Status
Available
Series
Collection
Publication
New York : Scribner, 2009.
Description
The small town of Chester's Mill, Maine, is faced with a big dilemma when it is mysteriously sealed off by an invisible and completely impenetrable force field. With cars and airplanes exploding on contact, the force field has completely isolated the townspeople from the outside world. Now, Iraq war vet Dale Barbara and a group of the town's more sensible citizens must overcome the tyrannical rule of Big Jim Rennie, a politician bent on controlling everything within the Dome.
Media reviews
Though his scenarios aren’t always plausible in strictest terms, King’s imagination, as always, yields a most satisfying yarn.
It’s a fun and clear-headed fury, though. This is King humming at the height of his powers, cackling at human folly, taking childish glee in the gross-out and all the while spinning a modern fable that asks some serious questions without sounding preachy. If the fury left a few excessive typos
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and a dog’s name that mistakenly changes on occasion, well, these are (mostly) forgivable sins. After all, few of us can resist such nightmares and dreamscapes.
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King says he started "Under the Dome" in 1976 but then "crept away from it with my tail between my legs. . . . I was terrified of screwing it up." Fortunately, he found the confidence to return to this daunting story because the result is one of his most powerful novels ever.
The King book that is most readily brought to mind by “Under the Dome” isn’t an earlier large-scale apocalyptic fantasy like “It” or “The Stand”; it’s “On Writing,” the instructive autobiographical gem that cast light on how Mr. King’s creative mind works. In the spirit of
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“On Writing,” “Under the Dome” takes a lucid, commonsense approach that keeps it tight and energetic from start to finish. Hard as this thing is to hoist, it’s even harder to put down. Show Less
1,100 pages of localized apocalypse from an author whose continued and slightly frenzied commerce with his muse has been one of the more enthralling spectacles in American literature.
Trust Stephen King to create more hellish scenarios, in the 1,072 pages of Under the Dome, than you could ever imagine, yet still have you wanting more.
User reviews
LibraryThing member richardderus
REVIEW: NUMBER ONE of a planned seventy-five
Title: [UNDER THE DOME]
Author: [[STEPHEN KING]]
Rating: 4.25* of five
The Book Report: Chester's Mills, Maine, is having itself an ordinary morning, and its citizens are gettin' up to all the usual things: Spending too much of their husband's money, killing
*WHAM*
Down comes the Dome.
No way in, no way out, no one can understand the nature, the origin, or the purpose of the Dome inside or outside of it. National security issues crop up. The town misfit, an Iraqi war vet, is called back into national service to solve the mystery. And then things get **really** ugly: The local used car salesman takes control.
Think Nixon with a mean streak and a Big Fat Secret to protect.
"From Bad to Worse" could be the subtitle of every Stephen King novel, but this time it's so so so so bad and then it gets so so so much worse that the reader is calling out to Divine Providence for the mercy of Death...and then comes The Twist. The Dome is revealed to be...but no, you have to read it.
My Review: Stephen King = what Chuckles the Dick would've been if he'd had talent.
Just sayin'.
I hated liking this book. I resented the demands on my gouty wrists and fingers, supporting its mammoth weight, flipping the pages faster and faster and faster as I got more and more sucked in to the story. I snorted snobbily at myself, caught up in this not-terribly-sophisticated narrative. None of which stopped me finishing the book and sighing with mitigated contentment at its sudsy, gloriously cinematically trajectory. I can see the miniseries...I want to see the miniseries! soon please!...unfold in my mind. It's what Stephen King does brilliantly: Tells you a story of human nature, irrefutably making points that need making about Mankind and its flaws, while wringing your withers with fear, excitement, and sadness.
The Dome was a really cool narrative device. I liked its unknowability, I was completely on board with mystery forces causing it who-knows-why...and then we find out why. I wasn't especially interested in that part, and felt it was a tidge unimaginitive coming from Mr. Shock-and-Awe himself.
Eh...so what...I had over 1000pp of reading pleasure. It's like potato-chip sex. The kind you have because you can. It still feels good, and no way are you gonna stop just because it's meaningless.
(I suppose this last isn't comprehensible to my girly readers of either gender.)
Relax. Enjoy. Don't think too much. You'll end up in a much better mood than you started out in.
Title: [UNDER THE DOME]
Author: [[STEPHEN KING]]
Rating: 4.25* of five
The Book Report: Chester's Mills, Maine, is having itself an ordinary morning, and its citizens are gettin' up to all the usual things: Spending too much of their husband's money, killing
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girls, beating up people they don't like and driving them out of town, making evil brews, only thing missing really is a bonfire and a faggot. Business as usual for the human race, in other words.*WHAM*
Down comes the Dome.
No way in, no way out, no one can understand the nature, the origin, or the purpose of the Dome inside or outside of it. National security issues crop up. The town misfit, an Iraqi war vet, is called back into national service to solve the mystery. And then things get **really** ugly: The local used car salesman takes control.
Think Nixon with a mean streak and a Big Fat Secret to protect.
"From Bad to Worse" could be the subtitle of every Stephen King novel, but this time it's so so so so bad and then it gets so so so much worse that the reader is calling out to Divine Providence for the mercy of Death...and then comes The Twist. The Dome is revealed to be...but no, you have to read it.
My Review: Stephen King = what Chuckles the Dick would've been if he'd had talent.
Just sayin'.
I hated liking this book. I resented the demands on my gouty wrists and fingers, supporting its mammoth weight, flipping the pages faster and faster and faster as I got more and more sucked in to the story. I snorted snobbily at myself, caught up in this not-terribly-sophisticated narrative. None of which stopped me finishing the book and sighing with mitigated contentment at its sudsy, gloriously cinematically trajectory. I can see the miniseries...I want to see the miniseries! soon please!...unfold in my mind. It's what Stephen King does brilliantly: Tells you a story of human nature, irrefutably making points that need making about Mankind and its flaws, while wringing your withers with fear, excitement, and sadness.
The Dome was a really cool narrative device. I liked its unknowability, I was completely on board with mystery forces causing it who-knows-why...and then we find out why. I wasn't especially interested in that part, and felt it was a tidge unimaginitive coming from Mr. Shock-and-Awe himself.
Eh...so what...I had over 1000pp of reading pleasure. It's like potato-chip sex. The kind you have because you can. It still feels good, and no way are you gonna stop just because it's meaningless.
(I suppose this last isn't comprehensible to my girly readers of either gender.)
Relax. Enjoy. Don't think too much. You'll end up in a much better mood than you started out in.
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LibraryThing member BeckyJG
Under the Dome is Stephen King's everything--including the kitchen sink--novel. It's got horror. It's got sci-fi. It's got corrupt small-town politics--the kind with the smiling-in-your face backstabbers King does so well. It's got well-realized kid characters, flawed good guys, beautiful on the
In short, Under the Dome is Stephen King doing what Stephen King does best, namely, positing a what if situation and running like hell with it. He draws on all of our most basic fears (fear of the dark, of enclosed spaces, of abandonment, of death, of being different, of outsiders), throws in a double handful of paranoia, adds a dash of conspiracy theory, salts liberally with alcohol, marijuana, and meth, and stirs violently.
So, what if an invisible, indestructible dome were suddenly to drop down around a typical small town in America? As the novel opens we meet a doomed housewife having her first--and only--flying lesson. Yup, she and her flight instructor crash spectacularly into the dome. We are momentarily inside the consciousness of a woodchuck contentedly plodding along the road, just before--and just after--he is bisected by the dome dropping down. And we meet Dale Barbara--Barbie to all who know him (and yes, there are more than a couple "Where's Ken?" jokes)--as he is unceremoniously stopped by the dome as he's leaving town after suffering a beating at the hands of a group of young toughs. Barbie is the hero of the novel, the Stu Redman, to make the inevitable comparison to The Stand. The comparison is a valid one. But where The Stand is apocalypse writ large--millions dead, cities crumbling, good and evil vying for the very soul of humanity, Under the Dome is apocalypse under glass, more like a science experiment, or even more accurately like a badly maintained Habitrail.
There is so much juicy, sexy, gross, touching, and obscene stuff to discover in this giant, thousand plus page behemoth of a novel that attempting to synopsize wouldn't do anybody any good. Suffice to say it's one of King's best. His genius for picking at the psychological scabs of the human race until they bleed, and then letting them crust up and doing it all over again has been given full rein, and it gallops from page one to page one thousand seventy two.
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inside heroines, and not one but two important dog characters. It's also got the expected amounts of blood, bile, urine, shit, and vomit, and enough dead bodies lying in pools of one or more of these substances to make even the strongest stomach quail at least a little.In short, Under the Dome is Stephen King doing what Stephen King does best, namely, positing a what if situation and running like hell with it. He draws on all of our most basic fears (fear of the dark, of enclosed spaces, of abandonment, of death, of being different, of outsiders), throws in a double handful of paranoia, adds a dash of conspiracy theory, salts liberally with alcohol, marijuana, and meth, and stirs violently.
So, what if an invisible, indestructible dome were suddenly to drop down around a typical small town in America? As the novel opens we meet a doomed housewife having her first--and only--flying lesson. Yup, she and her flight instructor crash spectacularly into the dome. We are momentarily inside the consciousness of a woodchuck contentedly plodding along the road, just before--and just after--he is bisected by the dome dropping down. And we meet Dale Barbara--Barbie to all who know him (and yes, there are more than a couple "Where's Ken?" jokes)--as he is unceremoniously stopped by the dome as he's leaving town after suffering a beating at the hands of a group of young toughs. Barbie is the hero of the novel, the Stu Redman, to make the inevitable comparison to The Stand. The comparison is a valid one. But where The Stand is apocalypse writ large--millions dead, cities crumbling, good and evil vying for the very soul of humanity, Under the Dome is apocalypse under glass, more like a science experiment, or even more accurately like a badly maintained Habitrail.
There is so much juicy, sexy, gross, touching, and obscene stuff to discover in this giant, thousand plus page behemoth of a novel that attempting to synopsize wouldn't do anybody any good. Suffice to say it's one of King's best. His genius for picking at the psychological scabs of the human race until they bleed, and then letting them crust up and doing it all over again has been given full rein, and it gallops from page one to page one thousand seventy two.
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LibraryThing member judylou
I really enjoyed this massive story (close to 900 pages) set in a small town in King's usual corner of the world. One morning a dome suddenly appears over the town - nothing comes in, nothing goes out. Families are separated, people are killed when they suddenly come into contact with the invisible
There is a huge cast of characters, separated in main into the good guys and the baddies. But there are some interesting characters who, having made a particular decision, suffered a loss, were in the wrong place at the wrong time, or otherwise touched by the coming of the dome, who are a bit of both and they are the people who affected me the most. After all, any one of us could have been there, and how would we have reacted?
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barrier. There is only a hint of King's usual horror in this story, he has instead used the "normal" townsfolk to illustrate the horror inherent in these people who are neighbours, friends and family.There is a huge cast of characters, separated in main into the good guys and the baddies. But there are some interesting characters who, having made a particular decision, suffered a loss, were in the wrong place at the wrong time, or otherwise touched by the coming of the dome, who are a bit of both and they are the people who affected me the most. After all, any one of us could have been there, and how would we have reacted?
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LibraryThing member suetu
From the moment I heard the premise of Under the Dome, I couldn't wait to read it. Here it is in a nutshell: On a perfectly ordinary fall day, an invisible, impregnable barrier surrounds the small town of Chester's Mill, Maine. Nightmare ensues. And I do mean nightmare. Uncle Stevie isn't playing
Okay, as an editor, when I see a 1,000+ page novel, my first thought is, "Does it really need to be this long?" Maybe not. I'm sure a few pages could have been trimmed. But I will tell you this... The deeper I got into this novel, the quicker I turned pages--right up until the end, when I was in a veritable page-turning frenzy. It reminded me, right from the start, of the fine work he did in the 70's, when as a child I devoured each new novel upon publication. King hasn’t lost his touch with character, and he remains a consummate storyteller.
Under the Dome is epic. The time span is short, but the novel deals with the lives of more than 2,000 people trapped in a combustible hothouse. These are truly terrifying and incomprehensible circumstances. Things in Chester's Mill are bad, and hour by hour the situation got so much worse I didn't want to believe it. But I did. I believed it all. And THAT is Stephen King's genius.
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around. This isn't one of his tall tales filled with imaginary monsters and buckets of gore. The monsters here are human, and they are terrifying. Okay, as an editor, when I see a 1,000+ page novel, my first thought is, "Does it really need to be this long?" Maybe not. I'm sure a few pages could have been trimmed. But I will tell you this... The deeper I got into this novel, the quicker I turned pages--right up until the end, when I was in a veritable page-turning frenzy. It reminded me, right from the start, of the fine work he did in the 70's, when as a child I devoured each new novel upon publication. King hasn’t lost his touch with character, and he remains a consummate storyteller.
Under the Dome is epic. The time span is short, but the novel deals with the lives of more than 2,000 people trapped in a combustible hothouse. These are truly terrifying and incomprehensible circumstances. Things in Chester's Mill are bad, and hour by hour the situation got so much worse I didn't want to believe it. But I did. I believed it all. And THAT is Stephen King's genius.
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LibraryThing member pmtracy
I have to preface this review with a disclaimer that I’m a huge Stephen King fan. In my view, he’s never written a bad book; I even enjoyed Bag of Bones. Under the Dome, however, may be his best work since The Stand or the Dark Tower series.
In Under the Dome, King continues to use psychology to
Under the Dome is about greed, brutality, rape, suicide, mental illness, sociopathy, megalomania, despotism, suffocation, starvation and loss of personal freedoms. These are all things that truly scare the bejeezus out of us because we know they can actually happen and unfortunately do every day. The novel shows how human beings can turn from civilized to barbaric in a short order when placed under incredible stress. However, there is a cadre of positive characters that show cooperation, rational thought and caring for each other can conquer all of these. This may be a bit trite but without some redemption this would have been an absolutely depressing book.
One word of advise in reading Under the Dome. The reader should work on developing a clear picture regarding the layout of the town in which the story takes place. There’s a map at the beginning of the book, but having it set in mind will make the last 100 pages easier to follow and more fulfilling.
Oh, and you’ll never look at an ant the same again.
In Under the Dome, King continues to use psychology to
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deliver his desired effects. The book has some classically “creepy” horror elements, but those tricks are so beyond King now. In this novel, I think he’s perfected his technique of working his way into the reader’s brain, finding all of those loose threads tied to our inner most fears and phobias and yanking them-hard!Under the Dome is about greed, brutality, rape, suicide, mental illness, sociopathy, megalomania, despotism, suffocation, starvation and loss of personal freedoms. These are all things that truly scare the bejeezus out of us because we know they can actually happen and unfortunately do every day. The novel shows how human beings can turn from civilized to barbaric in a short order when placed under incredible stress. However, there is a cadre of positive characters that show cooperation, rational thought and caring for each other can conquer all of these. This may be a bit trite but without some redemption this would have been an absolutely depressing book.
One word of advise in reading Under the Dome. The reader should work on developing a clear picture regarding the layout of the town in which the story takes place. There’s a map at the beginning of the book, but having it set in mind will make the last 100 pages easier to follow and more fulfilling.
Oh, and you’ll never look at an ant the same again.
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LibraryThing member sturlington
If you read Under the Dome literally, the premise gets a bit silly and has some fairly big holes. If you read it metaphorically, it becomes a bleak commentary on human existence. Spoilers follow!
The novel opens when a mysterious, impenetrable force field abruptly encloses the small town of
Immediately, the local demagogue seizes the opportunity to effect a coup and put in place a private army of young thugs. Without threat of consequences, the new police start abusing their power right away, committing rapes, murder and worse (yes, worse). Townspeople start falling like flies from stress, accidents, murder and suicide. The air inside the Dome quickly gets dirty and stale, and the temperature goes up in a clear reference to global warming. In a very short time (perhaps too short), all the rules of civilized society are thrown out the window in Chester’s Mill.
In some ways, the novel follows the typical Stephen King pattern when it comes to his “small town in jeopardy” stories (see also It, The Tommyknockers, Desperation, etc.). Children have strange visions that foretell a horrific event, a typical King trope. King provides plenty of information about what this event will be, puncturing some of the suspense he might have built in anticipating it. But when it comes, it is indeed horrific — apocalyptic, even.
What King has done in Under the Dome is put our society under a magnifying glass. He has sped up time and exaggerated the effects, but it is not difficult to find parallels. “Under the Dome” no one considers the long term. They don’t band together to solve their looming problems — food, clean air and energy will not last long under these circumstances — but rather focus on immediate gains. Or they turn into the frightened mob, willing to believe any ridiculous lie in exchange for a little comfort and security. I was not alone in finding parallels with our current political climate; the New York Times’ review also zeroed in on them. The end result is that friends and neighbors turn on one another, toss away their compassion and humanity, and eventually annihilate themselves. And they do it very quickly.
King often brings religion into his books, and his conception of a benevolent spiritual force — which he usually refers to as “the White” — that inspires ordinary people to stand up, be true and do extraordinary things in combating evil is a strong theme in such novels as The Stand, Desperation and The Talisman. But in Under the Dome, King’s depiction of God is much different: a dispassionate, distance, remorseless being, child-like in its wanton cruelty, playing with human beings as if they were ants or flies. This is not a comforting image to leave readers with, and I closed the book feeling more than a little disturbed.
Under the Dome has its problems, of course. It is a massive book, over 1,000 pages. There is a huge cast of characters, and it sometimes becomes difficult to tell folks apart. People behave in ways that seem a little too pat; these characters don’t have a lot of nuance to them. Long-time King readers will recognize recycled characters and plot devices. The language gets a bit purple at times.
But it is all in service of King’s overarching message. Trouble is, I don’t think that’s a message many of us will want to hear.
The novel opens when a mysterious, impenetrable force field abruptly encloses the small town of
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Chester’s Mill, Maine. While the origins of the Dome, as it comes to be called, are unknown, its effects are instantaneous. No one gets in or out.Immediately, the local demagogue seizes the opportunity to effect a coup and put in place a private army of young thugs. Without threat of consequences, the new police start abusing their power right away, committing rapes, murder and worse (yes, worse). Townspeople start falling like flies from stress, accidents, murder and suicide. The air inside the Dome quickly gets dirty and stale, and the temperature goes up in a clear reference to global warming. In a very short time (perhaps too short), all the rules of civilized society are thrown out the window in Chester’s Mill.
In some ways, the novel follows the typical Stephen King pattern when it comes to his “small town in jeopardy” stories (see also It, The Tommyknockers, Desperation, etc.). Children have strange visions that foretell a horrific event, a typical King trope. King provides plenty of information about what this event will be, puncturing some of the suspense he might have built in anticipating it. But when it comes, it is indeed horrific — apocalyptic, even.
What King has done in Under the Dome is put our society under a magnifying glass. He has sped up time and exaggerated the effects, but it is not difficult to find parallels. “Under the Dome” no one considers the long term. They don’t band together to solve their looming problems — food, clean air and energy will not last long under these circumstances — but rather focus on immediate gains. Or they turn into the frightened mob, willing to believe any ridiculous lie in exchange for a little comfort and security. I was not alone in finding parallels with our current political climate; the New York Times’ review also zeroed in on them. The end result is that friends and neighbors turn on one another, toss away their compassion and humanity, and eventually annihilate themselves. And they do it very quickly.
King often brings religion into his books, and his conception of a benevolent spiritual force — which he usually refers to as “the White” — that inspires ordinary people to stand up, be true and do extraordinary things in combating evil is a strong theme in such novels as The Stand, Desperation and The Talisman. But in Under the Dome, King’s depiction of God is much different: a dispassionate, distance, remorseless being, child-like in its wanton cruelty, playing with human beings as if they were ants or flies. This is not a comforting image to leave readers with, and I closed the book feeling more than a little disturbed.
Under the Dome has its problems, of course. It is a massive book, over 1,000 pages. There is a huge cast of characters, and it sometimes becomes difficult to tell folks apart. People behave in ways that seem a little too pat; these characters don’t have a lot of nuance to them. Long-time King readers will recognize recycled characters and plot devices. The language gets a bit purple at times.
But it is all in service of King’s overarching message. Trouble is, I don’t think that’s a message many of us will want to hear.
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LibraryThing member snat
More like 3 1/2 stars. This is my first full-fledged Stephen King novel, so I'm not sure how it measures up against other King classics like The Stand, It, Salem's Lot, or Carrie. Sure, I've read The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, but only because it was described as a young adult novel (King-lite, if
When I was but a wee little girl, full of innocence and a precocious love of reading, my mom was also a voracious reader. As I was consuming Little House on the Prairie books (my earliest encounter with book rape--thanks, grandma) and Nancy Drew, I began noticing that mom was always reading these big ass books with KING running down the spine. When she wasn't reading these books, they were always placed on top of the refrigerator which was well out of my grasp. Eager for us to share this love of reading (Mom had no interest in the plight of the Ingalls family), I begged and pleaded to be allowed to read the King books. "Gee, wouldn't it be fun if Mom and I read the same books? Then we could talk about them!" I thought. Days, weeks, months went by and, eventually, my constant wheedling became too much. She relented, but the deal was that she would pick the scene I was allowed to read. She chose a particularly horrific and descriptive scene from The Stand. I read with increasing horror--Nancy Drew never encountered messed up shit like this! When I finished that scene, I handed the book over and never asked to read King again. And I stepped lightly around Mom from that day forward. I suddenly understood that, if that woman snapped, it would be ugly--and she would know what to do with the bodies.
Therefore, unlike most teenagers, I skipped over the desire to consume everything King between junior high and high school. And this brings us to present day and my first King novel. At 1,072 pages, this is definitely a doorstop of a book. However, it read fairly quickly. My main complaint was that many of the characters were one dimensional stereotypes. There are no shades of gray in the small town of Chester's Mill. At first, this bothered me; however, I think maybe individual characters had to be sacrificed in order to portray the real character--small town America and how it reacts to cataclysmic events. If King shorthands individual characterizations, he nails the panic and herd-like mentality that takes over when uncertainty is the order of the day.
The premise of the novel, as blatantly presented by the title, is that Chester's Mill one day finds itself cutoff from the outside world by a mysterious dome that perfectly conforms itself to the borders of Chester's Mill. In the days ahead, the people wait and worry as the United States government desperately tries to free them. As hope begins to dwindle, reason is in short supply as people trade in their humanity for mass hysteria and panic.
The dome is not, however, the ultimate villain in this tale. The real villain is Big Jim Rennie, the town selectman who has been waiting for just such a "clustermug" so that he can claim control of the town. Big Jim is the most vile type of Christian, one who believes that being able to quote scripture and abstain from saying cuss words is all it takes to be amongst God's chosen. Big Jim does everything in the belief that God is on his side and damn anyone who tries to get in his way, for not only are they his enemies, but enemies of Christianity itself. It is possible to have religion without true faith, and Big Jim is proof of that. He has customized his religion to serve his needs; indeed, his belief in God is little more than a manifestation of his own belief in himself as superior, as "chosen," to be above all others.
It appears that my review may be destined to be as long as the book, so I'll cut it short. Weaknesses: there were a few clunker sentences that pulled me out of the story, there was an abundance of detail that I could have lived without, and I was disappointed in the reason for the dome because it seemed so obvious. Strengths: King deftly keeps his cast of characters straight and realistically interacting with one another, he captures the terror and bovine-like stupidity that takes over when day-to-day life is disrupted and threatened, there are some colorful cuss words that I hope to employ in the near future, and there's a catastrophic scene toward the end that is one of the most terrifying and well-written that I've ever read.
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you will). I have spent most of my life actively avoiding Stephen King and here's my story as to why Mr. King and I parted ways before I even read anything by him. When I was but a wee little girl, full of innocence and a precocious love of reading, my mom was also a voracious reader. As I was consuming Little House on the Prairie books (my earliest encounter with book rape--thanks, grandma) and Nancy Drew, I began noticing that mom was always reading these big ass books with KING running down the spine. When she wasn't reading these books, they were always placed on top of the refrigerator which was well out of my grasp. Eager for us to share this love of reading (Mom had no interest in the plight of the Ingalls family), I begged and pleaded to be allowed to read the King books. "Gee, wouldn't it be fun if Mom and I read the same books? Then we could talk about them!" I thought. Days, weeks, months went by and, eventually, my constant wheedling became too much. She relented, but the deal was that she would pick the scene I was allowed to read. She chose a particularly horrific and descriptive scene from The Stand. I read with increasing horror--Nancy Drew never encountered messed up shit like this! When I finished that scene, I handed the book over and never asked to read King again. And I stepped lightly around Mom from that day forward. I suddenly understood that, if that woman snapped, it would be ugly--and she would know what to do with the bodies.
Therefore, unlike most teenagers, I skipped over the desire to consume everything King between junior high and high school. And this brings us to present day and my first King novel. At 1,072 pages, this is definitely a doorstop of a book. However, it read fairly quickly. My main complaint was that many of the characters were one dimensional stereotypes. There are no shades of gray in the small town of Chester's Mill. At first, this bothered me; however, I think maybe individual characters had to be sacrificed in order to portray the real character--small town America and how it reacts to cataclysmic events. If King shorthands individual characterizations, he nails the panic and herd-like mentality that takes over when uncertainty is the order of the day.
The premise of the novel, as blatantly presented by the title, is that Chester's Mill one day finds itself cutoff from the outside world by a mysterious dome that perfectly conforms itself to the borders of Chester's Mill. In the days ahead, the people wait and worry as the United States government desperately tries to free them. As hope begins to dwindle, reason is in short supply as people trade in their humanity for mass hysteria and panic.
The dome is not, however, the ultimate villain in this tale. The real villain is Big Jim Rennie, the town selectman who has been waiting for just such a "clustermug" so that he can claim control of the town. Big Jim is the most vile type of Christian, one who believes that being able to quote scripture and abstain from saying cuss words is all it takes to be amongst God's chosen. Big Jim does everything in the belief that God is on his side and damn anyone who tries to get in his way, for not only are they his enemies, but enemies of Christianity itself. It is possible to have religion without true faith, and Big Jim is proof of that. He has customized his religion to serve his needs; indeed, his belief in God is little more than a manifestation of his own belief in himself as superior, as "chosen," to be above all others.
It appears that my review may be destined to be as long as the book, so I'll cut it short. Weaknesses: there were a few clunker sentences that pulled me out of the story, there was an abundance of detail that I could have lived without, and I was disappointed in the reason for the dome because it seemed so obvious. Strengths: King deftly keeps his cast of characters straight and realistically interacting with one another, he captures the terror and bovine-like stupidity that takes over when day-to-day life is disrupted and threatened, there are some colorful cuss words that I hope to employ in the near future, and there's a catastrophic scene toward the end that is one of the most terrifying and well-written that I've ever read.
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LibraryThing member djmes1922
All I can say is that if someone sees me reading another Stephen King book, please put me out of my misery!!! This book was terrible. The premise is good. A huge dome decends over a small Maine town. Under the dome corrupt politicians try to set up some kind of dictatorship unihibited by outside
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authorities. This promising set-up is ruined by stereotypical characters, silly dialogue, people doing dumb things & VERY amaturish writing, in other words typical Stephen King junk. . Someone has got to stop this guy from writing this crap! Why did I waste those hours reading this???????? Show Less
LibraryThing member kforeman
"Under the Dome" is more a novel of human behavior, relationships, and depravity than a supernatural horror. People are surprised to see how quickly characters turn in the novel, but their behavior was already there, it just took a dome to bring it to others' attention and amplify it. Chester's
The comparisons of "Under the Dome" to "Lord of the Flies" and "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street" are appropriate. "Under the Dome" is a cautionary tale of what it means to be human, how we treat one another, and how we regard the consequences of our actions (be they political or environmental). King continues to write with an easy, affable style with folksy protagonists and psychotic antagonists, but despite their sometimes exaggerated nature, they remain very much human.
Fast-paced, often graphic, with an unusual ending. The last 100 pages reminded me of "From a Buick 8" where King reminds us there will always be things we don't understand... apathy, perhaps, being one of them?
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Mill is a microcosm of modern American politics, climate change, and human behavior.The comparisons of "Under the Dome" to "Lord of the Flies" and "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street" are appropriate. "Under the Dome" is a cautionary tale of what it means to be human, how we treat one another, and how we regard the consequences of our actions (be they political or environmental). King continues to write with an easy, affable style with folksy protagonists and psychotic antagonists, but despite their sometimes exaggerated nature, they remain very much human.
Fast-paced, often graphic, with an unusual ending. The last 100 pages reminded me of "From a Buick 8" where King reminds us there will always be things we don't understand... apathy, perhaps, being one of them?
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LibraryThing member bragan
A small town in (where else?) Maine is suddenly and shockingly cut off from the rest of the world by a mysterious and impenetrable force field dome. Unfortunately, some of the most powerful people in town are really not the sort of folks you want to be trapped in a bottle with, and things start to
My thoughts on this book are pretty much all, "On one hand... on the other hand...":
On one hand, it's definitely not the best-written of King's novels, and, like far too many of them, it's way too long, taking nearly 1,100 pages to tell a story that could have been done more effectively in half that.
On the other hand, it's certainly readable enough, and it doesn't drag too badly, considering its length. And the last two hundred pages or so are really quite gripping, which is particularly nice, since King often has problems with endings.
On one hand, King has clearly put a fair bit of thought into some of the details. I was particularly impressed with the way he has the dome affecting weather patterns and trapping in pollution. It adds a nice note of realism, as well as factoring into the plot in important ways, and also makes for a very appropriate atmosphere, as the town begins to get hotter and dirtier both literally and metaphorically.
On the other hand, there's one detail where he really falls down on the job, and that's in understanding the impact that 21st century communications technology ought to have in a situation like this. Very early in the book -- early enough that I don't think it qualifies as any kind of spoiler -- the military insists on cutting off cell phone communications from inside the dome, citing a vague and never fully explained concern about what kind of information might come out of there. They deliberately decide not to cut off the internet, though, with some offhand comment about it being easier to monitor e-mail than phone calls. Well, they might just as well have cut it off, because, even though a lot of people in the dome still have power, nobody ever uses the internet to communicate with the world outside in any fashion, and the world outside almost never uses it to reach in to them. For that matter, for a good chunk of the book, the main characters are sort of fighting an information/propaganda war, and they never take advantage of the internet for that, either. Now, this book was published in 2009, and I don't blame Stephen King for not anticipating the massive role that social media like Twitter would play in global politics in the years between then and now. But he at least should have realized that after something this disastrous and weird, the very first thing that would happen is someone blogging about it. I hate to say it, but I think Mr. King is showing his age here. He gives the impression that he has to remind himself that the internet can be used for more than e-mail, and at one point he has his characters exclaiming over a streaming webcam like it's the most brilliant and unexpected invention they've ever seen. And it's all too bad, because not only does this cause a big suspension-of-disbelief problem for me, but it also robs the story of an interesting dimension that it might otherwise have had.
And, finally, on one hand, it's a really terrific premise, and one which could be used in any number of interesting ways. King opts to use it to explore such topics as small-town corruption, bullying, and the politics of fear-mongering. Which is great, and he does some things with those themes that work really well.
On the other hand, I think the book suffers from clinging a little too closely to the Stephen King formula that says every story needs monsters -- in this case, human monsters. The bad guys in this story are a corrupt official who (with the help of spineless and dim-witted minions) effectively becomes the boss of the town, his thuggish son, and the thuggish son's thuggish friends. The problem is that these characters aren't just corrupt, self-serving, power-abusing, and petty. They are also, in various combinations, murders, rapists, drug dealers on a staggeringly massive scale, religious hypocrites of a particularly exaggerated kind, and, in one case, full-out tumor-in-the-brain crazy. Oh, and the boss man is literally a used car salesman. He's more of a caricature than a person, and it's unfortunate, because I think that having more nuanced and human antagonists might well have led to a more powerful, more believable, and possibly even ultimately more horrifying story.
I did mostly enjoy it -- if "enjoy" is quite the right word for a book this full of awful events -- but I can't help thinking that I would have enjoyed the leaner, subtler, more New Media-savvy book it could have been much more.
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go very bad long before the food or the generator fuel run out...My thoughts on this book are pretty much all, "On one hand... on the other hand...":
On one hand, it's definitely not the best-written of King's novels, and, like far too many of them, it's way too long, taking nearly 1,100 pages to tell a story that could have been done more effectively in half that.
On the other hand, it's certainly readable enough, and it doesn't drag too badly, considering its length. And the last two hundred pages or so are really quite gripping, which is particularly nice, since King often has problems with endings.
On one hand, King has clearly put a fair bit of thought into some of the details. I was particularly impressed with the way he has the dome affecting weather patterns and trapping in pollution. It adds a nice note of realism, as well as factoring into the plot in important ways, and also makes for a very appropriate atmosphere, as the town begins to get hotter and dirtier both literally and metaphorically.
On the other hand, there's one detail where he really falls down on the job, and that's in understanding the impact that 21st century communications technology ought to have in a situation like this. Very early in the book -- early enough that I don't think it qualifies as any kind of spoiler -- the military insists on cutting off cell phone communications from inside the dome, citing a vague and never fully explained concern about what kind of information might come out of there. They deliberately decide not to cut off the internet, though, with some offhand comment about it being easier to monitor e-mail than phone calls. Well, they might just as well have cut it off, because, even though a lot of people in the dome still have power, nobody ever uses the internet to communicate with the world outside in any fashion, and the world outside almost never uses it to reach in to them. For that matter, for a good chunk of the book, the main characters are sort of fighting an information/propaganda war, and they never take advantage of the internet for that, either. Now, this book was published in 2009, and I don't blame Stephen King for not anticipating the massive role that social media like Twitter would play in global politics in the years between then and now. But he at least should have realized that after something this disastrous and weird, the very first thing that would happen is someone blogging about it. I hate to say it, but I think Mr. King is showing his age here. He gives the impression that he has to remind himself that the internet can be used for more than e-mail, and at one point he has his characters exclaiming over a streaming webcam like it's the most brilliant and unexpected invention they've ever seen. And it's all too bad, because not only does this cause a big suspension-of-disbelief problem for me, but it also robs the story of an interesting dimension that it might otherwise have had.
And, finally, on one hand, it's a really terrific premise, and one which could be used in any number of interesting ways. King opts to use it to explore such topics as small-town corruption, bullying, and the politics of fear-mongering. Which is great, and he does some things with those themes that work really well.
On the other hand, I think the book suffers from clinging a little too closely to the Stephen King formula that says every story needs monsters -- in this case, human monsters. The bad guys in this story are a corrupt official who (with the help of spineless and dim-witted minions) effectively becomes the boss of the town, his thuggish son, and the thuggish son's thuggish friends. The problem is that these characters aren't just corrupt, self-serving, power-abusing, and petty. They are also, in various combinations, murders, rapists, drug dealers on a staggeringly massive scale, religious hypocrites of a particularly exaggerated kind, and, in one case, full-out tumor-in-the-brain crazy. Oh, and the boss man is literally a used car salesman. He's more of a caricature than a person, and it's unfortunate, because I think that having more nuanced and human antagonists might well have led to a more powerful, more believable, and possibly even ultimately more horrifying story.
I did mostly enjoy it -- if "enjoy" is quite the right word for a book this full of awful events -- but I can't help thinking that I would have enjoyed the leaner, subtler, more New Media-savvy book it could have been much more.
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LibraryThing member Cats57
Under the Dome by Stephen King
Once again beloved author Stephen King takes us on a trip into our worst nightmares.
How would you react if you suddenly found yourself and your whole town cut off from the rest of the world. Virtually sealed inside an impenetrable glass dome that stretches from boarder
Author King has deftly found what fears we keep hidden and played them like a well tuned violin. The police have become “brown shirts”, taking to the streets and allowed to run rampant and lawless on their fellow man. Authority in the way of this communities Selectmen, has been thrown to the wind as one of them takes this disaster and tries to use and twist it to his own benefit. Murder, rape, bodily assault, necrophilia, drugs, rioting-they are all there. All made even worse by the naiveté of this seemingly quaint little town in Maine. A town that holds many, many secrets.
And the big question is, are all the secrets coming back to haunt the Godless? Is this some kind of sick government experiment? Is this dome Gods retribution on the sinners? Or does it go even higher than that? And ask yourself this, what can possibly be higher on the food chain than God?
In my opinion, this is one of Mr. Kings finest books since the epic novel “The Stand“.. The Dome is filled with so many characters and events that seem to have no rhyme or reason that you may feel, as I did, that he could never write his way out of this mess. But he does and with a very satisfying ending twist. One that really makes you sit there and think. Believe me if you read this book, you will never ever look at an ant hill or ants in the same way as you did yesterday!
Once again beloved author Stephen King takes us on a trip into our worst nightmares.
How would you react if you suddenly found yourself and your whole town cut off from the rest of the world. Virtually sealed inside an impenetrable glass dome that stretches from boarder
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to border. There is no way out, no way in. And while you coped with this unfathomable nightmare, what would you do when those who have been elected to protect you, to run things calmly in the event of disasters went off the deep end? Author King has deftly found what fears we keep hidden and played them like a well tuned violin. The police have become “brown shirts”, taking to the streets and allowed to run rampant and lawless on their fellow man. Authority in the way of this communities Selectmen, has been thrown to the wind as one of them takes this disaster and tries to use and twist it to his own benefit. Murder, rape, bodily assault, necrophilia, drugs, rioting-they are all there. All made even worse by the naiveté of this seemingly quaint little town in Maine. A town that holds many, many secrets.
And the big question is, are all the secrets coming back to haunt the Godless? Is this some kind of sick government experiment? Is this dome Gods retribution on the sinners? Or does it go even higher than that? And ask yourself this, what can possibly be higher on the food chain than God?
In my opinion, this is one of Mr. Kings finest books since the epic novel “The Stand“.. The Dome is filled with so many characters and events that seem to have no rhyme or reason that you may feel, as I did, that he could never write his way out of this mess. But he does and with a very satisfying ending twist. One that really makes you sit there and think. Believe me if you read this book, you will never ever look at an ant hill or ants in the same way as you did yesterday!
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LibraryThing member geordicalrissian
Absolutely fantastic! Initially, I was a little intimidated by the size. But the read was well worth it. Stephen King is a great writer. And the cast of characters in this story are very well written. There is no time to hesitate or breath in consuming this story. Very nearly non-stop action. And I
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love the "mini-scene" pacing. It keeps the story fresh and keeps you ready to turn the page. This definitely goes on the "favorites" list! Show Less
LibraryThing member bloodcrossed
This book is LONG. Ridiculously long. But that's not atypical for Mr. King. The premise behind this book was very interesting to me: a small town is mysteriously cut off from the world by a clear, impenetrable dome. My interest was instantly piqued. But after 200 pages and not even a full day has
Then, after four hundred pages and only a couple of days, the town has already degraded into random violence, politics, and the coup d'etat, deputies gang raping a lesbian single mother. I'm not reading anymore. I'm sorry, but that's crossing a line. I want to know what happens, but not that much. So, I'm sorry Stephen, but this one wasn't for me.
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gone by, I'm losing patience. Then, after four hundred pages and only a couple of days, the town has already degraded into random violence, politics, and the coup d'etat, deputies gang raping a lesbian single mother. I'm not reading anymore. I'm sorry, but that's crossing a line. I want to know what happens, but not that much. So, I'm sorry Stephen, but this one wasn't for me.
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LibraryThing member tibobi
The Short of It:
King fans rejoice! In my opinion, this is King’s return to the writing that so many of his fans fell in love with years ago.
The Rest of It:
I grew up with King. I spent many a night reading his books. Under the covers, flashlight in hand, I would open to that first page with great
When Under the Dome was released, many readers compared it to The Stand, so I figured I’d give it a shot. I’m so glad I did! Apparently he started to write Under the Dome back in the early 70’s but wasn’t confident with what he had written so it got shelved until 2007, when he decided to pull it out again. Basically the premise is simple, some unknown force field comes down upon the small town of Chester’s Mill. What isn’t so simple is the impact that this has on weather patterns and the environment and how it affects the inner workings of the town. I know you are thinking of The Simpson’s Movie right about now, but this is sooo not the Simpsons and remember, King started this book way back in the 70’s. In an interview though, King does mention the Simpsons and how he didn’t learn of the movie until after his book was in galleys.
Going into details would give parts of the story away, but what I will say, is that King’s vision of small town life is vivid…so real. Each character is so distinct and different from the other characters. King’s portrayal of the town leader, Jim Rennie is so right on the money that when Big Jim speaks, you just want to reach into the book and slap him. He’s a typical politician but the mannerisms, the holier than thou attitude…it all leaps off the page. We learn who these people are, we know their insecurities. It’s like looking into a window as you walk by a house. We see things that we shouldn’t, and although some of the story is a bit predictable, that’s okay because in the end, these are folks that we care about.
With this book, I see a vulnerability that I haven’t seen in a King book in a really long time. Sort of like, he was testing the waters. Not the big-time writer writing up another bestseller, but it was as if he really wanted his “constant readers” to feel good about this one. I do feel good. As grim as the subject matter was, I feel good about reading it because this is the King that I have been missing for a long, long time. One example of this is his inclusion of a character list at the beginning of the book. There are dozens of characters yet I never had to use that list. I knew who each one was and what they were about yet King wanted to make sure of that. I found that interesting.
I know that a lot of folks avoid King because some of his writing is pretty graphic. This one has some graphic scenes and a few may cause your gag reflex to go into overdrive, but compared to his other books, I felt this one was pretty mild. It’s the “end of the world as we know it” type of violence that is caused by mass hysteria…shootings, rapes, suicides, etc. There is some language too, but not nearly as much as his other works. When people grow desperate, they get ugly. You just have to know this going in.
Overall, I really enjoyed this one. Mainly because it’s the return of the storytelling that I missed so much, but also because it was quite a chunkster and I had an entire week to consume it. There is nothing quite like diving into an epic novel, knowing that you have all the time in the world to savor it. Is Under the Dome as good as The Stand? No. However, it does have the same feel to it and readers that enjoyed King’s older works will enjoy this one.
King fans rejoice! In my opinion, this is King’s return to the writing that so many of his fans fell in love with years ago.
The Rest of It:
I grew up with King. I spent many a night reading his books. Under the covers, flashlight in hand, I would open to that first page with great
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anticipation and I was rarely disappointed. However, as the years passed, King’s writing changed. Perhaps he got too big but I felt that he lost that touch that made his books so real. That funny sense of irony. Something. In my opinion, none of his more recent works could even come close to The Stand so I stopped reading him for a while.When Under the Dome was released, many readers compared it to The Stand, so I figured I’d give it a shot. I’m so glad I did! Apparently he started to write Under the Dome back in the early 70’s but wasn’t confident with what he had written so it got shelved until 2007, when he decided to pull it out again. Basically the premise is simple, some unknown force field comes down upon the small town of Chester’s Mill. What isn’t so simple is the impact that this has on weather patterns and the environment and how it affects the inner workings of the town. I know you are thinking of The Simpson’s Movie right about now, but this is sooo not the Simpsons and remember, King started this book way back in the 70’s. In an interview though, King does mention the Simpsons and how he didn’t learn of the movie until after his book was in galleys.
Going into details would give parts of the story away, but what I will say, is that King’s vision of small town life is vivid…so real. Each character is so distinct and different from the other characters. King’s portrayal of the town leader, Jim Rennie is so right on the money that when Big Jim speaks, you just want to reach into the book and slap him. He’s a typical politician but the mannerisms, the holier than thou attitude…it all leaps off the page. We learn who these people are, we know their insecurities. It’s like looking into a window as you walk by a house. We see things that we shouldn’t, and although some of the story is a bit predictable, that’s okay because in the end, these are folks that we care about.
With this book, I see a vulnerability that I haven’t seen in a King book in a really long time. Sort of like, he was testing the waters. Not the big-time writer writing up another bestseller, but it was as if he really wanted his “constant readers” to feel good about this one. I do feel good. As grim as the subject matter was, I feel good about reading it because this is the King that I have been missing for a long, long time. One example of this is his inclusion of a character list at the beginning of the book. There are dozens of characters yet I never had to use that list. I knew who each one was and what they were about yet King wanted to make sure of that. I found that interesting.
I know that a lot of folks avoid King because some of his writing is pretty graphic. This one has some graphic scenes and a few may cause your gag reflex to go into overdrive, but compared to his other books, I felt this one was pretty mild. It’s the “end of the world as we know it” type of violence that is caused by mass hysteria…shootings, rapes, suicides, etc. There is some language too, but not nearly as much as his other works. When people grow desperate, they get ugly. You just have to know this going in.
Overall, I really enjoyed this one. Mainly because it’s the return of the storytelling that I missed so much, but also because it was quite a chunkster and I had an entire week to consume it. There is nothing quite like diving into an epic novel, knowing that you have all the time in the world to savor it. Is Under the Dome as good as The Stand? No. However, it does have the same feel to it and readers that enjoyed King’s older works will enjoy this one.
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LibraryThing member jonwwil
It seems as though Stephen King is going to keep creating new visions of Lord of the Flies until he decides to hang it up for good; and I say: more power to him, if the results are going to come out like this.
The gist of this one: an impenetrable forcefield inexplicably seals off a small town from
That part of it is so fascinating, in fact, that it seems natural that exploring the dome's origins and doing something about it is almost a secondary plotline. In one sense, I think that's phenomenal, because, as I said, the appeal of this book lies mostly in how the characters deal, collectively and individually, with the varied facets of their isolation. The only problem with that approach is that, when it does finally come time for them to seek out why and how the dome is there, it feels kind of rushed (if anything can be said to feel rushed in a novel of 1,000+ pages) and thrown on, and that makes the ending almost a little too neat.
That being said, the bulk of the book was incredible. This is one that I'll revisit again, and probably sooner rather than later.
The gist of this one: an impenetrable forcefield inexplicably seals off a small town from
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the outside world, and a town politician tries (and mostly succeeds) to bend the town to his will while they're cut off from all outside influence. King goes to work, creating a large cast of believable characters, some of whom earn your sympathy, others your scorn and agitation. That's really the best part of the book in my eyes: seeing the characters interact with one another as the situation comes to a head and then deteriorates.That part of it is so fascinating, in fact, that it seems natural that exploring the dome's origins and doing something about it is almost a secondary plotline. In one sense, I think that's phenomenal, because, as I said, the appeal of this book lies mostly in how the characters deal, collectively and individually, with the varied facets of their isolation. The only problem with that approach is that, when it does finally come time for them to seek out why and how the dome is there, it feels kind of rushed (if anything can be said to feel rushed in a novel of 1,000+ pages) and thrown on, and that makes the ending almost a little too neat.
That being said, the bulk of the book was incredible. This is one that I'll revisit again, and probably sooner rather than later.
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LibraryThing member eleanor_eader
In the afterword of Under the Dome, King tells us that he first tried to write this book in 1976, set it aside, daunted, and then went for it again in 2007. That he is, and has been for a long time, a mature enough author to tackle a book of this plotsize, never mind population, is uncontested
If I hadn’t read Stephen King’s last novel – Duma Key – I would have been much happier on coming to the last page of Under the Dome. The political machine gone rabid and unchecked is certainly a horrific thought and the nicely underplayed theme of bullying and cruelty (including environmental bullying) added great tension and an unusual angle. The pacing was fraught, and managed to mostly avoid feeling over-fed. But I couldn’t help thinking he’s done this before. Taken in context with what, in my opinion, was the best book of his career, Under the Dome is something of a throwback, a mixture of Needful Things (a small American town set to a low simmer) and The Tommyknockers (alien interference).
If you’re wondering why it’s got 4.5 rating, despite the slight disappointment, it’s because it’s Stephen King and I was gripped and horrified and entertained, which I’m sure is what King would say he’d set out to do, job done. One or two of the scenes in this book chilled me in a way he never has before; he allowed himself to be a bit of a bully, in keeping with his theme, I think, and it worked very well. It was no Duma Key, but where vintage King meets older King’s writing chops, the reader at least gets a powerful new riff off the old themes. It loses the .5 only because I enjoyed being challenged as a reader with Duma Key and hoped for more of that King in his subsequent books.
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however, I think Mr. King may have overlooked the possibility that too much of what he wanted to do in Under the Dome has trickled into the bulk of his other work in the meantime.If I hadn’t read Stephen King’s last novel – Duma Key – I would have been much happier on coming to the last page of Under the Dome. The political machine gone rabid and unchecked is certainly a horrific thought and the nicely underplayed theme of bullying and cruelty (including environmental bullying) added great tension and an unusual angle. The pacing was fraught, and managed to mostly avoid feeling over-fed. But I couldn’t help thinking he’s done this before. Taken in context with what, in my opinion, was the best book of his career, Under the Dome is something of a throwback, a mixture of Needful Things (a small American town set to a low simmer) and The Tommyknockers (alien interference).
If you’re wondering why it’s got 4.5 rating, despite the slight disappointment, it’s because it’s Stephen King and I was gripped and horrified and entertained, which I’m sure is what King would say he’d set out to do, job done. One or two of the scenes in this book chilled me in a way he never has before; he allowed himself to be a bit of a bully, in keeping with his theme, I think, and it worked very well. It was no Duma Key, but where vintage King meets older King’s writing chops, the reader at least gets a powerful new riff off the old themes. It loses the .5 only because I enjoyed being challenged as a reader with Duma Key and hoped for more of that King in his subsequent books.
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LibraryThing member NickCato
While I didn't have TOO much of a problem with who was behind the Dome (despite the Twilight Zone-ness of it), I had a very hard time with how quickly things happen in Stephen King's "Longest Novel Since THE STAND."
I
n a matter of days after they've been enclosed in the massive title object, people
While I liked "Barbie" and the woman who published the local paper (see---1,072 pages and I can't recall her name!), most of King's enormous cast here are forgettable, stale, typical redneck stereotypes, and aside from one outside-the-Dome soldier with a conscience, even the military leader is quite stale.
Little happens in UNDER THE DOME for long stretches, and between (approximately) the 500th and 750th pages, I considered quitting. But, being a life-long King fan, I went on. While this is far from King's finest hour, I will admit the final 200 pages or so are quite exciting, and I was very happy with how our main antagonist gets his.
But to sit through a novel of this length with (nearly) NO pay off, there's no way I could recommend it. UNDER THE DOME could EASILY have been a 600-paged novel . . . which I'm betting would've been a much more satisfying read. I'm all for epic King novels . . . so long as the filler lasts 4 pages instead of 400.
I
n a matter of days after they've been enclosed in the massive title object, people
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begin to commit suicide (out of despair) after one attempt to break open The Dome fails (?); The corrupt law enforcement goes balistic way too quickly, as if they had spent their entire time on the force waiting for something cataclysmic to happen so they could being their tyrannical take-over. Much of the dialogue is just surprisingly unrealistic and at times irritating (especially the mind-numbing mini-rants of Big Jim).While I liked "Barbie" and the woman who published the local paper (see---1,072 pages and I can't recall her name!), most of King's enormous cast here are forgettable, stale, typical redneck stereotypes, and aside from one outside-the-Dome soldier with a conscience, even the military leader is quite stale.
Little happens in UNDER THE DOME for long stretches, and between (approximately) the 500th and 750th pages, I considered quitting. But, being a life-long King fan, I went on. While this is far from King's finest hour, I will admit the final 200 pages or so are quite exciting, and I was very happy with how our main antagonist gets his.
But to sit through a novel of this length with (nearly) NO pay off, there's no way I could recommend it. UNDER THE DOME could EASILY have been a 600-paged novel . . . which I'm betting would've been a much more satisfying read. I'm all for epic King novels . . . so long as the filler lasts 4 pages instead of 400.
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LibraryThing member dwcofer
Doomed by The Dome
The small new England town of Chester’s Mill is the setting for “Under The Dome,” the latest work by Stephen King. This epic tome (1000+ pages) is obviously massive, yet an easy read. King weaves an addictive story, difficult to put down.
King initially began writing the
The normally quiet and peaceful town of Chester’s Mill changes suddenly when a mysterious and invisible barrier materializes out of nowhere. The barrier, or dome, completely cuts off the town from the rest of the world. The death toll begins to rise immediately. A plane smashes into the barrier followed by a number of cars. Scientists, government and military officials scramble to discover a way to break through the barrier. In the meantime, those inside the dome must discover ways to adapt to their new reality.
Within days, the scene inside the Chester’s Mill dome turns into an environment of mass murder, corruption, confusion, and increasing fear. The police fall under the control of a local official with dictatorial ambitions. The town’s resources are seized. Dissenters are jailed and punished. Before long, the air quality inside the dome deteriorates as the residents succumb to numerous illnesses. Children suffer from seizures and disturbing visions. Fear turns to anger, and people behave in ways they wouldn’t have dreamed of before the dome sealed their fate. The tension continues to mount as the stage is set for a final showdown between those who wish to enforce their agenda on the town and those who will stop at nothing to remove the town’s dangerous leaders.
One of King’s strengths is his ability to craft believable characters, and once again he does not disappoint. In addition, the dialogue is realistic and is well written. King aptly describes the human element when panic sets in and takes over. The book is as much a psychological thriller as anything else.
Even if you are not a Stephen King fan, I highly recommend the book. It is a great entertainment value and will not disappoint.
The small new England town of Chester’s Mill is the setting for “Under The Dome,” the latest work by Stephen King. This epic tome (1000+ pages) is obviously massive, yet an easy read. King weaves an addictive story, difficult to put down.
King initially began writing the
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book back in 1976, abandoned the novel, then completed it, 30 years later. I am glad he did. This may be his best effort yet. The normally quiet and peaceful town of Chester’s Mill changes suddenly when a mysterious and invisible barrier materializes out of nowhere. The barrier, or dome, completely cuts off the town from the rest of the world. The death toll begins to rise immediately. A plane smashes into the barrier followed by a number of cars. Scientists, government and military officials scramble to discover a way to break through the barrier. In the meantime, those inside the dome must discover ways to adapt to their new reality.
Within days, the scene inside the Chester’s Mill dome turns into an environment of mass murder, corruption, confusion, and increasing fear. The police fall under the control of a local official with dictatorial ambitions. The town’s resources are seized. Dissenters are jailed and punished. Before long, the air quality inside the dome deteriorates as the residents succumb to numerous illnesses. Children suffer from seizures and disturbing visions. Fear turns to anger, and people behave in ways they wouldn’t have dreamed of before the dome sealed their fate. The tension continues to mount as the stage is set for a final showdown between those who wish to enforce their agenda on the town and those who will stop at nothing to remove the town’s dangerous leaders.
One of King’s strengths is his ability to craft believable characters, and once again he does not disappoint. In addition, the dialogue is realistic and is well written. King aptly describes the human element when panic sets in and takes over. The book is as much a psychological thriller as anything else.
Even if you are not a Stephen King fan, I highly recommend the book. It is a great entertainment value and will not disappoint.
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LibraryThing member sapphire--stars
I truly felt as if Under the Dome was a return to old Stephen King. The book portrays a fascinating microcosm and I would say it is one of his best, most recent books to date. Avid Stephen King readers will not be put off by the amount of pages :) Many have compared this novel to The Stand with
Happy reading!
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good reason; never since The Stand have I felt the apocalyptic chills and the same sense of wonder as I did with this novel.Happy reading!
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LibraryThing member GoudaReads
What happens when people are confined to a defined space and cut off from the rest of the world? How long does it take for them to come unraveled? According to Stephen King, not long at all.
I’m not a fan of horror or sci-fi or whatever genre you might be tempted to put King in. But I am a huge
Under the Dome is about life and death, right and wrong, good and evil, love and hate, hope and despair, ambition, faith, power, morality, and the frailty, foibles, and folly of man. Finally, it’s about politics. Patriarchal, condescending, with-us-or-against-us politics. Leadership by fear. Sound familiar?
Caveat emptor: I loved the political allegory, but I agree with the obvious Rennie=Bush/Cheney comparisons. I suspect those who supported the Bush administration will see this book as heavy-handed, left-wing, liberal nutjob machination.
I’m not a fan of horror or sci-fi or whatever genre you might be tempted to put King in. But I am a huge
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fan of good writing this book is amazing. Although there’s an element of the supernatural, the thing that drives the book is relationships. There are over two dozen main(ish) characters in this book – yet every one of them is drawn distinctly. They all seem like people you know; they are your community, your neighbors, your friends, your family, you. Under the Dome is about life and death, right and wrong, good and evil, love and hate, hope and despair, ambition, faith, power, morality, and the frailty, foibles, and folly of man. Finally, it’s about politics. Patriarchal, condescending, with-us-or-against-us politics. Leadership by fear. Sound familiar?
Caveat emptor: I loved the political allegory, but I agree with the obvious Rennie=Bush/Cheney comparisons. I suspect those who supported the Bush administration will see this book as heavy-handed, left-wing, liberal nutjob machination.
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LibraryThing member alexann
When the dome drops over a small town in Maine, normal life comes to a screeching halt. Everything is magnified--the good folks get better, and the bad folks far worse. King's massive novel carries us, day by day, minute by minute, through the lives of the residents trapped inside--under the bell
In his afterword, King states that his novel has been harshly edited. Perhaps a few more edits would have been beneficial. Simply, it's too long! There are too many characters and events to track--King's cutaways work fairly well, but it's not easy to keep the characters straight. Thankfully there is a Cast of Characters to which confused or tired readers can refer!
Do we really need another novel telling us how truly sad the human race really is?
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jar, as it were. The town "boss", Jim Rennie, seeks only to augment his own power, at any cost. It's not pleasant to see human nature at its worst, as resources (air, for instance) begin to dwindle and tempers flair. In his afterword, King states that his novel has been harshly edited. Perhaps a few more edits would have been beneficial. Simply, it's too long! There are too many characters and events to track--King's cutaways work fairly well, but it's not easy to keep the characters straight. Thankfully there is a Cast of Characters to which confused or tired readers can refer!
Do we really need another novel telling us how truly sad the human race really is?
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LibraryThing member Birdo82
Like receiving B-level work from an A+ student, "Under the Dome" may not be King's most memorable work, due in part to an anticlimactic ending, but it is nonetheless a worthy feat.
LibraryThing member csayban
Chester’s Mill, Maine is just your average American town. Average that is, until an impenetrable, invisible dome cuts off the town from the rest of the world…with horrifying consequences. Forced to survive on their own, former Army officer turned fry cook Dale Barbara finds himself pitted
“Big Jim - "Take a good look, pal - this is what incompetency, false hope, and too much information gets you. They're just unhappy and disappointed now, but when they get over that, they'll be mad. We're gonna need more police.”
Nobody does death and carnage like Stephen King… and Under the Dome is no exception. However, after the initial bloodletting – thanks to an impenetrable force field descending on the small town – it is the humans trapped inside who become their own worst enemy. King does an amazing job of detailing what a world trapped inside a fishbowl would contend with and how people might react to being cutoff so completely. It is a study in the darkest of human instincts – the needs of the many versus the needs of a few.
As usual, King’s characters in Under the Dome are supercharged with personality. Dale Barbara and Julia Shumway are the quintessential everyman heroes. I was happy to see that Dale’s military background didn’t turn into a Rambo-esc take the town back cliché. Instead, Dale and Julia must think their way out of the mess being generated by used car salesman turned town emperor Big Jim and his cronies. The veiled references to certain political administrations and certain poor judgments were not lost on me. However, Under the Dome works very well even if you don’t catch Mr. King’s not-so-hidden commentary.
Part social commentary, part sci-fi horror, Under the Dome succeeds by putting normal people in an extraordinary situation and letting human nature (the good and the awful) take its course. In spite of the nearly 1,100 page heft, Under the Dome never once slows down or languishes. It is a rare gift to be able to keep a story of this scale moving forward the entire time. Not everything in Under the Dome works. Parts of the plot felt cobbled together and the ending was a bit rushed. In addition, the reveal of the cause of the dome itself was a bit schmaltzy. However, I see what King was trying to convey and in that vein it does fit the story.
The pages never stopped turning and I really enjoyed Under the Dome. While not necessarily my favorite of King’s works – which is a really tough mountain to climb – I was pleased by the story and will eventually go back and read it again. Under the Dome is another highly entertaining work by the master.
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against the political opportunist Big Jim Rennie. The fight for control becomes a bloody one, but as the remaining townspeople choose sides, the town’s darkest secret threatens to destroy them all.“Big Jim - "Take a good look, pal - this is what incompetency, false hope, and too much information gets you. They're just unhappy and disappointed now, but when they get over that, they'll be mad. We're gonna need more police.”
Nobody does death and carnage like Stephen King… and Under the Dome is no exception. However, after the initial bloodletting – thanks to an impenetrable force field descending on the small town – it is the humans trapped inside who become their own worst enemy. King does an amazing job of detailing what a world trapped inside a fishbowl would contend with and how people might react to being cutoff so completely. It is a study in the darkest of human instincts – the needs of the many versus the needs of a few.
As usual, King’s characters in Under the Dome are supercharged with personality. Dale Barbara and Julia Shumway are the quintessential everyman heroes. I was happy to see that Dale’s military background didn’t turn into a Rambo-esc take the town back cliché. Instead, Dale and Julia must think their way out of the mess being generated by used car salesman turned town emperor Big Jim and his cronies. The veiled references to certain political administrations and certain poor judgments were not lost on me. However, Under the Dome works very well even if you don’t catch Mr. King’s not-so-hidden commentary.
Part social commentary, part sci-fi horror, Under the Dome succeeds by putting normal people in an extraordinary situation and letting human nature (the good and the awful) take its course. In spite of the nearly 1,100 page heft, Under the Dome never once slows down or languishes. It is a rare gift to be able to keep a story of this scale moving forward the entire time. Not everything in Under the Dome works. Parts of the plot felt cobbled together and the ending was a bit rushed. In addition, the reveal of the cause of the dome itself was a bit schmaltzy. However, I see what King was trying to convey and in that vein it does fit the story.
The pages never stopped turning and I really enjoyed Under the Dome. While not necessarily my favorite of King’s works – which is a really tough mountain to climb – I was pleased by the story and will eventually go back and read it again. Under the Dome is another highly entertaining work by the master.
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LibraryThing member TheTwoDs
King's latest behemoth of a novel, like all of his best works, is more interested in the sociological ramifications of his scenario than in out-and-out horror. The characterization and small-town setting ring true as ever and propel the narrative to its harrowing conclusion. One can read it as a
An invisible force field of unknown origin has descended on Chesters Mill, Maine, literally cutting it off from the rest of the world. Nothing physical can penetrate the dome. The early part of the novel details the various catastrophes which befall the town and its inhabitants as a direct result of the dome's appearance. Then, while the federal government attempts to determine where it came from and how to rescue the town, the classic King battle between good and evil begins to set itself up.
King's politics are on full display here, though he has made no secret of them in the past decade or so. The town's First Selectman is ostensibly in charge, though actually accedes to every demand of the power-hungry Second Selectman, who knows he is too gruff and coldhearted to ever be the face of power. The Third Selectman is actually a woman. She has also always followed the proscribed path of the Second Selectman, but undergoes a transformation that allows her to see the error of her ways and endorse the outsider, an Iraq War veteran chosen by the government as their inside man in charge. Bush, Cheney, Powell as Selectmen anyone?
Other than the existence of the dome itself, there are no real supernatural elements at play here. Instead, we are witnesses to the horror we are capable of as a people. The drive for power and control leads to environmental catastrophe, a dividing of the townsfolk and a cataclysmic conclusion. Stephen King is at the top of his game here.
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chess game, from placing the pieces in the proper positions on the board, setting them in motion and concluding with an endgame.An invisible force field of unknown origin has descended on Chesters Mill, Maine, literally cutting it off from the rest of the world. Nothing physical can penetrate the dome. The early part of the novel details the various catastrophes which befall the town and its inhabitants as a direct result of the dome's appearance. Then, while the federal government attempts to determine where it came from and how to rescue the town, the classic King battle between good and evil begins to set itself up.
King's politics are on full display here, though he has made no secret of them in the past decade or so. The town's First Selectman is ostensibly in charge, though actually accedes to every demand of the power-hungry Second Selectman, who knows he is too gruff and coldhearted to ever be the face of power. The Third Selectman is actually a woman. She has also always followed the proscribed path of the Second Selectman, but undergoes a transformation that allows her to see the error of her ways and endorse the outsider, an Iraq War veteran chosen by the government as their inside man in charge. Bush, Cheney, Powell as Selectmen anyone?
Other than the existence of the dome itself, there are no real supernatural elements at play here. Instead, we are witnesses to the horror we are capable of as a people. The drive for power and control leads to environmental catastrophe, a dividing of the townsfolk and a cataclysmic conclusion. Stephen King is at the top of his game here.
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LibraryThing member tapestry100
'Wow,' was more or less my singular thought as I read Stephen King's Under the Dome. I was concerned at first that such an ambitious novel (1074 pages!) was going to loose it's steam either under the shear number of characters inhabiting it or just by it's own bulk of story, but I was wrong on both
King doesn't waste any time getting into the meat of his story; the Dome that traps Chester's Mill, a small town in Maine, falls into place about three pages into the story. Anyone unfortunate enough to be on the threshold of the Dome falls victim immediately (for instance, one woman was just reaching out far enough into her garden to lose a hand). Birds fly into the invisible barrier, cars drive into it, people walk into it; one minute the Chester's Mill is going along its day, minding its own small-town business, the next it is cut off, totally and entirely, from the outside world by an impenetrable, invisible barrier that defies all explanation. What follows is a story more of psychological exploration and exploitation than King's more 'horror'-based stories.
I really don't want to give away anymore about the story, because I think that it's important for the story to unfold for the reader without much prior knowledge of what's going to happen. But believe me, the story will pick you up and carry you in its tide, sometimes barely leaving you a chance to catch your breath. A lot happens in this story, so there is little time for King to let you calm down before he's throwing the residents of the town and the reader into the next set of problems.
One of the things that did detract from the story for me was the reactions of some of the town's inhabitants. Some of their reactions just seemed so unbelievable (never mind the fact that the town is totally engulfed in an invisible Dome... apparently I have no trouble believing that aspect of the story). The reactions of both those inside and outside the Dome seemed just too extreme at times, but of course, I also think that's the point of the story; how far can people be pushed before they absolutely and totally snap from this reality? And of course, it's also Stephen King we're talking about here. Of course, he is going to take his readers on a wild and strange ride that is just this side of believability, making it just that little bit possible. It's what he does.
To be honest, the ending did leave me a little perplexed. It almost seems to me that King had written this amazing story, and then couldn't himself explain how it all happened. I'm not saying that the ending is a cop out, not at all. It just seemed a little abrupt and didn't really feel like it fit in with the overall presence of the rest of the book. However, it is so overshadowed by the shear grandness of the entire story leading up to it, including the moments leading directly up to the ending that practically left me breathless, that I am able to easily forgive it.
Under the Dome is big, there's no question about that. The story is big, the characters are big, their problem is big, the Dome is big; hell, the actual book is physically big! But don't let that dissuade you from reading it. King has created one hell of a story and once you get lost in Chester's Mill, much like the inhabitants that find themselves trapped under the Dome, you'll find that there isn't much hope of escaping until the very end.
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counts. King navigates his characters through the ten days that the novel spans with both an ease and sense of purpose and urgency that makes the novel at the same time easy to follow and keep-you-on-the-edge-of-your-seat suspenseful!King doesn't waste any time getting into the meat of his story; the Dome that traps Chester's Mill, a small town in Maine, falls into place about three pages into the story. Anyone unfortunate enough to be on the threshold of the Dome falls victim immediately (for instance, one woman was just reaching out far enough into her garden to lose a hand). Birds fly into the invisible barrier, cars drive into it, people walk into it; one minute the Chester's Mill is going along its day, minding its own small-town business, the next it is cut off, totally and entirely, from the outside world by an impenetrable, invisible barrier that defies all explanation. What follows is a story more of psychological exploration and exploitation than King's more 'horror'-based stories.
I really don't want to give away anymore about the story, because I think that it's important for the story to unfold for the reader without much prior knowledge of what's going to happen. But believe me, the story will pick you up and carry you in its tide, sometimes barely leaving you a chance to catch your breath. A lot happens in this story, so there is little time for King to let you calm down before he's throwing the residents of the town and the reader into the next set of problems.
One of the things that did detract from the story for me was the reactions of some of the town's inhabitants. Some of their reactions just seemed so unbelievable (never mind the fact that the town is totally engulfed in an invisible Dome... apparently I have no trouble believing that aspect of the story). The reactions of both those inside and outside the Dome seemed just too extreme at times, but of course, I also think that's the point of the story; how far can people be pushed before they absolutely and totally snap from this reality? And of course, it's also Stephen King we're talking about here. Of course, he is going to take his readers on a wild and strange ride that is just this side of believability, making it just that little bit possible. It's what he does.
To be honest, the ending did leave me a little perplexed. It almost seems to me that King had written this amazing story, and then couldn't himself explain how it all happened. I'm not saying that the ending is a cop out, not at all. It just seemed a little abrupt and didn't really feel like it fit in with the overall presence of the rest of the book. However, it is so overshadowed by the shear grandness of the entire story leading up to it, including the moments leading directly up to the ending that practically left me breathless, that I am able to easily forgive it.
Under the Dome is big, there's no question about that. The story is big, the characters are big, their problem is big, the Dome is big; hell, the actual book is physically big! But don't let that dissuade you from reading it. King has created one hell of a story and once you get lost in Chester's Mill, much like the inhabitants that find themselves trapped under the Dome, you'll find that there isn't much hope of escaping until the very end.
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Awards
British Fantasy Award (Nominee — August Derleth Fantasy Award — 2010)
Colorado Blue Spruce Award (Nominee — 2011)
Black Quill Award (Nominee — 2010)
Locus Recommended Reading (2009)