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* Glen mentions that all the weapons of the old world are just laying around, waiting for someone to pick them up and use them. We're given examples of fighter jets and nuclear missiles. How is it that, in a world so depopulated that Boulder's chief medical agent is a veterinarian, Flagg's group can find enough people so highly specialized that they can service military jets? The nuclear weapons issue is even more ridiculous because even if you were so lucky as to find a survivor who knew anything more than that nuclear weapons make big booms when detonated, they would also have to know how to circumvent the complex security systems installed on them which are designed specifically to prevent any but a very select few to ever have the capability of arming them. It would seem to me that a world in which 0.6% of humanity survives, the only weaponry laying around which could be of any practical use to anyone would be small arms and simpler heavy weapons.
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**The baby isn't so much treated as unique, more so the first one born (and then survive) in boulder. Other children may have been born, but its heavily implied that he still needed a hell of a lot of medical care to survive, and a lot of those born would probably been birthed by amateurs in small groups, which makes it unlikely that they would get the proper care needed. Also this is more WMG but I always took it that the survivors weren't immune as such, but more that their immune systems were especially strong or suited to fight that particular kind of disease, and this was passed, in part, to Peter (or Abagail depending on your choice). Anyway, WMG over!
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*** Is this really that hard to believe? People have been following evil, horrible people for time out of mind. Lots of people don't care whether someone nice is in charge as long as they believe he's a) powerful and b) on their side.
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*** Is this really that hard to believe? People have been following evil, horrible leaders for time out of mind. Lots of people don't care whether someone nice is in charge as long as they believe he's a) powerful and b) on their side.
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*** Is this really that hard to believe? People have been following evil, horrible people for time out of mind. Lots of people don't care whether someone nice is in charge as long as they believe he's a) powerful and b) on their side.
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* Why can't Flagg remember who he is when he wakes up on a island at the end of the book?
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* Why can't Flagg remember who he is when he wakes up on a island at the end of the book?book?
**He was just hit by a nuclear warhead. I think it's fair he was a bit disoriented.
**He was just hit by a nuclear warhead. I think it's fair he was a bit disoriented.
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** "Captain Trips" is/was Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead's nickname. Stephen King, we can only imagine, liked the band and decided it sounded cool as a disease.
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** "Captain Trips" is/was Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead's nickname. Stephen King, we can only imagine, liked the band and decided it sounded cool as a disease.disease.
*Why can't Flagg remember who he is when he wakes up on a island at the end of the book?
*Why can't Flagg remember who he is when he wakes up on a island at the end of the book?
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** I always thought that it's ridicolously irresponsible. Stu brings up that they could get sick, and Fran says that there are "books and good drugs, we can learn to use them". Um... no, you can't. You can't learn medicine just from goddamn books. And this is a woman who have seen a man die from ''appendicitis'', because there was no doctor around!
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** I always thought that it's ridicolously irresponsible. Stu brings up that they could get sick, and Fran says that there are "books and good drugs, we can learn to use them". Um... no, you can't. You can't learn medicine just from goddamn books. And this is a woman who have seen a man die from ''appendicitis'', because there was no doctor around!around!
*** Agreed...you can learn first aid and some stuff, but not nearly enough to make it totally on your own, given they're without anyone else in the area...if it were really that easy, doctors wouldn't need years of medical school. It's true that our ancestors made it in the new world, but even they had communities to help, and most of us know from history class how high the death rate was during the Pilgrim days.
*** Add to that the fact that drugs only last a year or so tops, and then they lose their effectiveness. And it's not like they can make more.
*** Finally, Frannie's pregnant again. A vaginal birth after Caesarian is possible, but needs a doctor's supervision because there are still chances of problems.
****The one theory I was able to come up with is that perhaps people would spread out fairly fast and more would come east, but even then, they're not guaranteed to meet up with anyone.
** The other thing I thought of with Stu and Frannie is that not everyone in the country is in the Free Zone and not every single bad person in the country died in Vegas...they'd end up in trouble if they met a hostile group on their way East.
*** Agreed...you can learn first aid and some stuff, but not nearly enough to make it totally on your own, given they're without anyone else in the area...if it were really that easy, doctors wouldn't need years of medical school. It's true that our ancestors made it in the new world, but even they had communities to help, and most of us know from history class how high the death rate was during the Pilgrim days.
*** Add to that the fact that drugs only last a year or so tops, and then they lose their effectiveness. And it's not like they can make more.
*** Finally, Frannie's pregnant again. A vaginal birth after Caesarian is possible, but needs a doctor's supervision because there are still chances of problems.
****The one theory I was able to come up with is that perhaps people would spread out fairly fast and more would come east, but even then, they're not guaranteed to meet up with anyone.
** The other thing I thought of with Stu and Frannie is that not everyone in the country is in the Free Zone and not every single bad person in the country died in Vegas...they'd end up in trouble if they met a hostile group on their way East.
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*** Indeed. Flagg is going to use the tools of the modern world to wipe out Boulder. That's why he was working on getting jets ready to fly, gathering weapons, and planning to cross the Rockies in spring and wipe everyone out. He's going for a secular solution, despite being a supernatural being. And when you consider Boulder's ultimate response(send out four men armed only with belief), the contrast becomes even clearer: the four men are opting for a supernatural solution.
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** We're just as lost as you, my friend from across the pond. Another name for it in the story is "Tube Neck", which seems like it would fit better considering [[BodyHorror the symptoms]]. The closest I can come to an explanation is that the term "Captain Trips" originally came from a short story King had previously written about a disease with the same name which had affected the entire West coast of the United States save for a few teenagers in California(I think).
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** We're just as lost as you, my friend from across the pond. Another name for it in the story is "Tube Neck", which seems like it would fit better considering [[BodyHorror the symptoms]]. The closest I can come to an explanation is that the term "Captain Trips" originally came from a short story King had previously written about a disease with the same name which had affected the entire West coast of the United States save for a few teenagers in California(I think).think).
** "Captain Trips" is/was Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead's nickname. Stephen King, we can only imagine, liked the band and decided it sounded cool as a disease.
** "Captain Trips" is/was Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead's nickname. Stephen King, we can only imagine, liked the band and decided it sounded cool as a disease.
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* Why does the disease have the nickname 'Captain Trips'? I'm British so this may be an American cultural reference I'm not familiar with. Can someone explain it to me?
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* Why does the disease have the nickname 'Captain Trips'? I'm British so this may be an American cultural reference I'm not familiar with. Can someone explain it to me?me?
** We're just as lost as you, my friend from across the pond. Another name for it in the story is "Tube Neck", which seems like it would fit better considering [[BodyHorror the symptoms]]. The closest I can come to an explanation is that the term "Captain Trips" originally came from a short story King had previously written about a disease with the same name which had affected the entire West coast of the United States save for a few teenagers in California(I think).
** We're just as lost as you, my friend from across the pond. Another name for it in the story is "Tube Neck", which seems like it would fit better considering [[BodyHorror the symptoms]]. The closest I can come to an explanation is that the term "Captain Trips" originally came from a short story King had previously written about a disease with the same name which had affected the entire West coast of the United States save for a few teenagers in California(I think).
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* If one of the major themes of the book is that the works of human hands inevitably turn evil, why are the ''dogs'' all heroes and the ''wolves'' villains? I would expect to find junkyard dogs following Randall Flagg and wolves staying the hell away from him.
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* If one of the major themes of the book is that the works of human hands inevitably turn evil, why are the ''dogs'' all heroes and the ''wolves'' villains? I would expect to find junkyard dogs following Randall Flagg and wolves staying the hell away from him.him.
* Why does the disease have the nickname 'Captain Trips'? I'm British so this may be an American cultural reference I'm not familiar with. Can someone explain it to me?
* Why does the disease have the nickname 'Captain Trips'? I'm British so this may be an American cultural reference I'm not familiar with. Can someone explain it to me?
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** Presumably Flagg's interest in using technology (including the sort that engineered the plague, presumably) to dominate and control society. To paraphrase [[MadeOfEvil Evil]] from ''TimeBandits'', forget about committees, flowers and platypuses! Flagg would have started with [[FrickinLaserBeams lasers]], eight o'clock, day one!
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** Presumably Flagg's interest in using technology (including the sort that engineered the plague, presumably) to dominate and control society. To paraphrase [[MadeOfEvil Evil]] from ''TimeBandits'', ''Film/TimeBandits'', forget about committees, flowers and platypuses! Flagg would have started with [[FrickinLaserBeams lasers]], eight o'clock, day one!
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** In the miniseries at least, there are slow, lingering shots of the vents and pipes presumably releasing air from below before the release. Presumably CT was sent up through there as well as part of the containment breach.
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** Thank you! The fact that the guard somehow got sick bugged the hell out of me.
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Why do pinheads say \"full stop\", then keep talking?
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* The nuclear bomb, full stop. One, nukes do not emit sufficient radiation when standing idle to actually be a threat to those around them. Two, a nuclear weapon will end up inert(due to lack of external cooling systems which prevent heat from breaking down the core) if separated from the maintenance infrastructure for more than a day or so. Three, it takes a whole hell of a lot to set off a 70's era nuke, due to them being manufactured with countless safety devices which prevent accidental triggering.
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* The nuclear bomb, full stop.bomb. One, nukes do not emit sufficient radiation when standing idle to actually be a threat to those around them. Two, a nuclear weapon will end up inert(due to lack of external cooling systems which prevent heat from breaking down the core) if separated from the maintenance infrastructure for more than a day or so. Three, it takes a whole hell of a lot to set off a 70's era nuke, due to them being manufactured with countless safety devices which prevent accidental triggering.
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** I always thought that it's ridicolously irresponsible. Stu brings up that they could get sick, and Fran says that there are "books and good drugs, we can learn to use them". Um... no, you can't. You can't learn medicine just from goddamn books. And this is a woman who have seen a man die from ''appendicitis'', because there was no doctor around!
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* If one of the major themes of the book is that civilization is evil, why are the ''dogs'' heroes and the ''wolves'' villains? I would expect to find junkyard dogs following Randall Flagg and wolves staying the hell away from him.
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* If one of the major themes of the book is that civilization is the works of human hands inevitably turn evil, why are the ''dogs'' all heroes and the ''wolves'' villains? I would expect to find junkyard dogs following Randall Flagg and wolves staying the hell away from him.
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* Do [[spoiler: Fran and the others]] really think that [[spoiler: moving from Boulder back to Ogunquit]] is going to be a good idea in the long run? They're a tiny, isolated group. Nobody is keeping up the roads, dams, or ditches, so they're going to be a tiny, permanently isolated group. Eventually the machinery around them is going to run out of fuel and spare parts, so they'll be a tiny, permanently isolated group doing manual labor all day long. There aren't enough of them to allow for anybody to specialize in anything (such as medicine or making new tools)--even if they could find the books and equipment, there simply won't be any time to spare from day-to-day survival. And who are their kids going to marry?
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* Do [[spoiler: Fran and the others]] Stu]] really think that [[spoiler: moving from Boulder back to Ogunquit]] is going to be a good idea in the long run? They're going to be a tiny, isolated group. Nobody is keeping up the roads, dams, or ditches, so they're going to be a tiny, permanently isolated group. Eventually the machinery around them is going to run out of fuel and spare parts, so they'll be a tiny, permanently isolated group doing manual labor all day long. There aren't enough of them to allow for anybody to specialize in anything (such as medicine or making new tools)--even if they could find the books and equipment, there simply won't be any time to spare from day-to-day survival. And who are their kids going to marry?
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* Do [[spoiler: Fran and the others]] really think that [[spoiler: moving from Boulder back to Ogunquit]] is going to be a good idea in the long run? They're a tiny, isolated group. Nobody is keeping up the roads, dams, or ditches, so they're going to be a tiny, permanently isolated group. Eventually the machinery around them is going to run out of fuel and spare parts, so they'll be a tiny, permanently isolated group doing manual labor all day long. There aren't enough of them to allow for anybody to specialize in anything (such as medicine or making new tools)--even if they could find the books and equipment, there simply won't be any time to spare from day-to-day survival. And who are their kids going to marry?
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* Do [[spoiler: Fran and the others]] really think that [[spoiler: moving from Boulder back to Ogunquit]] is going to be a good idea in the long run? They're a tiny, isolated group. Nobody is keeping up the roads, dams, or ditches, so they're going to be a tiny, permanently isolated group. Eventually the machinery around them is going to run out of fuel and spare parts, so they'll be a tiny, permanently isolated group doing manual labor all day long. There aren't enough of them to allow for anybody to specialize in anything (such as medicine or making new tools)--even if they could find the books and equipment, there simply won't be any time to spare from day-to-day survival. And who are their kids going to marry?marry?
* If one of the major themes of the book is that civilization is evil, why are the ''dogs'' heroes and the ''wolves'' villains? I would expect to find junkyard dogs following Randall Flagg and wolves staying the hell away from him.
* If one of the major themes of the book is that civilization is evil, why are the ''dogs'' heroes and the ''wolves'' villains? I would expect to find junkyard dogs following Randall Flagg and wolves staying the hell away from him.
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** Been a while but I think he probably meant the last true wizard in the ''age'' of rational thought.
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** Been a while but I think he probably meant the last true wizard in the ''age'' of rational thought.thought.
*Do [[spoiler: Fran and the others]] really think that [[spoiler: moving from Boulder back to Ogunquit]] is going to be a good idea in the long run? They're a tiny, isolated group. Nobody is keeping up the roads, dams, or ditches, so they're going to be a tiny, permanently isolated group. Eventually the machinery around them is going to run out of fuel and spare parts, so they'll be a tiny, permanently isolated group doing manual labor all day long. There aren't enough of them to allow for anybody to specialize in anything (such as medicine or making new tools)--even if they could find the books and equipment, there simply won't be any time to spare from day-to-day survival. And who are their kids going to marry?
*Do [[spoiler: Fran and the others]] really think that [[spoiler: moving from Boulder back to Ogunquit]] is going to be a good idea in the long run? They're a tiny, isolated group. Nobody is keeping up the roads, dams, or ditches, so they're going to be a tiny, permanently isolated group. Eventually the machinery around them is going to run out of fuel and spare parts, so they'll be a tiny, permanently isolated group doing manual labor all day long. There aren't enough of them to allow for anybody to specialize in anything (such as medicine or making new tools)--even if they could find the books and equipment, there simply won't be any time to spare from day-to-day survival. And who are their kids going to marry?
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** For that matter, how the hell did his ATV hold enough gas to drive such a great distance across the desert?
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** Presumably Flagg's interest in using technology (including the sort that engineered the plague, presumably) to dominate and control society. To paraphrase [[MadeOfEvil Evil]] from ''TimeBandits'', forget about committees, flowers and platypuses! Flagg would have started with [[FrickinLaserBeams lasers]], eight o'clock, day one!
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** Presumably Flagg's interest in using technology (including the sort that engineered the plague, presumably) to dominate and control society. To paraphrase [[MadeOfEvil Evil]] from ''TimeBandits'', forget about committees, flowers and platypuses! Flagg would have started with [[FrickinLaserBeams lasers]], eight o'clock, day one!one!
** Been a while but I think he probably meant the last true wizard in the ''age'' of rational thought.
** Been a while but I think he probably meant the last true wizard in the ''age'' of rational thought.
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* Campion was stationed in a tower on complex grounds; not the main gate. Hermetically sealing off an underground base is a damn good way to asphyxiate anyone that might have to work inside of it.
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* Campion was stationed in a tower on complex grounds; not the main gate. Hermetically sealing off an underground base is a damn good way to asphyxiate anyone that might have to work inside of it.
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** Dresumably Flagg's interest in using technology (including the sort that engineered the plague) to dominate and control society. To paraphrase [[MadeOfEvil Evil]] from ''TimeBandits'', forget about flowers and platypuses! Flagg would have started with [[FrickinLaserBeams lasers]], eight o'clock, day one!
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** Dresumably Presumably Flagg's interest in using technology (including the sort that engineered the plague) plague, presumably) to dominate and control society. To paraphrase [[MadeOfEvil Evil]] from ''TimeBandits'', forget about committees, flowers and platypuses! Flagg would have started with [[FrickinLaserBeams lasers]], eight o'clock, day one!
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* I never got what Glen meant when he called Flagg "the last magician of rational thought." Flagg and rational don't belong in the same sentence together. The guy causes pain and destruction based almost entirely on whim, starts using mystical powers without being much interested in where they came from, and every interaction he has with another person revolves around the inexplicable terror or magnetism his appearance inspires in them. If anything, Flagg's the champion of ''ir''rational thought.
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* I never got what Glen meant when he called Flagg "the last magician of rational thought." Flagg and rational don't belong in the same sentence together. The guy causes pain and destruction based almost entirely on whim, starts using mystical powers without being much interested in where they came from, and every interaction he has with another person revolves around the inexplicable terror or magnetism his appearance inspires in them. If anything, Flagg's the champion of ''ir''rational thought.thought.
** Dresumably Flagg's interest in using technology (including the sort that engineered the plague) to dominate and control society. To paraphrase [[MadeOfEvil Evil]] from ''TimeBandits'', forget about flowers and platypuses! Flagg would have started with [[FrickinLaserBeams lasers]], eight o'clock, day one!
** Dresumably Flagg's interest in using technology (including the sort that engineered the plague) to dominate and control society. To paraphrase [[MadeOfEvil Evil]] from ''TimeBandits'', forget about flowers and platypuses! Flagg would have started with [[FrickinLaserBeams lasers]], eight o'clock, day one!
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** Answer to three: blatant and shameless DeusExMachina.
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** Answer to three: blatant and shameless DeusExMachina.[[DeusExMachina Deus Ex]] [[strike:[[DeusExMachina Machina]]]] [[DeusExNukina Nukina]].
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*** Plus, it's a manufactured virus, SoYeah...
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*** Plus, it's a manufactured virus, SoYeah...virus...
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** He might have received the near-fatal radiation dose in the base itself somehow, one can't tell what the dying soldiers did there.
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** He might have received the near-fatal radiation dose in the base itself somehow, one can't tell what the dying soldiers did there.there.
* I never got what Glen meant when he called Flagg "the last magician of rational thought." Flagg and rational don't belong in the same sentence together. The guy causes pain and destruction based almost entirely on whim, starts using mystical powers without being much interested in where they came from, and every interaction he has with another person revolves around the inexplicable terror or magnetism his appearance inspires in them. If anything, Flagg's the champion of ''ir''rational thought.
* I never got what Glen meant when he called Flagg "the last magician of rational thought." Flagg and rational don't belong in the same sentence together. The guy causes pain and destruction based almost entirely on whim, starts using mystical powers without being much interested in where they came from, and every interaction he has with another person revolves around the inexplicable terror or magnetism his appearance inspires in them. If anything, Flagg's the champion of ''ir''rational thought.
