The Stand

by Stephen King (Author), Grover Gardner (Reader)

5,866 ratings

ISBN-13: 978-0449008607

ISBN-10: 0449008606

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Audio CD Library Binding
Publisher: Books on Tape (March 6, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0449008606
ISBN-13: 978-0449008607
Package Dimensions: 8.4 x 6.4 x 3.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
Customer Reviews: 5,866 customer ratings
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,829,148 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #15767 in Occult Fiction
- #9333 in Ghost Fiction
- #89766 in Suspense Thrillers

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P. E. Hall

After reading King for 40 years, The Stand is still one of my top 10 fiction reads!

Reviewed in the United States on December 22, 2016

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Ive been a Stephen King fan for 40 years. The Stand is and will remain my favorite of his books. I like all of them but I love a select few and The Stand is at the top of the list. If you are already a King fan and you haven't read The Stand, you'll love this book. The overall theme is Biblically related and he sticks close to details in well known Biblical stories. But, don't get me wrong, this is not "Christian Fiction". This is the best of Sci-Fi/Horror you'll find in King's books. The characters are fully developed and totally interesting. The dystopian story is compelling and believable. If you are a fan, since this is one of his earlier works, you'll see familiar types of characters, ie..Randy Flagg and Tom Collin. If you're a new King reader, you will get to know the characters and you'll care about them. This isn't a read in one sitting book. Rather, it is a day after day reading that you'll enjoy and hate to put down. Though some may say King is extremely verbose, I think his detailed telling of the story connects the reader to the characters like very few authors are able to do. This is my sixth reading of the book and the first time I listened to the audio book. It was just as good this time as the last. With a hour long ride to work and back, my time in the car seemed shorter because of the quality of the reader and the quality of the story.
I won't give away anything, I'll only say take your time and enjoy the ride with King's epic. I loved every word.

338 people found this helpful

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T. Hix

Brand new book falling apart. DEFECTIVE BINDING.

Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2018

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This story is incredible. Five stars over and over again. The reason for this bad review is the defective binding. I bought this book a few months ago and just started reading it last month. Ever since I opened the book, the pages have been falling and peeling out. I’ve been trying to tape the pages back in, but more and more fall out when I read. I spoke with a customer service agent who didn’t once apologize for the defective product, but rather asked if I was aware of the return date. When I said I wasn’t trying to return, but would merely like a replacement book, after making me wait, she said she would make an exception and send me a replacement. I’m grateful to be getting a replacement, but this isn’t the service I’m used to getting from Amazon. Amazon really needs to take a hard look at the suppliers for this book. Obviously there is some sort of quality control issue here.

102 people found this helpful

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La Rose

An amazing piece of work

Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2017

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I have a long commute to/from the office, so I wanted something nice and long to focus my attention on while riding the bus. The Stand is a classic that has stood the test of time. The audiobook is well read/acted without going over the top.I read the edited version when it first came out, and devoured the unabridged version when it was released a few years later. However, it wasn't until I was listening to the book that I realized why it is so engaging and captures the imagination. Not only is it one of King's most well-written works, it is also one of his most poetic. His ability to describe the most disgusting situations is unquestioned in any King book. However, in The Stand, he is able to describe elements of emotion in such a way that one is enraptured and engaged on a completely different level than you'd expect. I think this book stands (pun not intended) as King's finest work. Even if you've read the book, do yourself the favor of 'listening' to it as well. You won't regret it.

100 people found this helpful

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Barry J.

Stop your complaining about the page count - just dive in and REALLY enjoy yourself.

Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2017

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While repairing my mother's Kindle, I noticed that she had a copy of The Stand installed, and after the repair was done, I felt kind of a duty to test the repair by reading a bit of her copy. My experience was that I wound up buying a copy for my own Kindle, and then spent an entirely inappropriate amount of my waking hours reading it.
It's totally engrossing, and very interesting in enough different ways that you just don't get tired of working your way through all those damn pages. A great premise, great plot development, interesting and believable characters, and a scope that constantly reminds how transient we all are. Great stuff that got ME so involved that when I went to hospital for a relatively normal visit, I was ACUTELY aware of everyone who coughed or sneezed, and though I snickered at myself almost immediately for my temporary transportation from reality to plot, the snicker wasn't quite as immediately convincing as it might have been. So, yeah, it was THAT engrossing.

121 people found this helpful

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Jeanne G Pocius

Epic Story from the Master of Stories

Reviewed in the United States on August 26, 2017

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The Stand was epic in its original form, and this edition, with expanded story lines and restored cuts lives up to the original. All of Stephen King's books are excellent, but this one is a parable for modern times of the age-old battle between good and evil. Read it again if you have read it before. And if you have never read it, be assured: this is a book you will never forget! I found myself cheering as favorite characters came into the story, and even though I knew the ending, I read faithfully onward through days and nights to the very end. I am not sure how many times I have read this book now--a dozen times? More? Yet, I know I will read it again in the future. It is not "The Good Book" but it is A Good Book, and a very good book, indeed! A+ +

84 people found this helpful

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Bill

The best End of World Post apocalyptic novel of the genre

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 30, 2019

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This is the #1 bestseller in th Post Apocalyptic genre. I read this book when it came out in 1979, and have read it every 3 to 5 years since. You may ask, why leave a review now, well Amazon wasnt about then, think I bought it in WH Smith. Then I bought and read the complete and uncut edition. And the Audible edition a couple of years ago. I simply love this story, as do millions of others who love the PA genre .

So as regards a review, I'm going to rip off the synopsis from Stephen king.com

One man escapes from a biological weapon facility after an accident, carrying with him the deadly virus known as Captain Tripps, a rapidly mutating flu that - in the ensuing weeks - wipes out most of the world's population. In the aftermath, survivors choose between following an elderly black woman to Boulder or the dark man, Randall Flagg, who has set up his command post in Las Vegas. The two factions prepare for a confrontation between the forces of good and evil

Go ahead and read it, if you like it, welcome to the throng of millions who also like it.

If you dont like it, well - maybe the best in the genre is not for you, try Swan Song by Robert R McCammon, similiar plot , characters and timeframe, or Earth Abides by George R Stewart written in 1948 - a gentler take on the theme .

Sorry, why am I writing a review now, borrowed out my dog eared copy of the complete and uncut edition to God knows who, was enraptured to learn the Kindle version is that version, so my 15th and subsequent rereads will be on my Kindle from now on.

42 people found this helpful

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King's best book and my favourite of all time.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 27, 2017

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If you know Stephen King then you know what you are in for with this, in my view his stand out piece of work. Lots of reviews criticise the first part of the book as taking too long to develop but I don't agree. I've never read 1400 pages so quickly and I think the extra detail he puts in over the original version only adds to the colour and texture of the storytelling.

The book tells the story of the end of the human race as we know it, brought about by a deadly flu strain, developed by the US military. The social science is a bit simplistic but the quality of the storytelling and character development are both excellent.

35 people found this helpful

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Another Avid Reader

A Timeless Classic

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 10, 2019

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I remember the first time I read this book during my early teens, seeing for the first time all of the different levels within the story. On the surface it’s a post apocalypse tale, underneath it’s so much more the eternal struggle of good v evil. This is one of the books that epitomises the human condition, cheer the triumphs, laugh with friends, cry for the losses. Between this book and Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings it set me on a literary path that I’ve enjoyed for many years.
So if you want to be entertained with a story that has meaning then read on. Even if you don’t like anything else by the author (unlikely I know) then this one is worth it.

11 people found this helpful

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Sarah Gordon

My favourite Stephen King Novel

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 16, 2019

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I couldn’t put this book down. I was hooked from the first chapter and didn’t want it to end (except for the fact that I really needed to start conversing with my friends and family again, before they started to worry!) I have never read the original and downloaded the long version by accident, but wasn’t put off when I read the preface - I love long books!

Unusually for a Stephen King book, The Stand was not too scary for me to read at bedtime, but this did not detract at all from the suspense. It kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish, and I feel like it tuned right in to my own fears about the future of humanity.

Maybe a few politicians ought to read this and then gave a long, hard think...before it’s too late!

7 people found this helpful

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Tracie

My Favourite Stephen King book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 26, 2018

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I've been wondering whether to buy the Kindle version of this book for a very long time (own it in paperback) and im so glad I did! This is the authors extended version - so probably had at least another 100 pages (difficult to tell in kindle to paperback). Most of the extras are nearer to the beginning, so you feel like you get to know the main characters even better. If you like The Stand, you need this version in your life!

10 people found this helpful

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I. Shepherd

Interesting read whilst in middle of a real pandemic

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 25, 2020

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The book has greater resonance given the Corona virus pandemic we are currently living through.
A huge book but King manages to keep the reader interested for the most part. You have to wait quite a while before elements of the supernatural are introduced.
There are many different characters introduced along the way - many for just a short period. An index of characters would be really useful as it is easy to forget less important ones.
The plot boils down to good versus evil and it is ironic that one of the most destructive forces that man has created (surely an evil?) is used for good at the end of the book. However, King reminds us in the final pages that evil is never completely eradicated.

3 people found this helpful

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Joseph A.

Simply Astonishing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 9, 2018

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I always like the challenge of reading long books given that this book is around 1300 pages, just the feeling of accomplishment reading the book, so satisfying. That's the book only, not the content. The story is greatly astonishing, never expect guffs and meaningless pages from Stephen King. Stephen is the sort of person that likes to write alot but has a vivid and suspenseful story to his worldwide audience. Recommended for Heavy Reading ;)

9 people found this helpful

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Darth Spaniel

Superb, M-O-O-N that spells superb!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 18, 2013

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The Stand is a book that has sat on my bookshelf for years, untouched and waiting for that day when I'm ready to tackle it. A couple of weeks ago, that day came and do I wish I had read it sooner, laws yes, M-O-O-N that spells sooner. For me, it is easily the best Stephen King book I have read as it has the familiar ordinary people with plausible back stories thrown into extraordinary circumstances which bring out the very best and very worst in people. In this book, Maestro King decides to kill off 99.6% of the world's population and broadly divide the survivors into ordinary folk who are drawn to a seemingly benevolent force and (mostly) ordinary folk drawn to a seemingly malign force and basically see who makes a better fist of it. I won't give any clues as to what happens next except to say bad stuff ensues and it boils down to a battle of well-meaning people with free will on one side and weak-willed people being coerced into bad things on the other. Ultimately, it asks the question of when would you take a stand against evil?

The author has drawn up an impressive ensemble cast for this epic work with the good folk led by a good ol' boy from East Texas, a feckless musician, a naive young mother-to-be, an aging academic and a deaf-mute drifter, all guided by seemingly messianic 108 year old woman. The dark side is mob of mostly not so bad types but under the thumb of a demonic terror who haunts the dreams of the survivors, aided by a reluctantly cannibalistic thief and murderer and an insane arsonist with an eye for the spectacular. Somewhere in between there are people disaffected with their lot and shift between the two sides. As such it's a story of hope, betrayal, friendship, love, loss and jealousy against the backdrop of seemingly deserted world where anything can happen as everything is just lying around waiting to be picked up, including food, booze, resources, houses, cars, toys, guns, atom bombs, etc. It's really rather good.

Stephen King effectively gives his cast the chance to wipe the slate clean and some characters do exactly seek to do that, but they tend to be the ones who turn to the dark side, whereas the ones who carry the past with them and acknowledge their failings and seek to atone for them are the ones who try to do the right thing. The male characters are better drawn than the female ones on the whole and I have to say that the female characters were a bit of a drag at times, but for the most part the characters are the real heart of this book. The empty sandbox world with seemingly familiar things in it presents as being threatening and full of dread and uncertainty. It also dawns on the reader that there's a lot of bad stuff out there which could do enormous harm in the wrong hands and I found myself jumping ahead as to what the "bad side" might be up to and you can immediately see how cold war paranoia is so addictive and unsettling.

The Stand is not a flawless novel by any means. The ease with which the overwhelming majority of the survivors seem to get over the loss of loved ones and society in general is a tad too easy, the female characters are fairly weak, outside of America nothing is mentioned of the outside world, there are only a very small number of children mentioned, etc. The story is also dated in that it was written pre-internet and modern social networking so the big plague cover-up would be harder to achieve now. That said, it remains a truly great story that involves the reader on an emotional and spiritual level as well as making for a mighty fine adventure story. If you only read one Stephen King book then let this be the one, so read it! M-O-O-N, that spells read it, laws yes!

17 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Great post apocalyptic book but a very meh ending

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 2, 2019

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I've been a huge fan of post apocalyptic media for some time, loving the Mad Max movies, games like Fallout, the Metro 2033 series and The Last of Us and books like Earth Abides and The Road and the stand successfully makes it's mark in building a world and introducing relatable and unique characters and showing their storylines as a virus breaks out actoss the United States. The Stand really makes you feel for each of the characters and with the large amount of detail makes you feel as though you're living it. However the book sort of falls short towards the finale and has an ending that short of falls short compared to similar pieces of media. It in no means is a bad book, just the ending sort of stinks.

3 people found this helpful

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Dave & Gwen Grinnell

Wonderfully engrossing book.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 8, 2015

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I've now read this book twice, once as a real book and once in the Kindle edition. The first time I read it was about 20 years ago on holiday and my wife had trouble dragging me away from the book to go and do holiday type things.

So I wondered if the book would still have that effect upon me if I re-read it in electronic form all these years later. It did. I was quickly gripped. The characters are just beautifully real. The plot is interesting, with twists a-plenty. I again ended up becoming almost addicted to the book, so much so that I finished it in four or five days, as I did the first time 20 years ago. I can't think of any other book which has had that type of effect on me.

This is the best fictional book that I've ever read, and I'm now going to read three more Stephen King books (one another re-read (Tommyknockers) which I also really liked first time, one a film that I've seen without reading the book (Dreamcatcher) and one which is totally new to me (11.22.63)).

6 people found this helpful

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leolennie

A fabulous introduction to Stephen King,without keeping you awake at night.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 15, 2014

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Stephen King is renowned for his great writing technique but having an abhorrence of horror writing I did not read his books until now. However, The Stand is not in the horror genre so I got stuck in. Its theme is futuristic, based on what would happen if civilisation crumbled because of an unstoppable virus. Some of the early occurrences are reminiscent of what's happening with the ebola virus now. There are passages of great philosophical thought intermingled with sharp portraits of characters and the American landscape. Be warned, it is a large book but when you start you will definitely finish. A fabulous introduction to Stephen King, without keeping you awake at night.

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wheelerkid

1st Stephen king book I have read.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 12, 2019

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The reason why I have not bought a SK book in the past is due to watching most of the movies, I find it hard to start a booking knowing the ending. So I googled his best books that were not made into films and the stand came up time and time again as one to read. it didn't disappoint, great characters and totally enthralling. Bring on the next one, can't believe I wasted so much time ! I'm playing catch up on Stephen King books now and looking forward to the next one

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C. W. Knowles

Best novel ever written by Stephen King.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 27, 2019

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This is the best disaster book ever written. Stephen King at his absolute best. It grips from the beginning and never lets go. You are transported to a world where civilisation has fallen apart. Totally atmospheric, you truly become engrossed in the despair and privatisation of a world where 95% of the population have died. This is the third time I’ve read this book, and it never fails in its appeal.

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R. A. Davison

This took me ages to get into, & so far, The Gunslinger is his best

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 30, 2013

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Upon reading The Stand, I had already read the following Stephen King books : Different Seasons, The Green Mile, Dolores Claiborne, and the first three (and a half) novels in The Dark Tower saga which I gave up on during Wizard and Glass. Generally speaking, I have been nonplussed by Stephen King's popularity over the years, but The Stand, because of its widely held reputation as the best of King's gargantuan output, has been on my "to read" list for some time.

In The Stand, a superflu decimates the US population, leaving a small amount of the overall population alive. These survivors begin to dream of two people : Mother Abigail, the eldest person left alive, a woman of strong religious conviction and Randall Flagg, a man "whose name is Legion" and is coincidentally also the destructive antagonist of The Dark Tower Saga. In a classic choice between good and evil, the survivors have to decide whether they will seek the path to Mother Abigail and her group in Colorado or follow Randall Flagg, joining his new society in Las Vegas.

Since The Stand was first published in 1978, and re-released and re-set in 1990; (I had the 1990 version) post apocalyptic stories, which involve a virus of some kind decimating the population have become very popular. I've read several over the last few years.

Through the misfortune of reading a book which came first but proves similar to recent things, many areas of the plot feel samey, like tropes of what is expected from this kind of novel. Loss, confusion, banding together with fellow previously unknown survivors who become involved with each other, set backs on the journey, rebuilding a community. Yet this is unfair because King got there first, so others have imitated this, this and Day Of The Triffids. However, some writers have bettered this type of story, a particular example is Justin Cronin's The Passage.

For me, as is my general experience with King as a writer, I found the prose flat and felt no emotional connection to any of the imperiled characters which is a difficulty when it comes to enjoying a book. The Stand is 1,320 pages long which is a challenge for any reader, and it took me two weeks. But, it wasn't until page 700 that I engaged with the novel and started to get excited by what was happening.

In those first 700 pages there's a lot of inaction in terms of any kind of "Stand" between the two sides, just lots of council meetings and re-establishing law and order and government and utilities and stuff. Practical and honest, yet inactive: hardly a fight between good and evil. Flagg and Abigail for that they represent the polar opposites of morality are largely absent for massive chunks of the narrative.

In the second half things ramp up a bit, but the actual "Stand" between the parties ultimately amounts to a single showdown at which only a handful of the Colorado group are present. For all those pages it's a bit anticlimactical.

Though I generally dislike the tone he strikes with his prose, Stephen King does occasionally have his moments as a writer. I particularly liked these quotes :

"There is really nothing so comforting to the beaten of spirit or the broken of skull, than a good strong dose of 'Thy Will Be Done"

"God was a gamesman - If He had been a a mortal, He would have been at home hunkering over a checkerboard on the porch of Pop Mann's general store back in Hemingford Home. He played red to black, white to black. She thought that for Him, the game was more than worth the candle, the game was the candle. He would prevail in His own good time. But not necessarily this year or in the next thousand....and she would not overestimate the dark man's craft or cozening. If he was neon gas, then she was the tiny dark dust particle a great raincloud forms about over the parched land. Only another private soldier - long past retirement age, it was true! - in the service of the Lord."

However, controversially I don't concur this is his best book. Though I've only read seven (and a half) The Gunslinger, the first Dark Tower novel, is a brilliant book, a true 10/10, only disappointment is that the novels which follow in no way live up to it. I will never read the entirety of the man's output, I don't like him enough, but I also have Under The Dome on To Be Read at the moment, but of those I have read The Gunslinger is the best one.

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the count's amico

A sad but not untrue commentary on human behaviours

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 8, 2019

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Very much a contemporary take on the story of the Great Flood, Mr King has written a compelling and very readable what If account of what might happen if most of the population was killed and we had to, first survive, and then start again.
It does ring true, how some people are likely to (mis)behave, and so is quite depressing. The characters are mostly well developed, so it becomes more than just about how it turns out.
I enjoyed it.

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Stephen King

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The Stand

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