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A review by book_mark_shelf
The Stand by Stephen King
4.0
This novel was ‘M-O-O-N, that spells’ great! Not going to lie, the size of the book was a little intimidating but I was determined to get through, and it wasn’t too difficult, I found it quite easy to get lost in the authors world.
Blurb:
Stephen King's apocalyptic vision of a world blasted by plague and tangled in an elemental struggle between good and evil remains as riveting and eerily plausible as when it was first published. A patient escapes from a biological testing facility, unknowingly carrying a deadly weapon: a mutated strain of super-flu that will wipe out 99 percent of the world's population within a few weeks. Those who remain are scared, bewildered, and in need of a leader. Two emerge - Mother Abagail, the benevolent 108-year-old woman who urges them to build a peaceful community in Boulder, Colorado; and Randall Flagg, the nefarious "Dark Man," who delights in chaos and violence. As the dark man and the peaceful woman gather power, the survivors will have to choose between them - and ultimately decide the fate of all humanity.
Review:
Reading this book, just after the global pandemic of COVID-19, I thought, added to immersing yourself into the apocalyptic world of ‘The Stand.’ Most of what was described, like the symptoms of ‘Captain Trips’ and the how quickly it spread across the world, was quite baffling because it had me thinking of what would have happen to our world if COVID-19 was not controlled, at all?
Even thought the blurb identifies that it takes out 99 percent of the world, this novel is set in America. Post Captain Trips, there were a number of survivors that have a mixture of terrifying and peaceful dreams, but these were not just dreams! These dreams identify the main leaders and drivers for good and evil. Mother Abagail, a religious elderly woman, anticipates to build a peaceful community and rebuild the world, then there is Randall Flagg (The Dark Man) who is all about chaos and dictatorship. Which leader would you join? Looking at some of the characters, you see why people join both!
There were many characters discussed in the this novel and found myself getting a little confused at the start. Each ‘lengthy’ chapter was focused from one of the characters point of view and I had to flick back pages to remind myself where I had left off with this character. I know this can be annoying at times, but stick with it because when the characters join there respective sides (Mother Abagail or Randall Flagg), it gets easier to immerse yourself.
Talking about characters, you ever get invested in a character so much you think you have the novel planned out, but then they are killed off! Yea, that happened me and I’m not going to lie, there was a tear or two.
There was a lot of adventure, action and angst in this novel to which I really enjoyed. But because of the confusion in so many characters (which is possibly just myself), I have rated this book 4 stars.
Blurb:
Stephen King's apocalyptic vision of a world blasted by plague and tangled in an elemental struggle between good and evil remains as riveting and eerily plausible as when it was first published. A patient escapes from a biological testing facility, unknowingly carrying a deadly weapon: a mutated strain of super-flu that will wipe out 99 percent of the world's population within a few weeks. Those who remain are scared, bewildered, and in need of a leader. Two emerge - Mother Abagail, the benevolent 108-year-old woman who urges them to build a peaceful community in Boulder, Colorado; and Randall Flagg, the nefarious "Dark Man," who delights in chaos and violence. As the dark man and the peaceful woman gather power, the survivors will have to choose between them - and ultimately decide the fate of all humanity.
Review:
Reading this book, just after the global pandemic of COVID-19, I thought, added to immersing yourself into the apocalyptic world of ‘The Stand.’ Most of what was described, like the symptoms of ‘Captain Trips’ and the how quickly it spread across the world, was quite baffling because it had me thinking of what would have happen to our world if COVID-19 was not controlled, at all?
Even thought the blurb identifies that it takes out 99 percent of the world, this novel is set in America. Post Captain Trips, there were a number of survivors that have a mixture of terrifying and peaceful dreams, but these were not just dreams! These dreams identify the main leaders and drivers for good and evil. Mother Abagail, a religious elderly woman, anticipates to build a peaceful community and rebuild the world, then there is Randall Flagg (The Dark Man) who is all about chaos and dictatorship. Which leader would you join? Looking at some of the characters, you see why people join both!
There were many characters discussed in the this novel and found myself getting a little confused at the start. Each ‘lengthy’ chapter was focused from one of the characters point of view and I had to flick back pages to remind myself where I had left off with this character. I know this can be annoying at times, but stick with it because when the characters join there respective sides (Mother Abagail or Randall Flagg), it gets easier to immerse yourself.
Talking about characters, you ever get invested in a character so much you think you have the novel planned out, but then they are killed off! Yea, that happened me and I’m not going to lie, there was a tear or two.
There was a lot of adventure, action and angst in this novel to which I really enjoyed. But because of the confusion in so many characters (which is possibly just myself), I have rated this book 4 stars.