Sunday, June 8, 2014

The Stand

I just started reading it.  The updated version.

I was never a huge fan of Stephen King.  My brother was a big fan and gobbled up his works.  And lately King has been a bit of an outspoken Libtard (Shut and and sing, man...)

So why the interest now?

For those of you unfamiliar with the story, it is about a virulent gov't engineered fast acting virulent flu that wipes out 99% of the population.  It is set in the then 'near future' 1990, but was written in 1977.  Say what you will about King, but he does a decent job capturing time and place in a story.  And though it is about 1990, the feel is all 1977.  And I wanted a 'period piece' from that decade.  Oh sure, it's not all wide collars and whatnot.  But the mindset of the character is by necessity all 70s, because that was what the author was.  There are no IBM Dos computers, for instance.  Or music on CDs.  And he assumed the malaise of the Carter nightmare would continue for 10 more years, which is typical from late 70s books.

I'll get to WWI era stuff after this.

The big question is, when do I STOP reading the book?  A lot of Stephen King books peter out near the end and become more trouble than they are worth.

5 comments:

Angus McThag said...

The time to stop is when you remove it from useful duty holding the door open.

My wife is a King fan and she suggested never starting.

Robert Fowler said...

Read it all. Of all of King's work, that one is the best. It seems like after that one he went down hill. I haven't read anything of his in a few years now.

Sigman said...

I read it in 1 (snowed in) weekend when it was first published. I thought it was a good read til the end. Reread it once in the late 80s. Maybe its time again.

ProudHillbilly said...

It's one of the few books I reread every decade or so. Even though he is such a stupid libtard.

I liked "The Dome" and "Duma Key" except it's like there's too much in them. The writing needs to be streamlined.

ASM826 said...

This one you read all the way to the end. There's even an M-1 Garand in it.