Anyone else read Stephen King's "Under The Dome"?

[AngryOldDem]

I finished it about a week ago and I am still thinking about that book. I don't recall the last time a book has affected me this way. I read it out of loyalty (I have been a King fan for years) and with a little trepidation (his later works, IMO, are not as good as his earlier), but -- wow.

One thing I have always admired about King is his ability to weave a seeming Cecil B. DeMille cast of thousands into the plot and keep them vital and interesting to the very end. The Stand (the edited version, not the unedited) is another example, and I compare this book to that -- message and all.

[sailor65]

1. I just finished the audiobook version.

Amazing book. As long as it was, it seemed to fly by.

[Ozymanithrax]

2. Not yet...

My favorite of his books is "It"

[pitohui]

3. i read it, i liked it

i agree that this is by far his best in years

[ellenfl]

4. i haven't read a king book in a long time (since 'needful things'!?)

but used to read them all. however, having seen a couple of movies recently from his books, i'm not crazy about all of the religion in them. reminds me of the left behind books. is this one religion free? i don't like religion in my stories any more than i like gratuitous sex or violence.

if this one leaves out the preaching, i might try it.

ellen fl

[AngryOldDem]

6. Pretty much religion free.

And I am **not** a fan of movie versions of his books, with the exception of maybe "Carrie." I don't think he is as extreme as Tim LaHaye -- King, I think, is way too cynical for that. (But that's my opinion.) The metaphor in "Under The Dome" is powerful and is a good allegory for current times, I think. That's all I'll say.

[ellenfl]

7. he wrote a lot of things i liked. i just was put off by recent

movies of his i watched. i had not remembered him making his stories religious. good vs evil does not have to have religious overtones.

if y'all say it's that good, i will check this one out. i loved his early works, especially cujo and the stand, even though the stand had religion.

ellen fl

[tulsakatz]

13. yes, many of his stories do have some religion in them but......

....mostly he uses religion to show how crazy the religious fanatics appear! It's not like he's trying to promote any kind of religious agenda.

[matt819]

5. I've been listening to the audiobook off and on

I'm about a third of the way through. You're right about the cast of thousands, but you really have a good sense of who these people are. Maybe it helps to live in a small town in New England, though I suspect you could transplant it almost anywhere.

[SheilaT]

8. I read it recently, and

it was the first King book I'd read in some time.

Essentially I liked it. He is very good at making clear-cut characters you have no trouble keeping track of, no matter how many they are.

At the end, though, I wish he'd written it more as science-fiction, rather than a Steven King Horror Novel. Had it been more science-fictional I think it would have been more satisfying and interesting. But that's just me.

[Paladin]

9. I Liked It A Lot.

Like you, I haven't thought his more recent works were all that great. This one was a pleasant surprise; I had trouble putting it down, and I finished it a lot quicker than I thought I would. Hope this signals a return to his earlier standards......

[Axle_techie]

10. If you like modern dark fantasy

Check out Stephen king's "The Dark Tower" series. First book is the gunslinger.

[Mad_Dem_X]

11. Wasn't knocked out by the ending

Great book (I love everything he writes), but the ending was a little bit of a letdown, IMO. Without giving anything away, I'll just ask, Couldn't they have figured that out (the solution) about 200 pages earlier?

[AngryOldDem]

14. That's King, anymore.

Here's another example: I absolutely loved The Stand -- the edited version that came out in 1980 or thereabouts. That book was close to 500 pages (if memory serves), but it was fast-paced and one of the few books in my life that I can say I stayed up all night reading. Fast-forward to a few years back when he released the UNEDITED version of the book. That book was a grind to get through. It was boring and slow-paced with way too much detail that added nothing to the story and managed to take away the power that the previous edition had. It showed why King needs a heavy-handed, yet gentle, editor, and why he so profusely thanks them in his afterwords. (But I bet he's fun to work with, though.)

Under The Dome was much better, but yes, I agree that it probably could have been tightened here and there. One-thousand pages is asking a lot anymore, which was why I was a little hesitant to pick it up. But I'm glad I did; I really liked the subtlety of the ending.

[tulsakatz]

12. I loved it!!

I read it about a month ago. And I could certainly see his political opinions, especially regarding the Bush admin, in it. But that's what made it fun for me.....I usually agree with him about that.

I heard they may be making that into a cable series. That would be great!! There hasn't been a really good King series since The Golden Years......

[AngryOldDem]

15. I really hope they do the book justice in a series.

I can't say I was especially impressed by The Stand serialization.

And yeah...I liked his snarky attitude in the book and his comments about Bush and his portrayal of the fundie preacher.

[tulsakatz]

16. I hope they do too!

The Stand video is ok, not my favorite. But I think Under the Dome has the potential to be a great series!!

Did you ever see Golden Years (back in the 90s)? That's my favorite King serial.....

[AngryOldDem]

17. No. I've not seen "Golden Years." n/t

[valerief]

18. I started it a while back but got turned off by all the splatter at the start.

I'll have to get back to it one of these days.

[fadedrose]

19. I can't read scary books - is this one "scary" ?

What's it about?

[AngryOldDem]

20. Well, given that it's King...

There are some graphic depictions of stuff...but nothing like "Carrie," "Pet Sematary," etc. But this is subjective. Your mileage may vary.

As for the plot...without giving away too much...and when I answer these types of questions I'm always afraid that I will...what if there was a totally self-contained town?

I understand why you want to know, given that there is no plot synopsis on the book jacket flap. When I picked it up at the bookstore last Christmas and saw that, I thought it was sheer arrogance and hubris: "It's by Stephen King! It's gotta be good! What else do you really need to know?" But now I think that's a very clever approach. Do you trust King's talent enough to take a blind ride with him? For me, overall, I have to say yes.

[fadedrose]

22. 1 more question..does it have a happy ending? eom

[elehhhhna]

21. just finished. meh.

imo, he wrote better when he was drunk. I HATE to say it -- so many creatives THINK they perform better high and are wrong -- think Belushi -- but King wrote better in his boozing days.

[fadedrose]

23. How true

So many books I read - first books by the author - then the second comes along, or the third, and I wonder what was I thinking when I thought they were so great...oh, not "so many books," rather ALL books by the same authors. All have a few down and out sucky books.

The lady who wrote "To Kill a Mockingbird" had the right idea when she decided not to write any more..she KNEW she could never outdo herself much less stay at that creative level..

Come to think of it, my meatloaf and spaghetti sauce suffers from the same lack of creativity at times, or maybe uniformity of goodness. ;)