The Stand: The Good, the Bad...and well, Harold's just ugly.

I really do love stories that deal with the battle between good and evil. While The Stand deals heavily with this eternal battle, it adds such dimension to each character. Let's take the "good guys" for instance:

Frannie Goldsmith - The "girl next door" type who got herself knocked up by her boyfriend. The eternal "daddy's girl". Normally this is the kind of character that would annoy the shit out of me to no end (And honestly, played by Molly Ringwald in the movie, she almost does). But I honestly start to feel for her situation, even before the flu comes her way. That scene in her mother's parlor is just fabulous! Yeah, it kind of gets high melodrama, but it is so well written that it doesn't feel so much like a scene out of "Days of Our Lives". From what I hear, that scene isn't even in the original version of the book. Rock on, SK, for putting that back in. I also have to chuckle at how she has to deal with nasty, ugly Harold. Poor thing.

Stu Redman - Not necessarily the most interesting of all characters, in my opinion, but likable all the same. He really is just your regular redneck good guy, who gets caught in a world of shit. At this point in the story, he has just escaped the medical facility, but has not done much more. I'll get back to him later when his story gets going.

Larry Underwood - You know, I never really "got" musicians. I have met several in my life. Some old, some young. And still, I never really get what goes on inside their minds. I know that that is weird, being a "theatre person" and all. Anyway, I like Larry well enough, but I guess I just don't "get" him. At this point in the story, he has just taken care of his dead mother, and now has met up with the older woman, Rita, in the park. (Side note: It gives me chills to think of what NYC would be like during this kind of tragedy...ick!)

Nick Andros - How I love thee, Nick, let me count the ways. I have such a crush on Nick Andros. He is such a sweet guy. I feel so bad for how this poor deaf-mute gets stuck in this little town, and gets to really care for this nice sheriff and his wife, just so the whole town can go and drop dead around him. Poor boy. There should be more people like Nick in the world.

Now for the bad:

Lloyd Henreid - Not much has happened with Lloyd yet. We've only seen him a couple of times, and he is in jail now waiting for his trial. What a sleazeball though. More to come once we see more of him.

Randall Flagg - Well, when it comes to "bad", obviously this is the guy to compare all others to. What I find interesting, though, is that I never really thought about what Flagg did before the start of this story. There is some talk about where he came from, but not too much. Apparently, he didn't have the same magical powers as he does when we first meet him. Was he just a evil man waiting to be called by the powers of darkness? Is he the devil? I don't know, but apparently he is or was human at some point. It makes you wonder who is walking around this world right now, just waiting for the right moment to "become" the evil being that they are born to be. Well, actually that sounds pretty cheesy, but oh well.

That's really it for the bad guys so far. I know there are more to come, but right now the story has been more focused on the good people dealing with the aftermath of the flu outbreak. But the real fun is when it comes to the people who are caught between good and evil. They are the ones who really represent the true nature of humanity. And as the story continues, I'm sure we will talk more about them.

Anyway, back to the book...

The Stand: The Life and Times of a First Time Kindle User

OK, so I am now 20% through The Stand. When you read with a Kindle, you no longer know what "page" you're on, because you can read at any font you want, so instead it goes by percentage. At first I thought I might have problems with that, but in actuality I like it a lot better. I have always been one of those readers who has had a hard time not being preoccupied with the length of something (snicker, snicker). While I do really like reading long bodies of writing, I still find myself examining how much longer until the end of the chapter, or section, or book, etc. Reading with a Kindle devise takes all that drama away. It is refreshing to read something as massive as The Stand, and not feel overwhelmed by the length of it. I know I am at 20%, but I don't "feel" the 80% that is left to read. It gives me the real opportunity to enjoy the book fully, and not have to worry about anything else. I know that that sounds silly, but there it is. I have had the "Kindle Debate" with a couple of friends, who are also avid readers. Many are against the idea of not having a physical book to sink into. I totally understand that apprehension, because I too love the feel of a book, the smell of the pages, and so forth. While the Kindle does have a different feel, it does not detract from the enjoyment of the story in any way. I love how my hand doesn't ever get tired, I don't have to worry about adjusting my position as I turn pages, and the lighting is constant. I really feel that I can read for longer periods, with less of the typical things that cause me to get tired after awhile. I know I sound like an advertisement for Kindle, but what can I say. I really love the thing!

Anyway, enough about the Kindle. Now onto the real subject of discussion, the masterpiece that is The Stand: I love this book so much. I've read it once before, and am so happy to read it again. I have only ever read the "uncut" version that came out in 1990, though. I did have some debate with myself as to whether or not I should track down the original version to read now, and then read the uncut version later, but then I thought better of it. After all, SK himself claims that the uncut version is how he had originally intended it, and that is good enough for me. But I would love feedback from anyone who has read both versions, as to what your take is. But either way, I'm sure the characters are just as colorful, and the story is just as well thought out. I am amazed by how each character is so well written. So much so that you really start to feel like you know them personally. At about 200 "pages", even though the story is still introducing all of the main characters, it does not feel like "introduction", because the story flows so well.

The other thing that SK does so well, is that he paints such a gruesomely realistic picture of what might happen to the world if something like "Captain Trips" ever happened. All the chaos, military stupidity, governmental cover ups, and widespread panic that ensues just gives me a knot in my stomach as I read it, because I can totally see that happening. It's also kind of unsettling when you think about things like the recent "Swine Flu" epidemic. How bad is a situation really? All we know is what the papers, and the news tells us. And all of that can be so easily controlled. Not that I am paranoid about those kind of things, but it does make me wonder. Funny enough, at one point in the story, SK even mentions the Swine Flu. I had never even heard of it until recently.

Anyway, I need to get back to my reading. More to come...

Night Shift: "Outlander! We have your woman!"

Hello. Wow, it has been a different year already. My whole routine is changing, and I like it. I go to work now, and really get to have a hand in shaping the way of things in the branch. I come home, and do some exercise, and do some reading. After dinner is really the only time I have now to veg out and watch TV. I'm eating better, and watching my caloric intake. Two questions come to mind: "Have pod people taken over my body?" and "Is this going to last?" I hope it does, because I feel really good (and I never even made an official "New Years resolution").

Anyway, on to the good stuff:

So I have now watched two more SK movie adaptations: Cat's Eye and Children of the Corn (the one from the 80's). Both I had seen before, and both were just as enjoyable now. Cat's Eye had probably the best, and most faithful adaptations of SK short stories that I have seen. Why? Because they were short segments, I would assume. Get it, movie makers? Short stories=short movies. Most of the time, if you do anything longer, you screw it up. But not all the time. Case and point: Children of the Corn. I remember this movie from when I was a kid, and it creeped the shit out of me. Kids can be so goddamn scary sometimes. The funny thing is, the guy who played Isaac in the movie was really a 26 year old guy who had a disease that made him look young. Weird, huh?

I also finished the rest of the stories in Night Shift. SK really finished up the collection with some really good stories, not all of which were even horror related. Some really good stuff, though. Here is the breakdown:

"Children of the Corn": Well, I already said some about it, but here I will primarily talk about the story itself. It is a great story about a bitchy couple who get caught in a town in Nebraska where all of the adults are dead, and the children have taken over. They all worship "He Who Walks Behind the Rows", who demands the sacrifice of anyone over a certain age. The bitchy couple gets caught in the middle, and get slaughtered. Real creepy imagery of the woman crucified with corn husks shoved through her eyes. Icky!

"The Last Rung on the Ladder": A very touching, non horror/supernatural story, about a brother and sister who were playing in a barn as children, and the ladder they were playing on breaks, and leaves the sister hanging on to...you guessed it, the last rung on the ladder. But really the story is more about the relationship between the siblings, and how their lives went into separate directions. A very touching story.

"The Man Who Loved Flowers": Probably the shortest story in this whole collection, but definitely one to remember. It is all about this bouncy, happy man, who walks down the streets of New York, and picks up flowers for his girlfriend. Everyone is so pleasantly effected when they see this happy man, but little do they know that he is a crazy serial killer who finds woman in alleyways, and bashes their heads in with a hammer. Very well written, and enjoyable.

"One For the Road": A follow up story to 'Salem's Lot. This time it is two years after the events of the book, and there is a blizzard in Maine, and some stupid man from New Jersey drives right into the deserted town of Jerusalem's Lot with his wife and daughter. Well, the car breaks down, and he leaves them in the car while he walks six miles to a local bar to get help. Of course, by the time they get back to the car, the wife and daughter are now vampires, and they welcome the father with open fangs. Fun story, if only because it takes us back to the town that we have learned to know so well.

"The Woman in the Room": Another non-supernatural story about a son coping with the decision to help his terminally ill mother commit suicide. It is a very realistically written picture of how I would imagine someone to feel, and I was very close to tears while reading this story. Well done SK for showing us that some "horror" in life does not have to come from "the beyond".

Anyway, I think this concludes most of my Night Shift posting. I am still hunting down some of the harder to find movies, and I will comment on them whenever I do get ahold of them.

And now I am on to reading The Stand with my new Amazon Kindle....