Under the Dome in Around the World in 80 Books

Jul 02, 2015 Suvi rated it really liked it

Shelves: novels, _north-america, 2000s, sci-fi

As a fan of vintage King, I honestly didn't expect much going in. I knew I'd be entertained and sucked in, but the chance of experiencing that particular atmosphere spiced with crazy supernatural phenomena didn't cross my mind. There was still "that something" missing, but this was a hell of a ride in any case.

We've seen so much of apocalyptic metropolises, but Peyton Place (1956) showed that a small town where people know each other can be a gateway to hell, dome or not. Small-mindedness and go As a fan of vintage King, I honestly didn't expect much going in. I knew I'd be entertained and sucked in, but the chance of experiencing that particular atmosphere spiced with crazy supernatural phenomena didn't cross my mind. There was still "that something" missing, but this was a hell of a ride in any case.

We've seen so much of apocalyptic metropolises, but Peyton Place (1956) showed that a small town where people know each other can be a gateway to hell, dome or not. Small-mindedness and gossiping create snakes out of even the most unwilling of residents, but when a town is shut into its own universe, its when people actually start eating each other alive. This is a dynamic that gives a lot of room for exploring several themes and personality types, and King has definitely succeeded. On the surface, Chester's Mill is an unassuming conservative town, but beneath that deceptively moralistic and Christian surface there's poison brewing.

When disaster strikes, often the villains have the most guts to take charge, whereas most are happy to just follow someone and pretend everything's ok and will be in the future. Big Jim is the most vile character I've come across in a long time. When a man of that level of demented starts calling the shots, we all know it can't end well, especially when very few realize he's not actually interested in anyone but his own ass. He's like the shepherd of a flock of blind sheep, the nurse of terminally ill patients, with a severe case of a Christ complex.

In this, though, lies also the weakness of the novel. King resorts to painting his characters with very broad strokes, making villains behave like they're possessed by the devil and heroes are just all-round cool guys destined for greatness. It detracts from the otherwise realistic situation, where the dome ties into more general political issues. Actually, there isn't a lot of cracking under pressure either, meaning that the small town mentality isn't fully utilized, because only existing traits are heightened and secrets not tied to personalities but outward things are slowly revealed.

At the same time, what really pushed this into another level was the black humour, which I appreciate enormously (even when it's distasteful and disgusting á la The Devils [1971]). Murder is compared to potato chips (as an avid fan of almost all kinds of chips, I completely understand the comparison), a priest with mommy issues is flogging himself in orange bike shorts (which themselves are a horror to behold), a "green burrito" carpet, and a self-professed prophet becomes like a Judas of sorts (only high on meth). Oh, and there's a reference to Breaking Bad (and Jack Reacher, but I don't know him as a character so I'm not able to appreciate it). Even Anderson Cooper and Bill O'Reilly make an appearance (albeit through a television screen).

Besides, anyone who seems to have been completely confident about a giant character gallery like this deserves to be applauded. Usually a large amount of characters disturbs me to no end, but in this case there are only a few important key players, while the rest mostly end up as dog food.

So yeah, I had fun peeping through a magnifying class these ants engaging in various activities in a catastrophic situation (and gasping when that disturbing event at the end struck). Easily my favorite of 21st century King. ...more

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Jan 02, 2014 Astrid Lim rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: america, fantasy, dystopian, allegory, horror, science

Another crazy ride from Mr. Stephen King. I didn't enjoy it as much as I enjoyed 11/22/63, but it's still a page turner. King's strength is to create believable and emotional scenes, even though sometimes the characters are too one dimensional (too evil, or too good, very typical of a small town setting). The origin of the Dome- that one day suddenly appeared in Chester's Mill - is a bit too science fiction for my taste, but I think King is more interested in focusing on the politics and action ...more

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Mar 11, 2013 Claire Fun rated it it was amazing

Shelves: long

Well, what to say about such a long book? First off, Stephen King is a strange author, to me. Most of his books are fine, always a fun enough read, but certainly nothing earth-shattering or anything that stays with me all that well. I'm not generally a huge horror fan in that way - I've read hundreds but rarely loved any of them. And then, there's It, and of course, The Stand. (I'm leaving the epic fantasy series 'The Dark Tower' starting with The Gunslinger out of this, as it's so *entirely* di Well, what to say about such a long book? First off, Stephen King is a strange author, to me. Most of his books are fine, always a fun enough read, but certainly nothing earth-shattering or anything that stays with me all that well. I'm not generally a huge horror fan in that way - I've read hundreds but rarely loved any of them. And then, there's It, and of course, The Stand. (I'm leaving the epic fantasy series 'The Dark Tower' starting with The Gunslinger out of this, as it's so *entirely* different from his 'usual' stuff). It and The Stand are two of my favourite books ever (in my top 20, probably top 10, and I'd find it hard to justify their placements outside of a top 5...though I don't want to commit to that).

The Stand is often at the top of post-apocalyptic fiction lists, had an excellent little tv miniseries, and was a big inspiration for the TV series "Lost" (which, love or hate, you can't deny was a pretty huge phenomenen, personally I've never been as addicted to a show since). It had horror aspects but was not a traditional horror, despite people dying in their thousands and some wonderful religious imagery. 'It' is an epic sprawling, flashback filled 'tale with plenty of 'proper' horror (I had no phobia of clowns...before) and some amazing hallucinatory scenes that stay with you. To me, both of these books (and all my other 'best' books) are all about the people and that's what makes them, and it's certainly why this book deserves to be read, no matter your feelings on Stephen King, or the horror genre.

Under The Dome is all about the people. Not the Dome itself, though finding out why it's there & especially how to *stop* it being there seems a pretty important aspect, but the people trapped under it, and what being trapped under it does to them. In the space of about a week, it's remarkable (no life-long epic ala 'It' in this one!) what it does to them. It's about the greed for power, and paranoia, and the way people can convince themselves they're doing things for ;the right reasons' and in 'the best interests,' even when it's clear that this isn't the case. It's about how being stupid AND clever is much more dangerous than being *just* stupid or *just* clever.

From the start (what a start) it was engaging and interesting, and I wanted to know more. The action came thick and fast and was pretty relentless, a couple of times I was still saddened and cross by one death while reading the next one. Don't get too attached! Loved all the 'bad guys' - some smart, some not, and some creepy - and some of the 'incidental characters were wonderfully written (I liked Rose, who visually I imagined as Rose from Lost). Some of them seemed less fleshed out, but then there was a *lot* of people - evidenced by the character list inside the front few pages - always an exciting thing to see when you open a new book! Kids were well written, dogs too, and although I have literally finished this book a minute before starting this review, I'm certain that some scenes (in particular between a boy and a soldier, near the end of the book) will stay with me, in the same way that 'It' and 'The Stand' have done, for a good many years from now. And when those scenes become all I can really remember? I *will* re-read. I'm not in love with any of the characters (Richie! Nick Andros!) and it didn't quite hit the dizzy heights of those two books so it'd be 4.5 if we could, but as we can't I'm going to be generous and give it 5 stars as it kept my interest over so many pages. Roll on his next big fat epic! ...more

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Apr 22, 2010 Stephanie rated it really liked it

Shelves: books-to-movie

Wow. This book might take some time to thoroughly digest.

I am not a big early Stephen King fan. His early works are more creepy than depth, more gruesome than I can handle, and always has a weird endings that takes away from the "real sense" of the book.
His later works are more my style. They focus on the depth of a human and what events might trigger certain reactions, albeit they can be very gritty. These books have made me a King fan.
When I first saw this advertised upon release I was ecstati Wow. This book might take some time to thoroughly digest.

I am not a big early Stephen King fan. His early works are more creepy than depth, more gruesome than I can handle, and always has a weird endings that takes away from the "real sense" of the book.
His later works are more my style. They focus on the depth of a human and what events might trigger certain reactions, albeit they can be very gritty. These books have made me a King fan.
When I first saw this advertised upon release I was ecstatic. It appeared to have a fascinating plot and I expected the human development to be more meaningful than his early "horror" works. It took me a long time to track down an edition to read that available.
The book started off with a fast pace - right in the middle of the beginning action without any introduction to the main characters. Almost all early character introductions are killed within the first events of the big event.
I hard a hard time sticking through the first section, because there were so many characters and we kept repeating events in the time-line merely from a different character's perspective. I was feeling anxious to know what exactly was going on and this felt like it slowed the plot. In retrospective I think this was a wise choice by the author.
I liked the interaction of the different characters which gave it a "Lord of the Flies" and "V" meshed feeling. The unknown cause of the dome and the effects it had on the townspeople could be very real. But it seemed to happen in too short of a time. It is hard to imagine so many suicides and cut-throat attitudes in such a short time. It seems more plausible that it would take several months and the end of supplies that would instigate such extreme behavior. Usually in the wake of new catastrophe society is more willing to pull together than apart. It would take time and the realization that help wasn't coming to take longer to settle in before despair happened especially in small towns (per my opinion and experience).
by the 300th page I was very much wrapped in the story and could hardly put it down. The excitement started to peak and become more interesting and involving.
But like his earlier works the "mystery" of the dome had an odd and disconnected answer. It did drive home the point of "ants vs. human" idea, and the lack of compassion existing on the latter's part. But it felt weird and too much like his early stuff.
This book was gritty, and uncomfortable in many spots, as are most of his books. He doesn't gloss over gruesome, disgusting, or crass behaviours. He gives his characters a very real feel in their humanness.
Nevertheless, by the end I was satisfied. It was a great book, albeit reminiscent of her earlier works (and this was explained in the fact he started writing this back in the 70's). His later writing style is evident as is his predictable introspection of each of his characters.
I would say give "The Dome" a try if you haven't and see how it fits you on for size. ...more

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May 12, 2010 Katie rated it liked it

Shelves: male-author, _us-new-england

I really struggled with how many stars to give this book. While I was reading it, I actually had a dream that goodreads switched to a ten star rating system, and I was able to give the book a seven. But alas, I awoke and now I have to give the book either three or four stars. As I am writing this review I still haven't decided.

No doubt about it, King is a great storyteller. The book was suspenseful and hard to put down. The premise of a dome falling over a town and trapping everyone is so fasci ...more

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