By far my favorite King novel. This is the second time I’ve read this, the first being back ‘08. It was even better the second time and I caught things I either missed or glossed over the first.

I love the way King weaves multiple themes and ideals together that make not just an interesting story but one that makes the reader actually think. ( )

I couldn't tell you how many times I've read The Stand. I read the original version as a young teen and the uncut, and far superior, version when it came out. Less scary than most of his books, it is one of his best works for character development. There are some uses of language that haven't aged well, but they were true to their time period (1978) and clearly born of ignorance rather than hostility. This read was as ever a delight, but in many ways even more so as my spouse, who doesn't like scary things and is definitely the gentler spouse, asked me to pick out a Stephen King for our out-loud book. He knows how much I love the author, and just asked that I be willing to skip any bits that were too much for him. I gladly did this, there were only a couple, and enjoyed the story of Kojak more than ever because of how much my husband loves dogs and his delighted cries of "What a good boy!" throughout the book. ( )

Esta narración cuenta cómo un virus gripal, creado artificialmente como posible arma bacteriológica, se extiende por Estados Unidos y provoca la muerte de millones de personas. Los supervivientes tienen sueños comunes, en los que aparecen una anciana y un hombre joven. La mujer anciana los incita a viajar a Nebraska para combatir a Randall Flagg, un abominable personaje que lidera las fuerzas del mal y busca su aniquilación definitiva mediante un temible arsenal.

One of my favorite books I have ever read. I reread it every few years, because it is so long, but it's just as good as the first time I read it. ( )

I first read The Stand in high school. It was a revelatory experience then, what with its fascinating characters, grotesque horror, and overt fantasy. But revisiting now, over a decade later, has given this book a new color.

Not just because of the pandemic, though the parallels are eerily prescient, but because I understand these characters better than I did when I was fifteen. I understand their motivations, and I am in awe of King's extensive backstory and character work. Even the villains are multidimensional people. That's what made me fall in love with King's work back then, and that's why I still love it now. ( )