Kevin's Watch

Think about it.....an infectious disease has wiped out most of mankind. I would want to stay far, far away from anyone after that.

*Sigh* Nick is dead along with eight other people who weren't nearly as awesome as Nick. I gotta admit, I'm kinda pissed off. Not the, 'You suck King, and so does this book' pissed off, but rather the 'Son of a bi+c#, I really liked that character' pissed off. I just always hoped that Nick would be one of the main, if not THE main agent in kicking Flagg's ass.... so once again, *sigh*. But, before he left, he set up Tom going to the west... I'll have to see how that developes... M-O-O-N, that spells come-uppins...

I always loved the way King wasn't afraid to kill major characters.

--A

*sigh* I left my copy of The Stand in a friends car, so I was unable to go on a final reading rampage like I wanted to...so, instead, I read one of King's short stories from Night Shift entitled "Jerusalem's Lot". And I have only a couple things to say about it:

1) It was [insert preferred expletive] amazing!
2) I rather enjoyed the Lovecraftian atmosphere... reminded me simultaneously of "Dreams in the Witch House" and "The Strange Case of Charles Dexter Ward"... not in the, 'oh, he totally ripped off Lovecraft' way, but the 'huh, he must have been inspired by Lovecraft' way. It really was a perfect Lovecraftian tale.
3) As a result (together with what I've read of the Stand) I have forgiven Stephen King for the travesty he called It and look forward to reading more of his work.

Next post should be my final impressions of "The Stand."

I've read 'Salem's Lot as part of my read of The Dark Tower. Is Jerusalem's Lot a previous version of that story? Or a different story also set in the village of Jerusalem's Lot?

It's just set in the same village. Different story to the novel. Sort of a prequel.

--A

Thanks Av.
I'll look for it.

Definitely worth the read. Really creepy ending IIRC.

Well, the ride is over. Stu survived whilst more deserving folk perished, but at least they took out Las Vegas with them. Overall, I liked the wrap-up in this novel, gave a nice conclusion to everything. Kinda reminded me of Tolkein's LotR, in that the book kept going after the main conflict was resolved. I, of course, do not mind this, as it helped to see where civilization was going and I got what I felt were good conclusions to individual character lines that remained. It seems mankind may survive... at least until Richard Farraday civilizes his group of savages... and until humanity repeats its vicious cycle.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable read, glad I read it. Glad I read Tommyknockers beforehand to (that book would have been considerably harder to read after the Stand). The main question I have is more of a poll then anything explaining the book. My roommate didn't enjoy the ending too much because "it involved God". I interpret this as meaning that he views the ending as being a literal dues ex machina where God directly blasts Flagg to bits. However, I don't view it this way. Yes, God was involved...but more in a Lord Foul way... he understood the characters involved and manipulated them into a situation that he wished... in this case, Larry, Glen, and Richard show up in Las Vegas, Flagg tries to demonstrate his power with a ball of electricity, and, shocked by the appearance of Trash Can Man, loses control of the ball of electricity which ultimately ends Las Vegas. The characters' calling this "the Hand of God" is just a recognization of this Foul-like manipulation, not saying that God reached down with his actual hand and set off the bomb.

Next (as far as King is concerned): Nightshift and Hearts in Atlantis.