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Matt's Fantasy Book Reviews's Reviews > The Stand
The Stand
by
3.5 stars. An entertaining book and a wonderful thought experiment, but was far longer than it needed to be with a rather disappointing conclusion to the story.
I was extremely excited to read this book, as I have heard over and over that this is one of Stephen King's (one of the biggest writers of all time) best book. Having had very little exposure to Stephen King, I didn't know what to expect when I started into this goliath of a book.
The premise of this book is wonderful, and something I have never read about before but have thought about plenty of times. But the ultimate problem with this book is it is far too length. And I don't say this because it takes too long to read, I have read books longer than this that I have given 5 stars to - but this book goes on, and on, and on, and on, AND ON about character development to a ridiculous degree. At some point you need to get to the plot, but I suppose this is just Stephen King's style.
I know there is a condensed version of this book, but honestly I don't even think that would cut this book down to what it would need to be in order to be appealing to me. While I did love the characters in this book, there was too much random stories going on that ultimately didn't help me appreciate this story any greater, and it felt like he was just writing stream of consciousness and trying to rack up as many pages as possible at points.
But once the plot really starts moving in the 2nd half of this book, my enjoyment skyrocketed. I loved so much about the conflict itself that I couldn't put the book down, and even given my dislike for the first half of this book I was planning on giving this book a 4 or 4.5 rating.
Unfortunately, the conclusion to this story is anti-climactic to say the least. For so much build up, I expected the most epic of showdowns, but what I got was a whimper not a bang. It's unfortunate, but ultimately I still did enjoy my experience, but I can confidently say that I will never re-read this book.
by
3.5 stars. An entertaining book and a wonderful thought experiment, but was far longer than it needed to be with a rather disappointing conclusion to the story.
I was extremely excited to read this book, as I have heard over and over that this is one of Stephen King's (one of the biggest writers of all time) best book. Having had very little exposure to Stephen King, I didn't know what to expect when I started into this goliath of a book.
The premise of this book is wonderful, and something I have never read about before but have thought about plenty of times. But the ultimate problem with this book is it is far too length. And I don't say this because it takes too long to read, I have read books longer than this that I have given 5 stars to - but this book goes on, and on, and on, and on, AND ON about character development to a ridiculous degree. At some point you need to get to the plot, but I suppose this is just Stephen King's style.
I know there is a condensed version of this book, but honestly I don't even think that would cut this book down to what it would need to be in order to be appealing to me. While I did love the characters in this book, there was too much random stories going on that ultimately didn't help me appreciate this story any greater, and it felt like he was just writing stream of consciousness and trying to rack up as many pages as possible at points.
But once the plot really starts moving in the 2nd half of this book, my enjoyment skyrocketed. I loved so much about the conflict itself that I couldn't put the book down, and even given my dislike for the first half of this book I was planning on giving this book a 4 or 4.5 rating.
Unfortunately, the conclusion to this story is anti-climactic to say the least. For so much build up, I expected the most epic of showdowns, but what I got was a whimper not a bang. It's unfortunate, but ultimately I still did enjoy my experience, but I can confidently say that I will never re-read this book.
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Reading Progress
January 13, 2023
–
Started Reading
January 13, 2023
– Shelved
February 3, 2023
–
Finished Reading
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by
Natalie
(new)
Feb 03, 2023 10:36AM
I feel like saying "far longer than it needed to be with a rather disappointing conclusion" could be in reference to most every King novel. Sorry/not sorry.
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I think Harold Lauder is his best written character.
That's how I feel about most King novels that are over 400 pages, tbqh.
I love it for the opposite reason. Plot is the least interesting aspect of a story for me, it's all about character/tone. However, I agree that the ending is weak sauce.
It feels like King didn't have an endgame in sight and had to finish it otherwise it'd go on for another 500 pages. The weird part for me is, even after the cop out ending, it just carries on anyway with a boring journey segment. Not King's best work (although the first half is amazing.) His more concise books like Pet Sematary, Salem's Lot and The Shining have less filler and more satisfying conclusions. The only hefty book he's written that's worth it I'd say is 11/22/63 or maybe It.
The Stand is one of my favorite King books, but I see where you are coming from with the length of the book but honestly I never wanted the story to end. It could have been longer and I still would have loved it. The end though . . . It's rough to say the least. I've been meaning to reread it for a couple of years now but I keep putting it off because I just hated the ending so much.
