Under the Dome: A Novel

The author would have us believe that this is, perhaps, a cautionary tale about ecological disaster. I think not. Nor do I think that it is an allegorical novel dealing with our misuse of our natural resources or how the world might end if we continue our polluting our rapidly shrinking planet. These are elements of "Under the Dome," but surely not what the book "is about." When I received "Under the Dome" I thought uh oh, SK has really done it this time. Over a thousand pages of prose and King, in recent times, has shown a strong tendency to self-indulgent writing. Several of his books have wanted some serious editing, exhibiting repetition of both ideas and phraseology. As a friend remarked, it seemed like King was under pressure from his publisher to produce, and maybe being paid by the word. I thought that his work needed editing (even though he stated the books were edited) and that he needed to write with more discipline. "Carrie" was exemplary for being written in a spare and concise style and was a joy to read because each word seemed to have been chosen so carefully and expressed so much. There have been great changes in King's writing style in the intervening years. But I was wrong... well, not completely. "Under the Dome" does have some self-indulgences and might have profited from some additional editing but this would be quibbling and totally beside the point. "Under the Dome" is a brilliant novel of how human society unravels when people are placed in crises that do not respond to our accepted and time honored remedies. And how we all can fall under the influence of a demagogue. The Hitler effect. It is something we all need to be reminded of so that history does not repeat. Thinking for ones self when faced with a developing disaster is difficult. We tend to want to be led to safety by someone who is better informed and more capable. We want our chosen leaders to get us out of a scrape. That is, after all, why we chose them, right? Then we must choose very carefully because the next disaster may be right around the corner. "Under the Dome" is what I would call a pressure cooker novel. Put a group of people in a high-pressure situation and trace their responses and actions until the problem is resolved. King does this with the residents of Chester's Mill, Maine. The characters in "Under the Dome" are wonderfully developed and are people that we know. Some are bizarre and some are corrupt, but all are believable and personalities we are familiar with, if sometimes overblown for effect. There is some blood and gore in the narrative, but we have learned to expect that from King. The prose of "Under the Dome" is superb. It is King at his writing best. So, if it is not a cautionary tale or an allegory, what is "Under the Dome." It is a novel of the stripping away of our social niceties, our collective conscience and eventually our humanity when thrust into a situation we don't understand and are not equipped to cope with. It is "Lord of the Flies" set in rural Maine. The characters are just as isolated as the chidren of Golding's book and King's story is just as horrendous. You will be surprised at who the heros are and how the villains are defeated. Who are the villains? You will have a great time finding out as the events of "Under the Dome" unfold. Excellent book. Highly recommended. The Stephen King shelf of my bookcase is sagging. I hope King's next book is not such a tome.

Of the few reviews that I have read of this book, I have to say, I don't think they are altogether fair.

First, this is a gargantuan book which was previously started several times. The last time Stephen King got 400+ pages in and lost the manuscript.

I have to say that for his third outing, I think he nailed it.

Second, this book was a bit of a risk for me. I like reading Stephen King's stuff as much as the next guy. But, alas, I have been disappointed in the past.

The last long book of his that I gave a try had been Duma Key, a story of a man coming to grips with the loss of his arm by retiring to Florida He learns to paint with his remaining arm but supernatural elements have a tendency to stick to his artwork. If there's one thing I learned from that book its that it had to be 1,000 pages because the details really drive the story. Because that book thrilled me, I'm more open now to read some his longer works. But for now, let's focus on Under The Dome.

It all takes place in a small town called Chester's Mill. A former Iraq vet turned fry cook, Dale "Barbie" Barbara, is making his way out of town because he doesn't want no trouble. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, a dome quietly but forcefully encapsulates the town.

Before the dome, it was a very corrupt town. After the dome, it escalates. A selectman named Big Jim Rennie, previously a used car salesman ran some shady deals and since the dome cut off the town he feels more empowered than before. A well-crafted villain who believes he's doing right by the town every step of the way. Those are the villains that scare me the most.

By trapping these characters in this dome, not only do you feel their struggle, but you can also see how bureaucracy suddenly transforms into neglect and a hidden dictatorship. The dome also wreaks havoc on the environment on the inside, trapping all manner of gas and heat, making it very difficult on the inhabitants.

This novel perfectly blends Sci-fi with survival and touches of horror. Although the dome itself is otherworldly, there are still some basic rules that come with it.

1. Nothing can break the thick glass-like structure.
2. The dome disrupts some electrical devices.
3. You get a static shock when you touch the dome.
4. Even though the structure is rock solid, air can still permeate through.

There are also political overtones in what happens when the wrong people take over, masking their intentions as being for the good of the people.

But the whole driving force for me reading is the need to find out what would happen next. It kept me guessing until the very end.

One of the many things people say is that this was too long and the characters were thin. I completely disagree. Each character was well-crafted, had a history. This is a common thing with king. It can either help him or harm him. Sometimes the details of just one character can go on ad nauseum. But the back story on each character was well-written to the point as if I had met them before.

Maybe its because I got a bit of a bias when sitting down with this book because I hail from a small town. But the way the town operates is a little too close to home. I wanted to escape just as much as the characters in the book.

The book was also very unpredictable. Every time I thought I got a handle on things, King would surprise me with something else.

Although I'm not ready to tackle big books like It or The Stand, I may in the future now that I know that they are rich in details and very unique.

The book is part Science Fiction/ Dystopian novel.

This book was so intriguing, it made me launch right into his next book...11/22/63.

Under the Dome may be one of the most entertaining novels Stephen King as written in years, and maybe one of the longest, weighing in at a hefty 1,072 pages. But don't let that deter you, this novel keeps rolling from start to finish and keeps the reader deeply engaged in the story.

A small New England town, Chester's Mill, is a rather normal little burg. It has a small town police force, punky teens on skateboards, trailer trash, a megalomaniac politician on a small instead of grand scale, an ex-Army drifter, an erudite newspaper editor, and group of 20 something townie toughs going nowhere fast. It even has a crazy fire and brimstone preacher with a nasty secret and female pastor with a not so surprising secret. Even the dogs get their 15 minutes of fame in this book.

Then suddenly, in the opening scenes, this idyllic from the outside, not so on the inside town finds itself mysteriously encased in a dome that they can neither escape from, nor anyone from the outside get into. Suddenly, the true nature of the town's denizens rapidly comes to light as they are utterly trapped by mysterious forces.

And it's not a pretty nature. Stephen King paints most of the town's residents and decent but stupid sheep while he sets up a battle between the forces of good and evil and the grey shades of the in-between within the town. There is an out of control police force basically run by Big Jim Rennie, who wants to control the town, and pulls all the political and psychological levers to do so. The town becomes a cauldron of murder, gang rape by the new nasty thuggish police force Rennie has put into place, necrophilia, suicide, drug abuse, and seemingly normal people becoming crazy.

The pivotal plot of this story centers on the extreme use of violence and subterfuge by the nefarious Big Jim Rennie to use the dome to establish absolute power in the town by any means necessary, believing somehow it's his God given destiny to do so. Slowly a group of resisters form around the ex-Army drifter and short order cook, Dana "Barbie" Barbara setting up a battle for control of the town, that in the end has a somewhat anti-climatic, but nevertheless satisfying ending. In some ways this novel reminds me somewhat of The Stand, as it sets up a battle between good and evil, although the evil is really, really evil, and the good sometimes comes out in those not so good, and everybody has shades of gray.

This is a very character driven novel and the reader gets to know a great deal about the key characters in intimate detail. We learn to loathe some, and genuinely like others, while shaking our heads at some of the odder characters that populate every town, regardless of size.

But at the end of the day, this is not an uplifting story of the human spirit. This novel, if anything, shows the dark and ugly side of human nature. The town is full of dull sheep bending to the will of a demagogue, the evil people are really, really evil, and they make up 99 percent of the cast. The good side of humanity is but a small drop in a large cesspool of ugliness, trapped in a dome, and fighting it.

And of course King peppers in many modern day references that if you don't get them it doesn't matter, but if you do it's great. Being a huge fan of Lee Child's Jack Reacher series, I loved the nod and reference to that character in this novel. I don't want to give too much away there, but if you are familiar with this series, you'll get the reference.

This is a very grim but very interesting novel that is hard to put down. It ranks as one of King's best efforts.