Book Review of The Stand by Stephen King

September 4, 2023

In this post, I will be reviewing The Stand by Stephen King. The Stand is a post-apocalyptic story in which those immune to a devastating plague find themselves trapped in a battle between good and evil.

*Disclaimer: Reviews may contain spoilers. All views are the personal opinions of Chad Pettit. They do not reflect the beliefs or opinions of the author, nor are they endorsements of any beliefs.

The Stand by Stephen King

The Stand is considered one of bestselling author Stephen King’s greatest novels. It is a masterpiece of storytelling of a post-plague world where the survivors find themselves locked in a battle between good and evil.

When a fatal super-flu (Captain Trips) wipes out billions, those who are immune must learn to survive in a world void of electricity or any of the typical resources humanity has grown dependent on. Making matters worse, a mysterious and supernatural man (Randall Flagg, aka ‘The Walkin Dude’) comes onto the scene with domination in his sights.

As the survivors begin having similar dreams, the remnants of the United States soon become divided between the free zone in Boulder, Colorado and Randall Flagg’s New Vegas. The people of the free zone look to Mother Abigail, a 108-year-old woman whose faith in God is about to be tested.

*Quick note: The Stand was first published in 1978. That’s two years before I was born, so a lot of people have already read it, but I only recently got around to it. Don’t be all judgey!

The Good

I should admit up front that I’m biased when it comes to Stephen King. I think he’s one of the greatest novelists of all time, and no one can convince me otherwise. His ability to create rich characters and put them in scenes that unfold easily in the imagination of readers is amazing.

I really like the omniscient point of view in The Stand. It’s a trademark style for King, but I also felt like it worked really well for a story spanning the entire country and dealing with so many characters. Speaking of the characters, they all have intriguing backstories that sets up the choices they make really well.

Worldbuilding

The setting descriptions are impressive, as well. It’s almost like King went to the different places in The Stand and wrote the respective scenes on location. Even more impressive is the way King imagines a world in which infrastructure collapses overnight and what the emerging country would look like.

I really appreciated the attention to detail. As a person who writes post-apocalyptic stories, I know the challenge of imagining a world in ruins. What would be left? How would people get food? King handles these questions in the most realistic way possible, considering he’s making it all up.

Things like cooling drinks in a stream because there’s no electricity and no one has ice just make sense. The characters getting bored of eating canned foods is another thing to deal with. Not to mention how to get gas for vehicles or the trouble of blocked roads and tunnels with no lights.

Image credit: https://variety.com/2020/tv/reviews/stephen-king-the-stand-review-1234852574/

The Story

There are a LOT of separate storylines in this mammoth novel (my unabridged paperback is 1153 pages), but those storylines all wrap up and come together with the stroke of a master storyteller. King has received a lot of flack for his not-so-wonderful endings over the years, but this one felt satisfying for me.

The contrast between Randall Flagg (who appears in many of King’s novels) and Abigail Freemantle (Mother Abigail to her followers) was really good, if not a bit heavy-handed. Mother Abigail is a woman of strong faith while Flagg is clearly working for the other guy. However, they both have their flaws, which added depth to the story.

The character arcs are interesting, especially for some of the major characters like Harold Lauder and Larry Underwood. Very few of the characters are the same by the end of The Stand, but nothing seems forced.

The Bad

Far be it from me to criticize a master. My feelings toward this novel are mostly positive, but I do have a few things worth noting. For the most part, I really enjoyed reading it, but there were a few places the characters seemed a bit over the top, the story lagged in pacing, and you could probably cut a few hundred pages and still have an amazing book.

The Characters

I loved Tom Cullen, but him saying “laws yes” every other sentence got on my nerves after a while. That being said, he’s one of my favorite characters in the book, but I wouldn’t have minded a few less of those.

Image Credit: https://www.polygon.com/tv/2021/1/21/22241739/ezra-miller-the-stand-trashcan-man-episode-6-the-vigil

There were a couple times I had a difficult time suspending disbelief. For example, Nick Andros (deaf and unable to speak) goes from not knowing how to handle watching a few guys in a jail cell to being an almost prophetic leader of the free zone who is wise beyond his years. Tough sell, if I’m being honest, but I’m still team Nick.

The Pacing

I’m not going to lie. I started The Stand and just couldn’t get into it at first, even after a couple hundred pages. At one point, I actually set it on my nightstand and let it collect dust for a couple weeks. It’s all great storytelling, but the first couple hundred pages reads like a literary fiction novel, the kind with no plot.

Even after I picked it back up and skimmed through what I’d read to refresh my memory, I still hit a couple spots where I couldn’t remember some aspect of the story. I mean, trying to keep all the facts of a nearly 1,200 page book straight is a task, to say the least. But by then I was so engrossed in the story that I didn’t mind hunting for those nuggets.

The Length

I’m sorry, but size DOES matter…when you’re reading. Some books are just too damn long. Respectfully, Mr. King, you know how daunting it is to look at a book that stacks higher than two bibles on top of each other?

I’m the kind of reader who gets invested in something and wants to stick with it. I’m here for the long haul, as they say. I read all the dark elf books by R.A. Salvatore until Forgotten Realms forced him to jump ahead a century, I read every single word of The Dark Tower series, and if Lee Child writes another Jack Reacher novel, I’m reading it.

But this damn book should have been a trilogy. I loved it. I watched the Paramount Plus adaptation. I searched for information about it. When it was over, I wanted more, and I’d gladly read a sequel. I’m just saying. You’re not reading The Stand over the weekend.

Image credit: The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/17/arts/television/stand-stephen-king-history.html

The Beautiful

Absolutely none of the things I mentioned in “The Bad” section are actually bad. This is without a doubt some of King’s best work. I’m just capturing my takeaways and the thoughts I had. They’re all my opinions. I’d recommend this book to anyone who likes this style of story. As I wrap this review up, here are a few things I want to leave you with.

Every aspiring writer should read a Stephen King novel. I learn something every time. His last name is very appropriate because, when it comes to storytelling, he is the king.
This is an honest and relatable book. It might be a made up tale told about an imaginary world, but it rings true to who we all are, deep down.
The themes in this book could be (and actually might be; I don’t know) an entire college course. One that stands out to me is the idea that we don’t get the world we want. We have to accept and adapt to the world we have.
As cliché as it might be, we need these good vs. evil stories. We need to ask ourselves who we are when the chips are down. Are you the type of person to jump in front of a bus to save someone, or are you the type of person to pull out your phone and record it? What do you do in the face of temptation? Fear? Loss?
This might have been written decades ago, but it’s fitting for the times. If you think people won’t go crazy and completely lose their shit amid catastrophe, you haven’t been paying attention for the last few years.