Has anyone got a copy of the original version of Stephen King's The Stand ?

[BalloonSlayer]

I am reading the updated version. Not sure what happened to my original version.

What I wanted to ask was - was it always supposed to be set in 1990?

It's just that it depicts a 1990 that seems very much like 1978 . . .

I don’t have one any more but yes the original was set in the 70s. He updated the pop culture references etc for the release of the unabridged one in the 90s

Oh I see, I noticed the reference to the Friday 13th films. Thank you!

We did have email in 1990 though, didn't we, just about. And car phones?

Also a bit odd he then saw fit to add in the really really bad scene with Frannie's mum going ballistic about her being pregnant, which would have been far less of an issue in 1990 than 1978.

Re email I got my first account in 2000 but I was way behind in tech so not sure if it was around in 1990. Car phones were around from late 80s as far as I can recall.

The unmarried pregnancy thing depends on where you were- my mum would have killed me in Ireland in 1990- some parts of America would have been (and possibly still are) equally as conservative.

That said the book does show its age but it’s such a good read.

Gosh I'm not sure which version i have, its my fav got it for christmas 1994. What were the diffrences?

I think I have an original.

Wikipedia says 'Depending upon the edition of the novel, the events of The Stand occur in either 1980–1981, 1985–1986, or 1990–1991.'

It was first published in 1978.

Agree the updated version seems anachronistic, especially re Fran's mum!

Ooh I didn’t know it was updated! Love that story. I’ve got a recent version, I’ll have to try and get an older one.

Ooh more replies!

I am not loving the additions so far, although I am wondering if there are additions I DO like that I think were always there, if you see what I mean.

IIRC the original version started with the car crashing in to the gas station, but this new version starts with the family fleeing. I guess that makes them a lot more sympathetic than in the original.

But Frannie agonising over her pregnancy was interminable enough in the original without him making it even longer - what was he thinking?

I have noticed a lot of slapped faces in my re-read so far. Even Frannie's implausibly sainted Dad smacks his wife round the chops . Again, in a modern reworking you'd think that sort of thing would be cut out not added in - the moment Jess slaps Frannie you think, well, that's that then . . . yet the narrative continues to portray her not wanting to marry him as something faintly incomprehensible to her. Ditto the racist comments, always awful obviously but far less common by 1990.

I also wish he had taken the time to give a re-vamp to "Baby can you dig your man?" That has got to be the crappest fictional song ever (an idea for a new thread?) In the intro to my new version he imagines Larry played by Brice Springsteen. !!!!! I don't even like Springsteen much but even I think that's a HUGE insult.

I loved this book (the original edit) when I was a youngster, the Dead Zone and Salem's Lot too. Whenever I'm tempted to re-read them I feel like some of the SK tropes - the long crazy screeds from the crazy character, the way he has a few phrases in each book that pop up irritatingly frequently, the cringey sex etc - might not have aged well.

I’m not sure. I know I got mine in the 90s, and it’s unabridged, and I know a lot of the references seem ‘old’.

Mine definitely starts with the family fleeing. But I’m going to check anyway.

@thefirstmrsdewinter - the one I HATE is his reference to that ‘goodish’ feeling meaning an orgasm . Mate, if it’s only goodish you’re not doing it right!

I think the first published version was edited. Then when it became popular the unedited version was also published. Bit like a director's cut I guess. Think I have the unedited one.

"Baby can you dig your man" made me give up on the book.

Yes that’s definitely true @SleepyKat, I remember reading the foreword in mine which says his editor absolutely wouldn’t publish something so long. I think the passages with The Kid were cut too.

You need to search ebay for the full unabridged version. I bought it a few years and got the newer version (read the original from the library in my teens) but I found the original after.

Mine was published in 1990, and is particularly says it’s not brand new, it’s an expansion of the original published in 1978. I think it was originally set in the early 90s, maybe 1993.

Looking forward to watching the new TV series. Hoping it will be on Netflix eventually. I suppose it will be set in the present day and not the 70s/90s.
I'm not sure they can better the casting for Tom Cullen in the original mini series though! M-O-O-N

Who played Tom in that one?

ElizaP I'm pretty sure in Pet Sematary after the couple dtd she feels 'his seed' on her thighs.

Can't be set in 1990, as I read it in 1980!

In the Shining Wendy feels Jack's "seed drying on her thighs" too.

Cringe

Or 1981, but definitely not later.

@Proseccoagain it was originally written in 1978, doesn’t necessarily mean it wasn’t set in the future! I think it was, purely from the foreword I mention up thread - but I haven’t read the original abridged version.

I have a first edition UK uncut version. It's set in 1990. The Kid is a pretty addition that was cut from the original.

@thefirstmrsdewinter