So, continuing with my project to read all of Stephen King's work in chronological order I've just finished The Stand. The Stand was Stephen King's sixth published novel. It originally came out in 1978, and was set five minutes in the future, in 1980. It was republished in 1990, in a version that was about three hundred pages longer. When King had only published six novels, his publishers felt that readers would have trouble with a novel over one thousand pages. Ten years later, they had no such qualms.
It may have been more true to the challenge if I'd first read the original, 1978, edited version, and then, when appropriate, read the 1990 version. Oh well. I couldn't be bothered to track it down, and by the time I realised there were two versions, I was way too into mine.
My Kindle edition had real pages numbers, and according to those, my copy of The Stand was 1320 pages. It felt exactly the right length. Nothing felt like filler, or like waiting for the good parts to happen. I think a major part of this was the sheer number of characters. Sometimes I'd forget who someone was, and then King would drop in a quick reminder and it'd all come flooding back. That didn't bother me; I think the only way the book could have worked was with its huge cast of characters.
I reread The Long Walk over the course of two days. I do like that one. Apparently it was one of the first novels Stephen King wrote, way back when he was in high school. It isn't perfect. It's about an event in which one hundred boys try to outwalk each other. If they drop below 4mph for longer than 30 seconds, they get a warning. If they get three warnings, then slow down for another 30 seconds, they're shot in the head. That was the thing that really bugged me; the speed limit. 4mph is not a walking speed, it's a running speed. I'm taller than the average woman, and my walking speed is just over 3mph. These guys were probably taller than my 5'6, but how much taller would you have to be for 4mph to be your natural speed? It just doesn't make sense to me. Also, why had so few of these guys trained and equipped themselves properly? Annoying.
Of course, the point of it is really more a character study than anything else, so I can overlook those things.
I've just bought a copy of The Dead Zone, which is apparently one of Stephen King's favourites. I've never read it before, so let's see if I agree.
It may have been more true to the challenge if I'd first read the original, 1978, edited version, and then, when appropriate, read the 1990 version. Oh well. I couldn't be bothered to track it down, and by the time I realised there were two versions, I was way too into mine.
My Kindle edition had real pages numbers, and according to those, my copy of The Stand was 1320 pages. It felt exactly the right length. Nothing felt like filler, or like waiting for the good parts to happen. I think a major part of this was the sheer number of characters. Sometimes I'd forget who someone was, and then King would drop in a quick reminder and it'd all come flooding back. That didn't bother me; I think the only way the book could have worked was with its huge cast of characters.
I reread The Long Walk over the course of two days. I do like that one. Apparently it was one of the first novels Stephen King wrote, way back when he was in high school. It isn't perfect. It's about an event in which one hundred boys try to outwalk each other. If they drop below 4mph for longer than 30 seconds, they get a warning. If they get three warnings, then slow down for another 30 seconds, they're shot in the head. That was the thing that really bugged me; the speed limit. 4mph is not a walking speed, it's a running speed. I'm taller than the average woman, and my walking speed is just over 3mph. These guys were probably taller than my 5'6, but how much taller would you have to be for 4mph to be your natural speed? It just doesn't make sense to me. Also, why had so few of these guys trained and equipped themselves properly? Annoying.
Of course, the point of it is really more a character study than anything else, so I can overlook those things.
I've just bought a copy of The Dead Zone, which is apparently one of Stephen King's favourites. I've never read it before, so let's see if I agree.
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