Stephen King's The Stand is a thrilling novel that portrays the forces of good
against evil. In the year 1991, a plague strikes America, leaving only a few
thousand people alive who are immune to the epidemic. Of the survivors, those
who serve Good instinctively join in Boulder, Colorado, while those who worship
the Dark Man are drawn to Las Vegas, Nevada. The two groups separately re-build
society, until one must destroy the other. Franni Goldsmith comes very close to
killing herself.
She thinks she can not deal with her parents deaths, being
unmarried and pregnant, and having the only other survivor in her hometown of
Ogunquit, Main be her recently deceased best friend's weird brother Harold
Lauder. Fran puts aside her personal feelings for Harold aside, and goes with
him to the place in her dreams, to Boulder, Colorado. On their way, they meet up
with six people from various states in the United States who joined them on
their journey. Fran is disturbed by her dreams, as all of them are by their own.
She dreams of an old lady named Abigail. This lady is kind and loving and
promises to protect them from the evil. In the dreams there is also a Dark Man.
He is always there lurking, waiting to attack.
Harold admits to himself that he
is in love with Fran and goes crazy when he realizes how serious Fran has become
with Stuart Redman, one of the newcomers to their traveling group. Harold
becomes insanely jealous and plots to separate them, even if it means murder.
Harold doesn't admit it to any of them, but his dreams are different from
theirs. In his dreams the Dark Man offers Harold power and respect, something
Harold could never imagine in the past. Harold knows his destiny is to go to Las
Vegas. The group arrives in Boulder, and soon after are joined by over one
thousand others who dream of Abigail and this place.
They eventuwilly form a
society where they settled and has meetings to decide what they would do about
the Dark Man. Abigail tells the people that three of them, including Stuart,
must be sent to destroy the Dark Man. Meanwhile Harold secretly leaves with the
Dark Man's bride-to-be (Nadine) to Las Vegas. Harold is ready to kill Stuart,
but is killed instead by the will of Good.
Nadine makes it safely to Las Vegas
before Stuart and his two companions are about to be hanged. Out of the sky the
hand of Good comes and destroys the Dark Man sparing the three men. After much
hardship, Stuart returns to Fran and her newborn son and together they plant the
seeds of a new society. The Stand is a book about human nature.
It shows
people's the meaning of good or evil. Mostly, it shows how it is in man's nature
to build society and to fight for his beliefs. I found this book to be extremely
entertaining because it was well written and somewhat interesting, despite it's
supernatural aspects. I would recommend this book for anyone who enjoys horror
movies.
