Episode Details

Welcome to SLOW READ, where we tackle the books you’ve always wanted to read at a pace you can handle.

Hosted by Sarah Stewart Holland and Laura Tremaine

We are currently reading The Stand by Stephen King (unabridged version)

You can find our full Reading Schedule here

Join the SLOW READ community on Substack for bonus episodes, book club meetings, and Side Quests with Sarah & Laura

If you prefer to read instead of listen, below is a cleaned up transcript of the episodes as well as links to all the books and Substacks we mentioned in this episode…and several fun bonus links and videos!

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Sarah: All right. Where are we overall? We’re in it now. Like 100-plus pages.

Laura: We are reading this thing. I’m kind of obsessed.

Sarah: Like more obsessed? You feel like you are experiencing it in a new way? You’re noticing things?

Laura: Yes. So this is my third or fourth read of The Stand. And I feel like maybe it’s because I’m reading with an eye on having to discuss it like this. I’m doing no skimming because I’m reading it out loud to myself. And I am just really noticing... you know what I’m noticing the most in this read is it’s funny.

Sarah: Yeah, it is funny.

Laura: There are funny parts that I feel like maybe I gave a little chuckle or a wink to in the past, but I was maybe more focused on the plot. And this read, I’m like, I’m so enjoying this. This is not my favorite Stephen King book of all time, but maybe it will be by June.

Sarah: What if it rises in the rankings? Rereading reminds me of rewatching The Sopranos. I was just so in it the first time that when I rewatched it, I would laugh out loud. I think the first time through you miss something. So much of the humor or the absurdity—in the reread, you really do get it.

Laura: Well, and clearly when you reread something and you already know what’s going to happen, you’re catching the red herrings or you’re catching the foreshadowing in an entirely different way. Especially in a book like The Stand where there’s 40 bajillion characters.

Chapter 5 - Larry Underwood & The 70s

Sarah: Chapter 5. We’re starting with Larry Underwood.

Laura: This is our introduction to Larry.

Sarah: We’re finding out Larry is a one-hit wonder. Spoiler alert. Well, I guess he’s not going to get a chance to do any more hits now that I think about it. So we’re with Larry, and we’re understanding the backstory of what happened to him in L.A. I underlined in this chapter every time drugs were mentioned. And let me tell you something: It’s a lot. Larry’s doing a lot of drugs. It was the 70s.

Laura: It didn’t even bother me.

Sarah: It didn’t even bother me, it’s just... oh, there’s a lot. He’s with “hop heads.” He is taking uppers. He’s also doing dope. He’s taking cocaine. There’s an eight ball. There’s “Reds.” An amphetamine hangover. I’m telling you, there was pot and there was coke.

Lau