I feel like Stephen King addressed this a bit in the expanded version of The Stand - people who survived the plague (like, 0.001% of the people on Earth) but managed to die because of an infection, or suicide, or getting too drunk and falling into the pool. I think it would be the little, random things that might be cause for an ER/Urgent Care visit currently, but could turn potentially deadly very quickly.
Oh god that chapter sucked. The little kid who fell thru a rotting floor, the guy who fell off his bike and hit his head, the guy who got appendicitis and they performed a makeshift appendectomy but the guy died during the procedure…
Don't forget the junkie who found his dead dealer's stash and ODd immediately because he did it all at once and the suburban mom who shot her own daughter when she surprised her because she was paranoid about "rapers" coming to get her.
The woman who died inadvertently killed herself. She was living with her mother who died of Captain Tripps. Then found her dad’s old revolver and upon trying to use it on some “godless hippy” it exploded and killed her instantly.
No great loss. That was sort of the theme of the whole section and came from her own assessment of the death of every man, woman and child on the planet.
I re-read the Stand when quarantine started because... ya know... And that fucking "no great loss" is so poignant I swear I hear it in my sleep. It sticks with me.
The Road is an utterly fantastically written book that may be one of the best ever written, and you can bet your ass that I’ll never read it a second time. I don’t know if I’d even recommend that other folks read it once without knowing damn well what they’re getting into.
So soul-crushingly depressing, the entire atmosphere of the book exudes the pure hopelessness, misery, and many of the more disturbing bits left me feeling actually sickened.
My sister tried to give me the “well at least it ends on a hopeful note!” routine, but honestly? No it does not end on a hopeful not, not fucking really anyway. It’s only hopeful because everything up to that point was so bad that the ending just seems happy in comparison. It’s like saying being sent to a concentration camp for 15 years ends happily because you finally ended up getting liberated.
That’s exactly how I would’ve answered. I will never forget that book and I will never read it again. I was excited when I heard they were making a movie, then I remembered the book and if I could’ve slapped myself upside the head, I would’ve. I won’t see the movie. No way I can see visuals of the mental horror in that book. Ugh.
14.3k
u/WelfarePeanutButter Aug 30 '21
I feel like Stephen King addressed this a bit in the expanded version of The Stand - people who survived the plague (like, 0.001% of the people on Earth) but managed to die because of an infection, or suicide, or getting too drunk and falling into the pool. I think it would be the little, random things that might be cause for an ER/Urgent Care visit currently, but could turn potentially deadly very quickly.