Under the Dome: A Novel
by Stephen King
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Book Summary Information
Author: Stephen KingEdition: Hardcover
ISBN: N/A
Publisher: Scribner
Book Reviews of Under the Dome: A Novel
Book Review: King for a moment
Summary: 3 Stars
This Dome is the (short) story of a mad and sick man's struggle to reach absolute power and recognition inside an abbreviated universe, no matter what the cost to him and, certainly, his fellow townsfolk.To begin with the required cliché, there's more than one way to interpret 'Under the Dome' - how typical of S.K., wouldn't you say? A long-ago abandoned project due to his inability to summon needed experts and consultants back in 1976, Stephen King picked it up again in 2007 and produced this massive and intriguing 'what if' opus. Interestingly, 2007 is the year when The Simpsons Movie, featuring its own, happy-ending 'dome' story was released. A coincidence, I'm sure, but funny nevertheless.
The main plot and in this case THE plot - because 'Under the Dome' is nearly a straight-as-an-arrow with very few flashbacks or detours tale - is the fate of one community (someplace in Maine, not far from Castle Rock, of course) experiencing an inexplicable, claustrophobic and terrifying encapsulation inside an initially invisible but generally impenetrable 'dome' that prevents almost everything other than light, radio and sound and maybe a little air and water to trickle in and out. Is it an accident, a hostile act by unidentified terrorists, a cruel game Godlike entities play with us, a government-run experiment? No one knew for sure and it only matters in the end. Until then, we watch a subset of humanity behave and - remember it's a Stephen King tale - disintegrate under environmental constraints but mostly on its own accord or due to its own inability to examine itself and its possible fate and act responsibly.
Unlike most economists but in accord with the vast majority of politicians and 'leaders' at all levels from the top dogs and down to the small town elected officials, Stephen King 'gets' it. It's not 'greed' - the pursuit of money or material goods - that drives our world. As it's the case with wolves, lions or gorillas, it's the lust for 'power' and plain and simple lust that drives us and keeps us in business, so to speak. And 'Under the Dome' is Stephen King's latest essay on power or its pursuit corrupting and driving people insane and often leaving them badly beaten or dead by the roadside. Once separated from the outside, most events under the Dome are shaped and driven by a mad second selectman's pursuit of absolute power, relatively speaking, the frame of reference for 'absolute' being the Dome's narrow confines. But that's not all because, let's not forget who wrote the book. Given the circumstances, a substantial body count is expected and our beloved author delivers that in spades.
It's a tale of fear, desperation, madness, absurd and a lot of inevitable dark humor. Not surprisingly, it's a page turner but, after turning the 1000 or so pages, this reader felt a little unfulfilled and wondering how and why a tome comparable in size to 'The Stand' delivered so relatively little story and and left the reader almost indifferent to the fate of the story's characters, good or evil, insane, irresponsible or physically sick alike. Maybe the much beloved story teller had it all planned this way. He plays super-observer in this story, watching with detachment, from above, sometimes from inside some of the characters heads, with foresight and total recall, warning us, the readers, of upcoming local disasters and other unpleasant events, making sure that we get all the gruesome details whenever the story telling runs into rape, slaughter or some unexpected death scene. Under his watchful and curious eye, little men and women (children too) struggle, interact, make fatal mistakes, perform mostly absurd actions given the circumstances and generate hopefully useful data for the interested observer. Or is there something else that we're missing? Well, it is but I'm not going to spoil the anyone's fun because this is only a review meant to help the constant reader make up his or her mind whether to get the book and start reading right away or decide that there was no good reason to rush.
Maybe this Dome warrants a second reading and maybe I will do it some day but I have 'Duma Key', S.K.'s post-accident masterpiece ahead, patiently waiting in the 'to be reread' queue so the Dome may have to wait. It's not yet clear to me whether this will be one of King's major works or only an 'also written by' project. At this time, I'm leaning toward the latter but I'm only leaning that way, my mind is not made up yet and a second reading should help me decide. Until then, it's 3 stars - means "it's Okay" on Amazon's star rating scale.
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