/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.11025367]

Explain what The Stand means without using "God", "The Devil", "Christ", "Good & Evil or Good Vs Evil", "Lord of the Rings (or any names from that series)".

Only then will I know if you're an idiot or not.

[Anonymous No.11025369]

>reading a book by a guy that looks like this

yeah no thanks ill stick to Albert Camus bro

[Anonymous No.11025398]

>>11025367
Genre fiction trash.

[Anonymous No.11025481]

>>11025367
I read it in high school so my memory of it is a bit foggy. It did make a huge impression on me, however. Anyone who says this isn't a skillfully crafted novel either hasn't read it or is blinded by an anti-King bias.

As for the meaning of it, I always interpreted it as an interesting piece of post-Vietnam fiction that reflects a strong mistrust of the government and of the human ability to form society in general. I don't think it's at all coincidence that a major element of the climax is a nuclear bomb.

What do you think OP? You seem to have a strong opinion and I've always been looking for a perspective on the book that went beyond the surface level understanding I gleaned at the time I read it.

[Anonymous No.11025491]

>>11025367
No one cares about your Welcome to the 80s Airport Fiction, Steve.

[Anonymous No.11025728]

I prefer Swan Song.

[Anonymous No.11025734]

>>11025481
>Anyone who says this isn't a skillfully crafted novel either hasn't read it or is blinded by an anti-King bias.
Ehh. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed it when I read it back in high school too but even then I thought the ending was a big let down, and with genre fiction that's a problem. Generally seems like all of King's novels are like that though.

I maintain that Night Shift is the only work of King's worth reading as anything other than the hot dog equivalent of literature. Could be wrong though famtbh

[Anonymous No.11025850]

>>11025734
I'll agree that the ending was definitely a let down but I feel like after 1100+ pages it would be impossible to not be let down, you know?

Either way, when I said well crafted I was more so referring to the character building and the juggling of many stories through the first-person perspective. Anyone who has tried their hand at writing should be able to understand how difficult it is to get these things right. His ability to craft memorable scenes that I can still remember years later is pretty remarkable as well. Moments involving Flagg were particularly powerful.

I get that /lit/ loves to shit on King because his books aren't super intellectual, and I do agree that in a sense they are more akin to hot dogs then a steak from a high-end restaurant. But god damn if he doesn't do those hot dogs wonderfully. His ability to pace and build tension is something I personally admire quite a bit. He doesn't get me thinking, but he gets my heart racing and that has to be worth something.

Besides the Stand, I thought Misery was his best book. I never read the Night Shift though.

[Anonymous No.11025866]

It's about how demagogues use outcast, ostracised, or disenfranchised people for evil.

[Anonymous No.11025867]

>>11025367
He explains it in On Writing mate. He mentions that he is wary of "pandora's technobox" and feels that The Stand was about God in a way. In the universe of The Stand God has more or less decreed that things have gotten out of hand, which is why the plague comes about in the first place. He says that the nuclear bomb was God's message as well, saying that the first thing everyone did was try to build it all back up again, so he kills them again.

In the end the main guy says that he does not know if people can ever change.

[Anonymous No.11025875]

>>11025850
Some of my favourite King writing is the first two thirds of Salems Lot. Literally take out the vampires at the end and you just have this comfy as FUCK midwest slice of life flick.

[Anonymous No.11025878]

JoJo reference

[Anonymous No.11025888]

BABY CAN YOU DIG YOUR MAN?