TBGT: The Stand

[thebitterguy]

Okay, kids. Let's talk about Stephen King. He's richer than God, and could have any of us killed.

Thankfully, though, we don't live in a writer-ocracy, so his odds of doing so are slim.

Anyway, The Stand was medium early in his career, when he still had to at least grudgingly accept the advice of editors. Like, for example, "Hey, Steve, you should really cut out about 600 pages of this novel."

So, he did.

Now, a few years later, they turned it into a TV mini-series with a really good use of Don't Fear the Reaper. But that's irrelevant.

What makes me most filled with fear is the fact that, while the editor did manage to get him to cut several HUNDRED PAGES of stuff, they were unable to change the ending.

Oh, hey, kids? There's a spoiler coming up for a 20 year old book/10 year old tv miniseries.

Anyway, at the end of the book, several members of the Good Guys go to Vegas to confront the forces of Evil. The book puts metaphysical concepts in capital letters; thankfully, that doesn't remind me of anything.

Anyway, so, the heroes get to Vegas. They prepare to confront Evil. They lose, and get crucified. And then, at the moment of Evil's triumph, God sets off an atomic bomb.

Okay, what? Excuse me? Little help?

That last phrase just doesn't make SENSE! I mean it. God Sets Off an Atomic Bomb.

What? No, it's not getting any better, is it? Like some cruel imaginary tale, like some horrid "and he woke up and it was all a dream" bullshit, you find yourself wailing in disbelief. God Sets Off An Atomic Bomb?

Let's try parsing the words individually and seeing if it gets any better.

God: The supreme being. Pretty quiet, these past couple millennia.

Sets: A group of the same item.

Off: The opposite of On

An: An indefinite article.

Atomic: Of, or pertaining to, the basic components that form the universe.

Bomb: A Pauly Shore movie.

No! Still doesn't make sense!

Did King just decide that he'd take the term Deus Ex Machina and just fuck everyone with it? Was he just TIRED? "Oh, Christ, I've been working on this piece of shit for three DAYS now! How can I finish it? Hey, I know! I'll turn it into a series and take forever and a day to finish it! Nah, that's dumb. I know! I'll have GOD set off AN ATOMIC BOMB! That's just brilliant enough to work!"

No! It isn't FUCKING BRILLIANT! It is, in fact, the DUMBEST ending to a novel since .. God. Nothing comes to mind. It was just stupid.

And that, ladies and gentiles, is why The Stand makes my eyes bleed.

Comments

[madmanofprague.livejournal.com]

I have never read any fiction by Stephen King. Now i feel kind of happy about it.

[creativedv8tion.livejournal.com]

That ending and it's nonsensicalness is not indicative of his stuff.

[skaiser.livejournal.com]

I have read I think two Stephen King books in my life. Both times I had the same opinion. The man can set up a decent story. But holy crap can he not finish it off with anything approaching skill. It seems to be his M.O. long drawn out story, quick and poorly set up end.

[heron61.livejournal.com]

His short stories and novellas can be truly excellent. OTOH, all of his novels that I've tried to read sucked. He's even admitted this (in a sideways fashion) in interviews. I think that he can write very well, but sadly he rarely does.

[mr-weasel.livejournal.com]

I have only managed to read Carrie and it was mediocre at best. I started to wade through IT and gave up 100 pages in.

The guy writes like crap. I subscribe to Hemingway's style of writing where a description or idea is conveyed to the reader in a succinct manner. I don't need 85 pages of description of a table in a room in someone's basement. It's like he thinks he's paid by the word.

[nottheterritory.livejournal.com]

His advice in On Writing (http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0743455967/qid=1112364803/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_3_1/701-1352060-2216301) is, paradoxically, quite good.

Good Versus Evil

[the-solecist.livejournal.com]

I think this ending, with it's epilogue (The walking dude wakes up on a beach somewhere/when else), to be indicative that there can never be a final winner in battles of good versus evil, for if one could eliminate the other they'd be undone themselves, because you need one to define the other. Neither can exist independant of its semantic opposite.

So God blows the whole experiment up. "Damned Walking Dude, you forced me into a draw again. Another round perhaps? I've got this lovely island paradise..."

Of course one could also see it like god knocking the table during the final moments of a chess match, "Oops. Well I guess we'll need to play that match over."

[anidada.livejournal.com]

Same here. :P

Re: Good Versus Evil

[thebitterguy]

Really, though, if we're talking about the JCI version of the divinity, does he really need to bring out a great big hand and use a nuke like a grenade?

It's not so much that God intervenes, it's just that he SETS OFF AN ATOMIC BOMB. That makes my eyes bleed.

[thebitterguy]

I've never read OW, but a couple friends of mine (now including you, I guess) have lauded it.

Danse Macabre is also a pretty cool book on the horror genre.

[thebitterguy]

Ayep. Of course, that may be why his short stories/novellas are so much better. If he gets the narrative set before he starts to write it, he has less room to get distracted.

[thebitterguy]

Of course, Dickens WAS paid by the word, and he's still engaging. Funny, eh?

Re: Good Versus Evil

[the-solecist.livejournal.com]

Conservation of energy, my good man.

God could cause a massive death directly, or use the existing nuke, that Trash Can Man is already delivering to the party.

Re: Good Versus Evil

[thebitterguy]

Conservation of what-now?

Hey, this guy did Sodom AND Gomorrah. He don't need no atomic bomb.

Re: Good Versus Evil

[the-solecist.livejournal.com]

It has been hypothesized that S & G was a nuke.