By Carl Begai
I was recently taken to task by a couple diehard Stephen King fans for this blog offering my compliments for Under The Dome, given the brush off for “damning him with faint praise” because my tongue didn’t take up residence in King’s ass. With that in mind I’ve decided to weigh in on his “little” epic, which turned out to be a satisfying read despite the widespread slamming he’s received for it.
Yes, I know I’m a bit late considering the book was published in 2009, but if you don’t like it there’s the door ————————>
The basic premise of the story (click here here for a synopsis that ruins the end for you) is classic science fiction:
— small town Somewheresville (in this case, Chester’s Mill) is cut off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field, dubbed The Dome.
— things go from peculiar to bad to worse for the folks on the inside.
— you’re in a Stephen King story; karma’s a bitch.
As Stephen King books go, Under The Dome has moments reminiscent of Needful Things and It, but it isn’t and will never be considered one of his best works by his legion of Constant Readers. Everything from the sheer bulk of it (1,000+ pages), to lack of character depth, to King’s in-your-face views on religion and the Obama administration have been cited as reasons why Under The Dome fails to live up to expected high quality King-ship. Then there’s the end of the story, which has left some folks screaming “foul” for being too empty, too quick, too Hollywood…
Bah. Getting there was half the fun. Continue reading Under The Dome – Stephen King