Donate To Keep The Site Ad Free

View Poll Results: Where do you think you belong in The Stand?

Voters
93. You may not vote on this poll
  • Colorado

    47 50.54%
  • Las Vegas

    9 9.68%
  • Ingoring dream and trying to survive

    12 12.90%
  • Dead (Captain Trips)

    13 13.98%
  • Other (specify)

    12 12.90%
+ Reply to Thread
Page 1 of 22 1 2 3 11 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 25 of 545

Thread: The Stand - Let's Discuss! *SPOILERS*

  1. #1
    Soldier Boy Odetta is a jewel in the rough Odetta is a jewel in the rough Odetta is a jewel in the rough Odetta is a jewel in the rough Odetta's Avatar

    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    California
    Posts
    6,304
    Gender
    Gender

    :radioactive: The Stand - Let's Discuss! *SPOILERS*

    So... what we're gonna do here is have our own version of a book of the month club! Each month, we'll discuss another SK book or story! When the month is up, we'll just leave the thread open to continue discussion and we'll post another thread to start a new book or story!

    We are going to allow all books and short stories by Stephen King and Richard Bachman.

    The first book for discussion is already taking place... The Stand.

    Please note that Spoilers will abound in this thread.







    So, I've started reading the Stand again for about the 4 or 5 time... and yeasterday, I was in the store when I let out a HUGE sneeze and I thought to myself... I wonder how many people I just infected with that sneeze!


    This is my all-time favorite book! Anyone else love it as much as I?
    Buddy, you think you look strong? You’re wearing a cape.

  2. #2
    Roont Daghain is on a distinguished road Daghain's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Nope
    Posts
    21,346
    My Mood
    Twisted
    Country
    Country Flag

    Default

    I TOTALLY love that book. I'll be rereading it here in a month or so.



    "People, especially children, aren't measured by their IQ. What's important about them is whether they're good or bad, and these children are bad." ~ Alan Bernard


    "You needn't die happy when your day comes, but you must die satisfied, for you have lived your life from beginning to end and ka is always served." ~ Roland Deschain

  3. #3
    Soldier Boy Odetta is a jewel in the rough Odetta is a jewel in the rough Odetta is a jewel in the rough Odetta is a jewel in the rough Odetta's Avatar

    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    California
    Posts
    6,304
    Gender
    Gender

    Default

    I have a thing about disaster/amegeddon type stories.
    Buddy, you think you look strong? You’re wearing a cape.

  4. #4
    Roont Daghain is on a distinguished road Daghain's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Nope
    Posts
    21,346
    My Mood
    Twisted
    Country
    Country Flag

    Default

    I think that's why I like it so well - most of that could actually happen.



    "People, especially children, aren't measured by their IQ. What's important about them is whether they're good or bad, and these children are bad." ~ Alan Bernard


    "You needn't die happy when your day comes, but you must die satisfied, for you have lived your life from beginning to end and ka is always served." ~ Roland Deschain

  5. #5
    Constant Reader Darkthoughts has a spectacular aura about Darkthoughts has a spectacular aura about Darkthoughts has a spectacular aura about Darkthoughts's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    12,737
    My Mood
    Cheerful
    Country
    Country Flag
    Gender
    Gender

    Default

    Its the ultimate Randall Flagg appearance. I loved him in The Stand, his evil was unleashed in a spectacular way in that story...bloody good stuff!

  6. #6
    Roont Matt will become famous soon enough Matt will become famous soon enough Matt's Avatar

    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Parachute, Colorado
    Posts
    17,620
    My Mood
    Psychedelic
    Country
    Country Flag
    Gender
    Gender

    Default

    My all time favorite for sure. I remember I used to have months where I was on this weird kind of guard duty, read it over and over.

    The Stand all the way!!
    The kindness of close friends is like a warm blanket

  7. #7
    Gunslinger Apprentice BedOfRoses will become famous soon enough BedOfRoses's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Posts
    358

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Odetta View Post
    So, I've started reading the Stand again for about the 4 or 5 time... and yeasterday, I was in the store when I let out a HUGE sneeze and I thought to myself... I wonder how many people I just infected with that sneeze!


    This is my all-time favorite book! Anyone else love it as much as I?
    I love this book as well! And I know what you mean about the sneezing thing...we often say "I'm sure it's just a cold" when we sneeze!!!
    The rose speaks of love silently, in a language known only to the heart.

  8. #8
    John F. Kennedy flair is on a distinguished road

    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Posts
    27

    Default

    I'm on part 31 of 32 on the audiobook right now

  9. #9
    The White! MonteGss is on a distinguished road MonteGss's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Minneapolis
    Posts
    4,677
    Country
    Country Flag

    Default

    Who reads that one?

  10. #10
    John F. Kennedy flair is on a distinguished road

    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Posts
    27

    Default

    Oh, and I swear I remember reading a thing about how money spread the disease, or something like that. Is that in the original version? Am I getting it mixed up with another book?

  11. #11
    Owner Randall Flagg is loved more than Jesus Randall Flagg is loved more than Jesus Randall Flagg is loved more than Jesus Randall Flagg is loved more than Jesus Randall Flagg is loved more than Jesus Randall Flagg is loved more than Jesus Randall Flagg is loved more than Jesus Randall Flagg is loved more than Jesus Randall Flagg is loved more than Jesus Randall Flagg is loved more than Jesus Randall Flagg is loved more than Jesus Randall Flagg's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    North of "The Claw" & Patrick, East of Chad, RIP Bill Bender
    Posts
    40,428
    My Mood
    Pensive
    Country
    Country Flag
    Gender
    Gender

    Default

    I posted this at previously on another site, but some may not have seen it.
    First off, a collector I know has an Inscribed copy of The Stand. It was inscribed to KIng's daughter Naomi. In the inscription King describes his "breakthrough" when he was stalled writing the book.
    After the quote, I will add some additional relevant information-also previously posted elsewhere.

    Dear Naomi-

    Well I guess this is the one (maybe along with
    ‘Salem’s Lot) they’re apt to remember me for
    when I’m dead. The first three quarters of
    it were written in Colorado and went fantastically
    well-I mean, day after day, what a rush.
    Then, when we came back to Maine-to
    Bridgton, it was-it turned into a nightmare.
    Like Pilgrim in Pilgrim’s Progress, I lost
    the straight way in the Slough of Despond. I
    walked Kansas Road day after day with my head
    down, hunting for the way out. And just when I
    was about to give up, I thought of Nadine Cross
    planting a bomb in Nick Andrew’s closet and
    blowing up most of the Free Zone Committee.
    That blast had the effect of blowing up the
    political issues that were strangling the
    story, and the rest of the book went fine,

    Love,

    Dad

    More info:

    When king finished the first draft of The Shining, he spent two weeks writing “Apt Pupil”. (Which would appear years later in Different Seasons), and then rested for a time; early in 1975 he returned to the novel that he called The House on Value Street:



    QUOTE
    It was going to be a roman á clef about the kidnapping of Patty Hearst., her brainwashing (or her sociopolitical awakening, depending on your point of view, I guess), her participation in the bank robbery, the shootout at the SLA hideout in Los Angeles-in my book the hideout was on Value Street, natch-the fugitive run across the country, the whole ball of wax. It seemed to me to be a highly potent subject, and while I was aware that lots of nonfiction books were to be written on the subject, it seemed to me that only a novel might really succeed in explaining all the contradictions…………

    The book was never written; King attacked it for six weeks, but nothing seemed to work. He was haunted by a news story that he had read about an accidental chemical/biological warfare spill in Utah that had nearly endangered Salt Lake City; it reminded him of George R. Stewart’s science fiction novel Earth Abides (1949), in which a plague decimates the world. One day, while listening to a gospel radio station, he heard a preacher repeat the phrase “Once in every generation a plague will fall among them.” King liked the sound of the phrase so much that he tacked it above the typewriter:



    QUOTE
    The phrase and the story about the CBW spill in Utah and my memory of George R. Stewart’s fine book all became entwined in my thoughts about Patty Hearst and the SLA, and one day while sitting at my typewriter…I just wrote-just to write something: The world comes to an end but everybody in the SLA is somehow immune…[Later] I wrote Donald DeFreeze is a dark man. I did not mean that DeFreeze was black; it had suddenly occurred to me that, in the photos taken during the bank robbery in which Patty Hearst participated, you could barely see DeFreeze’s face. He was wearing a big badass hat, and what he looked like was mostly guesswork. I wrote A Dark Man with no face and then glanced up and saw that grisly motto again: Once in every generation a plague will fall among them. And that was that. I spent the next two years writing an apparently endless book called The Stand. It got to the point where I began describing it to my friends as my own little Vietnam, because I kept telling myself that in another hundred pages or so I would begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel.



    Doubleday had fired Bill Thompson in a fit of sour grapes, and the task of editing the massive The Stand was given to another editor. Knowing that King no longer had a future at Doubleday, the company declared that King must cut the huge manuscript (over 1,600 pages) by at least 250 pages in order to "keep the retail price down." King was furious, but he had little choice in the matter given his contract. It wasn't until twelve years later that his uncut manuscript was published (by Doubleday, ironically) as The Stand: The Complete and Uncut Edition.
    At the time of the original publication of The Stand, Doubleday had two standard book sizes: A-size (5 1/2" x 8 1/4") and B-size (6 1/8" x 9 1/4"). The company published most of its books in the A-size format simply because they could run-on with their Literary Guild book club presses and thus save enormous amounts of money. For some reason, Doubleday published The Stand in the A-size format. The Doubleday presses were designed to print the comparatively shoddy product in which the book clubs specialized, so Doubleday books during the 70s and early 80s were among the lowest quality of all publishers. As a result, The Stand is very hard to find in Fine condition; many times pages will fall out of the glued binding after the book is read once. Also, Doubleday did not cover their dust jackets in plastic laminate as most other publishers did—as a result, shipping and handling of the books caused myriad scuff marks, tears, and stains. Therefore, a Fine first edition of The Stand will command over $600, even though it was published in an edition of more than 35,000 copies.

    The Stand was published in 1978. Almost simultaneous to the hardback publishing was the appearance of King’s short story: The Gunslinger, in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
    The Complete and Uncut Edition of the Stand was published in 1990. The uncut edition restores approximately 150,000 words., preceded by a two part preface. Illustrated by Berni Wrightson- commissioned by SK, not Doubleday-the art complements King’s text. Peter Schneider was the architect and Marysarah Quinn the designer of the S/L edition.

    Although The Stand in 1978 did not make the top 15 sellers list, it did do so in 1990 (Along with Four Past Midnight). It sold ~653,828 copies that year.:
    1990: Fiction
    1 The Plains of Passage -Auel, Jean M.
    2 Four Past Midnight -King, Stephen
    3 The Burden of Proof -Turow, Scott
    4 Memories of Midnight- Sheldon, Sidney
    5 Message from Nam -Steel, Danielle
    6 The Bourne Ultimatum- Ludlum, Robert
    7 The Stand- King, Stephen
    8 Lady Boss -Collins, Jackie
    9 The Witching Hour -Rice, Anne
    10 September- Pilcher, Rosamunde
    11 Dazzle -Krantz, Judith
    12 The Bad Place -Koontz, Dean R.
    13 The Women in His Life- Bradford, Barbara Taylor
    14 The First Man in Rome- McCullough, Colleen
    15 Dragon- Cussler, Clive

    Food for thought:




    When Stephen King first published his 1990 fiction work, The
    Stand: The Complete and Uncut Edition, there was a flurry of
    media attention. Numerous newspaper and magazine book
    reviewers attempted to assess the value of King’s new work.
    However, reviews of this particular book were markedly
    different than those of most new releases. The earlier
    publication of a 1978 version of The Stand, an edition with
    approximately 400 less pages and different beginning and
    ending, presented the reviewers with an opportunity not
    only to evaluate the novel, but also to compare it to the
    earlier publication. King had pushed for publication of the
    later version because he had never been satisfied with the
    publisher’s deletion of 500 pages from his original
    manuscript. Unfortunately for King, many of these reviewers
    centered their review upon complaints that there was no
    real need for the insertion of the 400 additional pages. As
    Karen Liberatore, a reviewer for the San Francisco
    Chronicle explained, "The reader, first-time or second
    time, gains nothing from the reinsertion of that lost
    prose…except a longer book" (E-10). Indeed, many of the
    reviewers suggested that the added pages, which generally
    included additional character description and background
    information, simply cluttered the book. As Robert Keily of
    the New York Times Book Review explained, "this is the book
    that has everything - adventure, romance, prophecy,
    allegory, satire, fantasy, realism, apocalypse, etc., etc.
    …But the overall effect is more oppressive than imposing."
    Additionally, some of the reviewers criticized King’s
    additional pages because they found these added details on
    a large number of characters in the story devalued each of
    the unique personalities he created. "As a storyteller,
    King knows how to create interesting characters who stick
    in your mind; but by leaving them isolated in so ponderous
    a book for long periods of time, he doesn’t do full justice
    to his inventions" (Lafaille 111).
    However, not all of the reviewers held the same viewpoint
    on King’s lengthy character descriptions. A few of the
    reviewers wrote approvingly of the added pages, some even
    claiming that the additions "make King’s best novel better
    still" (Steinberg 60). Moreover, Ray Murphy, of the Boston
    Globe, wrote in glowing terms of King’s use of character
    description. Murphy vehemently defended King’s lengthy
    interludes into background information, "[King] picks up
    some of these characters again and again throughout the
    book in a series of self-contained vignettes, each of them
    of lapidarian brilliance. It is these short telling scripts
    that make King so much the writer of his time, the
    "post-television writer"…The jarring bits make a whole and
    build into a crackling structure with explosive climaxes"
    (Murphy 76). Ultimately, however, Murphy’s adamant defense
    of King’s style is itself overwhelmed by numerous
    descriptions of the work as "too lengthy" and "overly
    detailed" and "plain unnecessary." While King himself might
    have been pleased with the addition of 400 pages of the
    original manuscript, the rest of the literary world
    appeared happier with the original version.

  12. #12
    Roont Daghain is on a distinguished road Daghain's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Nope
    Posts
    21,346
    My Mood
    Twisted
    Country
    Country Flag

    Default

    Wow Jerome, you are a wealth of information! That's really cool.

    It's been so long since I read both versions that don't remember the beginnings and endings being different. Damn, now I'll have to read them back to back.



    "People, especially children, aren't measured by their IQ. What's important about them is whether they're good or bad, and these children are bad." ~ Alan Bernard


    "You needn't die happy when your day comes, but you must die satisfied, for you have lived your life from beginning to end and ka is always served." ~ Roland Deschain

  13. #13
    Gunslinger Apprentice The_Nameless is on a distinguished road The_Nameless's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    In the collective conscious.
    Posts
    113

    Default

    I've only read it the one time, but I loved every second of it. I can see why it is considered one of King's best.

    I loved how they showed the destruction of our society, and the beginnings of another. It had everything I love in King stories;great characters, great villian, horror, laugh out loud moments, human drama. I could go on, but I shant.

    It's also one of the only stories I continually look back on during certain times of the year.
    "Help me out here
    All my words are falling short
    And there's so much I want to say"

  14. #14
    Mother of Dragons Erin will become famous soon enough Erin will become famous soon enough Erin's Avatar

    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Richmond, KY
    Posts
    4,662
    My Mood
    Cheerful
    Country
    Country Flag
    Gender
    Gender

    Default

    Fantastic information Jerome, I didn't know most of that.

    And I just love The Stand. It's the book that made me a King fan for life.
    I am Daenerys Stormborn and I will take what is mine. With fire and blood.

  15. #15
    Salvation Comes w/ a Cost OchrisO has a spectacular aura about OchrisO has a spectacular aura about OchrisO has a spectacular aura about OchrisO's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Richmond, Ky
    Posts
    4,041

    Default

    I told someone in class who has been sick for weeks that they had Captain Trip's and were going to kill us all. She said that noone around her had died yet and I told her that iot probably lies dormant for 6 months and then starts to destroy people.
    There's one hole in every revolution, large or small. And it's one word long.. people. No matter how big the idea they all stand under, people are small and weak and cheap and frightened. It's people that kill every revolution.

  16. #16
    Soldier Boy Odetta is a jewel in the rough Odetta is a jewel in the rough Odetta is a jewel in the rough Odetta is a jewel in the rough Odetta's Avatar

    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    California
    Posts
    6,304
    Gender
    Gender

    Default

    THis is the first time I've read it since I finished DTVII... I am trying to look at Randall Flagg in a different light. Since the way he was portrayed in DTVII was very different than how I imagined him, I want to see if there are any hints in The Stand...
    Buddy, you think you look strong? You’re wearing a cape.

  17. #17
    Gunslinger Apprentice The_Nameless is on a distinguished road The_Nameless's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    In the collective conscious.
    Posts
    113

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by OchrisO View Post
    I told someone in class who has been sick for weeks that they had Captain Trip's and were going to kill us all. She said that noone around her had died yet and I told her that iot probably lies dormant for 6 months and then starts to destroy people.

    She's been unseen for three weeks now.
    "Help me out here
    All my words are falling short
    And there's so much I want to say"

  18. #18
    John F. Kennedy flair is on a distinguished road

    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Posts
    27

    Default

    Any chance someone has a link for a comparison between the two versions of the book?

  19. #19
    Rabid Billybumbler Ruthful is on a distinguished road Ruthful's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    New York, United States
    Posts
    2,915
    My Mood
    Sick
    Country
    Country Flag
    Gender
    Gender

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Odetta View Post
    THis is the first time I've read it since I finished DTVII... I am trying to look at Randall Flagg in a different light. Since the way he was portrayed in DTVII was very different than how I imagined him, I want to see if there are any hints in The Stand...
    Oh man, Flagg's last appearance in The Dark Tower.

    Grrr...

    That's an entirely different thread I suppose.

  20. #20
    Breaker Storyslinger will become famous soon enough Storyslinger will become famous soon enough Storyslinger's Avatar

    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Wisconsin
    Posts
    4,908
    My Mood
    Dead
    Country
    Country Flag
    Gender
    Gender

    Default

    On of my favorite non-DT books, the characters had a real presence

  21. #21
    Owner Randall Flagg is loved more than Jesus Randall Flagg is loved more than Jesus Randall Flagg is loved more than Jesus Randall Flagg is loved more than Jesus Randall Flagg is loved more than Jesus Randall Flagg is loved more than Jesus Randall Flagg is loved more than Jesus Randall Flagg is loved more than Jesus Randall Flagg is loved more than Jesus Randall Flagg is loved more than Jesus Randall Flagg is loved more than Jesus Randall Flagg's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    North of "The Claw" & Patrick, East of Chad, RIP Bill Bender
    Posts
    40,428
    My Mood
    Pensive
    Country
    Country Flag
    Gender
    Gender

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by flair View Post
    Any chance someone has a link for a comparison between the two versions of the book?
    I've not found one. I do know that a great deal is expanded regarding trashcan man and his travels cross country.

  22. #22
    Soldier Boy Odetta is a jewel in the rough Odetta is a jewel in the rough Odetta is a jewel in the rough Odetta is a jewel in the rough Odetta's Avatar

    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    California
    Posts
    6,304
    Gender
    Gender

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Ruthful View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Odetta View Post
    THis is the first time I've read it since I finished DTVII... I am trying to look at Randall Flagg in a different light. Since the way he was portrayed in DTVII was very different than how I imagined him, I want to see if there are any hints in The Stand...
    Oh man, Flagg's last appearance in The Dark Tower.

    Grrr...

    That's an entirely different thread I suppose.
    See? That's my point.
    because Randall flagg was such a weenie in DTVII, and I always thought of him as a bad-ass for lack of a better word,

    do some of those "traits" actually show up in The Stand? Maybe they did and I just never noticed.
    Last edited by Erin; 12-11-2007 at 11:48 AM. Reason: removed spoiler tags
    Buddy, you think you look strong? You’re wearing a cape.

  23. #23
    Roont Daghain is on a distinguished road Daghain's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Nope
    Posts
    21,346
    My Mood
    Twisted
    Country
    Country Flag

    Default

    One small paragraph dedicated to changes. Not much, but it's all I can find at the moment.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stand



    "People, especially children, aren't measured by their IQ. What's important about them is whether they're good or bad, and these children are bad." ~ Alan Bernard


    "You needn't die happy when your day comes, but you must die satisfied, for you have lived your life from beginning to end and ka is always served." ~ Roland Deschain

  24. #24
    Soldier Boy Odetta is a jewel in the rough Odetta is a jewel in the rough Odetta is a jewel in the rough Odetta is a jewel in the rough Odetta's Avatar

    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    California
    Posts
    6,304
    Gender
    Gender

    Default The Stand - Book of the Month!

    I'm at the point where Larry is almost ready to go through the tunnel.
    Buddy, you think you look strong? You’re wearing a cape.

  25. #25
    Breaker Storyslinger will become famous soon enough Storyslinger will become famous soon enough Storyslinger's Avatar

    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Wisconsin
    Posts
    4,908
    My Mood
    Dead
    Country
    Country Flag
    Gender
    Gender

    Default

    Probably the most possible 'worst case senerio' that could happen to the world

+ Reply to Thread
Page 1 of 22 1 2 3 11 ... LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts