near-by Jervis Street Shopping Centre should also have it.