Stephen King's The Stand

I have recently finished reading The Stand by Stephen King. This is the first King book I've read, so I had little idea what to expect. My familiarity with King is through the movies made from his books, usually horror movies. The Stand is not a horror movie, though there are some graphic and horrifying portions. My son, who is a big King fan and who recommended the book to me, asked that I post a review.

For such a long book, the overall plot is surprisingly simple. The novel is divided into three "books", and within each book little actually happens. In the first book, a devastating plague developed by the US military escapes and quickly decimates the global human population. The first book simply documents the spread of the plague. In the second book, the American survivors of the plague begin gathering into two groups, one lead by Mother Abigail, a very old black woman from the mid-west whose group will eventually be based in Boulder, and another lead by the so-called Dark Man headquartered in Las Vegas. Abigail's group is the focus of the story, and her people are haunted by constant dreams of her and the Dark Man. The second book documents the gathering of both groups. In the third book, the Boulder group begins the process of putting civilization back together by forming a government of sorts and getting the utilities back online. The Dark Man is an evil dictator who spends his time knocking out opposition and assembling a war machine that will destroy Boulder. There is a final confrontation between the two groups which resolves the fundamental tension, and then a long epilogue to close out the story.

There is a strong, underlying religious element to The Stand, so Abigail and the Dark Man take on spiritual dimensions. Abigail is a committed Christian woman who is lead by God. The Dark Man is demon-possessed and is an agent of Satan. The final confrontation between the two groups, then, is ultimately a battle of good against evil.

It would seem difficult to enjoy a book of over 1000 pages where so little actually happens. The first book, which is really just setup for the rest of the story, is over 300 pages. The book seems to meander along with no real focus on the underlying story. For example, the Trash Can man is introduced early in the book, along with the other characters, but then disappears until near the end, where he serves as the catalyst for a very real Deus ex machina climax. The Dark Man's activities are all but ignored for the entire second book and much of the third. It seems like a more focused book would have kept the characters in better balance. On the other hand, King is hardly the first author to write like this. The Lord of the Rings trilogy meanders quite a bit as well, especially in the Fellowship of the Ring volume, but that was pretty successful, I think. Like Rings, the first volume of The Stand is difficult to get through.

In the end, what makes the book work are the details within each section. While doing little to push the underlying plot forward, many interesting characters show up and it is interesting to observe as they contemplate issues like medicine, law enforcement, and basic governance. These ordinary men and women are called on to make some difficult choices, and the characters King creates are totally realistic as they face these gray areas. The characters and story is also realistic in that no character is safe. King ends up killing off many of the main characters before the story is done. And, while he is absent from the story line for a considerable time, there is always the underlying question of how the good guys in Boulder will resolve the fundamental conflict with the Dark Man. All of this serves to keep the reader interested and coming back for more.

The greatest disappointment in the novel is in the climax. Everything builds toward the final confrontation between the Free Zone (the Boulder crowd) and the Dark Man's forces in Las Vegas. This is the stand of the title, the stand of the good against the demon. But their stand doesn't amount to much: three guys from the Zone walk to Vegas, get arrested, and die. But God uses this, and the actions of the Trash Can man, to bring about the resolution in what I've already described as a very real Deus ex machina.

I know this review is coming off as critical of the novel. I am critical of parts, but overall the novel is a success. King fashions interesting characters and puts them in equally interesting (one cannot say realistic since they inhabit a world so vastly different than ours that realism has little meaning) situations. The story works its way into your imagination and keeps you turning the pages to see what will happen. King's writing style is easily accessible and pleasant. In the end, I look forward to reading more of King's work.