Standalong

Wednesday, May 23, 2012


I'm deviating from my regular Wordless Wednesday post today to announce that I'm joining a readalong of The Stand this summer. I might be crazy but that's okay, it will be fun!

Trish at Love, Laughter, and a Touch of Insanity is hosting a readalong (or as she's calling it, a Standalong) of Stephen King's epic novel The Stand. After years of having this one recommended to me I've decided to buckle up and read it. King is not an author I read frequently and I've never read one of his big books so I'm a bit nervous, but it will be fun. We're starting tomorrow, June 1st, and finishing at the end of July. Join in if it sounds fun to you.

Trish's Standalong Get to Know You

1. What makes you want to read The Stand?
People have been recommending it to me for years.
I'll say, "But I don't like horror." They'll say, "Read it!"
I'll say, "I scare easily." and the response is still, "Seriously, read it."
So I think I need to read it.

2. Describe your preconceived notions of The Stand.
It's scary and dark and I'm not sure I'm going to like it.

3. What was the last scary(ish) book you read or movie you saw?
I read "The Passage" last year and I watched and read The Woman in Black recently.

4. Which version of the book will you be reading from?
I'm reading the 1980 paperback shown in the picture above. I know there is an original version and an uncut version. I had already bought my paperback when I figured that out, but I decided to do a bit of research to see which one more people recommended. It was split pretty evenly down the middle, but I decided to read the original version. One major complaint I tend to have with long books is that I wish they had a better editor. It sounds like the uncut version is more suited for people who are already big fans of King's work.

Original vs. Uncut version debate. Do you guys have a preference? If a bunch of you say the uncut version is the way to go then I will definitely get a copy.

5. What are you previous experiences with Stephen King?
In high school I read On Writing, his nonfiction book about his experience as an author, and I loved it. In college I read his short story collections Different Seasons (which includes the story that Shawshank Redemption is based on) and Everything's Eventual. More recently I picked up his screenplay Storm of the Century and his first novel, Carrie. At this point I've decided he's a talented writer, but he's a bit dark for me. I've never read one of his mammoth books. I've always loved his Entertainment Weekly columns (he used to write a monthly one), where he recommended audiobooks, music and movies.

6. Anything else you'd like to add (bonus points for being extra random).
I'm kind of a baby when it comes to scary stuff, but I'm hoping this one isn't bad. I'm kind of nervous about this one because King definitely has a stigma of being pretty dark.

Also, the three scariest movies I can think of off the top of my head are Rebecca, The Ring, and The Bad Seed. I think psychologically scary stuff is much scarier than a bad man chasing you is (like Halloween). I also don't do gratuitous violence scary movies, like Saw. I just can't handle those. 

Readalong info here, second photo by moi.

14 comments:

Care said...

Have fun - I've already read a huge book by King this year. One is plenty. Especially since I'm not much of a chunkster reader AND I hope to attack the Harry Potters.

annieb said...

I love, love, love the Stand and I am not a huge Stephen King fan either. But I think he is underrated as a writer and everything I have read by him has a hopeful ending and the violence is not hideous torture. I hate movies like Saw as well, and frankly, see no reason for them. I read The Stand at the same time the TV miniseries came out and I read ahead of the series and it didn't deviate too much from the book. I have seen the miniseries from time to time and it still holds up. I love chunksters with lots of interesting characters and an involved story line and The Stand fits the bill. I am almost certain you will like, if not love, the book.

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Care - You're tackling the HP books! That's wonderful! I can't wait to read about your experience with them.

annieb - I'm so glad to hear that. It makes me feel a bit more confident about reading it. I can really get into chunksters if they have interesting characters, so I'm looking forward to it!

Kristi said...

I have the uncut and I kind of wish I had the original. Both Stephen King books that I've read I felt like they could have been edited a bit more. I'm guessing that I might feel that way with The Stand, but we'll see. If it gets unbearable, I might switch.

I'm a little nervous too. I don't deal well with creepy. I'll have to do most of the reading during the day when my husband is out of town in a couple of weeks or I'll be too freaked out to go to sleep.

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Kristi - I'm not good with creepy either. If we get too creeped out we can get on twitter and pretend like we aren't home alone!

Anne said...

I do not like scary at all, the closest I have gotten to a scary book is The Historian. I don't think I could handle a Stephen King!

Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said...

I HAVE the original but I feel bad hosting and not reading the uncut version. Otherwise I'd totally be with you. I've heard it really doesn't make a big difference (minus 400 pages). I'd say do what you want to do! I read on wikipedia that King originally stuck with 800 pages because he thought it would sell more easily.

And I don't do scary either. ;) I think we'll be OK, though.

YAY!!

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Anne - We'll see how it goes. I'm nervous about the scary aspect, but I handled The Passage fine and people have said they are similar.

Trish - That makes me feel better. I'm officially going with the original. I'm bummed that the only kindle version seems to be the uncut one though.

Jenny Girl said...

Uh oh...now I'm thinking uncut, but I'll just skim if I have to.
Woman in Black and The Passage are both on my list. So glad you're joining.

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Jenny Girl - We can compare notes on the differences.

Natalie~Coffee and a Book Chick said...

I'm so excited for this! It will perfectly for The Stephen King Project and I've wanted to read The Stand for a long time now. I cannot wait to be creeped out!

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Natalie - Yay! I'm glad we've got at least one big King fan joining in the fun.

Anonymous said...

I have been trying to carve the time out to try a Stephen King novel but hardly knew which to choose. This is the kick that I needed. I am looking forward to the discussion opportunities.

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

FABR Steph - I feel the same way. I always mean to check him out, but I never make the time. This was the perfect excuse!