thomas2 Posted September 9, 2006 Share Posted September 9, 2006 Okay I read this book of Stephen King called The Stand. It was soo good that I've read it like 6 times afterwards (book is 1275 pages long!). It's about a disease that kills 99.9% of the earth's population, etc. Has anyone else read this book? What are your comments on it? Do you like Stephen King's work? Book cover of the English book (I ofcourse read the Dutch version) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteornotes Posted September 9, 2006 Share Posted September 9, 2006 This is one of the greatest apocalypse/horror novels ever. If you like this, you should read "Swan Song" by Robert McCammon. It's sort of the same style of book (most of Earth's population wiped out by nuclear war), though it takes a very different path than The Stand. dt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted September 9, 2006 Share Posted September 9, 2006 I also love this book. And for a TV Miniseries, they did a pretty good job too! Any story that deals with wiping out 99.9% of humanity is cool with me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Johnson Posted September 9, 2006 Share Posted September 9, 2006 This one is certainly one of the best Stephen King books out there. Sure its about a million pages long, but it is certainly a page turner. Randall Flagg shall rule us all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BiCoastal Kid Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 I tried, but seriously, king's writing style just annoys me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Clinksalot Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 Love the book and as Elissa said, the Miniseries was pretty good also. I have the VHS of the miniseries around here somewhere. I should dig it out one of these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
65skylark Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 I am a huge Stephen King fan having read most of his novels and short stories. I have always thought The Stand was good but not his best work. I read the first version of The Stand many years ago. It is quite a bit shorter than the one that he re-released and I actually like the shorter version a little better. Both are good though. If you really want to read some great Stephen King, start reading his Dark Tower novels. There are seven total and if you liked The Stand I think you would really like the Dark Tower series. It's a little over 3800 pages between the seven books but it is great and you can take it a book at a time. Oh, and, good old Randall Flag makes many appearances in the Dark Tower books along with other characters from some of his other novels. Also his newest novel, Cell, is kind of a more modern version of The Stand in a lot of ways. Instead of being wiped out by a virus most of the population is "changed" from receiving a "pulse" through there cell phones. It is also really good and easier reading at around 400 pages. For pure suspense you can't beat his second novel 'Salem's Lot IMO. The TV version stunk and the movie version wasn't any better but the book is great. Still gives me chills when I read it. And last but not least don't forget one of the greatest movies of all time, The Shawshank Redemtion, is based on a Stephen King Novella. One of the very few examples of the movie being slightly better than the book IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaseyFish Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 But also the Stand has a "prequel of sorts" Have you ever read Eyes of the Dragon. It was a book written by King for one of his daughters cause she didn't like all the horror books. Flagg is actually a wizard and the bad guy of course. And this could aslo be considered a prequel to the Dark tower series as well......He writes so well......Needfull things was one of my favs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
65skylark Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 Several of his books could be considered Dark Tower prequels or the other way around might be a better way of putting it really. Flagg is most definately a wizard as The Dark Tower books spell out also. "The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed." Damn, this thread is making me want to start reading the Dark Tower series again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wes Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 Two words: GARY SINISE!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesMC Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 The Stand is a great book. It does tie in with the Dark Tower series, which is a GREAT series of books. The first one is the dryest, but halfway thru it comes alive and the other six books are just fantastic. What a great read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomas2 Posted September 10, 2006 Author Share Posted September 10, 2006 Haha I am reading the Dark Tower series. I'm now reading book 3 (don't know how it's called in English; in Dutch it's called "Het verloren Rijk"). IMO the Dark Tower is good, but I don't think it can match The Stand. I also read Salem's Lot and Eyes of the Dragon and I really liked both. But for me there's only one book that can equal the Stand and that's IT. It was my first book and it made me want to read Stephen King's novels even more. Great book! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Johnson Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 Yeah I also really liked "IT" as well as "Eyes of the Dragon". Stephen King has gone on record that "Bag of Bones" is his personal favorite. I still have it sitting on my book shelf by my computer waiting to be read. I guess I should do that sometime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexTitan01 Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 I've read Everythings Eventual, Hearts in Atlantis, Salems Lot, and The Langoliers <-that one is creepy, but all of them are really good reads. I have yet to read any of the Dark Tower series, but I know theres a short with the same storyline in EE, which was pretty good. I'll porbably run out to a bookstore and get The Stand if it gets good reviews here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomas2 Posted September 10, 2006 Author Share Posted September 10, 2006 ^You should go and fetch The Stand, it's one of the best books ever! IT is also very good, I also recommend that. You won't regret it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonOfBeastSucks Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 The only Stephen King book I have read is Desperation, but I do have a copy of The Stand and plan to read it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benzo41190 Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 right now I am reading the book "The girl who loved Tom Gordon".....I think thats whats its called. Im not good with titles... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jynx242 Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 I just finished re-reading The Stand last week. What an excellent book! The first Stephen King I read was IT and it scared the crap out of me. It still gives me the willies every time I read it - and in the Mini Series - Tim Curry as Pennywise the clown is scary as hell!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingScooter Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 The Stand is his best work. the original or the Uncut version are both great books. It is my favorite book of all time. 'It' was good. Pet Semetary was awesome. I started losing interest in King when he started cranking out 4 books a year. I'd always purchased the hardbounds, and it got too costly. He wrote as Richard Bachman, Tabitha King and god knows who else. (tabitha king is his wifes name, but i remember Peter Straub saying something about Stephen using it for several books.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roasted_marshmallow Posted September 12, 2006 Share Posted September 12, 2006 I'd have to say that the Dark Tower series is my favorite series ever. And I'm a series fanatic... Favorite book was Wizard and Glass in which Mr. King delves into the world of romance a bit and does a fantastic job of it. It's a series that could be made into a bunch of movies for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollermonkey Posted September 12, 2006 Share Posted September 12, 2006 Not counting screenplays, I think that I have read just about everything that King has written, including Danse Macabre and On Writing. The Stand is probably the best of the lot, but the more you read, the more you realize that Flagg is in a LOT of his books. That's him as the baddie in Needful Things, just going by a different name. The connections between all the books become more evident when you get through the seventh volume of The Dark Tower and lots of characters and themes from many of the earlier books are revisited. I'm currently rereading the last short story collection Nightmares and Dreamscapes while I am waiting for some books from Amazon by my current favorite author: Terry Pratchett. Think Douglas Adams, but far more prolific. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Six Posted September 12, 2006 Share Posted September 12, 2006 I actually have read some of his books. Most of them I finished; some I lost interest in and were put down before the story ended. -Pet Cemetery -IT -The girl who loved Tom Gordon -Everything's Eventual -On Writing ------------------------------------- My favorite was actually his autobiography ; On Writing. I've always been interested in reading The Cell. But some of my family members have already done so and have given it a not so good rating. So, we'll see. _six Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreativeForce Posted September 12, 2006 Share Posted September 12, 2006 I have to admit I'm a King fan. Like Chris (Rollermonkey) I've read just about everything the man has written. Some of it is great (The Stand, It, The Dark Tower Series) and some of it "sucks like an Electrolux" but all of it is entertaining. And in the end isn't that what we're looking for when we read a piece of fiction? I keep meaning to check out Terry Prachett. Which should I start with? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomas2 Posted September 12, 2006 Author Share Posted September 12, 2006 Yeah King definately wrote some crappy books. I began reading 'Rosie' but I gave up on it on page 20 or something an I began re-reading The Stand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buttonman700 Posted September 14, 2006 Share Posted September 14, 2006 This is one of the greatest apocalypse/horror novels ever. If you like this, you should read "Swan Song" by Robert McCammon. It's sort of the same style of book (most of Earth's population wiped out by nuclear war), though it takes a very different path than The Stand. dt McCammon's "A Boys Life" is by far one of my favorite books of all times. The Stand is great, So's The Shining. Clive Barkers Weave World is good fun, twisted but good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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