Under the Dome
by Stephen King
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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.Tags
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Member Recommendations
jlparent Actually, the whole Dark Tower series - both are epic in scale, each concerns itself with the interaction between the people caught in the crosshairs.
131
sturlington Undert the Dome is an adult version of Lord of the Flies.
82
soyleyenda El estilo de Víctor Blázquez bebe mucho de Stephen King, y además, El cuarto jinete es una obra tan coral como La Cúpula y la acción transcurre en un pequeño pueblo americano muy similar al de la novela de King.
04
Member Reviews
Out of the clear blue sky, an inexplicable invisible dome falls over the small town of Chester's Mill, Maine. No one can get in or out of the town, and those who strike up against the dome's walls too hard are injured or worst. Meanwhile, air supply is limited and power is gone. How will the town's people deal with this catastrophe?
In this sweeping epic, Stephen King presents a Shakespearean-like tragedy. Almost as soon as the town is closed off from the outside world, there are those who use the circumstances to further their own goals, notably used car salesman and town selectman "Big Jim" Rennie, who immediately starts machinating to garner more power for himself. As folks start getting manipulated, additional tragedies ensue and show more it's almost more than the town can bear very quickly. But there's a select group of heroes (or as close to heroes as real life can get) who are trying to keep it all together.
I loved that this book didn't really have a supernatural villain per se; the worse of what happens is purely from human foibles. That being said, it's still not a book for the faint of heart. King describes in gruesome details the natural and unnatural deaths -- accidents, murders, and suicides -- as well as physical and sexual assaults that occur under the dome.
But throughout it all is always the human element. There is a broad cast of characters and it's a bit much to keep track of them all at first (especially as King keeps killing them off), but once you do, you start feeling strongly and deeply about them -- whether rooting for their safety or their demise, depending on which side of the good/evil line they stand.
King constantly foreshadows and drops hints of what will come under the dome, leaving the reader always tense for what will happen next. Despite these warnings, the big finale had me near tears with its heartbreak.
Raul Esparza was an excellent audiobook narrator who gave a distinct voice to each character, bringing everyone that much more to life.
Recommended for those who like character dramas and don't mind some grisly bits. show less
In this sweeping epic, Stephen King presents a Shakespearean-like tragedy. Almost as soon as the town is closed off from the outside world, there are those who use the circumstances to further their own goals, notably used car salesman and town selectman "Big Jim" Rennie, who immediately starts machinating to garner more power for himself. As folks start getting manipulated, additional tragedies ensue and show more it's almost more than the town can bear very quickly. But there's a select group of heroes (or as close to heroes as real life can get) who are trying to keep it all together.
I loved that this book didn't really have a supernatural villain per se; the worse of what happens is purely from human foibles. That being said, it's still not a book for the faint of heart. King describes in gruesome details the natural and unnatural deaths -- accidents, murders, and suicides -- as well as physical and sexual assaults that occur under the dome.
But throughout it all is always the human element. There is a broad cast of characters and it's a bit much to keep track of them all at first (especially as King keeps killing them off), but once you do, you start feeling strongly and deeply about them -- whether rooting for their safety or their demise, depending on which side of the good/evil line they stand.
King constantly foreshadows and drops hints of what will come under the dome, leaving the reader always tense for what will happen next. Despite these warnings, the big finale had me near tears with its heartbreak.
Raul Esparza was an excellent audiobook narrator who gave a distinct voice to each character, bringing everyone that much more to life.
Recommended for those who like character dramas and don't mind some grisly bits. show less
This is one book that will certainly scare many people: a 1072-page hardback will do that to you.
The narrative covers a period of one week in the little town of Chester’s Mill, Maine, which is home to about two thousand people, many of whom are named in the lengthy character list which precedes the first chapter. The date is October 21st, a beautiful autumn day, when it happens. An invisible barrier snaps down around the limits of Chester’s Mill, sealing in the residents and sealing out all others. Immediately, this begins to have disastrous consequences, for nothing can pass through — not animals, people, cars, or planes, though oddly enough, sound is unimpaired. Within seconds of this lock-down, the body count begins.
The sudden show more influx of names and places, as well as the mortality rate, makes it difficult at first to know which are significant. But soon enough, certain people begin to come to the forefront, leaders are chosen or made, and events begin to snowball. Outside the Dome, the government and military leaders are attempting to guide the happenings inside, but without any way to enforce their declarations, things begin to get ugly quickly. Big Jim Rennie, a car salesman and Second Selectman, quickly rises to prominence, rounding up the town officials and ordering reinforcements to the police force as the violence begins to escalate. Meanwhile, Dale “Barbie” Barbara, a veteran of Iraq and now full-time cook, has been called up by an old friend from the US Army who has a direct line to the President, and Julia Shumway, the editor of the local paper, is out amongst the community, uncovering secrets and things that some folks would rather have kept quiet. Soon, stores, hospitals, and the general populace is thrown into turmoil.
I found it interesting that while for the majority of the novel, the perspective is third person subjective, King occasionally pulls the readers out of the picture and writes in first person omniscient, which though disconcerting, also serves as an important plot device. This is the first Stephen King novel I’ve read in its entirety — I’m not a big fan of horror/thrillers — since I am rather squeamish about that, even if it’s “just” a novel. And this book certainly has its fair share of violence. There is gore and gruesomeness aplenty, but there are also stark pictures of corruption and its effect on those who stand passively by. From one perspective, this is a horror / science fiction novel, from another, it is a political commentary, and from still another, it is a snapshot of the ugliness of unchecked humanity. It’s definitely not a light or quick read, and though I cannot say that this was a particularly enjoyable read, it left me unsettled and contemplative of what my action or inaction might contribute to, and for that, I do recommend “Under the Dome.” show less
The narrative covers a period of one week in the little town of Chester’s Mill, Maine, which is home to about two thousand people, many of whom are named in the lengthy character list which precedes the first chapter. The date is October 21st, a beautiful autumn day, when it happens. An invisible barrier snaps down around the limits of Chester’s Mill, sealing in the residents and sealing out all others. Immediately, this begins to have disastrous consequences, for nothing can pass through — not animals, people, cars, or planes, though oddly enough, sound is unimpaired. Within seconds of this lock-down, the body count begins.
The sudden show more influx of names and places, as well as the mortality rate, makes it difficult at first to know which are significant. But soon enough, certain people begin to come to the forefront, leaders are chosen or made, and events begin to snowball. Outside the Dome, the government and military leaders are attempting to guide the happenings inside, but without any way to enforce their declarations, things begin to get ugly quickly. Big Jim Rennie, a car salesman and Second Selectman, quickly rises to prominence, rounding up the town officials and ordering reinforcements to the police force as the violence begins to escalate. Meanwhile, Dale “Barbie” Barbara, a veteran of Iraq and now full-time cook, has been called up by an old friend from the US Army who has a direct line to the President, and Julia Shumway, the editor of the local paper, is out amongst the community, uncovering secrets and things that some folks would rather have kept quiet. Soon, stores, hospitals, and the general populace is thrown into turmoil.
I found it interesting that while for the majority of the novel, the perspective is third person subjective, King occasionally pulls the readers out of the picture and writes in first person omniscient, which though disconcerting, also serves as an important plot device. This is the first Stephen King novel I’ve read in its entirety — I’m not a big fan of horror/thrillers — since I am rather squeamish about that, even if it’s “just” a novel. And this book certainly has its fair share of violence. There is gore and gruesomeness aplenty, but there are also stark pictures of corruption and its effect on those who stand passively by. From one perspective, this is a horror / science fiction novel, from another, it is a political commentary, and from still another, it is a snapshot of the ugliness of unchecked humanity. It’s definitely not a light or quick read, and though I cannot say that this was a particularly enjoyable read, it left me unsettled and contemplative of what my action or inaction might contribute to, and for that, I do recommend “Under the Dome.” show less
The scary thing about small towns is that what little power exists is both petty and absolute. I grew up in a small town, and it was a great place to be a kid — but no way would I want to be at the whim of whatever tinpot tyrant might arise in such a place to meet a crisis.
This is the bind in which Chester’s Mill finds itself when an impenetrable force field slams shut around the town, kicking off Stephen King’s rendering of “Lord of the Flies.” This is not a tale of eldritch abominations, but about a far more unnerving nightmare: the human savagery that pulses beneath the polite skin of civilization.
Those unfamiliar with King assume his otherworldly monsters are the big bads, but those acquainted with the master of horror show more know better: King’s scariest monsters are men and women loosed from all restraint, and “Under the Dome” might be the finest example of his work with this theme.
What I love about this story is that it also presents the flip side: men and women trapped in the deepening shadow of vile men, outnumbered and outgunned and afraid, but prepared to sacrifice everything for truth and goodness and decency rather than surrender their souls to barbarism.
I found this novel equal parts disquieting and inspiring, but I’m a sucker for heroes who would rather go down fighting than let evil run rampant. Heroism, after all, is stepping up even when you stand alone and no cavalry can save you, when the pink stars are falling and Halloween is coming. show less
This is the bind in which Chester’s Mill finds itself when an impenetrable force field slams shut around the town, kicking off Stephen King’s rendering of “Lord of the Flies.” This is not a tale of eldritch abominations, but about a far more unnerving nightmare: the human savagery that pulses beneath the polite skin of civilization.
Those unfamiliar with King assume his otherworldly monsters are the big bads, but those acquainted with the master of horror show more know better: King’s scariest monsters are men and women loosed from all restraint, and “Under the Dome” might be the finest example of his work with this theme.
What I love about this story is that it also presents the flip side: men and women trapped in the deepening shadow of vile men, outnumbered and outgunned and afraid, but prepared to sacrifice everything for truth and goodness and decency rather than surrender their souls to barbarism.
I found this novel equal parts disquieting and inspiring, but I’m a sucker for heroes who would rather go down fighting than let evil run rampant. Heroism, after all, is stepping up even when you stand alone and no cavalry can save you, when the pink stars are falling and Halloween is coming. show less
And then we come to the book I'd truly been dreading in my Great Stephen King Re-Read...
The last time I'd read this was within days of it coming out, so...almost fifteen years ago. And I don't recall being overly chuffed with it back then, and I do remember truly despising the ending of this one (no, I'm not one of those that prescribe to the "King can't write good endings" because he really can).
And, of course, between that reading and now, there was also the truly awful television show that I remember better than the book.
So, when I started this just over a week ago, I felt (and still do) that King kind of went on and on and on with the opening. Yes, I know he had to start giving a sense of all the players in this novel...and there's show more a LOT of players...as well as the impact the dome has on everyone, but it did outstay its welcome.
That being said, once the story actually began moving a bit, maybe around 250 pages in, when most books are starting to wrap up, I found I was actually somewhat enjoying it.
I will say, I did find that, maybe due to the sheer volume of characters, the ones in this novel felt a little more one-dimensional than I'm used to with King. The good guys were very good. And the bad guys were very bad, and there was very little gray in between. Though, as an avatar of the current political system, you probably couldn't find a better stand-in for the Orange One than Big Jim Rennie.
Still, a little more nuance, a little more gray would have been appreciated, but it also likely would have pushed the book out to 1400 pages, so...
The other thing that really got to me in a negative way was the way King slid into a very top-level omniscient view of the town and its characters for a single chapter around 760 pages in. He made a very weird stylistic choice for one chapter here (and revisited it briefly around page 950) and never used it again. It's things like this that do support the argument that King needs a more forceful editor.
Still, on the whole, while there was a lot going on here, I have to say, King locked almost all of it together really well and made it into a far more enjoyable story...with a more satisfying ending than I originally thought...than I remembered. I'm honestly starting to think much of the stink I believed this book to have came from the television show.
I doubt I'll ever read this again, but I will say I did enjoy it far more on the re-read. show less
The last time I'd read this was within days of it coming out, so...almost fifteen years ago. And I don't recall being overly chuffed with it back then, and I do remember truly despising the ending of this one (no, I'm not one of those that prescribe to the "King can't write good endings" because he really can).
And, of course, between that reading and now, there was also the truly awful television show that I remember better than the book.
So, when I started this just over a week ago, I felt (and still do) that King kind of went on and on and on with the opening. Yes, I know he had to start giving a sense of all the players in this novel...and there's show more a LOT of players...as well as the impact the dome has on everyone, but it did outstay its welcome.
That being said, once the story actually began moving a bit, maybe around 250 pages in, when most books are starting to wrap up, I found I was actually somewhat enjoying it.
I will say, I did find that, maybe due to the sheer volume of characters, the ones in this novel felt a little more one-dimensional than I'm used to with King. The good guys were very good. And the bad guys were very bad, and there was very little gray in between. Though, as an avatar of the current political system, you probably couldn't find a better stand-in for the Orange One than Big Jim Rennie.
Still, a little more nuance, a little more gray would have been appreciated, but it also likely would have pushed the book out to 1400 pages, so...
The other thing that really got to me in a negative way was the way King slid into a very top-level omniscient view of the town and its characters for a single chapter around 760 pages in. He made a very weird stylistic choice for one chapter here (and revisited it briefly around page 950) and never used it again. It's things like this that do support the argument that King needs a more forceful editor.
Still, on the whole, while there was a lot going on here, I have to say, King locked almost all of it together really well and made it into a far more enjoyable story...with a more satisfying ending than I originally thought...than I remembered. I'm honestly starting to think much of the stink I believed this book to have came from the television show.
I doubt I'll ever read this again, but I will say I did enjoy it far more on the re-read. show less
Let me just start by saying that I am, and have been, a huge Stephen King fan for many, many years. However, I am not above pointing out when he has written a stinker, Maximum Overdrive, Cell, etc. I am glad to announce to you that Under The Dome is definitely and undeniably not a stinker.
As Mr. King has gotten older he has shown a tendency toward global human traits and subjects, such as love, compassion, and the human condition in general. Books that come to mind are some of his latest, Duma Key - a turn inward in the human mind and soul, Lisey’s Story - the story of the woman behind the man, and perhaps one of the most compelling love stories I’ve read in years. Of course, I haven’t even mentioned yet some of the stories he is show more best known for, such as Rita Hayworth And The Shawshank Redemption, The Body (Stand By Me), and The Green Mile. All of these are hugely famous because of their ability to plug into the human condition in one way or another.
In previous books we have seen Mr. King take us into a macrocosm in such stories as The Stand, however Under The Dome takes a microcosm approach by sealing off a small town in (of course) Maine and letting the events run their course within that small and increasingly suffocating environment.
The dynamics of the characters are beautifully reminiscent of the Bush administration: the Second Selectman of the town of Chesters Mill, Big Jim Rennie is described like this, - “Rennie was a great believer in what he called the Protectability Quotient...you got all the power (at least when the First was a nit…) but rarely had to take the blame when things went wrong.” If you can’t see the Bush - Cheney dynamic in that analogy, then perhaps you also thought that 2000 - 2008 was among the best years of American diplomacy and foreign policy. It’s clear what Mr. King feels, in any case.
The premise of the story is quite clear just from the title and the image on the front cover. A mysterious dome suddenly appears around the small Maine town of Chester’s Mill. While it is invisible, it is still impenetrable and even fatal if electronics are brought near it. It becomes apparent very quickly that there is no way out, at least for the time being. So the residents begin to try and survive in their town until the government or anyone else for that matter can get them out, or remove the dome.
This is where the coaster of the story begins and the ride supplied by Mr. King never fails to please, all the way through the 1000+ pages that the novel comes in at. Dale “Barbie” Barbara, an ex-soldier and army vet, who is now a wanderer and calls no place home, is just thinking of leaving Chester’s Mill. He was given encouragement from Jr. and his buddies in a nightclub parking lot brawl. Jr. being the son of the God fearing Republican, Jim Rennie Sr. Second Selectman of the town. On the morning of October 24th, Barbie decides to hit the road and leave for good. As he is walking along Route 19, he witnesses a plane crash in mid-air. The plane crashes into nothing, literally. It seemed to just explode in the sky, but it looks as if the plane had hit a wall. From there, Mr. King provides several other graphic examples of what happened in the first hours of the dome’s existence.
With the landing of the dome we commence on a modern day Lord Of The Flies, except this time with adults instead childish minds, or are they? In classic King style, the story unfolds as easily as any he has written during his prolific career. I was somewhere in the 800’s when I realized that I hadn’t once looked to see where I was in the book. This is a real testament to Mr. King, the fact that he is able to hold the reader for such a long period of time.
As expected, the citizens of the doomed Chester’s Mill divide into two separate camps, very clearly representing the two major political parties in the U.S., with Big Jim Rennie taking the reins and controlling events to his favor in a much more apparent role than he has taken in the past. Meanwhile, from the outside, Barbie is contacted by his old boss, a Colonel in the Army. He and the President no less, appoint Barbie a Colonel and direct him to take control and keep the residents calm and ready to deal with the plans to get them out of the dome situation.
However, Big Jim has taken control of the police force and started deputizing Junior’s friends, the town’s young ruffians, as members of the new police force. While he is busy creating a police state, Barbie and the few people he can trust in the town start to find out who is able to see what is really going on in the isolated town.
This turns into a grim cautionary tale of who we are as a society, and what really matters to us when the proverbial crap hits the fan. Just like Lord Of The Flies, when we are put under the microscope, it is apparent that we need to take a look at where we are headed. Under The Dome is scary, horrible, and dead on target. The citizens of Chester’s Mill watch in helpless horror as the particulates gather on the invisible surface of the dome, bringing into focus the real barrier they are facing, the quickly deteriorating quality of the air inside the dome. Does any of this sound familiar?
If asked, I would definitely recommend this to a friend, regardless if they were a Stephen King fan or not. It is a great read and extremely thought provoking. After all, we all live on a dome rather than under a dome, and really, that’s just the same thing, isn’t it? show less
As Mr. King has gotten older he has shown a tendency toward global human traits and subjects, such as love, compassion, and the human condition in general. Books that come to mind are some of his latest, Duma Key - a turn inward in the human mind and soul, Lisey’s Story - the story of the woman behind the man, and perhaps one of the most compelling love stories I’ve read in years. Of course, I haven’t even mentioned yet some of the stories he is show more best known for, such as Rita Hayworth And The Shawshank Redemption, The Body (Stand By Me), and The Green Mile. All of these are hugely famous because of their ability to plug into the human condition in one way or another.
In previous books we have seen Mr. King take us into a macrocosm in such stories as The Stand, however Under The Dome takes a microcosm approach by sealing off a small town in (of course) Maine and letting the events run their course within that small and increasingly suffocating environment.
The dynamics of the characters are beautifully reminiscent of the Bush administration: the Second Selectman of the town of Chesters Mill, Big Jim Rennie is described like this, - “Rennie was a great believer in what he called the Protectability Quotient...you got all the power (at least when the First was a nit…) but rarely had to take the blame when things went wrong.” If you can’t see the Bush - Cheney dynamic in that analogy, then perhaps you also thought that 2000 - 2008 was among the best years of American diplomacy and foreign policy. It’s clear what Mr. King feels, in any case.
The premise of the story is quite clear just from the title and the image on the front cover. A mysterious dome suddenly appears around the small Maine town of Chester’s Mill. While it is invisible, it is still impenetrable and even fatal if electronics are brought near it. It becomes apparent very quickly that there is no way out, at least for the time being. So the residents begin to try and survive in their town until the government or anyone else for that matter can get them out, or remove the dome.
This is where the coaster of the story begins and the ride supplied by Mr. King never fails to please, all the way through the 1000+ pages that the novel comes in at. Dale “Barbie” Barbara, an ex-soldier and army vet, who is now a wanderer and calls no place home, is just thinking of leaving Chester’s Mill. He was given encouragement from Jr. and his buddies in a nightclub parking lot brawl. Jr. being the son of the God fearing Republican, Jim Rennie Sr. Second Selectman of the town. On the morning of October 24th, Barbie decides to hit the road and leave for good. As he is walking along Route 19, he witnesses a plane crash in mid-air. The plane crashes into nothing, literally. It seemed to just explode in the sky, but it looks as if the plane had hit a wall. From there, Mr. King provides several other graphic examples of what happened in the first hours of the dome’s existence.
With the landing of the dome we commence on a modern day Lord Of The Flies, except this time with adults instead childish minds, or are they? In classic King style, the story unfolds as easily as any he has written during his prolific career. I was somewhere in the 800’s when I realized that I hadn’t once looked to see where I was in the book. This is a real testament to Mr. King, the fact that he is able to hold the reader for such a long period of time.
As expected, the citizens of the doomed Chester’s Mill divide into two separate camps, very clearly representing the two major political parties in the U.S., with Big Jim Rennie taking the reins and controlling events to his favor in a much more apparent role than he has taken in the past. Meanwhile, from the outside, Barbie is contacted by his old boss, a Colonel in the Army. He and the President no less, appoint Barbie a Colonel and direct him to take control and keep the residents calm and ready to deal with the plans to get them out of the dome situation.
However, Big Jim has taken control of the police force and started deputizing Junior’s friends, the town’s young ruffians, as members of the new police force. While he is busy creating a police state, Barbie and the few people he can trust in the town start to find out who is able to see what is really going on in the isolated town.
This turns into a grim cautionary tale of who we are as a society, and what really matters to us when the proverbial crap hits the fan. Just like Lord Of The Flies, when we are put under the microscope, it is apparent that we need to take a look at where we are headed. Under The Dome is scary, horrible, and dead on target. The citizens of Chester’s Mill watch in helpless horror as the particulates gather on the invisible surface of the dome, bringing into focus the real barrier they are facing, the quickly deteriorating quality of the air inside the dome. Does any of this sound familiar?
If asked, I would definitely recommend this to a friend, regardless if they were a Stephen King fan or not. It is a great read and extremely thought provoking. After all, we all live on a dome rather than under a dome, and really, that’s just the same thing, isn’t it? show less
On October 21st, an invisible dome goes down around the town of Chester's Mill, Maine. The immediate result is many animal deaths and several human deaths, as individuals crash into the barrier or, if they're unfortunate enough to be in the way, are cut in two by it.
Outside the Dome, the US military and the best and brightest scientists try to figure out what they're dealing with. Inside the Dome, theoretically, people are doing their best to figure out what's going on and not panic. Theoretically.
Unfortunately, Big Jim Rennie is Chester's Mill's Second Selectman. He's used to being the town's true power behind the good-natured and easily manipulated First Selectman, Andy Sanders, and in the Dome he sees an opportunity to truly solidify show more his grip on the town. By the time the Dome is finally breached, Big Jim figures that everyone will be grateful for his leadership, so grateful that certain issues might not even be noticed. And surely he can find a handy scapegoat for everything else.
At the time the Dome went down, Dale Barbara, known as Barbie to his friends, was on his way out of town, hoping to escape the wrath of Big Jim's son, Junior. The Dome trapped him in Chester's Mill, same as everyone else. Although he's currently a cook and a drifter, he was once an Army lieutenant. He has the skills necessary to keep things calm and well-organized within Chester's Mill, but he knows enough about how the town operates to realize that Big Jim's more likely to work against him than with him.
This book follows a huge cast of characters and multiple POVs (including, briefly, a woodchuck). Thankfully, King is a skilled enough writer to ensure that all of those characters are relatively distinct, and it was rare that I found myself wondering who a particular character was when they appeared on-page. I found myself emotionally invested in a bunch of them, hoping that they would somehow make it through this.
I also learned to hate Big Jim, his son Junior, and several of Junior's friends. I was very much looking forward to the moment when Big Jim and Junior finally died. Both of them had issues (Big Jim's heart, Junior's undiagnosed brain tumor) that made it obvious that their deaths were a question of when, not if. But man, King sure made me wait, and their final moments were, unfortunately, much shorter than their periods of awfulness. My one comfort was that Junior's experiences with necrophilia were never described in detail (although the same could not be said for one character's rape by several of Junior's horrible friends).
I had to keep reminding myself that this was written well before Trump's first presidency and the pandemic, because this very much felt like commentary about both.
Although King did a great job with the characters, and I enjoyed rooting for the decent ones and hoping the awful ones would die terribly, all of the characters and POVs dragged things out tremendously. The entire book takes place over the course of only a few days, but it felt like weeks at least. On the one hand, I was impressed at the way King made me feel like I was genuinely keeping tabs on an entire town's worth of people. On the other hand, surely it could've been tightened up a bit?
And ugh, the ending.It didn't surprise me in the slightest that the Dome was alien-generated. But the whole thing about everyone realizing they were alien children and getting them to lift the Dome just by begging and hoping for a shred of empathy? Surely King could have come up with something better than that.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) show less
Outside the Dome, the US military and the best and brightest scientists try to figure out what they're dealing with. Inside the Dome, theoretically, people are doing their best to figure out what's going on and not panic. Theoretically.
Unfortunately, Big Jim Rennie is Chester's Mill's Second Selectman. He's used to being the town's true power behind the good-natured and easily manipulated First Selectman, Andy Sanders, and in the Dome he sees an opportunity to truly solidify show more his grip on the town. By the time the Dome is finally breached, Big Jim figures that everyone will be grateful for his leadership, so grateful that certain issues might not even be noticed. And surely he can find a handy scapegoat for everything else.
At the time the Dome went down, Dale Barbara, known as Barbie to his friends, was on his way out of town, hoping to escape the wrath of Big Jim's son, Junior. The Dome trapped him in Chester's Mill, same as everyone else. Although he's currently a cook and a drifter, he was once an Army lieutenant. He has the skills necessary to keep things calm and well-organized within Chester's Mill, but he knows enough about how the town operates to realize that Big Jim's more likely to work against him than with him.
This book follows a huge cast of characters and multiple POVs (including, briefly, a woodchuck). Thankfully, King is a skilled enough writer to ensure that all of those characters are relatively distinct, and it was rare that I found myself wondering who a particular character was when they appeared on-page. I found myself emotionally invested in a bunch of them, hoping that they would somehow make it through this.
I also learned to hate Big Jim, his son Junior, and several of Junior's friends. I was very much looking forward to the moment when Big Jim and Junior finally died. Both of them had issues (Big Jim's heart, Junior's undiagnosed brain tumor) that made it obvious that their deaths were a question of when, not if. But man, King sure made me wait, and their final moments were, unfortunately, much shorter than their periods of awfulness. My one comfort was that Junior's experiences with necrophilia were never described in detail (although the same could not be said for one character's rape by several of Junior's horrible friends).
I had to keep reminding myself that this was written well before Trump's first presidency and the pandemic, because this very much felt like commentary about both.
Although King did a great job with the characters, and I enjoyed rooting for the decent ones and hoping the awful ones would die terribly, all of the characters and POVs dragged things out tremendously. The entire book takes place over the course of only a few days, but it felt like weeks at least. On the one hand, I was impressed at the way King made me feel like I was genuinely keeping tabs on an entire town's worth of people. On the other hand, surely it could've been tightened up a bit?
And ugh, the ending.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) show less
With his new novel, [Under the Dome], Stephen King confirms himself as the modern day Charles Dickens. I know that my declaration will turn derisive noses skyward and furrow many a sourpuss brow in the stolid and hushed halls of the intelligentsia. After all, how can I compare such a purveyor of pulp to one of the lions of literature? So, let me defend my position.
No other contemporary novelist populates their fiction with such a Dickensian multitude of characters, all distinct and teeming with life. The fair to middling book typically features a handful of people to follow through a couple hundred pages, a few wholly dimensional and others mostly cardboard. Good solid literary efforts offer several dozen well-drawn characters, ranging show more from the one-time mention to the core players. And then, there’s King, who has imagined and translated enough characters to populate the moons of Jupiter. More than that, if the people of King’s works were to all be relocated to a common planet, the resulting civilization would be immediately viable, with all manner of social, political, racial, and religious strata represented.
That King has so well documented the people of a particular region and social class, the far-Northeast blue-collar, also compares well with Dickens’ facility for the English underclass. Their stories throb with rich, believable detail that is the product of an instinctive eye for human nature.
[Under the Dome] show-cases King’s talent for character driven story-telling, capturing an entire town under a mysterious, invisible globe, evident only when humans or the forces of nature run into it. It’s not the first time that King’s afflicted a town, or the world, and watched, as from above, while they dealt with some plague – think [The Stand] or [Salem’s Lot] or [Needful Things], some of his best in the type. In the end, the cause of the town’s affliction or its solution is not as important as how the town meets the curse, how they behave under the most extreme of circumstances. Some find nobility while others find only rock-bottom selfishness.
One of the other similarities between King and Dickens is their interest in faith and religion. Though it might surprise many, King has always struck me as deeply spiritual. While his books tend toward the graphic, and he often lampoons religious zealotry, a bright thread of good vs. evil always runs through these books. And the good, which is almost always informed by common-sense, Golden Rule values, usually wins out in the end. I often wonder if King isn’t constantly working out his own ideas about faith and God in writing these stories.
In full disclosure, I am one of King’s faithful Constant Readers. But I challenge those who would pigeon-hole him as a horror hack to read some of his better work, like [Under the Dome]. A surprise lurks, if you would take the challenge.
4 ½ bones!!!! show less
No other contemporary novelist populates their fiction with such a Dickensian multitude of characters, all distinct and teeming with life. The fair to middling book typically features a handful of people to follow through a couple hundred pages, a few wholly dimensional and others mostly cardboard. Good solid literary efforts offer several dozen well-drawn characters, ranging show more from the one-time mention to the core players. And then, there’s King, who has imagined and translated enough characters to populate the moons of Jupiter. More than that, if the people of King’s works were to all be relocated to a common planet, the resulting civilization would be immediately viable, with all manner of social, political, racial, and religious strata represented.
That King has so well documented the people of a particular region and social class, the far-Northeast blue-collar, also compares well with Dickens’ facility for the English underclass. Their stories throb with rich, believable detail that is the product of an instinctive eye for human nature.
[Under the Dome] show-cases King’s talent for character driven story-telling, capturing an entire town under a mysterious, invisible globe, evident only when humans or the forces of nature run into it. It’s not the first time that King’s afflicted a town, or the world, and watched, as from above, while they dealt with some plague – think [The Stand] or [Salem’s Lot] or [Needful Things], some of his best in the type. In the end, the cause of the town’s affliction or its solution is not as important as how the town meets the curse, how they behave under the most extreme of circumstances. Some find nobility while others find only rock-bottom selfishness.
One of the other similarities between King and Dickens is their interest in faith and religion. Though it might surprise many, King has always struck me as deeply spiritual. While his books tend toward the graphic, and he often lampoons religious zealotry, a bright thread of good vs. evil always runs through these books. And the good, which is almost always informed by common-sense, Golden Rule values, usually wins out in the end. I often wonder if King isn’t constantly working out his own ideas about faith and God in writing these stories.
In full disclosure, I am one of King’s faithful Constant Readers. But I challenge those who would pigeon-hole him as a horror hack to read some of his better work, like [Under the Dome]. A surprise lurks, if you would take the challenge.
4 ½ bones!!!! show less
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ThingScore 92
Though his scenarios aren’t always plausible in strictest terms, King’s imagination, as always, yields a most satisfying yarn.
added by Christa_Josh
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 and a dog’s name that mistakenly changes on occasion, well, these are (mostly) forgivable sins. show more After all, few of us can resist such nightmares and dreamscapes. show less
added by ty1997
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.
added by SqueakyChu
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Author Information
Stephen King was born in Portland, Maine, on September 21, 1947. After graduating with a Bachelor's degree in English from the University of Maine at Orono in 1970, he became a teacher. His spare time was spent writing short stories and novels. King's first novel would never have been published if not for his wife. She removed the first few show more chapters from the garbage after King had thrown them away in frustration. Three months later, he received a $2,500 advance from Doubleday Publishing for the book that went on to sell a modest 13,000 hardcover copies. That book, Carrie, was about a girl with telekinetic powers who is tormented by bullies at school. She uses her power, in turn, to torment and eventually destroy her mean-spirited classmates. When United Artists released the film version in 1976, it was a critical and commercial success. The paperback version of the book, released after the movie, went on to sell more than two-and-a-half million copies. Many of King's other horror novels have been adapted into movies, including The Shining, Firestarter, Pet Semetary, Cujo, Misery, The Stand, and The Tommyknockers. Under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, King has written the books The Running Man, The Regulators, Thinner, The Long Walk, Roadwork, Rage, and It. He is number 2 on the Hollywood Reporter's '25 Most Powerful Authors' 2016 list. King is one of the world's most successful writers, with more than 100 million copies of his works in print. Many of his books have been translated into foreign languages, and he writes new books at a rate of about one per year. In 2003, he received the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. In 2012 his title, The Wind Through the Keyhole made The New York Times Best Seller List. King's title's Mr. Mercedes and Revival made The New York Times Best Seller List in 2014. He won the Edgar Allan Poe Award in 2015 for Best Novel with Mr. Mercedes. King's title Finders Keepers made the New York Times bestseller list in 2015. Sleeping Beauties is his latest 2017 New York Times bestseller. (Bowker Author Biography) Stephen King is the author of more than thirty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. Among his most recent are "Hearts in Atlantis", "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon", "Bag of Bones", & "The Green Mile". "On Writing" is his first book of nonfiction since "Danse Macabre", published in 1981. He served as a judge for Prize Stories: The Best of 1999, The O. Henry Awards. He lives in Bangor, Maine with his wife, novelist Tabitha King. King's book, The Bazaar of Bad Dreams: Stories, made the 2015 New York Times bestseller list. (Publisher Provided) show less
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Contains
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Under the Dome
- Original title
- Under the Dome
- Alternate titles*
- De laatste grens; Een zware nacht; Feestnacht; Eigenzinnig kind; Wie geeft wat hij heeft...; Gestalten in de nacht (show all 10); Het grijpt je aan; Munt, salie, rozemarijn en tijm; De erfenis; Het aapje
- Original publication date
- 2009-11-10
- People/Characters
- Dale Barbara; Jim Rennie Sr.; Jim Rennie Jr.; Joseph McClatchey; Julia Shumway; Rose Twitchell (show all 77); Norrie Calvert; Horace Greeley; Andy Sanders; Andrea Grinnell; Anson Wheeler; Angie McCain; Dodee Sanders; Howard Perkins; Peter Randolph; Marty Arsenault; Freddy Denton; George Frederick; Rupert Libby; Toby Whelan; Jackie Wettington; Linda Everett; Stacy Moggin; Georgia Roux; Frank DeLesseps; Melvin Searles; Carter Thibidoux; Reverend Lester Coggins; Reverend Piper Libby; Ron Haskell; Rusty Everett; Ginny Tomlinson; Dougie Twitchell; Gina Buffalino; Harriet Bigelow; Walter Bushey; Benny Drake; Judy Everett; Janelle Everett; Ollie Dinsmore; Rory Dinsmore; Tommy Anderson; Willow Anderson; Stewart Bowie; Fernald Bowie; Joe Boxer; Romeo Burpee; Paul Bushey; Samantha Bushey; Jack Cale; Ernie Calvert; Johnny Carver; Alden Dinsmore; Roger Killian; Lissa Jamieson; Clare McClatchey; Alva Drake; Stubby Norman; Brenda Perkins; Tony Guay; Pete Freeman; Sam Verdreaux; Alice Appleton; Aidan Appleton; Thurston Marshall; Carolyn Sturges; Claudette Sanders; Chuck Thompson; Bob Roux; Jack Evans; Myra Evans; Billly Debec; Wanda Debec; Nora Robichaud; Elsa Andrews; Paul Gendron; Jack Reacher
- Important places
- Chester's Mill, Maine, USA
- Important events*
- The Dome Appears
- Related movies
- Under the Dome (2013 | IMDb)
- Epigraph
- Who you lookin for
What was his name
you can prob'ly find him
at the football game
it's a small town
you know what I mean
it's a small town, son
and we all support the team.
—James McMurtry - Dedication
- In memory of Surendra Dahyabhai Patel. We miss you, my friend.
- First words
- From two thousand feet, where Claudette Sanders was taking a flying lesson, the town of Chester's Mill gleamed in the morning light like something freshly made and just set down.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Pity was not love, Barbie reflected...but if you were a child, giving clothes to someone who was naked had to be a step in the right direction. November 22, 2007 - March 14, 2009
- Publisher's editor
- Graham, Nan
- Blurbers
- Child, Lee
- Original language
- English
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 813.54
- Canonical LCC
- PS3561.I483
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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