The Stand

I haven't read Stephen King since I was in high school when it seemed everyone was carrying around a dog eared paperback of Cujo or Christine. It felt odd revisiting King on my ipad, the paperback covers having become such an iconic part of my adolescence.

The Stand is one of those books, like the Lord of the Rings, that seem to engender repeated readings and I know several people who've managed to plow through this weighty thing more than once.

I read the unabridged version published in 1991 weighing in at 1200 pages. Apparently this makes it longer than Moby Dick or War and Peace and caps off my post apocalyptic trifecta after finishing The Passage and The Twelve. You can see how much of a debt Cronin owes King.

Stephen King is a storyteller. I loved how much time spent on the early days of the virus, gleefully recounting each expired life as well as introducing the characters we would explore the post-virus world with. With it's heft he can really create wonderful, fleshed out arcs for each character. The Larry Underwood pre-virus is escaping from his drug debts and hiding at his mother's in New York. Stu Underwood is working a calculator factory and helping out at the gas station. Harold Lauder is a marginalized teen, mostly invisible and largely enraged. These characters and more get a nicely paced progression into the people they become. Maybe it all comes together a bit too neat, but as with the best road trips it's not the destination but the journey there that's the thing.