The Stand

Before I get into my review, I have to say I've been terribly disappointed in a lot of the reviews of this book. The book is almost 48 hours long, yet most people barely have two sentences to say about it. I know most people have read this edition before, but for people like me, there aren't that many helpful reviews.
I've read many many books in my time, but nothing has ever captured my attention the way The Stand did. It starts off with a sick man plowing into a gas station and spreading the disease to about 3 or 4 people there. However, what intrigued me the most was not the characters themselves, but how they changed and grew. There are some obviously "Good" people, and there are some "Bad" ones. However, I felt like King also put some in the middle. He left room for people to change. The story, for me, was not predictable or dull, and by my experience, most 48 hour long books do get dull somewhere. This one never did. The narrator was fantastic. I thought he did a fabulous job. I can't recommend this book enough. I'm glad I started it, but I will warn you, you won't want to put it down. I finished it in 6 days if that tells you anything. Thank you audible for giving me the opportunity to enjoy this masterpiece. I will definitely be revisiting it again.

From what I've listened to so far the narrator (Grover Gardner) does a great job! He pulled me into the story with no distracting affectation that you get from so many other recorded books of the horror/fantasy genre. However, the daunting 48 hour listen may have me augmenting the audio edition with my paperback.

Grant's Pass - by Amanda PIller. A post-apocalyptic anthology, well written and very fun to read. At times I felt that this collection was the 'lost chapters' of The Stand.<br/>Swan's Song - A very good read in the same vein, Robert McGammon is another of my favorites (unrelated but other great books by him: Boy's Life and Going South)<br/>The Road - by Cormac McCarthy. Grittier and darker than The Stand but evocative (the book is better than the movie and I liked the movie)<br/><br/>

Gosh, so many! - the tunnel, the...hey, I'm not gonna spoil this for first timers! Read it and love it! Once everyone is up to speed, I may update this.

To all those folks who won't read this just because it's by Stephen King - please do yourself a favor and get this book. Although is has some 'horrific' scenes, the character development and story arc are some of the best I've ever read. Don't be put off by his reputation as Master of Horror - he's also a Master Storyteller; remember, this is the same author who gave us Stand By Me and The Shawshank Redemption.<br/><br/>Now, if we can just get Peter Jackson to take a peak at this little book....

Unlike many diehard King Fans, I never read The Stand as a teen. In fact, I only got into King after appreciating much of his later work, like Duma Key, Under the Dome and 11-22-63. This completely unabridged reworking of the original, with many previously cut passages re-added by he author, is a gem. A vacation for the brain. Normally, I view a book this long (48 full hours!) as a mountain to scale. But King turns long works into something more like a wave that is ridden. I listened to the whole thing at normal speed, with complete and utter enjoyment. The characters in this book are both lovable and despicable. There's no waste or self-indulgence here. Just damn good storytelling. More. Please.

I've read this complete and uncut novel before, as it was available via the National Library Service for the Blind. But alas, it was just available for rent. But now, some 22 or so years since it was released in its entirety, I couldn't help buying it. It was actually the first thing I did when waking up on Feb 14th since audible gave me the heads up concerning it arriving on audio.

Don't pass this title up. Most of King's fans say that it is his best work ever. Well, for me it ties with It and The Dark Tower series.

Having read both versions-- this uncut doorstop of a novel, and the dinky little 800 someodd pager published in the late 70's... I prefer the one you're hopefully about to download or have already downloaded. I wouldn't have purchased the original edited edition if Random House had released it. So don't let the title confuse you, folks. It is indeed the complete and uncut edition, and well it should be. King himself says he can't abide abridged audio books. Well spoken, wordslinger! And we all say thank ya.

My opinion of said novel? C'mon, it's Stephen King. And it is one of my all time favorites which I at long last own. It's a post apocalyptic epic featuring one of the best villains of all time. It's got romance, horror, etc. Just use a credit and buy it already! Now to submit this and take care of this bothersome stuffy nose and cough of mine.

I can't say that this is my very favorite SK book ever, but I did really love it. I liked the characters so much. Nick who couldn't hear or speak yet he had so much to say and many people followed him. I have had dreams like this where we are all beginning again and SK makes it all come alive in his book. Grover Gardner is one of my favorite narrators ever, what talent!!!!! Yea this is a good one for sure.

I downloaded this just as soon as it showed up and so far I can tell you a couple of things:

#1. The reader is doing his part and his style fits what I was expecting!

#2. The story, for those that don't know what it is about, is classic King but with an apocalyptic type of plot. The character building is huge and wonderful here but don't worry your self as it DOES NOT SLOW DOWN THIS BOOK at all. King gives us maybe the biggest and best set of characters that he has ever had published and I'm not kidding about that!!!

#3. The overall feel of this classic is ....well it's just classic! It got me from the first few minutes on and carried me on a journey that somehow leaves no doubt that I learned a few things that are useful in life, but I'm biased when it comes to The Stand as it has had a place in my heart for years. If you are looking to get into a very long book that will teach, scare, bring sadness and joy as well as new memorable characters into your thoughts then you have found a classic for sure!

Just keep that in mind that many of us readers are revisiting this book in it's new form and are only looking for word that the reader has delivered what Stephen King wrote for us many years ago so all the reviews may not be what a new reader is looking for. I hope I was able to give you a review that will help in some way.

One of the absolute best.

Why don't you ask which of my kids I like better?! One thing that sticks out are the snippets of random people's fate, such as a little boy falling down a well while wandering alone after his family died.

I heard the previous version he did of The Stand, which was a library cassette audiobook. The sound quality was awful but he did a good job. I wish he put a bit more emotion in his voice but for the most part I think he is a great narrator.

That isn't even possible. There literally aren't enough hours in the day. I did fall asleep several times listening to it because I couldn't put it down.

I would definitely say this is worth your credit. I'm glad they didn't make it a two credit book like some of the other really long books.

One of my favorite books of all time. I'm sure I've read it a dozen times over the years. I am so happy to have the audio version finally. I don't think I need to critique or review the book much more than to say if you're a Stephen King fan, you know this is one of his best books. And if you're NOT a King fan necessarily, this is one of his novels like the recent JFK assassination novel that you might find accessible. One of the classic post-apocalyptic books of the genre. THANK YOU AUDIBLE!

Not his best, not his worst. Good vs. Evil on the blank page of post-apocalyptic America. King is one of the great story tellers, his characters rich and believable, the setting as tangible as can be imagined. I wanted more from this, more about the human condition, the deep personal struggles that can only occur when the bottom has fallen out, when the imagination is bested by the stark reality, where every decision, no matter how small, could end a life or the course of civilization. I wanted more.
11.22.63 was a better book, but this is pretty darn good.
One cannot compare King to all the others as he is simply in a class by himself.

Life, Death, Religion, and Civilization; lofty topics to tackle in a thriller. It's no surprise that Stephen King deftly rises to the challenge and delivers an epic of...well...epic proportions.

The most impressive thing about this novel in my opinion is the fact that there was no point in the 48 hour novel that felt like the story was stalled or lagging. The plot kept moving forward; slowly, patiently, but with great skill and expertise. I was especially fascinated by the themes of civilization and religion; I found myself deconstructing and analyzing many of my own thoughts on these topics. I've always been of the opinion that Stephen King is a genius, but if I'd had any doubts, this book would have put them to rest.

SO: Deep, thoughtful, chilling, entertaining, fun... there's the good news.

Don't worry - there's no "bad" news, per se.. more like mediocre. For such a famous, long anticipated tome such as this, you would think it would be insured that the narration was second to none; and that's not how I found it. It was fine, and it didn't ruin the book; I still recommend this wholeheartedly. Mr. Gardner did a good job creating the different voices of the characters, and for the most part kept them straight, which I'm sure was no small task. Still, I've experienced enough spectacular readers that this was a let down. Finally, and most egregious, Mr. Gardner would (from time to time) mispronounce a word that had no business being mispronounced. I was really surprised these errors could have made it through to the finished product.

Still, if hearing saguaro pronounced with a hard "G" doesn't set your nerves on edge, you'll be fine; and even if it does, the performance as a whole is not bad.

Overall, I really, really enjoyed this one. Thanks, Mr. King.