Book Review: THE STAND

The Stand by Stephen King

The Stand is set in an alternate America, and it details the events that happen in America after a deadly virus known as “Captain Trips” is released into the world. “Captain Trips” is a biological weapon created by the military – it has all the symptoms of a normal flu, but is absolutely fatal and kills an estimated 99.4% of the world’s population (with some people being, for some unidentified reason, immune to the disease) when the military loses control of it. The story then goes on to describe how the survivors band together, trying to adapt to this new world and form a new society. Their attempts are interrupted by the coming of a “dark man” called Randall Flagg who visits them in their sleep and gives them horrifying dreams; he is defined as “evil”, while another woman, Mother Abagail, who gives them comforting dreams and staunchly believes in God, is defined as “good”.

There is not one, but several main protagonists in this story: Stu Redman, one of the first people exposed to the virus after the original carrier; Larry Underwood, a singer who hit a tough spot before Captain Trips and ran away back home in order to avoid his monetary problems; and Nick Andros, a young deaf-mute who is nevertheless very intelligent and can both read lips and write.

One thing I enjoy about The Stand is that all the characters are very clearly fleshed out and they are different from one another. There are many characters in The Stand, but all the characters of some importance have defining characteristics that make them unique, some more than others. For example, Larry, despite being a good leader, is constantly doubting himself and trying too hard to prove himself; Stu is a quiet, stoic man, but an action man nevertheless, who is always willing to do what is necessary, no matter how difficult it may be; Nick is a natural leader, despite being both deaf and mute – he’s clever and charismatic, being an excellent judge of men, easily able to convince others with his words (the irony being that he is so persuasive despite being unable to speak and having someone else convey the words he writes instead) and Dayna Jurgens, a brave woman who is sent to join the group Randall Flagg leads and spy on him. These four are, in my opinion, the most distinct and memorable characters, but the other minor and major characters are all very clearly defined as well, be they likable or not.

An interesting theme in the book is how the survivors come to terms with Captain Trips; some people are unable to deal with the loss of order and kill themselves in a variety of ways, but others are able to endure and as a result, find Mother Abagail and the hopes of finding other survivors and creating a new society with them. This not only shows the real strength of the human nature, it also emphasises that no matter what happens, life still goes on, which King expresses very well.

However, the book is far too long. The Stand, which spans over 1100 pages, is one of King’s longest books – he stated that he wanted to write an “epic story”, something like The Lord of the Rings by J.R.Tolkien, but I feel that King has been unable to achieve that “epic story” feel, and the length of the book becomes a bit of a trouble to read, especially since the story begins to drag by the second half of the book. The second half is all about Flagg and their attempts to challenge him, but I find this plot much less compelling than the original idea of the survivors banding together to form their own society – not only is it unbelievable, since Flagg, who has incredible powers that are clearly not believable, is a person who cannot exist in real life, it is also incredibly draggy, as we just keep wondering why the characters don’t just find Flagg and confront him instead of second-guessing his intentions and actions.

Another point I find lacking is the uneven ratio of men and women – almost every main character is male, and of the five females who make an impact in the book, two are killed, one is a pregnant woman who mostly serves as the object of conflict between two male characters, another is also a pregnant woman who serves as Larry’s love and doesn’t do much else, and the last is a conflicted woman who turns to the dark side eventually. I find this representation unfair; there are about seven or eight good male protagonists, all of whom can be described as “heroes” who either contribute to helping the new society run, or who help in defeating Flagg. On the other hand, the women never do much; three of them are killed off, the other two escape death because they never see conflict. This seems rather sexist to me, especially since this is a book about humankind’s strength and ability to endure – the message this books seems to send is that only men are strong enough to endure, and the women should just sit around waiting for the men to succeed in creating a new society.

All in all, I think that The Stand, although being a pretty entertaining book, is not one of King’s strongest novels (my personal favourites are still Salem’s Lot and The Dark Half) – it has many flaws, but is still worth a read, if you have the time.

A point of interest is that this book has actually been made into a mini-series in 1994 starring Gary Sinise (of Forrest Gump fame), Miguel Ferrer (RoboCop) and Rob Low (who also acted in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and The West Wing).

Note of warning: The Stand is an adult book with mature themes and explicit language and descriptions. Hence, I would strictly not recommend this book to primary school children.

Rating: 3/5

For ages 15 and above

By TCH