Swine Flu and "The Stand"

[SCCamper]

With all the talk on the media about the swine flu outbreak, it made me want to read one of my favorite books by Stephen King..."The Stand". When I went out and bought a new copy, (lost my old one somehow) I found that he had written an uncut version of the story. Has anybody else read this version? What did you think of it? I'm only on Chap. 14 now, but haven't noticed any additions yet. It has been a while since I read it, though.

 

[des1954]

With all the talk on the media about the swine flu outbreak, it made me want to read one of my favorite books by Stephen King..."The Stand". When I went out and bought a new copy, (lost my old one somehow) I found that he had written an uncut version of the story. Has anybody else read this version? What did you think of it? I'm only on Chap. 14 now, but haven't noticed any additions yet. It has been a while since I read it, though.

The unabridge version came out about 5 years after the original. When "The Stand" was first released, King was still somewhat an unproven author and the publishing company made him edit the book. The same thing happened with the first few movies that were made from his books - King had no part in the screen writing. Then his fame bottle-rocketed and he could do anything he wanted. So the first thing was to re-publish "The Stand" in its' entirety.

The un-cut version is a little more indepth, but the story itself did not change. You just got into the heads of the characters a little more. You should like the un-cut version. I did!!

The movie stayed very true to the book. It's one of my favorite movies!

ETA: When first stories emerged about the swine flu, I immediately thought of "Captain Trips"!!

 

[jdd]

This is my favorite book of all time! The longer version is just a bit better in my opinion - no one does character development better than King.

I also thought of this book, but Captain Trips was much more deadly....

 

[SCCamper]

The unabridge version came out about 5 years after the original.

Really??? I didn't realize that the uncut version was released so long ago. As for the mini-series, I was never that crazy about it. You know how you get your own images of the characters in a story...They just never fit mine. Although, I thought "Christine", "The Shining" (old version) and "Carrie" were pretty good when they made in them into movies.

 

[des1954]

As much as I loved the original movie "The Shining" (and who could beat Nicholson's performance) - the movie did not remain true to the book at all. Neither did Carrie or Cujo. It wasn't until King was allowed to either do the screen writing or supervise the screen writing, that the movies came close to the original stories.

The one book of his that I loved even better as a movie was "It"!! Tim Curry was sooooooooo evil as Pennywise the Clown. (Beep-beep! It floats!!!)

 

[jdd]

As much as I loved the original movie "The Shining" (and who could beat Nicholson's performance) - the movie did not remain true to the book at all. Neither did Carrie or Cujo. It wasn't until King was allowed to either do the screen writing or supervise the screen writing, that the movies came close to the original stories.

The one book of his that I loved even better as a movie was "It"!! Tim Curry was sooooooooo evil as Pennywise the Clown. (Beep-beep! It floats!!!)

Agreed! I was pleasantly surprised with Richard Thomas' performance too.

But my favorites are the non-"horror" movies - The Green Mile and Shawshank Redemption were phenomenal.

I liked Gary Sinise in The Stand, but could have done without Molly Ringwald - not how I pictured Frannie....

 

[des1954]

Agreed! I was pleasantly surprised with Richard Thomas' performance too.

But my favorites are the non-"horror" movies - The Green Mile and Shawshank Redemption were phenomenal.

I liked Gary Sinise in The Stand, but could have done without Molly Ringwald - not how I pictured Frannie....

The Green Mile was an awesome book!! The way I bought them was in the installment version!!

Tom Hanks, although doing a great job, was not IMHO the correct choice for Paul Edgecomb. I had a hard time with him, but don't know who I would have rather seen portraying Edgecomb. If Jerry Orbach had been younger - his type was more what I envisioned. David Morse & Michael Clarke Duncan were great choices!

Molly Ringwald! BLECH!!! There's something about her that just rubs me the wrong way. Gary Sinise was terrific! I think The Stand was his "break out" movie.

I haven't read much of King's novels since The Regulators. He just wasn't the same after his accident - he mostly "re-churned" previous stories. Now, that being said, I thought "Duma Key" was actually very good.

 

[dato63]

One of my favorite books. I remember being so excited when the mini-series came out. I thought Gary Sinese did wonderfully, I thought they did well with Tom too. "M-o-o-n, that spells Tom".

also could have done without Molly as Frannie.

 

[SCCamper]

also could have done without Molly as Frannie.

"M-o-o-n...that spells agreed."

 

[BigDaddyRog]

Wow...I didnt even realize he wrote The Green Mile and Shawshank......I havent read much of King...I know I read THINNER,and then I hated the movie. But I love most of his other movies and didnt read the books....his writing style, for some reason, didnt overly impress me,but the stories THEMSELVES are twisted and sick and demented and I think they come across very well in film as long as I dont know the books version of the story. I know,I SHOULD read more often...but its so much easier to let some one else do all the imagining for me.....Im a true slacker.

 

[des1954]

Wow...I didnt even realize he wrote The Green Mile and Shawshank......I havent read much of King...I know I read THINNER,and then I hated the movie. But I love most of his other movies and didnt read the books....his writing style, for some reason, didnt overly impress me,but the stories THEMSELVES are twisted and sick and demented and I think they come across very well in film as long as I dont know the books version of the story. I know,I SHOULD read more often...but its so much easier to let some one else do all the imagining for me.....Im a true slacker.

Rog - If you're in the car a lot, do what Rick does. Get books on tape/CD to listen to in the car. Rick won't sit down & read a book, but he loves the recorded books. Most libraries have a fairly good selection. You can also get them for a rental fee at any Cracker Barrel.

 

[jdd]

Wow...I didnt even realize he wrote The Green Mile and Shawshank......

A lot of people don't - Shawshank was actually a short story titled "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption". The movie was very true to the book - same with Green Mile. I'm not the biggest fan of the "horror" titles - Carrie, Cujo, Pet Semetary - but The Stand is a favorite, along with a book he wrote with Peter Straub called The Talisman - really excellent. Also, the Dark Tower series is very good.

Luckily, it's not looking like the Swine Flu is anywhere near as deadly as the "superflu"!

 

[BigDaddyRog]

Rog - If you're in the car a lot, do what Rick does. Get books on tape/CD to listen to in the car. Rick won't sit down & read a book, but he loves the recorded books. Most libraries have a fairly good selection. You can also get them for a rental fee at any Cracker Barrel.

Ya know Deb...Ive never really considered this before...This is a great idea,Thanks!