The Stand

I could never finish it.
Tried twice.

The first third or so is some of the best stuff I’ve ever read. But the middle third got so tedious and boring I just couldn’t do it.

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This is my first King novel.

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It's really different from most of his others. From a structure standpoint, I would say more similar to It (or, I suppose its cousin, Dark Tower series) than anything, but very dense and weighty like fantasy works of Tolkien and Martin.

It's my favorite King "main" novel, about equal with the novella Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption.

You won't need the book in a few months it seems like. We'll be living it

But yes, it's King's best, most balanced book honestly.

I think his best stuff is his novellas...Apt Pupil, The Long Walk, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, The Body, The Road Virus Heads North.

All great stories, and you can easily read one in a day or less.

Also, The Shining is a great book as well.

Doing an Audible listen now after not reading it in years. Everyone starting to arrive at Mother Abigail’s. So good.


Can’t wait to see the new take on the series that finished shooting right before the shutdown. No release date yet but could be a fall tentpole since production on new shows will be delayed.


Strong cast


LINK

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James Marsden and Alexander Skarsgaard head up the principal cast, with Marsden playing Stuart Redman, a man immune to the virus who becomes a government guinea pig and later a leader in the Free Zone, while Skarsgard will bring his dark magnetism to the role of Randall Flagg. Whoopi Goldberg appears as Mother Abigail, a 108-year-old survivor who becomes a spiritual leader to the people of the Free Zone. Odessa Young will play Frannie Goldsmith, a young and pregnant woman who fears that her child will not be immune to the virus. Owen Teague appears as Harold Lauder, Frannie’s shy and awkward neighbor, who claims to want to protect her, but may in fact wish to control her.

Watchmen’s Jovan Adepo stars as Larry Underwood, a musician who scores his first hit after the pandemic ravages life as we know it. Heather Graham will play a socialite struggling to survive in a wasted world, while Henry Zaga plays a deaf man with extraordinary sensitivity to nature. Amber Heard appears as Nadine Cross, a troubled woman who falls in with Flagg, while Greg Kinnear will portray Glen Bateman, a widowed sociology professor who provides insight into how groups should reintegrate in the wake of destruction.

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Here's a song by The Alarm about the book:

YouTube Link: The Stand by the Alarm