The Stand — Book Review

The back cover of my copy of The Stand describes it like this:

First come the days of the plague. Then come the dreams.

Dreams that warn of the coming of the dark man. The apostate of death, his worn-down boot heels tramping the night roads. The warlord of the charnel house and Prince of Evil.

His time is at hand. His empire grows in the west and the Apocalypse looms.

This book is so much more. It all starts with a nanosecond error in the computer of a Defense Department Laboratory. A plague escapes, a disease spreads, and finally death rules.

At its core, The Stand is a story of Good vs Evil. But spanning over 1300 pages, it can hardly be described with three words. It encompasses a series of wonderful ideas into a beautifully crafted novel which has the sort of character development that is hard to match.

Secondly, its a story about survival. And yet again, it is so much more than that, for survival in a world of abundance is not difficult, or is it? It explores a great deal about sociology through two of the best-written characters throughout any books I have come across.

“Show me a man or a woman alone and I’ll show you a saint. Give me two and they’ll fall in love. Give me three and they’ll invent the charming thing we call ‘society’. Give me four and they’ll build a pyramid. Give me five and they’ll make one an outcast. Give me six and they’ll reinvent prejudice. Give me seven and in seven years they’ll reinvent warfare. Man may have been made in the image of God, but human society was made in the image of His opposite number, and is always trying to get back home.”

It boasts of a big lineup of characters, with over 25 main characters (among more than a hundred in total), all written in intricate detail with deep backstories and varying traits. Through its big lineup, it touches a variety of ideas ranging from politics, love, loyalty and betrayals and, eventually, fear.

Complementing its unparalleled character development is the world building and the slow drift of a world going to ruins. Although modeled strongly after the current world, the author presents the world in great details and brings about the effects from the plague to the world as it stands with amazing accuracy.

There are some great psychological questions raised too in the book. This one, in particular, touched me more than anything else. It might not look like much in the context of this review, but it does have deep meaning when you come across it in the book.

Do people ever really learn?

Well, Mr. King, I am not sure about others, but I certainly learned a lot from this book. Hats off, really! It is one of the best works I have come across.