The Stand

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 more than 500 pages of 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 read or listened to The Stand in its original version and wanted more, this new edition is Stephen King's gift. And those who are hearing 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.

©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)

My First Completed Stephen King Novel

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.

658 of 681 people found this review helpful

Well worth the credit

I have seen some complaints about people not giving an idea of what the story is about, so here it is briefly: It is not a "horror" novel, even though it is billed as one. In the beginning of the story a super flu wipes out most of the earth's population. There is no gratuitous gore, but there are some scenes dealing with lots of dead people. The rest of the book is about the struggle of the survivors to survive, and the battle between good and evil, God and the devil.

Stephen King's talent lies in his ability to spin a tale, to develop interesting characters that you can relate to, to put you in the mind of his characters, and make you live the story. In that regard this is one of his best works. I first read the original story probably 25 years ago, and it made a lasting impression on me. The extended version is even better.

Highly recommend this one. At first I had a neutral opinion of Grover Gardner' s voice, but after a while I grew to enjoy his narration quite a bit.

98 of 101 people found this review helpful

Worth the wait!

Would you consider the audio edition of The Stand to be better than the print version?

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.

What other book might you compare The Stand to and why?

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.
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)
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)

Which scene was your favorite?

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.

Any additional comments?

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.

Now, if we can just get Peter Jackson to take a peak at this little book....

180 of 192 people found this review helpful

I'm a Fan

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.

52 of 56 people found this review helpful

A Post-Apocaltyptical Brain Vacation

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.

59 of 64 people found this review helpful

It's finally here! Complete and uncut!

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.

224 of 248 people found this review helpful

Downloaded at 2 am on the 14th

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.

115 of 129 people found this review helpful

THANK YOU AUDIBLE!!!!

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!

84 of 97 people found this review helpful

Finally!!!!!

Where does The Stand rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of the absolute best.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Stand?

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.

Have you listened to any of Grover Gardner’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

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.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

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.

Any additional comments?

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.

31 of 36 people found this review helpful

The KING of Apocalyptic Classics!

How can you write a review about this AMAZING book and do it justice?

Grover Gardner, The Narrator, was PERFECT, I LOVED him! My biggest worry, when I heard this was finally coming out in Audio was, I wouldn't like the narrator. All for naught.

The story was even better than I remembered it to be, back in 1990. King weaves his fantastic, magic with the stories of the people's lives, and the result is outSTANDing brilliance! If you haven't listened to it. . .you are missing out!

Here is a brief, VERY brief description of the story, for those that have never read it.

Book 1 - Captain Trips

"Captain Trips" is the common name for a human-made superflu known formally as, "Project Blue".
The virus is researched and developed at a U.S. Army base. A biological accident, combined with security malfunctions, allow an infected guard and his family to sneak off the base. This sets off a pandemic that kills 99.4% of the world's population, including some of the domesticated animals.
King describes the destruction of society, widespread violence, virus containment failure, and eventual death of virtually the entire human and animal population.
The few remaining survivors must care for their families and friends, deal with confusion and grief, as their loved ones succumb to the flu and the dead bodies pile up everywhere.

Book 2 - On the Border

"On the Border", tells intertwining stories about the small bands of survivors and their cross-country treks. They're all drawn together by a shared dream, of old woman (Mother Abagail, 106 yrs old) and a Nebraska corn field, whom they see as a safe haven and representation of "The Good".
Another group of survivors are drawn to Las Vegas by "the Dark Man", known as Randall Flagg. Flagg, a tyrant and brute, uses crucifixion, dismemberment, and other gruesome forms of torture as punishment for those who are disloyal and disobedient. He is evil with supernatural powers and exists in the story, to represent the opposite side of Mother Abagail, "The Evil".

Book 3 - The Stand

In book 3, the stage becomes set for the final confrontation as the two groups become aware of one another, and each recognizes the other as a threat to its survival, leading to "The Stand" of good against evil.
The good guys set off on foot towards Las Vegas on an expedition to confront Randall Flagg for the final battle between men.

Can the human race can learn from its mistakes?

8 of 9 people found this review helpful