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The Stand
Stephen King, The Stand, paperback
817 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published January 1, 1980
10 people are currently reading
83 people want to read
About the author
Stephen King
2,387 books890k 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 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 7, 2025
Okay, I have had a lot of feelings while reading this book. Not only did I have feelings, but I had dreams about this book. It kept me on my toes, made me fall in love with characters, hate characters, and just kept me wondering what was going to happen. I hear this is one of Stephen King's best, and I have to agree. It was a beautiful story that felt realistic to human nature. If you are up for a character driven story that is over 1000 pages, I recommend this one!
December 26, 2025
The Stand has become one of my favorite books after having already loved the TV miniseries. The character development was outstanding, bringing me closer to characters I already loved. This was my first time reading Stephen King, and it definitely won’t be the last.
May 18, 2025
Still good all these years later.
December 17, 2020
I first read The Stand when I was in high school. I went into it with no previous information and the story was a wild ride. Since then I have reread The Stand 3 times. It still stands as one of my favorite books ever. Much like the min series I will split this review into 4 parts.
The Plague
Part 1 is probably the best written piece of fiction about the fall of civilization to a plague. A Superflu has broken out and almost everyone is catching it. If you catch it you have no chance of survival. The story follows a few different survivors.
Stuart Redman who was in the original quarantined zone in Texas. He is moved from Atlanta CDC to Stovington CDC until the doctors and government get mad at him for not getting sick. He needs to make a dangerous escape from his hospital prison!
Frannie Goldsmith has just found out that she is pregnant when the Superflu finds its way to Maine. After her mother and father fall to the sickness she finds herself alone in her town with Harold Lauder. Harold is a stereotypical loser who has been in love with Frannie his whole life.
Larry Underwood finds himself trapped in New York City when the world starts to end with the Superflu. One of the best scenes from the novel is when Larry needs to escape New York through the Lincoln tunnel.
Nick Andros is a deaf mute in Alabama who gets jumped and beat up. Once he is taken in by the authorities they find the people who jumped him and Nick is put in charge of the prison. When the whole town of Shoyo falls he needs to make a decision about what to do with the prisoners.
LLoyd Henreid is in Indiana and has been on a run of stick ups. Lloyd and his partner Poke have been robbing and killing people until LLoyd gets arrested. Lloyd is locked in a maximum security prison when everyone around him dies of the flu.
Starkey is the General in charge of Project Blue. Project Blue is what created the Superflu and he spends his time trying to cover up the seriousness of the plague. In the end he takes his own life because of the guilt he feels over the plague.
Dreams
This part leaves off with the survivors traveling and having dreams. These dreams are leading them all to meet up with each other.
Stuart Redman meet Glen Bateman in New Hampshire. They decide to travel together and they eventually meet up with Frannie and Harold. They run into an array of problems on the road as they travel to Nebraska to meet Mother Abigail. They have been all dreaming of her as well as The Dark Man.
Frannie and Harold leave Maine. Before leaving Harold leaves signs saying where they are going. After meeting with Stu and Glen, Harold makes them take a trip to the CDC so he can see the mess himself. They all travel to Nebraska as Harold leaves signs saying where they are going. Fran and Stu begin to get romantically involved.
Nick Andros is left deaf and half blind as he travels toward Moth Abigail. He meets Tom Cullen, M O O N that spells Tom Cullen. Tom is moderately intellectually challenged and he goes with Nick. They make it to Hemingford Home, Nebraska with Ralph Bretner. They all travel with Mother Abigail to Boulder Colorado.
Larry Underwood makes it out of New York City and starts to go north. He meets Nadine and Joe on the road. They travel north and eventually start to follow Harold's signs to Nebraska.
Trashcan Man is a pyromaniac that is setting fire everywhere he can. He gets recruited by the Dark Man and begins to travel to Las Vegas.
Randall Flagg is revealed to be the Dark Man and is collecting followers in Las Vegas. Before going there he saves Lloyd from the maximum security prison and recruits him to be his right hand man.
Boulder Free Zone
All of our survivors find themselves Colorado or Nevada. In Colorado, they start to rebuild society. Stu, Fran, Larry, Nick, Ralph and some others are put in charge of the society. Admittedly this part is a bit boring. It ends when Nadine and Harold kill Nick with a bomb and begin to head west to Randall Flagg. Mother Abigail tells Stu, Larry, Glen, and Ralph to head west and make a stand before dying herself.
The Stand
The final part is all about Stu, Larry, Glen, and Ralph going to Las Vegas to make their final stand against Randall Flagg.
This book is wild ride and non stop entertaining. I would give it a 5 out of 5 and would recommend it to anyone.
The Plague
Part 1 is probably the best written piece of fiction about the fall of civilization to a plague. A Superflu has broken out and almost everyone is catching it. If you catch it you have no chance of survival. The story follows a few different survivors.
Stuart Redman who was in the original quarantined zone in Texas. He is moved from Atlanta CDC to Stovington CDC until the doctors and government get mad at him for not getting sick. He needs to make a dangerous escape from his hospital prison!
Frannie Goldsmith has just found out that she is pregnant when the Superflu finds its way to Maine. After her mother and father fall to the sickness she finds herself alone in her town with Harold Lauder. Harold is a stereotypical loser who has been in love with Frannie his whole life.
Larry Underwood finds himself trapped in New York City when the world starts to end with the Superflu. One of the best scenes from the novel is when Larry needs to escape New York through the Lincoln tunnel.
Nick Andros is a deaf mute in Alabama who gets jumped and beat up. Once he is taken in by the authorities they find the people who jumped him and Nick is put in charge of the prison. When the whole town of Shoyo falls he needs to make a decision about what to do with the prisoners.
LLoyd Henreid is in Indiana and has been on a run of stick ups. Lloyd and his partner Poke have been robbing and killing people until LLoyd gets arrested. Lloyd is locked in a maximum security prison when everyone around him dies of the flu.
Starkey is the General in charge of Project Blue. Project Blue is what created the Superflu and he spends his time trying to cover up the seriousness of the plague. In the end he takes his own life because of the guilt he feels over the plague.
Dreams
This part leaves off with the survivors traveling and having dreams. These dreams are leading them all to meet up with each other.
Stuart Redman meet Glen Bateman in New Hampshire. They decide to travel together and they eventually meet up with Frannie and Harold. They run into an array of problems on the road as they travel to Nebraska to meet Mother Abigail. They have been all dreaming of her as well as The Dark Man.
Frannie and Harold leave Maine. Before leaving Harold leaves signs saying where they are going. After meeting with Stu and Glen, Harold makes them take a trip to the CDC so he can see the mess himself. They all travel to Nebraska as Harold leaves signs saying where they are going. Fran and Stu begin to get romantically involved.
Nick Andros is left deaf and half blind as he travels toward Moth Abigail. He meets Tom Cullen, M O O N that spells Tom Cullen. Tom is moderately intellectually challenged and he goes with Nick. They make it to Hemingford Home, Nebraska with Ralph Bretner. They all travel with Mother Abigail to Boulder Colorado.
Larry Underwood makes it out of New York City and starts to go north. He meets Nadine and Joe on the road. They travel north and eventually start to follow Harold's signs to Nebraska.
Trashcan Man is a pyromaniac that is setting fire everywhere he can. He gets recruited by the Dark Man and begins to travel to Las Vegas.
Randall Flagg is revealed to be the Dark Man and is collecting followers in Las Vegas. Before going there he saves Lloyd from the maximum security prison and recruits him to be his right hand man.
Boulder Free Zone
All of our survivors find themselves Colorado or Nevada. In Colorado, they start to rebuild society. Stu, Fran, Larry, Nick, Ralph and some others are put in charge of the society. Admittedly this part is a bit boring. It ends when Nadine and Harold kill Nick with a bomb and begin to head west to Randall Flagg. Mother Abigail tells Stu, Larry, Glen, and Ralph to head west and make a stand before dying herself.
The Stand
The final part is all about Stu, Larry, Glen, and Ralph going to Las Vegas to make their final stand against Randall Flagg.
This book is wild ride and non stop entertaining. I would give it a 5 out of 5 and would recommend it to anyone.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 7, 2022
Bless Little Free Libraries, where I found a vintage (read: crumbling) copy of Stephen King’s The Stand. I am on a Stephen King kick as of late, in part because King is my current popcorn reading.
The Stand is redolent of covid. It is the story of a virus designed by the United States military as a biological weapon which is accidentally released into the population. The majority of America and presumably the rest of the world is killed off, leaving a relatively small number of survivors. As the survivors struggle to survive in a world without modern conveniences (no electricity because there is no one to run the electrical plants and no cell phones because they did not exist yet) they form small bands of people who must choose the good guys (Mother Abigail) or the bad guys (The Dark Man).
The Stand is an ensemble cast, focusing mostly on a handful of survivors, such as Harold, a nerdy teen boy, and Frannie, a young woman pregnant out of wedlock. Stu Redman, Larry Underwood, and Nick Andros round out the cast with whom we spend most of our time/ The cast is predominantly male, predominantly white, and predominantly under the age of forty.
There is some good, old fashioned racism and misogyny in this book, including some fabulous stereotypes of women. A product of its time, I guess, and as marked by the racial and sexual politics of the time as it is marked by the technology that existed then.
While King usually has a supernatural element in his books (I cannot think of a novel of his that does not include the supernatural) this book is the most overtly Christian that I have read. The characters discuss and debate the existence of a Christian Gd and there are many Biblical references.
I enjoyed reading The Stand, as I enjoy reading most King works, but weighing in at just over 800 pages, this book could have done with a good editor. And that ending. But, overall, an interesting read.
The Stand is redolent of covid. It is the story of a virus designed by the United States military as a biological weapon which is accidentally released into the population. The majority of America and presumably the rest of the world is killed off, leaving a relatively small number of survivors. As the survivors struggle to survive in a world without modern conveniences (no electricity because there is no one to run the electrical plants and no cell phones because they did not exist yet) they form small bands of people who must choose the good guys (Mother Abigail) or the bad guys (The Dark Man).
The Stand is an ensemble cast, focusing mostly on a handful of survivors, such as Harold, a nerdy teen boy, and Frannie, a young woman pregnant out of wedlock. Stu Redman, Larry Underwood, and Nick Andros round out the cast with whom we spend most of our time/ The cast is predominantly male, predominantly white, and predominantly under the age of forty.
There is some good, old fashioned racism and misogyny in this book, including some fabulous stereotypes of women. A product of its time, I guess, and as marked by the racial and sexual politics of the time as it is marked by the technology that existed then.
While King usually has a supernatural element in his books (I cannot think of a novel of his that does not include the supernatural) this book is the most overtly Christian that I have read. The characters discuss and debate the existence of a Christian Gd and there are many Biblical references.
I enjoyed reading The Stand, as I enjoy reading most King works, but weighing in at just over 800 pages, this book could have done with a good editor. And that ending. But, overall, an interesting read.
April 16, 2012
Generally I liked it. Story that made me want to keep reading (way too many late nites staying up trying to finishjustonemorechapter..), good writing, well-developed characters that for the most part I cared about.
Felt pacing was a little uneven -- many things happening thru first 90% of the book, then a lot gets wrapped up in the last 70 pages or so.
Kept wondering throughout the story how these people found fresh water to drink. Lots of mention of warm beer, sodas, etc, but I cant recall an instance when a character turned on a faucet and then was like "oh right! no plumbing!" (Plus this was in the 80s before bottled water was ubiquitous).
Also puzzled by how so many physical relationships popped up so quickly. I mean, I've seen Speed and know that people can fall in love under stressful situations, but if I were living in this post-apocalyptic world I'd be focused on finding my next meal, keeping warm, and staying safe.
Felt pacing was a little uneven -- many things happening thru first 90% of the book, then a lot gets wrapped up in the last 70 pages or so.
Kept wondering throughout the story how these people found fresh water to drink. Lots of mention of warm beer, sodas, etc, but I cant recall an instance when a character turned on a faucet and then was like "oh right! no plumbing!" (Plus this was in the 80s before bottled water was ubiquitous).
Also puzzled by how so many physical relationships popped up so quickly. I mean, I've seen Speed and know that people can fall in love under stressful situations, but if I were living in this post-apocalyptic world I'd be focused on finding my next meal, keeping warm, and staying safe.
September 1, 2020
This is only the second Stephen King novel I've read. The first was The Shining, which I read when I was young and newly living alone. I slept with the lights on for months, and avoided Stephen King after that.
I picked up The Stand from our neighborhood free library and didn't find it to be that disturbing, which is weird given what's happening in the country right now. Reading some other recent reviews, I realize that I stumbled upon the "cut" version. My copy is a mere 817 pages long and I can't imagine what another 400 pages could contribute to the story.
I don't think I'll look for another Stephen King work anytime soon. I enjoyed the book, but horror isn't really my thing and it seems like overkill in 2020.
I picked up The Stand from our neighborhood free library and didn't find it to be that disturbing, which is weird given what's happening in the country right now. Reading some other recent reviews, I realize that I stumbled upon the "cut" version. My copy is a mere 817 pages long and I can't imagine what another 400 pages could contribute to the story.
I don't think I'll look for another Stephen King work anytime soon. I enjoyed the book, but horror isn't really my thing and it seems like overkill in 2020.
January 27, 2025
I once believed I could read Stephen King describing paint dry, but having read The Stand, that has changed. This book is waaay too long. I get that it's very different than all his other books, and the focus is more on people, but I think half of the stuff could be cut out. The ending was also so anticlimactic; all this build up of an ultimate showdown and it was resolved not even by the main characters themselves.
January 3, 2018
I got about 1/3 of the way through this book, set it down, and haven't been able to pick it back up. The context of this one, it's not my thing. His style of writing is very good so I have a feeling I'll like reading his work, but not this one. Going to try a different book by Mr. King this year. I'm not giving up on him, just this particular book. :)
January 20, 2011
Wow... Mark convinced me to read this at the beginning of some tough times and I feel that I've learned something about human nature and myself by reading "The Stand". What a powerful trip and excellent book: Stephen King at his best for sure.
February 17, 2024
Too long. A slog to get through. I’m sure it was a fun read 30 years ago, but felt dated. Essentially a Lord of the Rings rip off in modern America. The super flu was a prophecy in light of Covid in 2020.
June 17, 2024
Not couldn’t finish, rather won’t finish. Unfortunate, too, after such an interesting storyline and having read over half of the expanded version. I’ll find something else to read from a less polluted mind.
January 14, 2020
An epic story about the aftermath of a terrible pandemic and an epic modern-day mythical story about a battle between good and evil fight for space; "good and evil" loses.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews