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A review by cvenyay
The Stand by Stephen King
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
The second I finished this book I breathed out a huge sigh. Not because it was necessarily bad but because after 1,100+ pages of death and destruction, it was finally over. The Stand is quite the choice to read during a pandemic and it’s surprising how many details King managed to grasp forty something years before the worlds most recent plague. Though COVID-19 and Captain Trips aren’t the same, many details were eerily familiar to read.
In the forward of my edition of this book, King discusses how there were about 400 pages added back to the text after edits cut them out initially. I think that’s where this book finds it’s largest area for criticism. The concepts, the characters, and the very well thought out world building in this story all lead to the expectation that this would be a wonderful read. I think my score would be different if King would have kept those edits. Details like Frannie’s strawberry pie staining her countertop, the montage of Larry partying after releasing his music, etc could be shortened drastically. On the other side, when the groups get to Mother Abigail the first time, there are about a dozen characters that are very important to the plot who we meet the first time at that moment. The editing, or lack there of, in this story makes some elements drag on and on while others feel like they came out of nowhere.
Overall, I’m glad I read this though I doubt I’ll do it again. Once you hit the 3/4 point of this book it flies by. Unfortunately, the lead up to get there takes forever. There were points where I had to force myself to read one more chapter and that’s not a good feeling when reading is supposed to be a relaxing hobby. King, please listen to your editors.
Graphic: Death