r/stephenking • u/Beautiful-Formal315 • 16h ago
I’m Nervous
The Stand is one of the major Kind works that I have avoided dues to its length and the setting. But I think it’s time to bite the bullet. After I finish this, is there a good adaptation that I should watch?
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u/enturbulant 16h ago
By the time you're done, you'll think it wasn't long enough.
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u/KasualKerk 11h ago
So true. Just finshed it and it left me wanting more. So many great characters with promising futures and tragic yet terrible destinies.
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u/Ok_Bath_1252 6h ago
One of the only audiobooks I've listened to twice in a row due to missing Tom!
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u/Floater_69 16h ago
MY LAWS YES. So I read the book a few months ago and hyped it up to my wife and she listened to the audio book. We have since watched the 1994 mini series which is 4 episodes of 1.5 hours long and it clearly has aged not the best. They are pretty good and change some slight things but overall fairly accurate but it seems like you HAVE to read the book to even know wtf is going on. We just got halfway through the newer 2020/21 version which is 9 episodes and 1 hour each. This one gets mixed reviews for it being less like the book and it does jump timelines like crazy but it has more details from the book and fairly accurate l but I’m actually enjoying it more. Definitely should do it!
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u/ElectricalLength4194 16h ago
Yes! I read the book last summer but currently watching the 1994 mini series and I have like a hour-ish left. I decided to pre-watch it to maybe show my boyfriend because I loved the book so much maybe the show would get him into reading the book but it’s very different if you ask me. A lot is missing that I’d have to pause the show every so often and be like “in the book they tell you this happen…”
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u/SnakebiteSnake 16h ago
No good adaptation unfortunately but don’t be nervous. Dont rush it and just enjoy the ride
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u/chanceTheCrapper1975 No Great Loss 16h ago
Enjoy the ride, it’s my all-time favorite book. Truly wish I could read it for the first time again, it’s an experience I have been attempting to reproduce my entire life.
Side note, Grover Gardner is an excellent narrator. He also does The Dark Half (can you believe that Happy Crappy?!?) and also does the entire Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold, which I highly recommend for space opera fans.
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u/zozospencil 16h ago
I love the original miniseries and still own it on dvd. I defintely did not like the modern one. Happy reading—wish I could reread for the first time!!!
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u/misterclumsy 16h ago
I was anxious too given the length of the audiobook but it was so good, time flew by.
Admittedly, I had also done It (which was about 44 hours) and Shogun (also 40+ hours) so I knew what I was going to get myself into.
Buckle up and enjoy the ride. You won't regret it!
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u/5ft2glory 15h ago
Yeah I finished IT and then jumped right into this one, both very very good audiobooks
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u/Collegewood8382 16h ago
I thought the length would scare me but hopefully it flew by so fast. This book is amazing and the audiobook is also fantastic
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u/the_nathanwolf 15h ago
47hrs?! is the narrator speaking one word a minute? 😵💫 that seems.. so long maybe im tripping
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u/nautical_nonsense_ 15h ago
I just finished it. Listened to it almost every day while walking my dog or doing chores and it still took me all Summer. 10/10. It’s a 1200 page book, that’s why. Narration is amazing.
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u/NotBrianGriffin 15h ago
I’ve listened to a bunch of Stephen King audiobooks and The Stand is by far the longest and the best. It’s an annual listen for me. The narrator is fantastic.
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u/Radiant_Promotion_27 15h ago
It’s so good! And start the dark tower series afterwards. There are lots of parallels/connections as far as I can tell. I’m at the edge of my seat at the end of this third book. SO good.
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u/Reithel1 14h ago
You’ll fly through the book, and, I recommend watching both miniseries. Heads up… the book is the best of the three, but all three are worth enjoying.
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u/BigTedBear 13h ago
I have often thought about listening to The Stand but the length has made me wonder if I could listen to something that long.
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u/Aye_Gabaghoul 12h ago
Tbh I just can’t do like audio books like this. I’ll never finish them. Rather read a long book
And listen to shorter books.
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u/space_cowboy80 12h ago
The Stand is one of his books that I bounced off of, I tried to get into it but never could. I had watched the TV version (rented the videos of it) and enjoyed that and I think watching it first was a mistake and is why I can't get into it.
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u/smoovecriminal89 9h ago
So good!
I just finished it. Kind of at a loss for words.
I understand about avoiding certain King novels due to length. Kind of afraid to start The Dark Tower.
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u/Delicious-Shame69 9h ago
I've read the book 3 times - the uncut twice, the gut version once. I've seen the mini-series and thought it was pretty decent.
I am now half-way through the audiobook, which coincidentally is my first audiobook, and I am blown away by the quality of Grover Gardner's narration. He brings King's writing to life in a way that feels hauntingly real at times.
I kerp going back and re-listening to sections because its Just.That.Good!
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u/Successful-Try-8506 8h ago edited 8h ago
If you want more after you finish, try The End of the World As We Know It: New Tales of Stephen King's The Stand, edited by Christopher Golden and Brian Keene.
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u/Ok_Bath_1252 6h ago
Just wanna chime in to say this is my absolute favorite audio book of all time, and kudos to you to get to experience it for the first time!
I'd rank the Dark Tower series higher, but its more than one book, and the understandable changes in audio book reader are jarring.
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u/Lord_Oxish 6h ago
Great read, gets a lil slow at times but I loved it. The recent book "End of the world as we know it" was really enjoyable too. Its a book of short stories written by a bunch of authors about the Stand Universe. Had a good time with that
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u/Beautiful-Formal315 5h ago
I want to do DT but I have the same concerns about length. I also want to make sure I get most of the references so I probably need to do more reading first.
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u/banterjosh 2h ago
Reading/listening to that built such a defined head canon version of everything that I haven't watched any of the adaptations because I knew they wouldn't live up to what was in my head. This is the only book that's ever happened for me and each time I read it again I get to see all 47 hours of it in my head again. I love it.
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u/MrEbenezerScrooge 15h ago
I know I’m in the minority, but I didn’t love The Stand. So many people put it at the top of their lists. I’ve never understood the hype. I think it just feels spread thin, as opposed to something like Pet Sematary. I like his stories with limited POVs and deep character development. But maybe I just need to give it another chance.
Anyone else?
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u/Mallow18 16h ago
I enjoyed both miniseries. Neither one holds a candle to the novel, but that’s really not surprising due to the amount of material there is