The Stand: The Complete and Uncut Edition

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Average customer rating 4.1 (10 comments)

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This is my favorite all time Steven King Book. I could never put it down.

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I read this book when I was 16 or 17 and it's still one of my top ten books...and I've read a LOT of books. It's truly a classic tale of good vs. evil done Stephen King style. It's one of the few books I recommend to anyone, without having to consider the type of books they're into. Stephen King books in general just seem to lose something when they're translated to film, so anyone who saw the television movie version from a few years back should know this is definitely one of those stories that's exponentially better in book form.

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I reread The Stand in 2010. I could read this book a hundred times and never tire of it.

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Great book! One of Mr. King's best ever books. A must read for all King fans or anyone who wants to read a book by Stephen King.

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Who'da thunk the end of human civilization could be so entertaining.

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King is the master and this is the greatest book of his writing career. Bar none.

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King is the master and this is the best book of his writing career bar none. I loved this book and the mini-series with Gary Sinese and Molly Ringwold was great also.

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One of Stephen King's best. Creative story, characters. Keeps you reading.

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The Stand is one of my all-time favorite books and it could be studied as one of the finest novels by American authors. Truly one of the best examples of character development and growth, The Stand brought so much to life that I always felt transported to another place and time. While definitely a long book, the time invested is not wasted - it is an epic masterpiece.

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"The Stand" is a landmark amongst Stephen King novels. King himself has commented, perhaps half-jokingly, that to quite a few of his fans, he could have died in 1980 and the quality of his work would not have suffered for it. It is certainly one of my favorite Stephen King novels. The overarching plot is a striking combination of apocalypticism and horror. A terrible disease annihilates 99% of the human race, leaving human civilization in ruins. In America, the survivors in the wake of the disease are "called", within their dreams, to two prospective figures. On the side of the good, there is the prophetic Abagail Freemantle, a 108 year old Nebraskan black woman. On the darker side, people are drawn to the enigmatic Randall Flagg, a powerful, demonic being with terrible powers. Eventually, this leads up to the namesake of the book; a 'stand'. This overview, of course, does not mention what really makes "The Stand" as great as it is; the developed, realistic characters and their complex interactions, the great attention to detail, and the subtle depictions of the main figures. Flagg is not "The Devil", but he is a subtle being with demonic undertones and power. Similarly, Mother Abagail is a prophetic figure, but she is also human, and makes mistakes. All of this makes "The Stand" a highly enjoyable read. Be warned, however; the book (and particularly the Uncut version) is quite long. Furthermore, King takes considerable time to develop the situation and characters, so, at least to some, that might strike as "very slow development." I recommend, however, that you read it; it is one of the high points of King's career, and a multigenre masterpiece of a novel.