Review : Under the Dome by Stephen King
Under the Dome by Stephen King
Pages : 1074
Genre : Horror, Sci-fi
Stand Alone My Rating : 4,5/5
From the back of the book :
Dale Barbara, Iraq vet and now a short-order cook, finds himself teamed with a few intrepid citizens — town newspaper owner Julia Shumway, a physician’s assistant at the hospital, a select-woman, and three brave kids. Against them stands Big Jim Rennie, a politician who will stop at nothing — even murder — to hold the reins of power, and his son, who is keeping a horrible secret in a dark pantry. But their main adversary is the Dome itself. Because time isn’t just short. It’s running out.
My Thoughts :
I finished reading Under the Dome about a month ago and had so many thoughts and comments that I wasn’t able to write a review that made sense. Now, the Domealong event has come and gone, and it it finally time I put fingers to keyboard to make sense of all this. I decided to do it in simplicity with general themes, rather than sharing every single thought I had when reading the book – and with 1074 pages to read, there were a lot of thoughts!
I was pleasantly surprised with my reading. I had heard comparisons of Under the Dome to The Stand, and I can see why (though The Stand remains my favorite of the two). The cast of characters is huge and King writes even the smallest ones with many layers of complexity. I’ve always thought that one of King’s strengths, as a writer, were the characters, and Under the Dome is no exception.
While I was completely taken by the characters and anxious about the story, I felt immensely let down by the ending. The book was a clear 5 stars novel until I reached the end, but the way the Dome was finally explained felt like an afterthought, like the author suddenly remembered “Hey, I should probably find an explanation for that thing”. I wanted something that would blow my mind, but it didn’t. Sigh. Also, too many dead dogs. Can’t you keep a pet alive for once, Mr. King?
What I take away the most though, and this is a constant theme is Stephen King’s work, is the nuances of good and evil depicted in the story. There are some horrible characters in there, but my reactions to them weren’t the same. For instance, there was something extremely miserable about Junior and the main reason he was acting the way he did, and while it would never excuse anything (I don’t think something this horrible could eve be excused!), I didn’t hate him as much as his father, who made his crimes with much more calculation. I also wondered; would Junior be the same, or act the same if it wasn’t for what pushed him over the edge? With a father like Big Jim, and the relationship he had with him, I tend to think that he probably would.
More interestingly, King explores different shades of good and evil not only in his characters, but also in the reader. Through all the violence, it’s easy to position ourselves as good people, thinking we would act differently; yet there was one scene where I found myself having very little sympathy for a character suffering from a very violent event (for those who read the book, I’m talking of the supermarket scene; I think you’ll know who I am hinting at here!) It really made me question myself, and my reaction to this violence. It’s easy, it seems, to cheer on violent acts when the villains are being punished, yet that was an extremely uncomfortable moment for me.
All in all, despite a very weak ending, I really enjoyed Under the Dome. Unlike its TV incarnation, it was a vivid story of humanity, of good versus evil, of deep and complex characters struggling to stay alive. I’m not sure which King novel I’ll be reading next, but I know this certainly wasn’t the last!
(on a side note, I love love love, that cover; it’s so perfect, I couldn’t imagine a better one)
After 11/22/63, I want to try another one of King’s books but this may be too sci-fi for me.
You’re so right about King presenting different shades of good and evil. I thought this one was fascinating!
Great review. I tried the show and thought it was meh so I’m glad to hear the book is better. It usually is though isn’t it? It’s the beauty of books. 🙂
I have avoided a lot of Stephen King. He freaks me out. A lot. Plus so many of his books are super daunting in their length. Still, this one has really intrigued me. Maybe this book will be the spark I need to delve into King’s writing.