Current events

  • This message board permanently closed on June 30th, 2020 at 4PM EDT and is no longer accepting new members.

kingricefan

All-being, keeper of Space, Time & Dimension.
Jul 11, 2006
30,011
127,446
Spokane, WA
Funny, I was in Idaho this past Saturday and stopped in at a used bookstore that I hadn't been in before. I found two King books for a friend of mine and got into a conversation with the lady at the register while she rang me up. She said she had been meaning to start reading The Stand again as the first time she tried she couldn't get into it and set it aside. I told her she might want to wait until this corona thingy has disappeared. But then on the drive home I thought maybe I should have told her to begin reading it asap since it would probably scare the h*ll out of her!! But that's just the little tiny bit of evil inside me talking....;)
 

Riot87

Jamaica's Finest
Mar 7, 2014
2,377
13,990
36
United States
Meh...Personally I don't think its the same thing. That Super Flu in the Stand was way more out of control and Deadly. I still think the CDC and the WHO and other organizations will get this under control. Too be Honest i'm getting really tired of all the doomsayers out there. They are not helping anything and I have a certain family member who has been completely scared too death almost by the things people have been saying online. She doesn't even want to let her kids go to School or leave their house...
:mad:
 

osnafrank

Well-Known Member
Jan 24, 2017
7,121
50,822
47
Germany
Meh...Personally I don't think its the same thing. That Super Flu in the Stand was way more out of control and Deadly. I still think the CDC and the WHO and other organizations will get this under control. Too be Honest i'm getting really tired of all the doomsayers out there. They are not helping anything and I have a certain family member who has been completely scared too death almost by the things people have been saying online. She doesn't even want to let her kids go to School or leave their house...
:mad:

Sending her calming and positive vibes. :frog:
 

highland.hermit

Well-Known Member
Jun 23, 2012
63
212
UK
wow, ive been aware of this book since it was first published and ive owned a copy for about 16 years and i watched the tv mini series about 3 years ago so that it would prompts me to read the book. and now i am on the final 100 pages and all i can do it gasp for breath. its been a hellova ride.
 

RichardX

Well-Known Member
Sep 26, 2006
1,737
4,434
The Stand is an epic but one of the few King books that I don't think has held up well over the years. One of the most effective parts of the book, though, is early on when awareness of the severity of the situation starts to arise. That slow burn that comes as the characters begin to realize they are in the midst of a pandemic.
 

Rrty

Well-Known Member
Jun 4, 2007
1,394
4,588
Richard, I sort of know what you mean about the aging process for this book...it's still great, but as time goes on, I seem to prefer It over The Stand in terms of King's longer works. This is not to say Stand is bad, at all; it's brilliant, and I can re-read sections easily enough. But It is just...more fun, maybe? More easy to relate to given its arc tracking childhood to adulthood? More nostalgic? That could be it.
 

Rrty

Well-Known Member
Jun 4, 2007
1,394
4,588
I was thinking over the weekend that King should pen a short story with the current crisis as a backdrop. Then a premise popped in my head. I could see CoV-2 being caused by Flagg's son or daughter (maybe Ricky or Rhonda?). Ricky (or Rhonda) wants to impress his father. He is young, inexperienced at plague-making, so his disease isn't as severe (as King pointed out, comparisons to Trips are not applicable). His father shows up and shows him how it's done, then leaves to allow him to see what Rick does with the aftermath. It could serve as a satire of current political times as well. Might be a bit too-on-the-nose, to be honest, but I just share that example for purposes of the post. What we really need is King's able hand at a story or maybe even a novella. Either that, or maybe he could sanction Richard Chizmar to cook something up while he is (and we are) sheltering-in-place...
 

Rockym

Well-Known Member
Feb 11, 2012
77
236
I've been thinking a lot about The Stand myself during this pandemic. The only thing I really worry about in reference to the story, is the military turning on innocent and unarmed civilians and shooting them like how it was in the book. That's probably the scariest part of the story for me.
 

Distance87

Well-Known Member
Oct 5, 2019
58
249
36
East Texas
That's the most unrealistic part of the book for me. I sereved in the military and I believe that given an order like that 95% of the people in the military would refuse and desert. The remaining five would split 3 ways those who refuse and take punishment, those who comply but aim high to miss on purpos, and those few that would comply. Even those that would comply would be enough to stand against the mass of citizens that are armed.