Bracket #2: The Stand (1978)

[Jean]

bears wholeheartedly second the three divemaster's comments!

[Jon]

Not sure why this one gets such considerable high praise. It's good, certainly. But I rated this a four.

I agree with you.

Spoiler:

Loved it until the last scene in Vegas. The "Hand of God" thing turned me off. Come to think of it UTD was a lot similar!! Hmmmmm............................................ ...............

Perhaps you should read both versions.

It is King's best work! EVER!

[pathoftheturtle]

Feel free to badmouth me, but I think The Stand is way overrated. Maybe I'm missing something.

%$@#!'!

... And bears, in their turn, are not crazy about Bag of Bones...

%$@#!'!

Second favorite.

Mine too, the first being It.

"

3) For those the didn't like the hand of God--think about it. The entire story is based on the fact that God has a plan and is using special people to realize that plan. How can you be shocked when God asserts His presence? I would have been extremely disappointed if after all the Mother Abagail, and the visions, and other God-directed happenings, if the end would have been just randomness or the cleverness of Man. It was Man who got the world into the mess of the story! The "hand of God" fits perfectly into the story-world that King created for this tale.

Ergo, my third favorite is Desperation.

[Hannah]

Feel free to badmouth me, but I think The Stand is way overrated. Maybe I'm missing something.

Agreed. I read the Stand over ten years ago and have never been compelled to do a reread. The only books getting 4 or 5s from me are the ones I actually wanted to reread. And the comic versions don't count as rereads.

[Shannon]

Merlin: "88 posts and you're dictating protocol?" Why do you always do this? Nice guy one second, rude the next. I think you might be have twin Merlins on the same TDT.org account!

I hit "Never read" because I haven't finished it yet. I think I got about a third of the way through it and it slowly slipped through the cracks. I'll pick it up one day, for sure.

And to whomever it may concern, I don't think that spoilers SHOULD be ok in these threads. I like reading what people have to say about a book whether I read it or not. No one has to come in and say

(The Sixth Sense Spoiler)
"I loved the movie The Sixth Sense and

Spoiler:

I can't believe Bruce Willis was dead the whole time!"

Couldn't they just say "I loved the movie The Sixth Sense and I was very surprised at the big twist near the end!"?

The people who have seen the movie will know what they are talking about and the people that didn't will know there is a big twist, but not what the twist is. And if something spoilery is near and dear to people's hearts that they would like to share, they should put it in spoiler tags.

My opinion, of course.

[AndrewP]

When I was 14 or so, I read The Shining... which still may be my favorite to this day, but quickly followed it with The Complete Edition of The Stand (the only one available at the time... or at least for a 14 year old.) I remember reading it and being absolutly mesmerized by, as another person mentioned, the epicness of the whole thing. Not only that, but I remember being very pleased with the ending. I reread the novel about 3 years ago, and while I still loved it, I thought that Stu and Fran were too... perfect. They just seemed really unbelievable to me, as if they could do nothing wrong. The one thing that I have always loved about King is his ablity to make true to life charcters, and upon rereading, I found them, Fran especially, to be unbearably thin. Still, I rated this book a 5, though perhaps 4.5 would be more realistic. I still love the story, and that scene in the Lincoln tunnel ranks up there with one of the scariest things that I have ever read.

[pathoftheturtle]

Boy, I wouldn't say Fran could do no wrong. please check out this The Stand discussion thread. And I found Stu true to life, even if not the most complex character around. But it's Harold that was the really interesting member of that triangle, don't you think?

Also, while I'm here, to further comment on divemaster's defense of the climax: after all, remember that the book is titled The Stand, not The Plague. Seriously should come as no surprise what it's really all about.

[Odetta]

I HATED the end of IT.

Now you've surprised a bear...

I will go in the IT thread and explain, dear Captain!

[The Road Virus]

I think Stu was one of the top three in-terms of best developed character and would be interested to hear why you found him unbelievable Andrew. I also think Fran was a fine character but have less of a problem with you saying she was thin.

[alinda]

love this book, not my fav. but that was not in this ranking list....

Spoiler:

The Talisman is my fav non DT book.

[Jon]

Merlin: "88 posts and you're dictating protocol?" Why do you always do this? Nice guy one second, rude the next. I think you might be have twin Merlins on the same TDT.org account!

I hit "Never read" because I haven't finished it yet. I think I got about a third of the way through it and it slowly slipped through the cracks. I'll pick it up one day, for sure.

And to whomever it may concern, I don't think that spoilers SHOULD be ok in these threads. I like reading what people have to say about a book whether I read it or not. No one has to come in and say

(The Sixth Sense Spoiler)
"I loved the movie The Sixth Sense and

Spoiler:

I can't believe Bruce Willis was dead the whole time!"

Couldn't they just say "I loved the movie The Sixth Sense and I was very surprised at the big twist near the end!"?

The people who have seen the movie will know what they are talking about and the people that didn't will know there is a big twist, but not what the twist is. And if something spoilery is near and dear to people's hearts that they would like to share, they should put it in spoiler tags.

My opinion, of course.

BRICE WILLIS IS DEAD??!!?? wtf!!!!!!

[Jean]

last chance to vote, the poll is closing!

[Patrick]

I agree with Shannon's perspective in regards to major spoilers (not every little plot point or event, but the key ones). King himself, and this website, draw in new fans all the time. Also, many "old" fans haven't made it through King's entire catalog quite yet. It seems pretty easy to show a bit of courtesy and save discussion of major spoilers to the threads dedicated to the in-depth book discussions.

Anyway, on the topic of THE STAND: 5, for all the commonly recognized reasons.

[mae]

The poll has closed. The Stand has earned a FAS (final average score) of 4.790697674 or 95.81%, placing 1st (winner) in this bracket. It will be moving on to Round 2.

[Laurar]

My favorite book of all times. If I could only have one book for the rest of my life this would be it..

[blavigne]

The Stand was the first Stephen King book I ever read, and still my all-time favorite book regardless of author. I had never even heard of Stephen King when I received a paperback copy of The Stand as a gift for my 15th birthday. Obviously, a 5 for me.

I re-read it about every year or so. Like visiting old friends.

A few comments:

1) I don't think folks should have to tread lightly with regard to spoilers for a 35-year-old book. Especially in a thread dedicated to said book. If you haven't read it, vote and move on.

2) The "hand of God" is not the end of the book. There's a LOT that happens after that.

3) For those the didn't like the hand of God--think about it. The entire story is based on the fact that God has a plan and is using special people to realize that plan. How can you be shocked when God asserts His presence? I would have been extremely disappointed if after all the Mother Abagail, and the visions, and other God-directed happenings, if the end would have been just randomness or the cleverness of Man. It was Man who got the world into the mess of the story! The "hand of God" fits perfectly into the story-world that King created for this tale.

I personally really liked the hand of God as well as the dialogue between Larry and Ralph, very emotion provoking scene for me.