Standalong: Still Stand-ing

It's midway post time for Trish's Standalong, and I am happy to report that I'm still Stand-ing.  I have an irritating tendency to sign up for these sorts of things and then end up disregarding them completely, so the fact that I started reading and am still reading is a credit to Mr. King, who, as it turns out, continues to be one of my very favorite authors.  The bad news?  I'm something like 300 pages behind where I oughta be.  I'm sure if I could put everything else aside and focus solely on The Stand I would have had no problem making the halfway point by now because it is totally addictive reading.  Alas, I've been alternating with a review copy commitment that proved to be much less rewarding reading which I ultimately gave up on to run back to The Stand, begging its forgiveness all the way.  One hundred or so pages of reading later, it's totally rescued me from what could have been a devastating reading slump.  I've spent my weekend reading diligently, but I've still got a lot of ground to make up to get back on pace.  For me, Larry and Rita have just made their terrifying trek through the Lincoln Tunnel, Frannie and Harold are just about to leave Ogunquit.

Since I'm a #standalongunderachiever, I'm just going to keep on playing it fast and loose here and do bullet points.  Who doesn't love a few good, random bullet points?  If you happen to not be reading The Stand just at the moment and intend to at some point, you might want to steer clear since it might not be totally spoiler-free...

• I like Stu.  He kind of reminds me of more than a few guys I know.  Matter of fact, not a big talker, dry sense of humor.  Not exactly book smart, but a practical, no-nonsense kind of guy.
• Yes, I did actually catch a cold shortly after starting to read this.  Funny, real funny!
• Who creates a mood better than Stephen King?  Despite it having no character connection, I was completely, totally taken in by the chapter where the superflu crisis is finally spinning out of control and media people are having to openly rebel to report real news and there is much senseless killing on all fronts.  Were you not terrified?  Did you not feel like maybe this could totally happen?  I'm glad I read it at home, I'm pretty sure I was all agape pretty much the entire time I was reading that chapter...
• I like the alternating between characters.  I feel like it's going to make it that much more interesting when all these threads of the story come together because surely they have to come together, right?
• I haven't had too much contact with Randall Flagg, but the chapter that introduces him is just about pitch perfect.  King really gets at the heart of that essence of evil that this guy apparently is and how that evil can manifest itself even in subtle ways with huge implications.
• Even 10 years away from my high school self, I can safely say that curling up with a big, juicy Stephen King novel in the summer after a day of swimming and baking in the sun still can't be beat. 

 
I'd love to go on like this, but really, I should be working on those other 300 or so 8 or 9 hundred pages.  Happy Stand-ing!

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