Be prepared to make a stand
*Originally published on 10/16/09
We're coming up on the end of Night Shift. There are only 5 stories left so I'll have that done within the next week.
Up next, we have one of the big cahunas in King's library, The Stand. This'll be the original version as opposed to the expanded version that was released. I'll do that one a bit later, it'll probably be more of a compare and contrast between the two versions as opposed to a straight write up as I'm going to do that for this version.
I'm about halfway done with the book. I haven't had as much time to read lately as I would like, but I should be able to finish it quickly enough that you don't have to wait too long for that after I finish Night Shift.
Even with that, I intend to start writing the article today. I'm taking a different approach with this one. With all the other books, I waited until I finished and was able to come up with a fairly good write up within a reasonable amount of time.
This, however, is The Stand. It will most likely be one of the biggest articles I write, so I'm going to start early. This will also give me more time to work on the article and make sure it's of a high caliber deserving of the epic novel.
So, consider this your trailer for the next bibliography entry. As much as I'd love to give you a real trailer, using footage from the TV miniseries set to Nightwish's Ghost Love Score or something like that, I have a feeling that would violate copyright law. It's the same reason you probably won't ever see my dream video of footage from Frank Darabont's The Mist set to Yakity Sax.
So yes, we're coming up on a major event here. It's gonna be huge.
Review
*Originally published on 12/4/09
This is it, the big daddy of King's library, the book often cited as King's greatest work. To say that this is a novel of biblical proportions is actually quite apt. It should be noted again that I'm talking about the original "short" version of the novel. I use the term in the loosest sense of course as even this copy is over 800 pages.
This novel goes against many of King's standard tropes. Where most books take place in a small town, the characters here are scattered across the country before they all converge into the two camps; religion also gets a more positive representation. The religious in King books tend to be more along the lines of hypocrites or out and out psychos. In the cases of the latter, at least one character will point out, "hey I believe in God, but you're a freakin loon".
The religious character here is Mother Abagail, a kindly old black woman who telepathically invites all of the characters to come on over and see her. Abagail acts as a manifestation of good and that trait shines through. Her devout faith is presented in such a way that it's not only endearing, but it's refreshing. I'd say the effect is similar to Nightcrawler in X-2 or Alyosha in The Brothers Karamasov. The characters often talk about her positive aura and how they instantly fell in love with her. This could very easily have become an informed ability, but the scenes with her are surprisingly uplifting. I daresay that it makes this one of the best feel good post apocalyptic epics of the 20th century.
On the opposite side of the coin is Randall Flagg, a demonic drifter who senses the times ahead and forms his own camp. While he comes to the realization that he can do magic, it's quite clear that Flagg is an embodiment of evil. The women he beds are traumatized for life and even hardened criminals are terrified of him. It's kind of odd that people would go with him to begin with. I buy it with characters like Trashcan Man, Ratman, or Julie Lawry, even Lloyd's loyalty makes sense but most of the people there are just normal everyday people. I know, the evil that lurks in the hearts of men and all that; the book gives some explanation by pointing out that not everyone had dreams of Mother Abagail, but the logic is still odd. These guys have recurring nightmares of this shadowy figure with glowing eyes and an eerie grin, a man who's very presence sends chills down your spine and gives you goosebumps and then causes you to wake up in a cold sweat screaming. Their reaction upon experiencing this is, "I'm gonna go live with him"? I'm surprised more people didn't just go south like some of Flagg's minions ended up doing. Of course, that doesn't really make much of a story if all the characters just kind of wander off.
I ranked Flagg as King's second greatest villain, and I stand by that, but this is another villain who spends a vast majority of the book behind the scenes. He pops up once or twice outside of the nightmares and then he's only talked about until the final section where he prepares for the upcoming confrontation. King has said that his assessment of evil is that when seen up close, it's not as menacing as it seemed. This book embodies that idea perfectly. Heck, Glen even laughs at Flagg and goes out of his way to point out that he can't believe that they made such a big deal about him.
Despite his great power, it's surprising how quickly he loses control of the situation. His memory fades in and out, his powers become less effective and he makes more and more mistakes as the novel progresses. Fans were outraged when Flagg went out like a punk in the final Dark Tower book, but looking back it's almost fitting as that's how he always seems to go.
Speaking of the Dark Tower, I knew it was a tie-in, but I figured that it was one that King worked in later. I figured that that was one of the reasons he "revised" it and released an "uncut" version, to reinforce the links. It would make sense to tie one of his epic works into another one of his epic works to make them more...epic. I was kind of surprised to see that even the old version had its fair share of nods to the series. Mother Abagail often uses the term, "mayhap" (a term that the gunslingers used frequently), when the Judge is being spied on by Flagg manifested as a crow, he uses the term "ka" although here he's talking about a soul or essence as opposed to destiny. There is also the glowing red eye, which is both a nod to Sauron (the novel was King's attempt to write a Lord of the Rings type book) and to the Crimson King so that was pretty cool.
While the back of the book describes Flagg as "the most fiendish force ever" the novel itself makes it explicitly clear that Flagg isn't the ultimate embodiment of evil. He's not Satan (or the Crimson King as it were) just a powerful minion.
Going back to Lord of the Rings, you can note the influence, especially in the final segment, aptly titled The Stand. Abagail finally sends a small group out to Vegas for a final confrontation with Flagg. They traverse the country and at one point, their "fellowship" breaks when Stu falls and breaks his leg. Flagg's defeat is also similar to Sauron's as the main heros aren't the ones who bring about the defeat, but a supporting quasi-villainous character comes in. Where Gollum inadvertantly destroyed the ring, Trashcan Man (who I compared to Gollum in a previous article) inadvertantly brings about Flagg's end when he brings the Dark Man a present.
For those who think that this is nothing more than a Deus Ex Machina, trust me, you have no idea. Trash's appearance is just the tip of the iceberg in that regard. Within the context of the novel though, it actually works, kind of like how it did in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
The book almost never came about as King was suffering from a major case of writer's block. Fortunately, he was able to plow through it. While it's odd to imagine King tossing aside one of his most well received novels, the fact that even he suffers from writer's block is a bit comforting for the aspiring writers among us.
The book has more than its fair share of characters. This does make sense as the last remnants of humanity are drawn to one of the two camps, King keeps his focus on a handful of primary characters that become fleshed out by the time everyone is gathered.
It was kind of surprising how different some of the characters come off. Fran's boyfriend comes off as a much bigger jerk here than he does in the comic and the same goes for Larry Underwood. When Rita stormed off in the comic, I thought she was really over-reacting, here though she had a fair point.
While some of the characters aren't exactly likable (the aforementioned Larry, and Harold Lauder for example) they're all interesting and three dimensional. You can connect with them on some level, even when you find them to be annoying.
Harold's one of those rare cases where he alternates between being sympathetic and a jerk. You can kind of sympathize with him, but at the same time he kind of brings the treatment on himself through the way he acts. Even when he's accepted in the Free Zone and has found a group of friends on the burial crew, he still resents Stu and Fran, even going so far as to try and shoot Stu while they are out hunting for Mother Abagail, who had wandered off earlier in the book.
His final moments were his most memorable in my opinion. I don't know why, but his "screw you Nadine, if I'm going down I'm taking you with me" approach was rather awesome. It was ineffective, but you have to give him points for trying.
The book does have it's fair share of likable characters as well. Nick, despite being a deaf mute, is an all around good guy. Tom Cullen is also pretty endearing even if he isn't all too bright. Stu is the probably the most likable and relatable character as the sort of every-man character in the piece. Glen Bateman, although mostly a tool to spout philosophical questions and dilemmas, is pretty endearing. He develops a pretty good banter with Stu early on in the book.
You'll find lots of great duos get formed throughout the span of this book Nick and Tom, Stu and Tom, Flagg and Trash, Lloyd and Trash even have one, albeit a much briefer one than the other ones mentioned.
When I first watched the mini-series and read the book, I was slightly vexed by the fact that the plague and Flagg plot lines had little, if anything to do with one another. Though the more I think about it, there are a few explanations. The first being that this was King's way of saying that at the end of the day, mankind would be responsible for its own destruction, on the other hand you could say that the plague was a harbinger of sorts. Flagg notes that something big is occurring, as evidenced by his new-found powers. On yet another hand, one character speculates that Flagg was responsible for the outbreak in the first place. I think Flagg himself hints at it in one of the Dark Tower books and it's backed up by the fact that the plague had broken out on multiple worlds. The virus isn't completely pushed aside as it does become an element when the community talks about re-population. Several babies do die, but as time goes on, the parents' immunity gets passed to the children so that they are able to survive.
For continuity fanatics who wonder which edition is "canon" given the differences, I like to think that they both are and that the revised and uncut edition is just another world that suffered the effects. Many of the worlds are extraordinarily similar so it does work within the established rules of the King multiverse.
I don't know whether to commend the government for sticking to its coverup or question the logic. It makes sense at first. They want to try to hide it and they do seem to make a bona fide effort to contain and stop the outbreak, but once everything is done they're still at it. Early in the book, Stu is held captive and he worries that he's become expendable. He comes to the conclusion that they'll kill him since he's useless and they do try. I just don't get what the point is. Everybody's dead, who, exactly are you covering it up from. At this point, I would imagine it's kind of a moot point. Even better, as a way to ensure that the rest of the world doesn't find out about it, they send people to the other continents to spread the infection. You could make the argument that the virus would've gotten there eventually anyway, but as a tactic it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense.
I also found it a bit odd that Mother Abagail made such a point about sending them out, on foot with no supplies (Glen suggests this is a purging ritual) to take on Flagg once and for all so that they can stand and be true. Yet, they have almost no bearing on the final events. They get there, Flagg captures them almost immediately. Oh, normally I would put a spoiler warning, but come on the book is decades old and is one of the definitive King novels so I'm going to go out on a limb and say that you already know how it ends. Anywhoo, they're about to be quartered in front of a huge crowd (villains really do love the public confrontations don't they?) when one questions what's happening. Flagg kills him with some mystical energy ball that loiters around even after the man is disintegrated. Trash returns with a nuke and God commandeers that ball to form a hand and detonate the nuke.
Now, OK, if they hadn't gone then the crowd would never have gathered, but Trash would've still brought the nuke and God could've easily used something else to manifest his hand to set it off and crowd or not, Vegas would've been toast. Again though, that doesn't make for a compelling story if the good guys sit around while the bad guy defeats himself; readers would've been ticked.
I'm interested to see what sort of things King added. With an extra two to three hundred extra pages, there's a whole other book's worth of material.
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