Ever since this whole coronavirus business got started, people have been making allusions to The Stand, Stephen King’s sprawling modern epic about a deadly global pandemic and the fates of the individuals spared by the disease. It’s an easy comparison to make considering governmental ineptitude and human selfishness are central themes of the book, though King himself has taken pains to remind readers that the disease birthed from his imagination was a much nastier strain. “[Coronavirus is] not anywhere near as serious. It’s eminently survivable,” the author wrote on Twitter in early March. “Keep calm and take all reasonable precautions.”
One month into quarantine, however, and King seems to have changed his mind about certain comparisons between his 1978 novel and our stark reality. “Sure, call it Captain Trumps, why not?” the author writes, making reference to “Captain Trips,” the nickname given to the deadly flu that wipes out 99% of the world’s population in The Stand.
King has never been shy about his disdain for Donald Trump and the administrations failings during this critical period have only ramped up his criticisms. It probably also doesn’t help that, like many of us, King has been cooped up in his house with nothing to do but read the news, get angry, and work a little on that novel he’s been meaning to write.
“What I’m living with and what I suspect a lot of people are living with right now is cabin fever,” King says in a recent interview with NPR. “It’s not panic. It’s not terror that I feel, that I think most people feel, it’s a kind of gnawing anxiety where you say to yourself, I shouldn’t go out. If I do go out, I might catch this thing or I might give it to somebody else.”
Hopefully, the Stand comparisons stop at Captain Trumps. We’re not sure we’re ready to march into the desert and face off with Randall Flagg, and we’re sure King isn’t looking forward to that either.
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28 Comments
I never understood the name Captain Trips. Is it a pun or reference that I don’t get?I’m not saying it’s a bad name, by the way, but if there’s a hidden meaning there it’s lost on me.
It’s explained in the book. Been a while but I think the name is a reference to Jerry Garcia being called ‘Captain Trips’ and is used because ‘it really gets around’.
Something like that.
Though the Jerry Garcia connection is most likely the correct one, it’s never explained in the book.
Oh man I don’t want to pull my paperback out and try to read it, it’s my second copy and it’s falling apart almost as bad as the first one, but I could swear it was mentioned.
Did you read the expanded edition? If not it may be something that was added. I only ever read the expanded one, not the original release.
Nah, it’s never mentioned exactly what Captain trips stands for. Not in the book; not in the short story Night Surf that The Stand is based on; not in the comic. It’s just speculation that it’s after Jerry Garcia, unless King’s given an interview or Q&A and answered it, that is. Maybe he’s explained it on Twitter at some point? *shrugs*And I have the insanely heavy, cocaine-fueled monstrosity edition of the book, the one that weighs as much as a car. Thing is like a dictionary.
Huh…maybe it’s in Dance Macabre? I could swear I actually read it and didn’t make it up in my head. I think reading it was where I learned that Captain Trips was a nickname for Jerry.Ha yeah it is and I’ve probably read it 20 times, it was one of my favorite books when I was a kid.
Nice one, cheers. Looks like it wasn’t explained in the book itself, but the plague is mentioned in, among other things, The Dark Tower series, so perhaps that’s where it comes from?
Oh yeah in Wizard and Glass, they do find a newspaper clipping when they’re in the The Stand world as I remember so maybe that’s it.Been a long time since I’ve read that one too.
That. Also, bear in mind that “Captain Trips” was obviously the Grateful Dead’s not-so-subtle reference to LSD. In The Stand, people who catch Captain Trips end up feverish, and incredibly delirious. So catching Captain Trips is like having a nightmarishly bad acid trip that ends in death.
No real explanation but when I read it I felt it referred to the number of trips to the bathroom to puke or explosive diarrhea or both. As in “I need to make a trip to the bathroom.” Why “Captain”? Not a clue.
HE BROUGHT THE BIG FIRE
CIABOLLLLAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CORONNNAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I feel like calling it this will backfire. I foresee an upcoming press conference…“People are talking more and more about Captain Trumps you see, they’re not listening to that fake news about bone spurs and they’re seeing I was a captain. I was yuge in the Vietnam, won the war all by myself with some great people. That’s why Gina hates me, I fought off their best city of Vietnam and won the war. I got the purple helmet for my very very great service!”
The King interview on Fresh Air was very entertaining. King said something to Terry like “no, you shouldn’t be afraid of the monster under your bed, but just be sure to keep your legs completely covered by your blanket.” I need to find the transcript. It was really cute but creepy.
millions will die but at least we get to be epic about it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
might as well, right?
nah
Considering what else Stephen King is “fine” with, fuck him. And this. And who-gives-a-shit.
Be cool, brother.
You’re Hulk Hogan, aren’t you?
I’ll never tell.
Capt. Trumps? Donnie Dipshit will try to spin it as evidence he did military service or that he was such a natural awesome hero they just went ahead ang gave him a rank.
Captain Trumps. Brilliant.BTW Trump is Flagg.
Eh, if anything Trump is more like Harold Lauder or The Kid (from the expanded book).
Nah, he’s more like Trashcan Man – deranged and burning the country down.
M-O-O-N, that spells we’re fucked.