The Stand

Today I finished reading The Stand, Stephen King's epic of a post-epidemic apocalyptical future world.

The year is 1985 (the book was first published around 1980) and approximately 90% of the world's population has been destroyed by a sickness that is dubbed "Captain Trips." Those that are mysteriously immune to the superflu are humanity's last hope and as they are drawn together, dreams of an old woman and a dark man haunt them.

Two communities of survivors form, one in Colorado known as the "Free Zone" and one in Las Vegas. The diety-like figure of the Free Zone is the old woman, Mother Abigail, and as they begin to rebuild society, they become aware that the other community in Las Vegas, led by the dark man, is planning to wipe them out. Some members of the Free Zone are sent to Las Vegas where the final "Stand" is made.

I know that Stephen King is usually classified as a "horror writer," but I have never found his books to be all that frightening, and while I think he is a good story-teller, I find most of his books unbelievable. The problem with this is not that I don't like "fantasy," (I do!) but the fact is that the settings of his books make me want his stories to be believable. However, I didn't find that to be the case with The Stand. In my opinion, this story was not only believable, but also possible, and that was the most disturbing part of the book.

What I really liked in this book was the second part where the people begin gathering in Colorado and the way that they work together to start rebuilding society. A system of government forms, but many things that were cornerstones of the former society never reappear. For example, the institution of marriage is never formally re-introduced and the concept of money disappears.

There were a lot of religious undertones in the book. How can there not be in a story concerning the Apocalypse, right? But what the book boiled down to was a classic "Good vs. Evil" story. Who wins? Well, you will have to read it to find out... but remember the author IS Stephen King!