The Stand by Stephen King *****

TheStand by Stephen King consists of three books. Book I explores the question: What happens if an apocalypse kills over 99% of the human population? Book II: How will the post-apocalyptic world be organized? Book III resolves the conflicts from Book II. This novel can be characterized as good versus evil but might be better thought of as the parallel chronicles of good and evil.

At one level, the book supports people with disabilities. Tom Cullen never got past third grade. He can not read or write. Nick Andros is a deaf-mute. Donald Merwin Elbert (Trashcan Man) is a schizophrenic pyromaniac. The other characters all have more typical insecurities and flaws. Regardless, everyone contributes regardless of their challenges.

At another level, the book concerns the environment. With most of humanity gone, the environment recovers. The wild animals return, and the air and water improve.

While most of the book adheres to known science, the plot occasionally depends on people communicating through dreams and/or common hallucinations. In Book II people migrate to Boulder or Las Vegas depending on their dreams. This is strangely reminiscent of the migrations to  Devil’s Tower in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Both works were in development at the same time. That itself might be credited to a common hallucination between the two pop culture giants: Steven Spielberg and Stephen King.

While the book frames much of the conflict as good versus evil, with references to Hitler and sin, I expect the real story lies elsewhere. “No, I can’t accept the idea that we’re all pawns in some port-Apocalypse game of good and evil, dreams or not. Goddammit, it’s irrational!”

Note: Depending on the printing, this book is between 1200 and 1500 pages. On a per-page basis, the Kindle edition is a real bargain.

SPOILERS FOLLOW

While the GOOD (Mother Abigail in Boulder Colorado) and the EVIL (Randall Flagg in Las Vegas Nevada) imagine they are in conflict (at war) with each other, the resolution is that EVIL self-destructs and GOOD prospers independently. A short postscript shows Randall Flagg in some primitive civilization starting over. This postscript could be interpreted in many ways, or it could have been left out entirely.

Stephen King’s optimistic view in this post-apocalyptic world can be summed up: “The effective half-life of evil is always relatively short.”