The Stand

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

Length: 47 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

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 to be 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 material previously 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.

For hundreds of thousands of fans who heard The Stand in its original version and wanted more, this new edition is Stephen King's gift. And those who are listening to The Stand for the first time will discover a triumphant and eerily plausible work of the imagination that takes on the issues that will determine our survival.

Cover artwork ©2020 CBS Interactive Inc.

©1978 Stephen King (P)2012 Random House

Critic reviews

"A master storyteller." (Los Angeles Times)

"[The Stand] has everything. Adventure. Romance. Prophecy. Allegory. Satire. Fantasy. Realism. Apocalypse. Great!" (The New York Times Book Review)

"As brilliant a dark dream as has ever been dreamed in this century." (Palm Beach Post)

listened many times

Spooky, scary, ans one of my favorite from the author. I would love to hear Kings reflections on this book in the wake of all the many viruses that are running rampant at this time. listening to this at the height of Covid made it even scarier.

Mr. Gardner’s performance

The performance is worth more than the book itself, sort of like the best theatrical plays in the world are flat and boring unless brought to life by the actors. Thank you Mr. King, and Mr. Gardner for taking on his work assignments for us to enjoy.

Worth the time!

It’s a long read(listen). But absolutely with it. The narration is so good. And the characters and story and amazing. Not for the faint of heart. But so poignant if a story. Especially when he wrote it, and our world today.

Fantastic narrator

Fantastic well written book with an amazing narration. The narrator brought every character to life with different tones & accent. The book was very well written with excellent detail, though long, a great novel that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Excellent

Having read the book and now listened to it, I can say it is still a wild ride.
Interesting and well developed characters.
Sometimes it is a bit too real with what is going on in the world now.

Loved the narration, really enjoyed the story!

I think this is the longest book I've ever read? Could be? Right up there with Count of Monte Cristo (a MUST-READ btw) as far as length. What a great story. King has said this is one of his all-time fan favorites and I gotta say I'm in agreement. I've read a few King books at this point, as I'm working on getting to know the craft better, and this was a wonderful ride. Thanks Stephen!

It was okay BUT... Too much sexual content.

I grew up with both of my parents loving Stephen King but I never really officially read him until this year. I read Misery before this one and it was pretty good. I have been moving recently and I wanted to tackle 'the beast' so to say and download this huge book of his to finally see it at long last while I moved into my new home.

The narrator did a superb job and I really liked his reading of it. It is the story itself which I have more qualms with.

It is a really nice story overall and I understand it was published many years ago so it was a different time, a different Stephen. I understand all of that. I watched the TV series as a kid (Though I don't remember much) but it was super nice getting to finally read the book.

My main problem about this is that there is simply TOO MUCH sex and sexual content in it. It flat out ruined the story for me. I'm not one of those 'I'm gonna clutch my pearls cause you mentioned a NAUGHTY THING' types at all and I understand sex is a cornerstone of humanity... Especially in rebuilding after a humanity destroying event like this. But I felt as if Stephen King couldn't go A SINGLE CHAPTER without mentioning it. In many, MANY instances the women only amounted to sex rather than other people or characters.

So that is my main complaint. I surmise that he was simply young, hot, and horny, and simply failed to 'get one out' before writing it more often than not. You could quite literally omit a large number of the sexual mentions or scenes WITHOUT destroying any plot whatsoever. Once I realized how overtly sexual nonstop it was it was like I couldn't stop hearing it and it was a buzzing in my ear. Girl characters that were interesting and had plot in the beginning devolved into sex things. Sex, sex, sex. If there was anything involving a woman it was sex eventually. At one point a pregnant character was 'exploring her body with her hands' and he put the line 'Instead of traveling Southward her hands went to her stomach'. He did NOT even have to include that line of '...Instead of going southward' at all. It's like adding a bunch of unecessary explosions.

Again, I'm fully aware this is a younger, different Stephen King. I just really wish he didn't put so much unnecessary sex into it. Was it REALLY pertinent to the story to have Mother Abigail talk about being with her husbands and 'smelling corn'? Was it really necessary to go into detail about Trashcan Man's sexual rendevous in prison/jail/wards or wherever he was? Frannie was literally there to cause some weird sex triangle mischief only it felt like. If you were a woman in this book you HAD sex or your story surrounded it. No female character was left untouched by this. I get that women have sex and relationships but this is ridiculous. Seriously sex-less plots surrounding the women are insanely minimim and even background mimor women were sexualized or men wanted to do it. Even as the judge left town the boys wanted him to pick up dirty magazines. Even finding another dog even though it was a puppy they were like 'They can do itttttt' and it got so annoying so fast. It felt like at the end of every scene at one point the characters were like 'You wanna go at it? ;)' And they would. It was beyond frustrating. At one point a woman woke up thinking about her sexual adventures, looked over, called to a man that she had just 'had', went another round, then talked about doing it again. I GET that she was weaseling her way into him and his info using a sexual tactic but... At this point I was so unamused by the nonstop sex I didn't care.

Sexual content in a story is like cheese. Plot is the meat. The atmosphere/setting is the bread, the characters the toppings, events the toppings, and so forth. The burger was already pretty good but for some strange reason Stephen King wouldn't STOP putting cheese slices on it. At some point the entire burger is buried and it is nothing but cheese.

I don't mind the rambling or long story but I feel like the sexual content really got out of hand in this one and my eyebrows are beyond off of my forehead at the fact that no one else seems to notice this. Don't get me wrong: I'm okay with sexual content and don't mind it! But this was TOO MUCH and unnecessary! It had no relevance to the plot 9 times outta 10! And as a woman I'm also deeply annoyed with the fact that women are just sex dolls essentially in this story or figures meant to cause sexual strife. There was one woman who was into other women and it became a big thing for no reason, overtly sexualized and put into it and strangely written about. Again, I know the 80's/90's were a different time- I get that. But this is just weird. I really wish an editor came through and edited out certain sexual sections and I woudl've enjoyed it far better.

Other than that the story was pretty alright. I really detested Frannie's character and how she became a sex thing for the majority of the story. I feel as though she was mainly there to be the object of a jealous affair triangle between two men. A lot of the females in general were sex objects but I dislike her the most. If it wasn't for all of the nonstop "This woman stood up and she had tight clothes and you can bet the men looked at that" and other sexual nonstop mentions the book would honestly be rated much more higher for me. I'm glad that most of his works are NOT This long and perhaps having them more condensed or shorter will help to drop out the nonstop sexual mentions. I do look forward to reading those and hopefully his other works, now that he is older and perhaps in his 'post nut clarity' when writing some of these other ones. I think he's a great writer aside from that and definitely someone everyone should read at least once. It's perfectly okay and acceptable to have critque of an artist of whose media you consume and it doesn't mean I hate Stephen King or his work. I just wish he would 'calm the hell down' a lot.

Great book and required reading for the dark tower

Great book, drags a bit in places but is a nice, enjoyable read. It's long, but it doesn't feel super long most of the time. There's way too much inconsequential stuff after the climax though.

The stand

Powerful, visceral, not for the faint of heart—over the top on detail of sex or violence sometimes but keeps your attention.

one of the best.

one of Stephen king's best novels to date. This is the long version, but he just added so much more color to the story. I loved it!