I admit I struggled a bit over this past week about what I was going to write about. I had already done the look-around-the-room for an idea when I had nothing last week. What I had decided to give light to was a book I had recently finished. I typically don’t write about books (unless they are school assignments) but this one really deserves the spotlight. The book entitled “The Stand”, with more than a thousand pages, is written by Stephen King. It has several protagonists who are very well developed and really add life to the story. They were sort of the main reason why I continued to flip through the pages.

The story begins with introducing the many characters who are scattered throughout the country. After all of the introductions, the story interestingly jumps into a disaster of a deadly disease quickly spreading throughout the world. The reader is shown the point of views from all of the different characters; the story shows the changing lives of the protagonists after the disaster and starts the story on its way into climax. Although the book is over a thousand pages, the story goes less than a year into the lives of the people despite all of the major life-changing events they endure. The story is well set-up and builds a great ascent to climax.

The book is honest in the lessons it teaches and the bumpy roads each of the characters must go down. It does not fail to give a great description of what life would really be like after a major man-made disaster. If I wanted to read something that both shocked me and reeled me in, I could read "The Stand" again and again. This book is, hands down, a read so good you could read it until the pages started to wear. The story highlights a few good points in life that I feel many fail to see. King did a great job calling attention to a great point that is reflected in the last conversation between the main protagonists. The main lesson, put simply, is that people don’t seem to learn their lessons, giving history opportunity to repeat itself. I don’t want to really reveal the end of the book, where all the main points arise, in case anyone plans on reading the book or are still working on it (it took me a bit to finish the book, I admit).

But I do agree that this book is one that is worth the read. I saw it in a list somewhere, I can’t really remember where, but a list that had the ten best apocalypse books and listed "The Stand" as one of the ten. I could almost call the book my favorite read so far, as it is just flawless and packs a punch of a story and keeps the reader hooked. King had even stated in his book "On Writing" that he had had a friend do a little research on the medical related incidents in the book. So, I feel as though you can also learn from this book through its accuracies. "The Stand" has something for everyone.