This was as good as a new read as I read this book more than a decade ago. It was wonderful to come back to the book which I couldn't completely comprehend back then and had constantly cribbed about the sheer volume of this beast. This read however made me appreciate Stephen King more than before and can honestly accept that he is truly one of the best - not only in this genre but among his peers. 
 Stephen King takes several themes he has already worked on and puts them all together in a vat of brilliant writing, believable characters and offers his perspective on age old battle between good vs. evil. Many of these themes (nightmares, strange people with strangest affliction) would repeat again in his future novels. 
 The characters are incredibly flawed. They have their moments when they fall into depths of depravity only to dust it out and pick themselves up. Be it Fran or Nick or Harold - they weren't simple plot devices whose job was to take another character or the story from point A to point B. The presence of even minor character who appear for a brief period, like Larry's mother, have a substantial impact on the character and thus the story. 
 Its always a fascinating study to watch a society collapse around itself. The pandemic renders the society without a government or majority of the population to take care of. As is the natural order of things, with lack of any governing body, violence becomes primary tool for survival. King delivers a powerful (but kinda slow) second act where we see people come to terms with being alive and plan to figure out what needs to happen next. Suddenly there is both a claustrophobic boundary and an endless possibility. The parallels and contrasts are seen via different set of people who deliver these ideas very clearly. 
 King walks us through wide spectrum of human emotions against vast diaspora. Once the story ends, you miss these characters. 
 This is one book I will go back to again in a couple of years. Or re-visit certain passages from time to time. They have that kind of an impact.