Reviewed by: Xander Kane
Posted by: Root Rot
Stephen King’s “Under the Dome”
Stephen King has brought us many great novels, short stories, andscreenplays. As a King fan I have found him to be one of the best horror novelists around. His longevity in the genre that spans six decades has been impressive. However, King has disappointed me with his last few outings into the world of horror. Have I set my expectations to high for this writing Icon? There is only one way to find out. Under the Dome has been released in paperback recently and I decide to tackle this monster of a book. So let’s find out if King lives up to his name.
What would you do if you were somehow trapped in a small town with no way out? This is the main idea behind this novel. A large dome has covered the entire town of Chester’s Mill, Maine. Yet another story taking place in the state that the writer resides. Right off the bat a plane crashes into the dome and King paints a bloody picture of similar events that occur when the Dome is put in its place. King begins to unravel this story of a small town put into what often feels like a post apocalyptic situation. Because of small town politics there is a struggle of power between the town’s selectmen and the other residents in the town.
Big Jim Rennie is the character you love to hate in this novel. He is an overweight man obsessed with gaining power and respect from the towns folk. He is insanely brash and arrogant throughout the book. Over the years he has fooled much of the population that he is a kind man and does what’s best for the town. Dale Barbara is newer to the town and is not sold on Jim Rennie being an honest man. He is retired military and serves as the cook at the local diner. When the government finds out the situation and figures out that Dale Barbara is inside. They want him to work for them to help find out who or what was involved with the dome being dropped on the town. He is eventually asked to take control of the town. As expected Jim Rennie has many issues with this and sides are now drawn.
Big Jim Rennie has recruited his degenerate son and his motley crew of friends to become deputies. This is a crucial point in the story because once you learn about the deputies you begin to see what kind of chaos they will bring to the town. Once these characters are given power they abuse it almost immediately. To me this is really what makes the story interesting. It causes you to put yourself in the shoes of the town’s people. Do you go against authority even if you know what they are doing is wrong? What other choices do you have? You can’t leave and no one is coming for you. So are you’re forced to watch your town fall apart?
King has put over 60 characters in this story. A novel with so many characters made me worry that there would be long periods of just back story on characters. King shines in his abilities on not boring you with unnecessary filler. He grasps your attention with uncomfortable situations and makes s you feel completely immersed in the story. Since he does this so well I found it hard to put this book down. This has some of the most intense situations I have read from King in years. But there are a few small lulls in the story. The book is over 1,000 pages so it is somewhat expected.
One thing I have noticed in Stephen King over the years. Is that sometimes his endings do not live up to the rest of his story. This is one suffers from the same problem. I did not enjoy the ending at all but after long thought I couldn’t come up with anything better. I couldn’t’ find any other reason to dislike the book. The book as a whole is a great accomplishment for King. I see him slowly moving back to his old self that we all know and love. This book is recommended for any fan of his works. Or to anyone who finds this concept intriguing. In completion of this book I was really glad I gave it a shot. Although it is not a perfect book it is a great story and worth the long read. I think “Under the Dome” would make a great movie. But with so many bad screen adaptations of his work let’s hope they leave this one alone.
Xander_Kane
Related Witch’s Hat Links
Question or comments
The Witch’s Hat Voice Mail 313 444 2611
thewitchshatblog@gmail.com
im gonna have to check this book out! great review Mr. Kane!
From your review I still can’t tell if the book is technically “horror” It doesn’t sound like it is. Under the Dome sounds similar to a comic I recently read called Girls from the Luna Brothers. In the story, a spaceship crash lands in a town and out come strange women that all have similar features and a tendency towards violence against other women. When the inhabitants of the town try to flee the area, they realize that the entire town is encased in an invisible barrier.
Okay, so its not entirely like Under the Dome, but it still reminds me of it. Good book though
It has elements of horror and sci fi. It shares a lot of resemblance to the tv show “Jericho”. Mainly because it has the same small town issues in a crisis situation. Its a long read but I really enjoyed it. It is also in audiobook form for those that prefer to listen to it. I was pretty nervous writing this one mainly cause I never reviewed a book before. I thought it turned out well.
Thanks guys
Xander,
First of all, excellent review. Secondly, I share your opinion of King’s work. A very talented man, to say the least, but the last decade or so of his work has left me…wanting–for loss of a better word. At times, I wish he’d return to the booze and drugs, as that was when his books were the very best. Nonetheless, with the release of this impressive (even for King) novel, He’s back on my Got-to-buy list.
Again, thanks for the kick ass review!
Nice review. I agree that King hasn’t really done a true ‘horror’ book in a while, and this is no exception. With that said, it is a great look in to the human psyche. King has always excelled at giving you fully developed characters and doesn’t disappoint in ‘Under the Dome’ (hence the 1000+ pages).
He has always swayed toward the psychology side of the scary story, and you get a nice big douce of it in the ending of this book. His track record of the character leading the story, instead of the story leading the characters, is still in tack. It’s worth a read.