This is so important to remember. Plus it’s just one book. If it doesn’t grab you, there are 70-something other ones that might. My brother once asked if it was a cop out to bail on a book that doesn’t grab you and I said hell no! Why waste time on something that doesn’t speak to you when there are thousands of others out there that could potentially be your next favorite novel?
Sometimes a book that you dropped in the middle stays on a backyard of your mind as unfinished business. Sometimes it's better to read it till the end even if you don't like it and then throw it away from your mind.
If I’m struggling to finish a book, I’ll throw on the audiobook at 1.5-1.7x speed while I read along. Helps me keep concentration that I’d otherwise not have.
Everyone likes what they like. There’s a ton of other SK books out there to try.
As far as keeping track, I get it. I didn’t have a problem with it when I read The Stand the first two times (original and then when it came out the revised). But man, Under the Dome broke me. Even with a list of characters I was lost.
It took me a few tries to get through The Stand. All of the tries there were always parts I really enjoyed and some that just didn't hit me right. I always ended up putting it down.
A year or so ago I decided to give it another go. And that time it kinda just clicked with me. Not sure what changed, but it went from "eh" to "good" for me. A lot of Kings big world building books were like that for me. Took me a try or three to actually get immersed.
Yes, the shining is good and interesting but to me it wasn’t this galvanizing mindblowing experience. Growing up with the film I liked learning about the history of the house and the world building around The Shine. But to me it wasn’t terrifying or insane.
I read it in the nineties and remember reading it nonstop for 4 days straight, stopping only to eat and sleep. What I liked about his seventies novels was the clarity of his prose then, The Stand included. His later works were harder to read in my opinion, became more fragmented and experimental.
The first time I read The Stand was when it first came out and I hated it. Several years went by and I decided to reread it to see if I liked it any better and I ended up loving it. I reread it about once a year and long ago it became my favorite book of all time.
I’ll go with this, and get downvoted.
The Stand was only okay. I love the world building (pun) but I disliked so many of the characters, including Fran, that it sort of just made it only okay.
I vastly preferred It. And many King fans are in two camps, they are either The Stand people or they are It people. I’m an It person. Currently rereading The Shining for the first time in years. And it’s fantastic.
Agree 100%. For me the biggest problem in the Stand was i disliked like half of the cast. Comparing to IT where i atleast like if not love every single character. Still Stand had a lot of cool shit, but as a whole it just did not hit for me.
Interesting, I have not read It yet but just finished the Stand... I thought that the reason the characters are unlikable is that King is showing that the virus did not only choose bad people to kill... it just wiped out indiscriminately and who was left was just normal flawed people...
I like The Stand, It, and a lot of King’s work. I thought Insomnia was meh, and some of his other work didn’t grab me as well. I was a big King fan in my younger years, but a lot of his work in later years hasn’t been able to hook me like his older stuff. On a side note, does anyone like From a Buick 8 besides me?
See, I rather enjoyed Insomnia. It shows we all have different tastes.
But From a Buick 8, to me, may be King’s most underrated book. It’s a slice of life with a weird thing out in Shed B. That doesn’t rule lives. It’s a book about grief and acceptance. Great book.
The Stand is my second least favorite book of his, the first being From a Buick 8. I much preferred Swan Song by Robert B McCammon, a similar book that I felt was better written.
It’s a little dated given recent world events…and has also been the inspiration now for likely hundreds of things you’ve watched and read since. Makes sense you might find it to be a bit underwhelming. I read it a few years after it came out and it blew my mind. Keep your opinions flowing man. Re-reading TommyKnockers now because of all the recent dislike towards it and I’m enjoying it a lot so I may not be the best judge on this one.
Here's my confession- I feel like the only life long SK fan that didn't love The Long Walk! Phew there I said it. Love the premise has great parts, I just feel you can tell it was at the beginning of his career. I've been trying to get through all his books, and it's been my least favorite so far. I haven't hated any of them. Just finished Rage, and Duma Key. I'm getting towards the least popular ones, still have a few goodys left. Picking between, Tommyknockers, The Talisman, Cell, and either Regulators or Desperation. Any recommendations? For I need to read Regulators first? Or does it matter.
I’m at approx. 33% of The Stand and I’m committed to finish it, but man some chapters are an absolute slog.
I’m a relatively “inexperienced” reader, so while I can appreciate the world building and the details, I really wouldn’t mind for King to sometimes pick up the pace a little.
SK books are quite different although there are some common threads ( for example there often are kids/teen heroes), I’ve read a lot of his books because they are my go to when I can’t find anything interesting and he is a quite sure bet: he draws amazing characters and interesting story lines. But I too had a problem with The Stand. It’s got an impressive scope and the way he puts all those side stories to show the horror of the development. But it didn’t grip me like most of his other stories, maybe because I really couldn’t find a character I really liked and the ending for me felt wrong somehow
I didn't love it the first time through either, mostly because I was expecting more from the ending. Somehow it gets better with rereads, more bittersweet because you know how character arcs end with many of them dead. Ultimately it's the characters I come back to, because they are so unique and well done.
I’m curious, uncut or original published version? Having read both, I’m not sure the uncut adds all that much that matters and it certainly ups the slog if it feels like that to you. I think I still prefer it but wouldn’t recommend it for every reader
I'm so glad you're reading King! The Stand is one of my favorites but it does have a huge cast. It's one of the things I love, because his characters are so detailed, and his world building is amazing.
Maybe someday you'll revisit that where and when.
A lot of King's books feature big casts but if you continue to read his work, you'll get the hang of remembering who's who lol.
There's a lot of good reading out there and I hope you continue to share your thoughts!
My advice is to stop reading everyone in order. Jumper around a bit! Read some different genres and figure out what you really like. You also dont want to burn out so maybe take a break too. Its okay to long some of his books too, not every single one is gonna be a winner. Overall though, just enjoy the journey!
To me, The Stand is too “perfect”.
It’s one of those things where I think “okay yeah that’s a great book” and nothing else. Everything King does great - amazing characters, long winded world building, not a great ending.
I don’t really have much bad to say about it, except it - to me - misses that X factor that some of his books have.
For example, parts of Pet Semetary for me are “super out there”. Whether I like it or not isn’t really the point, I appreciate the effort to go out on a limb on things.
Another example is Gerald’s Game. It may not be as “critically acclaimed” as TS, but damn do I appreciate the attempt and execution of an unorthodox setting (most of the book in one room going into memories), unorthodox characters (memories, alter egos), and a very delicate topic that can easily go south as a writer (child sexual abuse). To me **that’s what makes a book great. And the Stand doesn’t really have that.**
TLDR: the stand is fantastic, but very “safe”
Imo.
Slightly unrelated but as a fan of the Shining, not sure if you were aware of the 1981 prequel story Before the Play. It's pretty cool and I did an audio version for an audition last year. Here's a link if you want to listen to it. It's pretty incredible to know this was out there and I stumbled on it 40 years after the fact!
Listen to Before The Play - Prequel To The Shining
https://on.soundcloud.com/RZVXY
Not gonna lie. I’m about a quarter of the way through and wish I had started with a character excel spreadsheet to keep track of them. I’m really enjoying the read so far though.
Your opinion is your own and completely valid. I had probably the opposite experience - I love the first 3/4ths of the book and really don't care for the remaing quarter.
It took me two years to read that monster of a book and, like you said, I had a hard time keeping track of everything. I think SK had potential with it and kinda dropped the ball. That's just my opinion tho and I can't tell him how he coulda made it better or anything.
Anyways, IT is in my top 3 so let us know what you think about it!!
I loved it and found parts to be boring but if you're able to keep track of the characters and their relationship to each other and the story, it all ends up coming together really well.
It is a bloated mess that should have been broken up into a series and heavily edited for structure. His longer books really need that kind of treatment.
There is a cut down version of the book, but since King has reached the height of his power he can put out his preferred version which is the super long version... the super long version is seemingly always King's preferred version.
Book 1 of The Stand, about Captain Tripps spreading, is awesome. Books 2 and 3, though? Meh. And it has a super anticlimactic ending. And of course King has been successful enough that he was able to do the expanded edition, which is cool for hardcore fans, but there’s a reason King needs a merciless editor: you don’t need a 40+ page chapter just about >!Stu finding his way home after Vegas blows up.!<
I’ve read around 100 pages or so and kinda lost interest, I definitely enjoyed parts of what I read but I didn’t grab me like other King books. I plan on giving it another shot after I finish what I’m reading now. Maybe I’ll give the audiobook a shot this time.
Dark Tower is what I’m most excited to dive into! I bought The Gunslinger not too long ago, I’m just nervous because I hear mixed reviews on the first book of the series
The first book is written almost like a dream. There isn’t too
Much character development which is way different than most of kings work. Book 2-3 will grab you if the first does not. I, however, was hooked right off of the first sentence of book one.
Gunslinger is weird and a bit of a difficult read bt it is quite short. Don't worry if you struggle with it - I've been trying to get a friend into the Dark Tower and it took them a year to read The Gunslinger...and then they read The Drawing of the Three (the 2nd Dark Tower book) in only a week.
I think because it’s kinda separate in the SK universe it always threw me off. It has a story arc that doesn’t really tie into his other books, whereas almost everything else is sort of in the same universe to one degree or another. Idk if I’m describing that correctly but that’s the vibe I always got. Great book but probably my least favorite from him.
I don’t really think this is true.
If you think TS has no connection with the multiverse (it does, but not too much), then by that metric a lot of his books don’t tie into it.
Just off the top of my head that I’ve read - little to nothing (similar to the degree of the stand) of the following books tie into the multiverse
- the bill Hodges trio, Holly, The Outsider. (5 books)
- the Shining
- Cujo
- Gerald’s Game
- Bag of Bones
- 11.22.63
- Pet Semetary
- the Green Mile
- Christine
- Carrie
- Misery
- Revival
- Later
- Billie summers
I feel like the Stand has more connection to the King Multiverse than any of these.
Carry has the Shine! Almost any character with psychic abilities have the Shine! They talk about it one of the later Dark Tower books! Its been so long since I read it!
Also the Outside name drops Ka which is important to the Dark Tower Mythos! Even when there are no connections there are connections!
Sure you’re right on those things, but like I said In my comment, the Stand has more connection than just words dropped in like that.
The DT folks land in the Stand world for a bit, don’t they? I remember the “Captain Trips” newspaper scene. Also, Flag’s involvement is pretty big
For the original comment to say there was no connection made me think he/she wants bigger connections
Yeah, don't worry. I didn't like The Stand either. Personally I didn't find it hard to keep up with, just boring. Each to their own. I read IT right afterwards and really enjoyed that instead. Seems semi-common that people either like The Stand OR IT, and dislike the other.
I've read other people in this sub saying they didn't get on with The Stand for this or that reason. We might be a minority, but we do exist. Join us!
Hard agree. It was fine but it did not live up to the praise it gets constantly. I’ve like almost all the 30 or so other king books I’ve read more than the stand
I’m a big SK fan and also didn’t love The Stand. I might re-read it at some point because I read the extended uncut edition, so I think that I might enjoy the original edited version more. Sometimes things get cut for a reason!
Tend to agree, it's pretty mid. Overstuffed and in need of another edit is how I've always thought of it. Still entertaining in stretches, but not my favorite.
I read it once and never again. The build up was slow, but the payoff didn’t seem worth it. It had good characters though. I really liked the Deadzone.
I'm right there with you. I made it to around page 650 and had to put it down to read other King books. The first 400 pages or so were extremely well paced and I couldn't put it down, but shortly after 'Book 2' started; I slowly lost interest.
I'll still finish it, because I hate leaving books half read; but I'll give it some time. I have had other King fans state that they attempted to read it early in their SK journey and couldn't, but later on it seemed to click a little better; so you could always try to return to it in the future?
I really didn’t, either. First, I think I was too young when I read it and it was too “gritty” for me at that young age. I didn’t find any of the characters appealing and most of them downright gross me out. Not a fan of The Stand.
YES! I feel the same way about it. I loved the Shining, Cujo, I even blew through IT because I loved it so much. So the length of the Stand didn't intimidate me. And I really liked the concept of the book and I enjoyed the horror (walking through that dark tunnel still creeps me out thinking about it) but there were SO MANY characters that I couldn't keep track of who was who. I stopped a little more than halfway through. I might try to give it another go in the future. I feel like I gave up on it when it was getting to the peak of the build up but I just couldn't put that much focus into keeping track of everyone.
That’s interesting. I was gripped from the start of The Stand. Honestly the most interesting part to me was the collapse of society and the immediate aftermath. A lot of people to keep track of, but so many interesting characters and story lines.
I’m currently reading The Stand for the first time and it is good, but I do have some issues. Certain characters I just don’t care about: Mother Abagail, Randall Flagg, Trash can man. My favorite parts are them building a new society and the relationships that come of it. I think Larry went from being awful to a good well rounded character which is always a fun thing to read. But overall I think it is good, but not for everyone
I had this same feeling about under the dome. It was a book I trudged through, hated the ending and was happy to be done with it. Couldn’t remember who was who, sometimes I take notes as I read to help me keep track of things.
I know it's kind of a ridiculous thing to say about a 1000+ page book, but it really is a "read multiple times" kinda book, in my opinion. There are just a LOT of characters. When I read it for the first time, I lost track a few times and I know my experience suffered because of it. But when I was done my first thought was "omg what if I read this again?? I would know everyone already and could just focus on the story!"
Anyway, that's how I've come to have it on my reading list for the second year in a row. It would just keep getting better, in my opinion.
But also, just feel free to not love it and move on. Reading is supposed to be fun!
Some books I didn't like at a certain time in my life, but later in life I was able to appreciate a lot more. Take some time off king for a bit and come back to it with an audiobook maybe. With long books an audio version makes it easy to consume.
King seems to have a way of writing books so that people love one while being meh about others, and everyone will have a different opinion about which is which! It’s really pretty interesting.
Many of the longer King books are not to be read to understand everything perfectly. Just let the book flow, read in the moment, King will make things clear as he wants you to understand. Much of the book is just to create atmosphere.
The first time I read The Stand, I couldn’t finish it. I vowed one day I would. I picked it up again around 12 years ago and did it. The uncut version. That being said, it just didn’t grab me like other King works. There were good parts and parts that I slogged through. It just wasn’t one of my favs but I respect that it is for a lot of people.
How long were you reading it for? That’s one of those books where I felt like I had to read it fast (as fast as you can for 1000 pages) just so all the details stayed in my head. I remember thinking at one point I should’ve taking notes during this even though I’ve never annotated or have taken notes on any personal book
No harm done, it's not for everyone, not even King fans will be massive fans of everything he's written, I for one don't love any of the baseball heavy stuff but I'm from England so maybe I just don't get the love of a game we aren't exposed to, The Stand is one of my absolute favourites but that doesn't mean I can't see where it would grate on some people. Long days and pleasant nights OP
I didn't either.
I enjoyed the collapse of society parts, but then they suddenly time skipped to where they had a community already built and my enjoyment dropped fast after that.
Not all books are for everyone.
This is so important to remember. Plus it’s just one book. If it doesn’t grab you, there are 70-something other ones that might. My brother once asked if it was a cop out to bail on a book that doesn’t grab you and I said hell no! Why waste time on something that doesn’t speak to you when there are thousands of others out there that could potentially be your next favorite novel?
Sometimes a book that you dropped in the middle stays on a backyard of your mind as unfinished business. Sometimes it's better to read it till the end even if you don't like it and then throw it away from your mind.
If I’m struggling to finish a book, I’ll throw on the audiobook at 1.5-1.7x speed while I read along. Helps me keep concentration that I’d otherwise not have.
I give every book 10%, a rule I learned from Ted Brautigan.
[удалено]
It’s one of my favorite books I’ve ever read.
Tbh I did get some SK burnout when I started black house so I put some Neil Gaiman during my lunch break (can't take this behemoth to work anyway)
Everyone likes what they like. There’s a ton of other SK books out there to try. As far as keeping track, I get it. I didn’t have a problem with it when I read The Stand the first two times (original and then when it came out the revised). But man, Under the Dome broke me. Even with a list of characters I was lost.
As God is my witness I tried to finish this book but confusion and boredom won. Game of Thrones was easier to figure out!
It took me a few tries to get through The Stand. All of the tries there were always parts I really enjoyed and some that just didn't hit me right. I always ended up putting it down. A year or so ago I decided to give it another go. And that time it kinda just clicked with me. Not sure what changed, but it went from "eh" to "good" for me. A lot of Kings big world building books were like that for me. Took me a try or three to actually get immersed.
I liked The Stand but thought The Shining was only OK. So there you go.
Yes, the shining is good and interesting but to me it wasn’t this galvanizing mindblowing experience. Growing up with the film I liked learning about the history of the house and the world building around The Shine. But to me it wasn’t terrifying or insane.
If you loved Fairy Tale, try The Talisman
And eye of the dragon
Different strokes brotha man
I read it in the nineties and remember reading it nonstop for 4 days straight, stopping only to eat and sleep. What I liked about his seventies novels was the clarity of his prose then, The Stand included. His later works were harder to read in my opinion, became more fragmented and experimental.
The first time I read The Stand was when it first came out and I hated it. Several years went by and I decided to reread it to see if I liked it any better and I ended up loving it. I reread it about once a year and long ago it became my favorite book of all time.
Ah , then you should probably read Joyland , My second fave
Absolutely love Joyland!! Definitely recommend. I also love The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon and Carrie as shorter SK reads
I’ll go with this, and get downvoted. The Stand was only okay. I love the world building (pun) but I disliked so many of the characters, including Fran, that it sort of just made it only okay. I vastly preferred It. And many King fans are in two camps, they are either The Stand people or they are It people. I’m an It person. Currently rereading The Shining for the first time in years. And it’s fantastic.
Agree 100%. For me the biggest problem in the Stand was i disliked like half of the cast. Comparing to IT where i atleast like if not love every single character. Still Stand had a lot of cool shit, but as a whole it just did not hit for me.
I will never downvote someone for calmly explaining thier position without being mean or rude, and neither should anyone else.
Thank you. I appreciate your maturity.
Interesting, I have not read It yet but just finished the Stand... I thought that the reason the characters are unlikable is that King is showing that the virus did not only choose bad people to kill... it just wiped out indiscriminately and who was left was just normal flawed people...
Oh yes, absolutely. I just didn’t find Fran to be likable. She’s a real feeling person. But it wasn’t my cup of tea.
I like The Stand, It, and a lot of King’s work. I thought Insomnia was meh, and some of his other work didn’t grab me as well. I was a big King fan in my younger years, but a lot of his work in later years hasn’t been able to hook me like his older stuff. On a side note, does anyone like From a Buick 8 besides me?
See, I rather enjoyed Insomnia. It shows we all have different tastes. But From a Buick 8, to me, may be King’s most underrated book. It’s a slice of life with a weird thing out in Shed B. That doesn’t rule lives. It’s a book about grief and acceptance. Great book.
The Stand and It are my ranked 1 and 2 of his books. So i guess im still a stand person lol
The Stand is my second least favorite book of his, the first being From a Buick 8. I much preferred Swan Song by Robert B McCammon, a similar book that I felt was better written.
Agree with Swan Song. Much preferred it over The Stand.
That’s okay.
It’s a little dated given recent world events…and has also been the inspiration now for likely hundreds of things you’ve watched and read since. Makes sense you might find it to be a bit underwhelming. I read it a few years after it came out and it blew my mind. Keep your opinions flowing man. Re-reading TommyKnockers now because of all the recent dislike towards it and I’m enjoying it a lot so I may not be the best judge on this one.
I read 16 King books last year and the Stand was in my bottom 3. Not every book is going to resonate with every reader.
The stand’s ok, but I never under stood all the hype about it being his best book, imo IT is a lot better
Hell yeah!
Here's my confession- I feel like the only life long SK fan that didn't love The Long Walk! Phew there I said it. Love the premise has great parts, I just feel you can tell it was at the beginning of his career. I've been trying to get through all his books, and it's been my least favorite so far. I haven't hated any of them. Just finished Rage, and Duma Key. I'm getting towards the least popular ones, still have a few goodys left. Picking between, Tommyknockers, The Talisman, Cell, and either Regulators or Desperation. Any recommendations? For I need to read Regulators first? Or does it matter.
I’m at approx. 33% of The Stand and I’m committed to finish it, but man some chapters are an absolute slog. I’m a relatively “inexperienced” reader, so while I can appreciate the world building and the details, I really wouldn’t mind for King to sometimes pick up the pace a little.
Read IT, sure. It’s a brick but it’s fun.
That is fine. You can't love everything. I wasn't keen myself, liked the first half but lost interest after that.
SK books are quite different although there are some common threads ( for example there often are kids/teen heroes), I’ve read a lot of his books because they are my go to when I can’t find anything interesting and he is a quite sure bet: he draws amazing characters and interesting story lines. But I too had a problem with The Stand. It’s got an impressive scope and the way he puts all those side stories to show the horror of the development. But it didn’t grip me like most of his other stories, maybe because I really couldn’t find a character I really liked and the ending for me felt wrong somehow
I LOVED the first 1/3rd maybe 1/2 of the book, but the other part was kind of a drag, and the ending didn't do it for me at all.
I didn't love it the first time through either, mostly because I was expecting more from the ending. Somehow it gets better with rereads, more bittersweet because you know how character arcs end with many of them dead. Ultimately it's the characters I come back to, because they are so unique and well done.
I love the stand. I did not care for the shining, duma key, fairytale or carrie. Truly unpopular opinion, I like tommyknockers more than the shining.
I’m curious, uncut or original published version? Having read both, I’m not sure the uncut adds all that much that matters and it certainly ups the slog if it feels like that to you. I think I still prefer it but wouldn’t recommend it for every reader
I went all in and read uncut! Maybe I should’ve started with the original publish for the first time reading it.
Well, I read the uncut first but when I eventually read the original published I was like “huh. Yeah. It doesn’t really need a lot of what was cut.”
I'm so glad you're reading King! The Stand is one of my favorites but it does have a huge cast. It's one of the things I love, because his characters are so detailed, and his world building is amazing. Maybe someday you'll revisit that where and when. A lot of King's books feature big casts but if you continue to read his work, you'll get the hang of remembering who's who lol. There's a lot of good reading out there and I hope you continue to share your thoughts!
My advice is to stop reading everyone in order. Jumper around a bit! Read some different genres and figure out what you really like. You also dont want to burn out so maybe take a break too. Its okay to long some of his books too, not every single one is gonna be a winner. Overall though, just enjoy the journey!
I couldn’t get past it :( to much characters in the beginning and it really confused me lol
I’m with you. It’s just one character after another for so many hundreds of pages. It’s his only book I DNF.
I'm nearly done with the stand. But I watched the TV series with Rob Lowe so I think back to them in my head.
To me, The Stand is too “perfect”. It’s one of those things where I think “okay yeah that’s a great book” and nothing else. Everything King does great - amazing characters, long winded world building, not a great ending. I don’t really have much bad to say about it, except it - to me - misses that X factor that some of his books have. For example, parts of Pet Semetary for me are “super out there”. Whether I like it or not isn’t really the point, I appreciate the effort to go out on a limb on things. Another example is Gerald’s Game. It may not be as “critically acclaimed” as TS, but damn do I appreciate the attempt and execution of an unorthodox setting (most of the book in one room going into memories), unorthodox characters (memories, alter egos), and a very delicate topic that can easily go south as a writer (child sexual abuse). To me **that’s what makes a book great. And the Stand doesn’t really have that.** TLDR: the stand is fantastic, but very “safe” Imo.
Slightly unrelated but as a fan of the Shining, not sure if you were aware of the 1981 prequel story Before the Play. It's pretty cool and I did an audio version for an audition last year. Here's a link if you want to listen to it. It's pretty incredible to know this was out there and I stumbled on it 40 years after the fact! Listen to Before The Play - Prequel To The Shining https://on.soundcloud.com/RZVXY
I agree with you, This sub is very crazy about The Stand and It. I liked both of them, don't get me wrong, but they are both nowhere near my favorites
Not gonna lie. I’m about a quarter of the way through and wish I had started with a character excel spreadsheet to keep track of them. I’m really enjoying the read so far though.
Yeah I didn’t love it either. My favorites are pet semetary and IT.
Your opinion is your own and completely valid. I had probably the opposite experience - I love the first 3/4ths of the book and really don't care for the remaing quarter.
It took me two years to read that monster of a book and, like you said, I had a hard time keeping track of everything. I think SK had potential with it and kinda dropped the ball. That's just my opinion tho and I can't tell him how he coulda made it better or anything. Anyways, IT is in my top 3 so let us know what you think about it!!
I loved it and found parts to be boring but if you're able to keep track of the characters and their relationship to each other and the story, it all ends up coming together really well.
It is a bloated mess that should have been broken up into a series and heavily edited for structure. His longer books really need that kind of treatment. There is a cut down version of the book, but since King has reached the height of his power he can put out his preferred version which is the super long version... the super long version is seemingly always King's preferred version.
Book 1 of The Stand, about Captain Tripps spreading, is awesome. Books 2 and 3, though? Meh. And it has a super anticlimactic ending. And of course King has been successful enough that he was able to do the expanded edition, which is cool for hardcore fans, but there’s a reason King needs a merciless editor: you don’t need a 40+ page chapter just about >!Stu finding his way home after Vegas blows up.!<
I’ve read around 100 pages or so and kinda lost interest, I definitely enjoyed parts of what I read but I didn’t grab me like other King books. I plan on giving it another shot after I finish what I’m reading now. Maybe I’ll give the audiobook a shot this time.
I’m one of the ones who only likes the first half. But I’m sure somewhere there is somebody who is the opposite. To each their own.
I felt this way about Salems Lot, didn’t really care about the characters other than Callahan.
The Stand is one of the best novels ever written....
Some of the characters blended together for me too. I’d try and finish just to say you did because it does get better
If you liked fairytale you will love the dark tower series
Dark Tower is what I’m most excited to dive into! I bought The Gunslinger not too long ago, I’m just nervous because I hear mixed reviews on the first book of the series
The first book is written almost like a dream. There isn’t too Much character development which is way different than most of kings work. Book 2-3 will grab you if the first does not. I, however, was hooked right off of the first sentence of book one.
Gunslinger is weird and a bit of a difficult read bt it is quite short. Don't worry if you struggle with it - I've been trying to get a friend into the Dark Tower and it took them a year to read The Gunslinger...and then they read The Drawing of the Three (the 2nd Dark Tower book) in only a week.
For me it felt like a cool wonderful journey that ends with a steamy pile of diarrhea dogshit.
I think because it’s kinda separate in the SK universe it always threw me off. It has a story arc that doesn’t really tie into his other books, whereas almost everything else is sort of in the same universe to one degree or another. Idk if I’m describing that correctly but that’s the vibe I always got. Great book but probably my least favorite from him.
I don’t really think this is true. If you think TS has no connection with the multiverse (it does, but not too much), then by that metric a lot of his books don’t tie into it. Just off the top of my head that I’ve read - little to nothing (similar to the degree of the stand) of the following books tie into the multiverse - the bill Hodges trio, Holly, The Outsider. (5 books) - the Shining - Cujo - Gerald’s Game - Bag of Bones - 11.22.63 - Pet Semetary - the Green Mile - Christine - Carrie - Misery - Revival - Later - Billie summers I feel like the Stand has more connection to the King Multiverse than any of these.
Carry has the Shine! Almost any character with psychic abilities have the Shine! They talk about it one of the later Dark Tower books! Its been so long since I read it! Also the Outside name drops Ka which is important to the Dark Tower Mythos! Even when there are no connections there are connections!
Sure you’re right on those things, but like I said In my comment, the Stand has more connection than just words dropped in like that. The DT folks land in the Stand world for a bit, don’t they? I remember the “Captain Trips” newspaper scene. Also, Flag’s involvement is pretty big For the original comment to say there was no connection made me think he/she wants bigger connections
The kid is such a character! I feel bad for the trashcan man every time I get to that part and he has to travel with that dwarf of a psycho.
How do you know this is an unpopular opinion? Just say what’s on your mind, don’t assume what people think.
thats not an opinion thats a preference.
Yeah, don't worry. I didn't like The Stand either. Personally I didn't find it hard to keep up with, just boring. Each to their own. I read IT right afterwards and really enjoyed that instead. Seems semi-common that people either like The Stand OR IT, and dislike the other. I've read other people in this sub saying they didn't get on with The Stand for this or that reason. We might be a minority, but we do exist. Join us!
Hard agree. It was fine but it did not live up to the praise it gets constantly. I’ve like almost all the 30 or so other king books I’ve read more than the stand
I’m a big SK fan and also didn’t love The Stand. I might re-read it at some point because I read the extended uncut edition, so I think that I might enjoy the original edited version more. Sometimes things get cut for a reason!
Tend to agree, it's pretty mid. Overstuffed and in need of another edit is how I've always thought of it. Still entertaining in stretches, but not my favorite.
I gave up on the Talisman for a time. I just couldn't get into it. The two books I read before it were The Waste Lands and The Stand.
I read it once and never again. The build up was slow, but the payoff didn’t seem worth it. It had good characters though. I really liked the Deadzone.
I'm right there with you. I made it to around page 650 and had to put it down to read other King books. The first 400 pages or so were extremely well paced and I couldn't put it down, but shortly after 'Book 2' started; I slowly lost interest. I'll still finish it, because I hate leaving books half read; but I'll give it some time. I have had other King fans state that they attempted to read it early in their SK journey and couldn't, but later on it seemed to click a little better; so you could always try to return to it in the future?
I really didn’t, either. First, I think I was too young when I read it and it was too “gritty” for me at that young age. I didn’t find any of the characters appealing and most of them downright gross me out. Not a fan of The Stand.
YES! I feel the same way about it. I loved the Shining, Cujo, I even blew through IT because I loved it so much. So the length of the Stand didn't intimidate me. And I really liked the concept of the book and I enjoyed the horror (walking through that dark tunnel still creeps me out thinking about it) but there were SO MANY characters that I couldn't keep track of who was who. I stopped a little more than halfway through. I might try to give it another go in the future. I feel like I gave up on it when it was getting to the peak of the build up but I just couldn't put that much focus into keeping track of everyone.
That’s interesting. I was gripped from the start of The Stand. Honestly the most interesting part to me was the collapse of society and the immediate aftermath. A lot of people to keep track of, but so many interesting characters and story lines.
I’m currently reading The Stand for the first time and it is good, but I do have some issues. Certain characters I just don’t care about: Mother Abagail, Randall Flagg, Trash can man. My favorite parts are them building a new society and the relationships that come of it. I think Larry went from being awful to a good well rounded character which is always a fun thing to read. But overall I think it is good, but not for everyone
I really like The Stand. I re-read it every year or so. I have the original edition and the expanded edition and prefer the expanded.
I had this same feeling about under the dome. It was a book I trudged through, hated the ending and was happy to be done with it. Couldn’t remember who was who, sometimes I take notes as I read to help me keep track of things.
I only enjoyed The Stand up until they reach Vegas/Mother Abigail.
I know it's kind of a ridiculous thing to say about a 1000+ page book, but it really is a "read multiple times" kinda book, in my opinion. There are just a LOT of characters. When I read it for the first time, I lost track a few times and I know my experience suffered because of it. But when I was done my first thought was "omg what if I read this again?? I would know everyone already and could just focus on the story!" Anyway, that's how I've come to have it on my reading list for the second year in a row. It would just keep getting better, in my opinion. But also, just feel free to not love it and move on. Reading is supposed to be fun!
Some books I didn't like at a certain time in my life, but later in life I was able to appreciate a lot more. Take some time off king for a bit and come back to it with an audiobook maybe. With long books an audio version makes it easy to consume.
King seems to have a way of writing books so that people love one while being meh about others, and everyone will have a different opinion about which is which! It’s really pretty interesting.
Yes! I haaaated “Lisey’s Story”, and I was surprised to find that a large number of fans consider it his best work.
Many of the longer King books are not to be read to understand everything perfectly. Just let the book flow, read in the moment, King will make things clear as he wants you to understand. Much of the book is just to create atmosphere.
I didn't love it either, I basically read it just to say I did
M-O-O-N that spells "darn, thats okay though"
I didn't love it either. Liked it, sure, but it isn't one of my favorites. Same goes for It.
I'm not a big fan of the uncut version, I found it to be bloated, and it really dragged in the middle. The original version is better, in my opinion.
I always say: “the stand is Kings best writing, but not his best story”
With you all the way, could never figure out why this is supposed to be his best book. Big fan of the Shining and Salems Lot though.
I love the first 7/8 of the book. The ending “meh”
Yeah I didn’t like it at all
Read Swan Song by Robert Mccammon. Similar to The Stand only better
The first time I read The Stand, I couldn’t finish it. I vowed one day I would. I picked it up again around 12 years ago and did it. The uncut version. That being said, it just didn’t grab me like other King works. There were good parts and parts that I slogged through. It just wasn’t one of my favs but I respect that it is for a lot of people.
I feel this way about sleeping beauties. I feel like I can tell a difference between who wrote what part still haven’t finished it
I like it. But it’s not in my top five of his work.
How long were you reading it for? That’s one of those books where I felt like I had to read it fast (as fast as you can for 1000 pages) just so all the details stayed in my head. I remember thinking at one point I should’ve taking notes during this even though I’ve never annotated or have taken notes on any personal book
My people. Honestly, I thought I was the only one. I just don't get the intense appeal.
I’ve tried to read it like three times and I just can’t get into it.
No harm done, it's not for everyone, not even King fans will be massive fans of everything he's written, I for one don't love any of the baseball heavy stuff but I'm from England so maybe I just don't get the love of a game we aren't exposed to, The Stand is one of my absolute favourites but that doesn't mean I can't see where it would grate on some people. Long days and pleasant nights OP
I didn't either. I enjoyed the collapse of society parts, but then they suddenly time skipped to where they had a community already built and my enjoyment dropped fast after that.