Stephen King's "Under the Dome:" Am I the only one who saw Dick Cheney and George Bush in that?

[jobycom]

Not to mention Katrina, and maybe even a metaphor for the US's isolationist policies?

The main bad guy is the Second Selectman of the town, who prefers to run things from the number two spot. The First Selectman is a blithering idiot who does whatever the Second tells him, and the Police Chief is another gung ho follower without a brain. The premise is that the town is suddenly enclosed in a dome that cuts them off from the outside world, and the town quickly descends into fear and lawlessness which allows unscrupulous leaders to take advantage. I say it sounds like Katrina because of the whole theme of being cut off from the world and devolving into chaos. It sounds like a larger US metaphor because the leaders inside the town have no oversight and therefore follow no rules, letting their actions become more arbitrary and insane in a quest for power. They control the town by creating fear of outsiders and violence.

Anyone else read it?

[texanwitch]

1. Need to get that book.

Stephen King was telling something with this book.

[jobycom]

2. I think he was.

He says he came up with the idea in the 70s but didn't know how to write it then, so it wasn't just inspired by recent events, but there were so many times I thought he was talking about today's events.

He's been pretty lousy at retirement, hasn't he? Two of his best books have been written since he retired from writing. :)

[texanwitch]

3. I hate say this but Stephen King books are the only ones I buy.

I am sure his brain is full of ideas, he will write until he dies.

[jobycom]

4. I stopped reading him for twenty years

The started again when I read Duma Key, then went back and read a lot of them. He seems to have gotten good again right around Bag of Bones. I liked Needful Things, and could stand some of the older Gunslinger stuff (including Talisman and Black House, which were loosely connected) a little, but they were average. To me he came back to life with Bag of Bones.

[texanwitch]

5. I would borrow his books on cd from the library.

There was a waiting list for some of them.

I do like to read the books also.

[jobycom]

7. I listen to a lot of them on audiobooks.

I have an Audible account and a lot of that has gone to King lately. That's how I "read" Under the Dome. Although it's kind of funny--the reader couldn't do a good Maine accent, so half his bad guys sound like they are from the South. We always get picked on. :)

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

6. Currently reading that on my iPhone Kindle app

I'm loving it and, yes, I can see definite parallels. But then again, it seems that SK likes to pick bad guys and girls who tend to be of the fundy religious hard-core right wing persuasion.

I love it how Jim Rennie and his guys are looked upon as religious and dedicated to public service while they run an underground meth factory. And his son is despicable.

In fact, I think there are relatively few characters in the novel I find decent (the Joe kid, Barbie, Julia the newspaper woman, and a few others).

[jobycom]

8. (Maintaining tight-lipped silence...)

Mmm mmm mmmm. Keep reading. :)