I suppose they banned it because it was too long and too pedestrian.

I find this book so pompous and tedious and I can't imagine why anyone would ban or challenge it. At its heart, there is a decent morality tale, but it is so heavily padded as to be virtually unreadable.

Is there a bookburning planned for 2 star books? Some people I know regard this as his best work, but I always viewed it as a kind of homage to the Lord of the Rings with a post apocalyptic scenario instead of a fantasy setting. Not dreadful but hardly noteworthy, and I don't recall much in there that was really controversial.

I wonder how many of the reviewers below actually read the book-it's a tedious 1000+ page horror/science-fiction novel with only a handful of interesting passages (the apocalyptic collapse of NYC is well depicted).  The Stand was banned is due to a homosexual rape scene (involving a revolver!) about half way through, as well as some pretty nasty scenes of blood and gore typical of any S. King book.  I'm not one for banning books, but if you're going to ban any The Stand is a pretty good choice; it has no literary or educational value, in fact no redeeming characteristics for anyone, excepting Mr. King.

I'm kinda with Irish on this one. Not quite sure who would want to ban this book, or why. I actually found reading it (back in 81 or 82) a frustrating experience. The storyline was engaging enough to me, and I kept hoping for a grand finale worthy of all the build-up, but I was sorely disappointed. Like most of King's full-length novels, he didn't quite seem to know how to end it, and, upon turning over the last page, I felt cheated that I had devoted so much wasted time and effort to the absorbing of this massive tome and been "rewarded" only by such a stunted, mediocre conclusion. In other words, it ended with a distinct fizzle rather than a bang. Maybe that's just an idiosyncracy of mine, but one of the reasons I prefer reading histories or biographies as opposed to novels is that if the novel ends badly, as it invariably does with King, the whole reading experience is ruined for me. Even with a badly-writted biography or history, you're going to get something substantial from it (as long as its adequately researched), as opposed to a horror novel (and I speak as someone who loves well-written, imaginative horror novels). King is generally at his best writing short stories.

I found this book to be thoroughly enjoyable, and can quite understand why some (misguided) people may want to ban it. It does, after all, deal with the devil personified. However, I do not agree with the concept of banning books, as I feel that only makes those books more appealing to the people the censors are trying to keep them away from. This is a great (if rather long) story from many perspectives, and I feel if people want to read it, then they should be able to.

I think people just love to rag on King and I don't think it has anything to do with the subject matter of his books - even though these purebred know-it-alls may claim it does. King is prolific, he has a wide appeal and his books are enjoyable and fun to read because the man has a gift for story telling. Furthermore, he's been on the bookshelves for almost 30 years now and unless you've been living under a rock, you probably have some idea of the types of things he writes about. You either like that kind of thing or you dont. I personally don't like reading Danielle Steele novels because I find them boring and predictable...so, I simply don't read them. Still, I wouldn't try to keep anyone else from reading them; I think it's success that REALLY ticks some people off.

Every one of his books has been chased after by some group of nuts or another. This one should be required reading for everyone over the age of 12 or 13. It's an amazing book that really says something about human nature (like all of his best books).

This book was banned or challenged? Can't imagine why. I do know that King, while in the early years of his career, wrote The Stand to be about 300 pages longer than it was originally published with, but lost the battle with his editor. Years later The Stand was republished in an unabridged form including the lost passages with some reviosions as well. This is the only form you can buy this book in today. This is considered King's finest hour by many people and it makes my top 3 list of King novels.