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Stephen King Reading Circle - The Stand


Kell

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Well, seeing as how several members appear to be reading it already, and others have either said they're due for a re-read or have expressed an interest in reading it for the first time, added to the fact that 2008 will see the 30th anniversary of its first publication, I hereby declare this extended reading circle for The Stand open to all!

 

As it's such a very long book, this won't be like the usual month-long reading circles, but will be an open-house, free-for-all. So whether you want to read it all in one go, or want to read it slowly over a longer period of time while reading other books in between, come along and let us know your thoughts on what is commonly thought of as Stephen King's masterpiece!

 

Synopsis:

This is the way the world ends: with a nanosecond of computer error in a Defense Department laboratory and a million casual contacts that form the links in a chain letter of death. And here is the bleak new world of the day after: a world stripped of its institutions and emptied of 99 percent of its people. A world in which a handful of panicky survivors choose sides-or are chosen. A world in which good rides on the frail shoulders of the 108-year-old Mother Abagail-and the worst nightmares of evil are embodied in a man with a lethal smile and unspeakable powers: Randall Flagg, the dark man.

 

In 1978 Stephen King published The Stand, the novel that is now considered one of his finest works. But as it was first published, The Stand was incomplete, since more than 150,000 words had been cut from the original manuscript. Now Stephen King's apocalyptic vision of a world blasted by plague and embroiled in an elemental struggle between good and evil has been restored to its entirety.

 

The Stand: The Complete and Uncut Edition includes more than 500 pages of material deleted, along with new material that King added as he reworked the manuscript for a new generation. It gives us new characters and endows familiar ones with new depths. It has a new beginning and a new ending. What emerges is a gripping work with the scope and moral complexity of a true epic.

 

In deference to those who may be reading it for the first time - if you're going to talk about a major plot point, please use the spoiler tags and state which chapter your post relates to, so that those who haven't yet reached that point will know to wait a while before reading that post!

 

I hope you'll all join me in reading (or re-reading) this epic tale which has become a classic of the genre!

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I bought this a while ago, and it's been sitting on my shelf.. at over 1300 pages, it was a little daunting! I'll be reading alongside others, so it will be slow progress, so I'll be here for a while!

 

I've done the first few chapters.. because it's such a long book, I was expected a slow start, so I was pleasantly surprised with the way the story started straight away. I also keep reminding myself that this book was out in 1978. We've since had films and books with a similar 'end of the world via a virus', but this was probably the first, so when first published, it probably had quite an impact.

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Crikey, Michelle - yours must be a paperback with HEAPS of pictures in it! I have the hardback full-length edition with a handful of line drawings and it only comes in at just over 1000 pages (hah! "only!" LOL!).

 

i've decided I'm going to read The Stand this very month after all - I have an entire week off work at the end of the month which I have now nominated (to myself) as "Stand Week" - as Dale is not off work at the same time, I should have plenty of reading hours to fill with reacquainting myself with this old favourite!

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Ok.. I'm up to page 159.. part way through ch 17. I do think that this book shows off King's writing well. So far I've been introduced to so many characters and story lines, it's almost been like starting lots of new books! But.. each one has kept me hooked, and with each new one, I can still remember the previous.

 

 

Mind you, it's a bit frustrating to get onto a character, just to have them die by the end of the chapter! LOL

 

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I do think that this book shows off King's writing well.

 

It does, doesn't it? I'm really noticing that this time around. He makes things so interesting and quite easy to read.

 

I'm still quite early in - Chapter 15.

Stu Redman is at the Centre for Disease Control, and has just found out that all this friends have died. He's just had his first dream about corn!

 

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I'm really 'hooked' on this one at the moment. I was meant to be reading others alongside, but as soon as I get reading time, I'm picking up The Stand. :(

 

I was thinking that King could have taken the first section, and made a very good 'end of the world by a virus' type story.. I'll be interested to see where it now leads.

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I've just finished ch 28.. up to this point, what do you find the most 'horrific'?

 

 

For me, it had to be when various people were being shot by soldiers, closely followed by the scene in the tv studio, where people were being picked and shot. Having people killed by a virus should be horrific, but it was the killings by humans that I found far worse.

 

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Im on chapter 47

 

 

 

I found the part where the new girls were telling the others about the men raping them lots and doing other nasty things to them quite disturbing.

 

However the pace of the book seems to have slowed down slightly now so Im getting a bit restless. Hopefully it wil start to perk up again soon...

 

 

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I'm up to Chapter 38.

 

 

We meet The Trashcan Man for the first time; the flu has done it's job, and now the people are deciding to move east or west.

I absolutely love how this book is written; one of my favourite bits of writing is the beginning of Chapter 28, when Frannie is in the kitchen making a pie, and then gets distracted - I think it's just brilliant writing how Stephen King shows her train of thought; so creative.

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I'm 20% of the way through already (how mush do I LOVE this novel?!), and am already getting back into the lives of all my favourite characters. There's one tiny point I have realised must have been introduced when King was arranging the uncut" edition, as on page 137 in my version) there's mention of something that couldn't possibly have been included in the original 1978 version:

 

"On the radio Larry Underwood had been replaced by Madonna. Madonna was asserting that she was a material girl."

 

Has anyone read the original, "cut" version? I'd be interested in hearing what, if anything, replaced Larry on the radio at this point.

 

In case you're wondering which point, here's the bit in the spoiler tags:

 

The car is a Pontiac being driven madly away by a photographer whose news buddies have just been gunned down by the military in an attempt to stop the spread of the stories of an epidemic sweeping America.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just finished The Stand. Took me about a month to read. :D Once again, I picked up on some things that I'd completely forgotten about

(Fran and Stu moving back to Maine, and that Lucy was pregnant and had twins)

. This is such a great book; it has to be Stephen King's best book. :tong: Even though I know the story so well, and I know exactly what's coming, I just love reading the words again. :) It has to be my most re-read book!

 

Kell, I've never read the original, shorter version, so I don't know what was replaced. I would like to read that version, just to see how different it really is. I think it would be hard to not fill in the missing bits though, given that I have read the 'Uncut' one so many times.

 

For those of you who love quizzes, I found a series of them for The Stand here. Enjoy!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Muggle, it seems the general consensus was that it's brilliant. I don't think I've heard anyone saying that they haven't enjoyed it.

 

I haven't read it yet myself but intend to sometime in the first half of next year (my reading is booked solid until about then :censored:)

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Muggle, it seems the general consensus was that it's brilliant. I don't think I've heard anyone saying that they haven't enjoyed it.

 

I haven't read it yet myself but intend to sometime in the first half of next year (my reading is booked solid until about then :censored:)

The Reading Circle on The Stand seemed to fizzle out. A number of people made earlier posts on how much they were enjoying the book and then for some reason stopped posting. I will pick on Nici and Michelle........you were discussing the most horrific parts and then stopped posting. I was really interested in hearing how you enjoyed the remainder of the book. I thought there were some very sad parts up ahead of where you were reading at the time.

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I will pick on Nici and Michelle........you were discussing the most horrific parts and then stopped posting.

 

Ooopps sorry Muggle! :censored:

 

I have now finished the book and throughly enjoyed it. I think my favourite parts were

in the begining when the plague first hit and the different people were trying to survive and also towards the end when Tom and Stu were trying to get home.

 

 

I am glad I can say that I have read it and it will go down as one of my best ever books! :lol:

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I think I've said in my own reading blog thread that I got quite involved in the story, and then reached a point where I felt I needed a break. I've since been caught up with so many other books that I haven't had a chance to get back into it.

 

It is very well written, and despite it's size, easy to read. I'll write more when I get back to it. :censored:

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

Well I am a little under a third of the way through this and I must say it is absolutely gripping. I am just passed the bit where

 

 

Larry Underwood and Rita are together again and have just come through the tunnel leaving New York.

 

 

The number of characters to begin with made the book a little disjointed but now that I am getting to know the characters I am really enjoying catching up with them when they reenter the story, and enjoying meeting new characters as they come up.

 

This book is showing me what a good writer Stephen King really is.

 

Can't wait to get back to it :friends0:

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