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I never thought I was going to read an author of horror books, but one of my blogger friends, who is a great fan of Stephen King, wrote down a list for me with novels that I might like and not be scared of, including Under the dome. Besides, at that time everybody was reading and reviewing this book, so I was beginning to feel interested.
The premise of the book is a transparent dome whose nature is unknown which encloses Chester’s Mill and which nobody can destroy, but even though this dome itself is quite intriguing, the bulk of the story deals with what takes place inside the dome. There are a lot of characters and subplots, but the main point is that the second councilor of Chester’s Mill, Big Jim, a corrupt politician who is making a fortune by preparing and selling amphetamines, sees the dome as a unique opportunity to turn the town into his particular kingdom. But the president of the United States has decided to put Dale Barbara, a former soldier that happened to be working as a chef in a bar by the time the dome appeared, in charge of the village. Big Jim is not going to allow that, and nobody from outside the dome can stop him.
Of course, this is not an accurate summary since every character in Chester’s Mill has a vital role in the development of the novel, so we have a group of young policemen trained in a few hours by Big Jim, a journalist that is going to uncover the truth about him, a third councilor addicted to painkillers, a doctor that discovers that the gas reservoirs of the hospital have been stolen, and so on.
You get hooked on the book from the first page because all the characters are so good – or so bad – that every page is exciting: you are astonished at all the things they are doing and you look for revenge in the next pages. The evil characters are so disgusting that you mentally curse them every time they appear, which makes the read very enjoyable. There are also some bloody passages that I suppose are King’s signature, but fortunately I didn’t have nightmares with them (that’s the main reason why I don’t see terror films, nor do I read terror books) even though everything is so visual in his narrative style.
The only thing I didn’t like is the dome itself: when we finally get to know what it is, the whole thing itself is so unbelievable that you feel disappointed, but anyway, I think the author mainly wanted to address the terrestrial behavior of (disturbed) human beings rather than showing us how his excessive imagination can spoil a novel.
As long as it might look (1,000 pages), Under the dome is a book that you read really fast thanks to the thrill of every page and the appeal of every character. It is not perfect, but I won’t take that terrible ending into account and I will probably try with another book by Stephen King.
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I was interested to see this, Isi, as I’d considered buying this at one point but it looked a little bit long and I wasn’t sure it was my kind of thing. (In the past I’ve kept away from Stephen King for the same reason as you!) But you make it sound very interesting: more about the struggle of human nature than about the nature of the dome itself, perhaps? I think they’ve recently done an American TV adaptation of the book, which I haven’t seen myself… but maybe you would enjoy comparing that to the novel at some point? 🙂
Yes, it’s about human nature, but really, those guys were really disturbed, which makes the book more enjoyable 😉
Here people is also watching the TV series, but I have heard that, apart from the dome itself, it is absolutely different from the book, so there’s no point in comparing them.
Anyway, it is a super long book, but it gets you hooked all the way; I’ve heard that the situations and the way the characters are developed are very similar in every King novel, but since we have not read his books, we won’t get bored for the moment.
I would recommend it to you!
Well thank you: I shall look out for it. 🙂
I did not read this one yet but I love King his horror stories. Might have to line this one up too though after your review.
If you are already a fan of S. King, you will like this book too, I’m sure! The characters are very good!!
I think the genre is called “horror” not “terror books” 😉
Thank you, Joachim; in Spanish the genre is “terror”, and since in English the word also exists, I put it! I’m going to change it right now!
Sorry! Didn’t mean to be rude. But yes, Horror is the general term for the genre.
No, I really appreciate it because I want to learn as much as I can about English! 😀
If only my knowledge of Spanish was as impressive as your knowledge of English 😉 I can vaguely read Spanish due to my central Texas childhood…
I read this over the summer and felt exactly the way you did about THE DOME. Like… King couldn’t think of a really great ending so he went there? Really? I also wasn’t crazy about how polarized the characters were being soooo good or sooooo bad, but it was certainly entertaining. Even if I did want to jump into the book and ring Big Jim’s neck!
Yes, the dome was a dissapointment, but anyway, we had a great time before knowing about it, hadn’t we? 😉
Ohh yes, Big Jim deserves the worst!!
Like you, I loved everything about this book but the ending. My favorite Stephen King is Bag of Bones, followed closely by The Stand. If you tend to scare easily, I’d probably recommend The Stand first, but I consider both to be amazing. Glad you liked your first attempt at King.
Rory, I saw the TV series Bag of bones and I didn’t like it that much, so I think I won’t try the book. But I have other choices thanks to the high level of productivity of Mr King 😉
And I agree about the ending; but at least we had a great time before knowing the nature of the dome!
The Bag of Bones adaptation was absolutely awful and nothing like the book. I’m still a little upset about that. It stinks when your favorite book is ruined in movie form. That being said, Bag of Bones does involve ghosts, so it’s a wee bit on the scary side.
Understood! 😉
Ok then, now I’m more likely to give that book a chance.
I’m terrible with horror, but I prefer to read a classic than Stephen King… I tried with Carrie… Yeah, I couldn’t finish the book… That girl was too scary!!!
LOL
hehehe Shanny, I perfectly understand you; I wouldn’t read such a scary book because I like to sleep at night. We have to try other lighter novels for a start.
Your first Stephen King read! I’m glad you enjoyed it, despite the shortcomings at the end. I really do want to read his books too, but am too scared. I have The Shining on my kindle, but I am just too scared to start reading it.
hehehe I perfectly understand you; I feel the same. Now everybody is talking about Joyland but I saw the cover and I thought that it was scary enough not to read it!! 😀
I might be the only person left that hast read Stephen King. Despite people telling me they aren’t alllll horror books, I’m afraid of picking him up! I’m glad you liked it, though, and maybe someday I will stop being a chicken 🙂
As I told Mel, I sometimes think that the covers of his books are ALREADY scary!! 😀
In this book there are some discusting scenes, but if they are bearable for me, I think you can’t try too 😉
I met Stephen King yesterday. Outside a theater on Indiana University Campus where he’s working on a project with John Mellencamp of all people….
wow I can’t believe you have seen him just like casually over there! How exciting!
John Mellencamp is the singer? I’ve heard that S. King has a band or plays in a band, but I really don’t know much about it.
I’m so glad you liked this! King does have classic horror, but he also has so many other types of novels! All horror-ish, but at different levels. Not all gore, some psychological stuff, too.
Yes, that’s what I’ve been told and that’s why I tried to read something not horrorish 😀 I have other titles in mind to keep on reading S. King.
1,000 pages? Yep, I’m intimidated! Lol. I’m glad the bulk of this novel impressed you, but sorry the ending let the whole experience down. I’m looking for a none nightmare inducing SK novel to try myself – so I shall keep this one in mind. I’ve just heard such great things about his novels, but like you I’m not a horror/terror fan. 🙂
Yes, the more terrifying part is that the book has 1,000 pages 😛
In this book the ending is awful but you just have to forget about it and enjoy the characters and the way they behave under the dome – no nightmares, I promise (just disguisting deaths, perhaps).
I haven’t read this one yet, but I think if you like it you would really like his book 11/22/63, which is not horror but more focused on time travel. I haven’t read all that much King, but I absolutely loved it and definitely think I’m going to be checking out Under the Dome soon.
That is also a huge book; I already was intereted in it.
I think you will find The dome thrilling too!