Random thoughts after finishing... (spoilers)
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If by "a lot harder" you mean well nigh impossible, then I would tend to agree -- hell, most people don't even look up anymore -- but then again, that's part of the fun, isn't it?
Heaven knows, when I read . . . oh, let's say Charles Dickens . . . I am as amazed at the way people lived as I am at the extraordinary storytelling.
But maybe that's just me.
I'm 47 years old and I'm on the Internet. I didn't think it would happen back in 1997 (the year I went on-line), but it's now part of everyday existence. I communicate on it, entertain myself and buy things via the Internet. Truth be told I like much about it.
I attended college from 1986-1990. Cell phones were expensive and uncommon back then. You were away from a phone then somebody had to take a message. You were out of touch. That was acceptable just twenty-five years ago. I look at my old notebooks with all my handwritten notes and my papers that were typed on an electric typewriter or (maybe) a dot matrix printer, but those were unusual.
In 2015 I have a computer (wireless) and radio in my patrol car. I have a cell phone and a handheld radio and a digital camera and a digital pocket-recorder and a digital body-camera. I'm never out of touch in 2015. If I turn my cell phone off it seem to piss off a number of people. The most important of those people being my wife. It's almost a sin in this day and age to be out of touch.
Then I look at my twenty year old daughter who is going to be a junior in college. She has a notepad, smart phone and various other electronic accouterments and does half (if not more) of her schoolwork on line not to mention her social life Heck I'm amazed at how I used to live just a quarter of a century ago.
I am catching myself prefacing so much of what I say now with "I suppose every generation says this . . . . "
For me it's not so much the technology itself, but the almost constant change . . . the endless "upgrading." I catch myself realizing -- at odd moments -- how much of what goes on around me isn't really for me anymore. Does that make any sense? Nobody cares about a time when the telephone was attached to the wall instead of directly to peoples' faces. The world has moved on.
As Terry Jones once stated so eloquently: "You tell the young people today that . . . they won't believe you!"
For me it's not so much the technology itself, but the almost constant change . . . the endless "upgrading." I catch myself realizing -- at odd moments -- how much of what goes on around me isn't really for me anymore. Does that make any sense? Nobody cares about a time when the telephone was attached to the wall instead of directly to peoples' faces. The world has moved on.
As Terry Jones once stated so eloquently: "You tell the young people today that . . . they won't believe you!"
I'm right there with you. I find myself adding the qualifier "I can remember......" I listen to my younger co-workers go on and on about the latest and greatest and realize I have absolutely no interest in trying to keep up with them. I had a flip cell phone that I kept for a decade until it finally died. You would have thought I was riding around on a horse and carried a sword from the way some people expressed amazement at my electronic antique.
I j
ust recently updated my antique phone to an Iphone. I was forced to, otherwise I would have kept the old one forever, but it was just beat all to hell.
Yep. Forced obsolescence.
That's funny.
I've still got my Samsung flip-phone. It's in my pocket right now. Works great.
You know what I found out?
Nobody actually makes phone calls anymore.
Isn't that funny?
I've still got my Samsung flip-phone. It's in my pocket right now. Works great.
You know what I found out?
Nobody actually makes phone calls anymore.
Isn't that funny?
Me, too (though I went the Android route instead of iPhone). My ancient cell wouldn't charge anymore and the screen was so scratched that I couldn't read it half the time--lol. Still iffy on the change up--most of the extra stuff seems pointless. My teens/early 20s live on their phones, though.
this made me laugh, my screen was the same. I would have to hold it certain ways to even be able to see the stuff on the screen. In bright sunlight--fuhgeddaboudit!
If you're interested in a post-apocalyptic book that does not deal with the supernatural or evil in that sense, may I suggest Pat Franks' Alas Babylon.. It was written in 1959, and has to do with a group of survivors after atomic war.. I found it very interesting, while he does concentrate on the personalities and their stories, he also has some technical things that are pretty apt as well..I finished the newer edition of The Stand yesterday, and am sorting through thoughts on it, which is why i was seeking out a forum for discussion. I could leave reviews, but it's not the same thing. I should preface to say I've only read two SK novels so far, so am still feeling out his style and habits as an author. SPOILERS for the entirety of the book interspersed ahead!
I'm sure there's hundreds of books out there (now) about apocalyptic, population-smashing plagues. In fact, I read one maybe a year or so ago called The Passage by Justin Cronin (part of a trilogy, though the 3rd book has not released yet). So while I was reading, I kept comparing it to that story, from the 'what would it be like to live in the world if almost everyone else was dead?' view. Cronin's books are also quite similar to The Walking Dead, except instead of all the infected turning into zombies, they turn into vampires, and so all the survivors have to remain in very strictly regimented enclaves... it's neither here nor there. His book was very well-written, but I didn't know it was about vampires until the end, somehow. So, The Stand ended up being what I had hoped The Passage would have been.
As someone who was born in 1982, it was hard for me to get past the really dated ambience from the 70s. Many of the expressions were completely lost on me, and I had to google a few things. It's always going to be hard when you set a book in the future (1990) and then people from a decade or two past that are reading it in hindsight... it's inevitable, so just let it be dated and readers will have to just deal. I did.
But I think the main appeal for these types of post-apocalyptic books, for me at least, is the thought-provoking nature of "Hey, yeah! What WOULD it really be like if that happened?" It was hard to get past all the unimaginable destruction and grief of everyone seeing all their loved ones dying before they too succumb. Would it be better or worse to survive, when all your loved ones died?
I think it'd be a lot harder nowadays on the survivors, since people in this day and age are so used to relying on technology to tell us how and when to do things that we don't bother to learn for ourselves... we'd be lost without the internet or our phones, or GPS.
The first half of the book, I was in love with it, and liked it just as much as 11/22/63. Unfortunately, when the survivors kind of settled into the Free Zone, I found I had started to dislike almost all the main characters, sadly.
I disliked Frannie intensely, especially her scenes when she was serving on the Committe. I thought she was completely useless and pointless and unprofessional--well... unprofessional is a strange charge to level at someone in those circumstances I guess. I just really hated her character. She was so high-strung, and always getting angry over the wrong thing, or crying, or just being generally obnoxious. Yes, I know she was pregnant and that makes people emotional.
Harold and Nadine were unlikeable from the get-go, but they were sort of meant to be, so that's excusable. At least Harold's character made your emotions run high while reading him. I never pitied him. I just wanted to punch him in the face the whole time. Same with Nadine. She knew what she was getting into was Wrong in every sense, but she was too scared to stop and turn back, plus she kind of wanted to be Wrong. I suppose the same could be same for Harold. I was surprised in the way both of them met their ends. I expected a dramatic, climactic end... it didn't happen for either of them. Which, I kind of like.
I'm learning that SK is not predictable in that respect. Somewhat like George R. R. Martin, he doesn't shy away from killing main characters with no warning, so you can't expect all the main characters to 'make it.' Although it's nice when he gives heads up, like with Kojak, lol. I appreciated knowing from the middle of the book that he would live for another, what was it? 16 years? In general, I like Mr. King's hand with forewarning. It's tricky, so you can't take it at face value. But I think it adds the right touch of gravitas to partings or goodbyes, when he says that two characters never saw each other again, or... whatever the case is. It makes the passages deeper.
Stu and Larry, to me, were just kind of generic Everymen heroes, to me. I had a hard time understanding Larry's deeper motivations. And in the end, I found I didn't care. I was sad he died. I felt sorry for him when he had to leave Stu in the desert after he broke his leg, and finally was impressed with this courage to walk into Las Vegas the way they did (which goes for all of those 3 who did it). Stu was OK, but he never won me over to being a huge fan. Probably because he was in love with Frannie, and I have to judge him for that.
The whole subplot to send spies to Las Vegas seemed so stupid to me. I was already not impressed with the "Free Zone" committee, and this didn't impress me at all. You had to figure none of those people were coming back alive. Your adversary has powers to infiltrate your dreams, and even waking realities. You have to figure maybe he would know they were spies. And whatever info they could bring back is the same info the people in Boulder could (and did) probably have theorized in the first place. Tom Cullen was the only one to survive, and by the time he came back, his info was long irrelevant. (The part at the end, describing Tom and Stu and Kojak's journey back to Boulder after the bomb was a really enjoyable part of the book, imo.)
I was sad (and surprised) by the way Nick died. I thought Mother Abagail had indicated that she knew he would be "the one" from the first time she met him, or something like that. Something that indicated he would be a leader after she was gone. Well, that didn't really happen.
Glen Bateman's character was ok, he didn't bother me as much as someone of the others. My main issue with him was that he initially left Kojak behind. Super lame. I would never, ever have done that. Especially since there's fewer dogs left than people it seemed like, and a lot would probably starve to death with no easy food sources and people to feed them. Don't tell me they don't have motorcycle sidecars back in the 70s? He was a smart dog. Strap him in, he'd have been fine. I would have found a way.
I liked the character of Mother Abagail a lot, and also thought the way that she died was a little strange. She felt she had made some kind of sin of Pride and so exiles herself and that's pretty much that, in essence. That whole subplot was a little murky to me.
Looking back, I do wish that this book didn't contain the Randall Flagg aspect at all. I'd like to read a book that just talks about the survival of mankind after something like this happens. 'This' meaning a supervirus or something similar. No zombie, no vampires, no demons trying to rule humanity. I think it would be interesting to read how they go about surviving, scavenging from what they find lying around. It would probably be a hard book for an author to write though. It would require tons of research and knowledge. There was so much I wondered about while reading this book. You could fill another book the same size just answering those types of questions.
So yeah... I wasn't crazy about most of the characters by the end, but it was a really interesting book, tugged on all the emotions. Thinking back now, there were so many little side parts of the story that didn't affect the major outcome, which I'm sure some critics felt should have been cut or left out of the story, but I'm glad each part was in it. If it's a good story, who cares how long it is? I'm happy to keep reading. I loved the depth and breadth of it. Wish it had even more breadth, in fact. Glad Kojak lived AND found a girlfriend, even though every other poor dog had to die
I'm left wondering what I would do if I had survived. I definitely wouldn't want to stay in the Free Zone with all those people. I want to say I would just roam around, living off of what was leftover of humanity. On the other hand, as was stated a number of times in the book, there are a lot of things that can kill you, or accidents that could befall, and with really no medical assistance, you'd be toast. So, that would make just roaming around difficult. Or even just choosing to live somewhere, alone. You would kind of want to have a couple people within shouting distance if possible. But as Glen kept pointing out, you start grouping humans together, and trouble soon follows.
Plus you'd have to just KNOW to avoid the entire Las Vegas area. I wonder how many people would have wandered into that and died of radiation poisoning. As was also stated a few times in the book, you have to worry about all the weapons of varying levels of destruction just left lying around. Scary...
Anyhow, I will wrap this up, since I am way past the point of rambling now, and everyone else finished talking about this book 40 years ago.
I read that in the early 90s, and it held up extremely well. That I read a book once, over 20 years ago, and remember many characters and details about it, says quite a lot about the quality.
I don't keep count but I'm probably at 8 or 9. At least. I've read IT that much or more. The great ones never get old.
There's a wonderful bit of irony at this juncture in the story, where all the "good guys" are sitting around figuring out ways they can get each other on their precious "committee" without making it look like they're just packing it with their friends, while at the same time discussing ways to prevent other people from trying to do exactly the same thing.
I don't know if this was intentional on the author's part (I really don't remember politics being as divisive 35 years ago as they are now, but that's probably a communication thing) but I did find it amusing that the very first thing the Free Zoners brought back once society started to re-form was partisan politics.
; )
You must read The DT series!!! Especially if you are an IT fan!!A also like reading killer books more than once. I've read "IT" 4 times and often read random chapters-addiction ?
The great thing is that I ALWAYS find something new, a tiny detail, it makes me feel good
To be honest, I haven'tI'm afraid of sinking into the DT world completely and becoming a SK- no-life
In Poland there's a new edition DT series coming out. You can find the covers below:
DT - I http://images.gildia.pl/_n_/sklep/275/275842-450.jpg
DT - II http://stephenking.pl/roznosci/aktualnosci/powolanie2.jpg
DT - III http://stephenking.pl/roznosci/aktualnosci/ziemie2.jpg
Poeple in Poland have gone CRAZY and are very excited about new edition and of course there's more still to come !
It was kind of nice being out of touch. I can remember riding around town looking for my friends when they weren't home. Part of the fun was the search/adventure. Plus you actually remembered everyone's phone number.
Yes. Remember having to call a business to get their hours or to find out what movie was playing? Less than a quarter of a century and it's so different. I wonder if this was how it felt to those folks who came of age in the 1880's? a century ago. By 1915 telephones, moving pictures, airplanes and the automobile were part of everyday life. By 1930 movies with sound, personal radios in the home and public air travel were reality. In 2013 I'll be sixty-two. What will be the reality of our physical world by then?
True. To be honest I miss going to Blockbuster and renting movies(VHS) as part of a date night.
The Stand is probably the quintessential King book. Lots of great characters that you either love or hate with interesting story lines. The pages fly by, but a weak ending. My wife vowed to never read another King book due to the ending of the Stand. So 90% great fun and 10% wtf. Not a bad trade off.