The Stand by Stephen King- DISCUSSION

[gilmorefanalways]

Chapter 57 begins on page 842 and ends on page865
Chapter 58 begins on page 865 and ends on page 879
Chapter 59 begins on page 879 and ends on page 909
Chapter 60 begins on page 910 and ends on page 911
Book 3 starts on page 913 and begins with chapter 61 on page 915
and ends on page 930
Chapter 62 begins on page 930 and ends on page 966
chapter 63 begins on page 956 and ends on page 957
Chapter 64 begins on page 958 and ends on 966
chapter 65 begins on 966 and ends on 977
chapter 66 begins on page 977 and ends on 986
chapter 67 begins on 986 and ends on 1004
chapter 68 begins on 1004 and ends on 1010
chapter 69 begins on 1011 and ends on 1016
chapter 70 begins on 1016 and ends on 1017
chapter 71 begins on 1018 and ends on 1020
chapter 72 begins on 1020 and ends on 1042
chapter 73 begins on 1042 and ends on 1072
chapter 74 begins on 1072 and ends on 1091
Chapter 75 begins on 1091 and ends on 1120
chapter 76 begins on 1120 and ends on 1121
chapter 77 begins on 1121 and ends on 1126
Last chapter 78 begins on 1127 and ends on 1135
circle closes page 1136 ends on 1141

[gilmorefanalways]

I hope this helps Chloe sorry for the delay

[gilmorefanalways]

Moon to you all I'm tired

[Mistermoonlight]

I aplogize Chloe. I'd completely forgotten that you don't have page numbers. I'll begin posting both a page number and something like 'chapter 8, paragraph 6' to make it easier.

I hope you'll stay with us, as we get more points of view with more people participating, and it's definitely more fun. I'd really miss not having you be a part of it.

[Watchtower]

Okay, I'll stay. Thank you guys.

[Mistermoonlight]

I'm so glad to hear that.

Stephen King is one of those authors who has made such an impact on society and popular culture over the past three decades that I count myself lucky to be alive during his time.

And the fact that you're here to participate in reading what is perhaps his greatest novel is awesome.

Then afterwards, we've got the televised mini-series to look forward to.

[Watchtower]

I am looking forward to it.

[Mistermoonlight]

I am off on Saturday, so we can meet at the regular time.

Did anyone else see the mention of Lord of the Rings in Larry's conversation with Rita before the tunnel?

That's not by chance. It's pretty much like King is saying, yes, you should be be paying attention to this.

[gilmorefanalways]

Very glad you will stay Chloe

I also wondered if 8 pm worked better than the 6 pm meets

[gilmorefanalways]

Apr 18, 2013 18:08:12 GMT -5 Mistermoonlight said:

I am off on Saturday, so we can meet at the regular time.

Did anyone else see the mention of Lord of the Rings in Larry's conversation with Rita before the tunnel?

That's not by chance. It's pretty much like King is saying, yes, you should be be paying attention to this.

You know it is so strange to see so many diffenrent links in the things we read and watch just like you said before like yes we are meant to be reading this and so on

[Mistermoonlight]

When I first read it I had no idea of the scope King was going for, an American version of Lord of the Rings. I'll be paying closer attention this time.

[gilmorefanalways]

That's the good thing about rereading books you discover so much more
Is 8 good for tomorrow's meet

[Watchtower]

8pm is perfect! Even then, I may be a little late, but I'll hopefully be able to get away at around 9pm. I'm going to Mom's house to stay for a week, and they tend to stay up later and they'll want me to spend time with them.

[Mistermoonlight]

Yep, 8pm EDT is fine for me, too.

[gilmorefanalways]

Ok if you prefer we can wait til nine or I'm sure we will still be chatting by then last weeks went pretty late

[gilmorefanalways]

Hello everyone

[Mistermoonlight]

Hi folks. I made it to page 353 this week, which is about eleven paragraphs into chapter 39. How far did you get?

[gilmorefanalways]

What did you guys think of our reading this week

[gilmorefanalways]

I got to 335

[gilmorefanalways]

So that's a little over half of chapter37

[gilmorefanalways]

What did you think of that tunnel Rita and Larry went through? Did you think Rita maybe wanted Larry to accidentally shoot her

[Mistermoonlight]

Apr 20, 2013 19:07:14 GMT -5 gilmorefanalways said:

What did you guys think of our reading this week

I think that with Larry and Rita leaving New York we finally get down to the journey that will make up the real start of the novel, if you look at the superflu as just the event that kicked things off.

By the way, here are the Lord of the Rings references I mentioned last week that are towards the middle of chapter 35.

"The beginning of a journey," she said, and then so softly he wasn't sure he'd heard her correctly: "The way leads ever on... "

"What?"

"It's a line from Tolkien," she said. "The Lord of the Rings. I've always thought of it as sort of a gateway to adventure."

And then, a liittle further down:

It was a walk that Larry Underwood never, forgot. He found himself thinking that she hadn't been so wrong to quote Tolkien at that, Tolkien with his mythic lands seen through the lens of time and half-mad, half-exalted imaginings, peopled with elves and ents and trolls and orcs. There were none of those in New York, but so much had changed, so much was out of joint, that it was impossible not to think of it in terms of fantasy.

So, we're definitely given a hint that we're seeing the start of an epic journey.

[gilmorefanalways]

That is def a forward for their long tumutulous journey I noticed that the story does seem to be opening up more we are learning more about each character we are discovering the demons lurking in each of the characters past and we are also seeing more of that demon driving the highways and by the way I'm still chicken when it comes to reading about Randal flagg but I'm still persevering

[gilmorefanalways]

We get a more in depth look at our characters motivations and their fears and their life of survival

[gilmorefanalways]

I notice many of our characters are on the move they are headed someplace I have a feeling that all those intuitive dreams are at play here

And kudos to king yet again as he puts words to the things ive notices much of my life but haven't found the perfect ring of words to pin down the exact meaning ill give you an example

"There was desert perfume on it the kind you can only smell clearly at night."

This above statement when I read it made me go king you got it right again! There's a stronger crisper smell at night

[gilmorefanalways]

And what about Harold and his break down mowing the lawn and frannie that she can overcome her put off feelings towards Harold just so she could comfort him

We are seeing more growth of these characters here Harold can actually feel the grief of losing his parents and he was wrong I think sure writers are supposed to be able to say how it feels but I think that is one of the biggest obstacles for any writer or aspiring writer because the feeling is everything along with description but mainly its the feeling part of anything you want to write about that is hardest you can describe everything down to the finest detail but if you cant write about the feel of even one thing well then you are doomed as a writer
So sure writers should be able to say how it feels but that is the hardest part so Harold should have given himself some slack and realized that is the hardest part

And frannie with the way she comforted Harold perhaps maybe they can be friends afterall

[Mistermoonlight]

Apr 20, 2013 19:20:58 GMT -5 gilmorefanalways said:

What did you think of that tunnel Rita and Larry went through? Did you think Rita maybe wanted Larry to accidentally shoot her

It's kinda cool that King worked in the reference to Tolkien and journeys just before that tunnel scene, isn't it? It really sets it up.

I was struck by two things immediately upon reading it, and both are steps in a literary device which most of our legends, myths, and stories utilize--The Hero's Journey.

This is one of the initial steps in the Hero's Journey:

CROSSING THE THRESHOLD. At the end of Act One, the hero commits to leaving the Ordinary World and entering a new region or condition with unfamiliar rules and values.

There is also another one which involves traveling downward, sometimes into the earth, sometimes under water.

I think that King was well aware of the structure of the hero's journey when writing the book, and gave us a graphic example of it here.

The tunnel journey was very visceral. You could almost picture how scary it was--only a tiny bit of light, the stench of decay, and the horrifying sights, as well as the fear.

And it was made all the more scary, because for the most part, Larry was all alone.

Rita can be a very frustrating character. She's so dependent (or immobilized by events) that she wants someone to do her thinking for her. You wonder how she has survived before meeting Larry. Still, you don't get the idea that she is a bad person.

I don't know if Rita wanted Larry to shoot her or not. Her motivation for staying behind could have simply been fear, as she said. Seeing the horrific things they've seen I wouldn't wonder that lots of folks would see being shot as a better alternative to going on.

I'm also curious about those pills she's taking. For some reason I don't think they're vitamins.

[gilmorefanalways]

I don't either I'm definitely not convinced their vitamin c lol but maybe that's what's kept her going before Larry came around

I think those pills were her Larry before Larry was her Larry lol if that makes any sense

[Mistermoonlight]

Apr 20, 2013 19:40:29 GMT -5 gilmorefanalways said:

I notice many of our characters are on the move they are headed someplace I have a feeling that all those intuitive dreams are at play here

And kudos to king yet again as he puts words to the things ive notices much of my life but haven't found the perfect ring of words to pin down the exact meaning ill give you an example

"There was desert perfume on it the kind you can only smell clearly at night."

This above statement when I read it made me go king you got it right again! There's a stronger crisper smell at night

I thought this was a damn funny line about smell. It was given by Larry after they made it through the tunnel.

"We're out, anyway. That's something. And there's fresh air. In fact, New Jersey never smelled so good."

[Mistermoonlight]

Apr 20, 2013 19:58:04 GMT -5 gilmorefanalways said:

I think those pills were her Larry before Larry was her Larry lol if that makes any sense

I love that line.