The Stand by Stephen King

The Stand is one of those books I've intended to read for years. I think I first picked up a used copy when I was in junior high or high school. It was the movie cover edition with a picture of Molly Ringwald and Gary Sinise. I hadn't read anything by Stephen King, but I was going through a phase (still sort of ongoing--maybe not so much a phase?) where I would pick up just about any book that had more than 1000 pages.

The book sat unread on my shelf for several years, although I did read several other books by King. Then in July, when I was preparing for RAGBRAI, I was trying to decide what kind of reading material I'd take with me. Of course I'd have my phone with its Kindle, Nook, and Google Books apps, but phones need to be charged, which can be logistically challenging on RAGBRAI. I knew I really needed to take a physical book so I'd always have something to read in the evenings at the campsite. It had to be something long so I wouldn't run out of reading material, and it had to be something absorbing that I wouldn't get bored with before the week was over. I knew that The Stand fulfilled the length criteria and, based on the other King books I'd read, I was pretty sure it would also fit the "absorbing" bill.

I started reading it on the bus ride to the starting town and I was not disappointed: from page one, The Stand is entertaining and gripping. I even downloaded the Kindle edition so I could keep reading it on my phone while I stood in line for pancakes or pork chops during the day (the paperback edition was too heavy and bulky to carry on my bike). If you're not familiar with it, the basic plot is that a supervirus wipes out 99% of humanity and the remaining survivors (at least the remaining American survivors) must choose sides between good (Mother Abagail) and evil (the Dark Man).

I was curious about how the virus was affecting other countries--were there Dark Men and Mother Abagails in Canada and China, for example?--but I can understand why King decided not to go there. As it is, the book is almost 1500 pages long.

The best part about King's books is his characters. He creates huge casts of characters and each one is completely distinct from all the others. How does he DO that? How is it possible that a book could have as many characters as The Stand does, and yet I had absolutely no problem keeping them straight? The fully fleshed characters make up for any other shortcomings King's books might have. For example, he has trouble knowing when to say when, and his extremely lengthy scenes can seem self-indulgent. I often found myself skimming to get to the end of a particular scene--for example, I thought many of the Trashcan Man's scenes, especially the chapter in which he is introduced, went on way too long. I also hated the ending of this book. However, I've heard that if you read the original edition that didn't have the extra scenes added back in, the very last chapter is not included, which would vastly improve the ending.

I tried watching the miniseries but only made it through the first episode before giving up. I realize that it is 17 years old, but it's really hokey and the acting is terrible (speaking of which, who in their right mind cast Molly Ringwald as Fran? I'm so glad I read the book before trying to watch the miniseries. If I'd been stuck picturing Ringwald as Fran throughout the book, I'd have been pretty unhappy). The only redeeming features of the first episode were Gary Sinise as Stu Redman and Ed Harris as General Starkey.

So in short:

•  If you love character-driven novels, you'll probably like this book. The plot's pretty good but could be a bit too drawn out for people who prefer plot-driven fiction. 
•  Do NOT try to watch the miniseries before reading the book, unless you really love Gary Sinise.