Product Summary
On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester's Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and fall from the sky in flaming wreckage, a gardener's hand is severed as "the dome" comes down on it, people running errands in the neighboring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact. No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when -- or if -- it will go away.
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.
First Impressions
The premise for Under the Dome is deceptively simple, as if the idea was borrowed from a 1950's sci-fi flick--have the small rural town of Chester's Mill entrapped by a dome of unknown origin. Cue mayhem. Now sit back and watch what unfolds.
One of King's darkest portrayals of human frailty, Under the Dome is rife with trouble: substance abuse, personal grudges, mental illness, rape, broken families, drug manufacturing, violent acts of aggression, vicious opportunists, political manipulation and herd mentality all mix together in a town governed by a quasi fascist police force consisting of young goons recently hired by will of the first selectman and his own questionable motives.
While I've never thought of King as a pessimist, he most certainly treads the line very carefully in this novel. Although the main cast is a good example of solidarity in the midst of a major crisis, they are clearly in the minority. Some readers may regard this as a pessimistic outlook, but I suspect that this was a conscious effort in writing the grim reality of our history when faced with seemingly insurmountable disaster.
As with all of King's classics, the novel is chalk full of distinct, believable characters. While the cast is comprised of half a dozen major characters, more than two dozen minor characters and a host of small players, there is no question that each personality is unique. Not since The Stand have readers of Stephen King been treated to such a complex social network within a single book.
The only qualm I have with Under the Dome is that all of the fun of the book was in the question. I never wanted the answer. After countless pages of buildup, the source of the dome is revealed, thus ending the mystery and leaving me with the disappointment of knowing the source of the past thousand pages of anguish. However (un)creative the source of the dome is, I think King handled it wonderfully.
Finally, while I typically ignore the thoughts of other reviewers, I find it necessary to comment on the small handful of particularly snarky reviews that I've come across. Some have called Stephen King out on this novel, accusing him of going through the motions and phoning it in. I've found these arguments to be hypercritical; being both jejune and without substance. But don't take their or my word for it. Read Under the Dome for yourself and see what you think.
Final Thoughts
Under the Dome will appeal to the majority of Stephen King fans, as well to anyone with a vested interest in the consequence of heavy external influences upon an isolated group of people. Readers will be rewarded with greater insight into the plot and its characters with each subsequent reading, due to its multifaceted structure.
Under the Dome is not just one of Stephen King's great modern works, it is one of his great works, period.
No comments:
Post a Comment