The Stand

As a kid, my biggest fear was a zombie apocalypse. The idea of fighting an unwinnable war against something as all-encompassing as every dead person ever, reanimated, and the emotional defeat and hopelessness that would cause terrified me.

This book resonated with me, capturing my fears and projecting them large with a backdrop of real, believable, tangible human stories of loss, self-doubt and insecurity, fear, wrestling with your own dark side, regret, and coming to terms with the possibility that Something greater than all of us really does exist and have power in the world today.

Reading about Mother Abagail and her perspective on God's sovereignty, the slow redemption of certain characters, and even the perspectives of those characters who never had a redemption was impactful to me. Honestly, I'd say that this book is important and challenges the standards of our modern world maybe even more strongly than it did when it was released 30 years ago.

As a reading experience, this was by far my favorite King book. I had a hard time with the Shining because of the way that evil was portrayed, rampant and inevitable, with no counterpoint. Having this book framed as a good vs. evil battle made reading the atrocities the bad guys committed more bearable, because how else are you going to show who they really are? I read the Complete & Uncut Edition of this book, and I can't imagine cutting out anything from this book. It all felt so well done and necessary.

Age range: 18+
Not a YA novel, in case you were curious. Very violent, very graphic.