Changes In Stephen King's The Stand 1978-1990 Part 17

Like most of the other chapters, Chapter 51 gets expanded.  For example, Larry Underwood and Harold Lauder's conversation, as well as its aftermath, is a bit more detailed.  Most of the other scenes also get expanded a bit, but there are no major changes except for the committee's discussion of the spies, which gets omitted in the paperback, but in the 1990 hardback runs for six pages.

Chapter 52 is similar.  Scenes get more detailed and references get updated (on a poster in Harold's house, Jimmy Carter becomes George Bush).  The expansions also help with the foreshadowing of Nick Andros's death at one point, adding some suspense and dread to a novel that already has quite a bit of dread and suspense.

Chapter 53 has the usual expansions.  Among the more major ones, King adds the agenda of the Free Zone's meeting; Stu Redman telling Fran Goldsmith how he met Jim Morrison once, long after Morrison was supposed to be dead; and Nadine Cross remembering using a Ouija board in college.

Like the committee meeting in 51, the meeting in 54 is expanded, but not by as much.  The other scenes are also expanded or changed a bit, but there are no additional scenes.

55 continues this trend, but, in addition to the usual expansions and minor fiddling, 56 has three new scenes:  Nadine getting her belongings from the house she shared with Joe/Leo Rockway, as she tries to assuage her guilt about what she's done and planning to do; a brief one with Fran having a conversation with Laurie Constable; and a very brief one noting that more people are entering Boulder.

57 also has a new scene, a freaky one where Randall Flagg takes over a drive-in movie theater to have a one-way conversation with Nadine.  In the other sections, expanded and changed a bit as usual, one interesting addition is that Brad Kitchner mentions the destruction of Gary, Indiana, though he doesn't know that it was caused by the Trashcan Man.

58 is next!