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Stephen King 2-Book Box Set: The Stand / The Dark Half
The Stand, Complete And Uncut; The Dark Half. 2 Vols.
Paperback
First published June 1, 1991
About the author
Stephen King
2,148 books900k followersStephen Edwin King was born the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his father left them when Stephen was two, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family was at the time, and in Stratford, Connecticut. When Stephen was eleven, his mother brought her children back to Durham, Maine, for good. Her parents, Guy and Nellie Pillsbury, had become incapacitated with old age, and Ruth King was persuaded by her sisters to take over the physical care of them. Other family members provided a small house in Durham and financial support. After Stephen's grandparents passed away, Mrs. King found work in the kitchens of Pineland, a nearby residential facility for the mentally challenged.
Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.
He met Tabitha Spruce in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University, where they both worked as students; they married in January of 1971. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.
Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many were gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.
In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching English at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.
Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.
He met Tabitha Spruce in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University, where they both worked as students; they married in January of 1971. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.
Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many were gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.
In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching English at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 4, 2010
The world may end in many forms, but here people die, and some forms of animal life, but basically you have everything else left. What really matters? I read this book 20 years after it was first written. No cell phones. Very little if any t.v. or new movies. Appreciate what you have. Those left behind in any disaster will represent all walks of life, all different morals and different ethics. Yes it is a story of good vs. evil, but for me it was man vs man and man vs himself that have kept this novel "still standing" 20 years post writing.
June 22, 2023
All 1153 pages of the Complete and Uncut Version!
June 30, 2012
The storyline is interesting enough: a deadly airborne virus, concocted in a US military laboratory, mistakenly gets exposed to an individual. He escapes with his family, and when they show up dying in a small town, the men who come out to help are exposed, and so on. The virus has a 99.7% kill rate. The beginning of the book is dedicated to the spread of the plague and the mass deaths. Some of this is very interesting and may parallel how people would really react. King presents the mass deaths in such a deadpan way, it was actually a nice complement to the seriousness of the chain of events.
The world's population is decimated. The novel then begins to show the few survivors, finding one another and their dreams seem to propel them into one of two directions—and two leaders. Randall Flagg is the leader of darkness, located in the west. Mother Abagail is a 108-yr old black woman in Colorado who is empowered by God to see the intent of the evil Flagg and she represents the good.
The characters develop, some taking on unexpected roles in this newly formed society, and the events bring out both the best and worst in the individuals. Another fear for the remaining individuals is whether their offspring will be susceptible to the virus. One of the central characters is a pregnant young woman (in the good camp) who meets and falls for a guy who is one of the leaders of the good camp. They become a couple and another source of tension is the awaiting of the baby’s birth.
Added tension arises as some characters in the good camp are actually evil and are drawn to Flagg’s camp, but are plotting against the good camp for their destruction.
An eventual battle ensues, good against evil.
Along the way, the character development is good, varied, but the story doesn’t stand out as an extraordinary read. The evil character Flagg is not really fully explored, is he Satan, is he the son of Satan? Also some of the storyline threads seemed illogically strewn…
The world's population is decimated. The novel then begins to show the few survivors, finding one another and their dreams seem to propel them into one of two directions—and two leaders. Randall Flagg is the leader of darkness, located in the west. Mother Abagail is a 108-yr old black woman in Colorado who is empowered by God to see the intent of the evil Flagg and she represents the good.
The characters develop, some taking on unexpected roles in this newly formed society, and the events bring out both the best and worst in the individuals. Another fear for the remaining individuals is whether their offspring will be susceptible to the virus. One of the central characters is a pregnant young woman (in the good camp) who meets and falls for a guy who is one of the leaders of the good camp. They become a couple and another source of tension is the awaiting of the baby’s birth.
Added tension arises as some characters in the good camp are actually evil and are drawn to Flagg’s camp, but are plotting against the good camp for their destruction.
An eventual battle ensues, good against evil.
Along the way, the character development is good, varied, but the story doesn’t stand out as an extraordinary read. The evil character Flagg is not really fully explored, is he Satan, is he the son of Satan? Also some of the storyline threads seemed illogically strewn…
March 5, 2012
This is the uncut version and Stephen King states in his forward that there are about 400 more pages than in the originally published version. So far I am enjoying the richer story and like knowing more about these characters. I like hanging out with them, even though it is through the roughest trials anyone could imagine.
October 20, 2015
For me, King is a bit of a mix bag as an author. You will either receive something truly wonderful or you will hate the entire experience – somehow, he even manages those between stages.
For me The Stand is a wonderful read, although not quite as good as I had hoped for. The Dark Half, on the other hand, is not as enjoyable. Rather an odd couple to be put together, in my opinion.
For me The Stand is a wonderful read, although not quite as good as I had hoped for. The Dark Half, on the other hand, is not as enjoyable. Rather an odd couple to be put together, in my opinion.
September 21, 2008
couldnt find the dark half on its own which is strange!!!! brlliant book
April 16, 2012
A long, long, long book.
A long, long, long, long book.
At long last!!!!!
April to
August.
Finally finished!!!
A long, long, long, long book.
At long last!!!!!
April to
August.
Finally finished!!!
March 15, 2015
Read this book and love the movie.
May 23, 2019
stand= frickin masterpiece
dark hald = so n so (way better than the movie hahah)
dark hald = so n so (way better than the movie hahah)
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews