Under the Dome

I've never said this before, but there be spoilers in this review. Still, if you've ever read a Stephen King book then you won't have a problem, because the spoilers are vague. Plus, King books have a lot in common with each other after a while.

Well, I did it. I successfully finished Stephen King's latest behemoth, Under the Dome. Believe me when I say it was quite an undertaking -- 1072 pages -- and after failing to finish 'Salem's Lot last year, I didn't at first expect to get through this one. But there are several reasons why this book is better than 'Salem's Lot.

A brief summary: as the title would infer, Stephen King places the town of Chester's Mill under a humungous dome, fishbowl-style, for no immediately apparent reason. Then he introduces a huge cast of characters and systematically kills off most of them. (Sheesh, who are we dealing with here, anyway? Shakespeare?) So okay, it's a bit like Gone, which I recently read... and The City of Ember, one of my next books, is going to have a similar theme... so maybe I wasn't super hyped about the premise, but we'll roll with it and see how King does, because Gone did not satisfy me at all.

First, let me say yet another word on pulp fiction. Stephen King is often accused for writing pulp, and those people are partly right. King's books are so dense-- every character is so finely detailed-- that, especially when the story starts picking up speed, you're going to have to skim over some of the denser stuff.

Are the characters cardboard cut-outs? Eh. I didn't really notice, actually, because Stephen King really excels at telling a good story. Even with a cast that's probably bigger than 'Salem's Lot, King manages to balance all the plotlines and character motivations and turn out a nicely sprawling story.

That doesn't mean I don't have qualms, though. Under the Dome is extraordinarily depressing after a while. King has a pretty pessimistic outlook on life; the antagonists plan for a lot of the good guys' moves, and tend to have more luck than the protagonists do (except at the end, where you have to kill off the bad guys, too). Any rash moves taken by the protagonists is rewarded with death or extreme injury. It's like watching someone beat their head against a concrete wall-- you know that little to no progress will be made for your side until you get to the end. (Actually, King keeps the protagonists moving just enough to make it depressing when their rashness gets them punished. He's pretty good that way.)

Looking back, this downer philosophy may have been one reason I stopped reading 'Salem's Lot, but there's another reason, too. 'Salem's Lot will keep you coming back for more if the vampires terrify you, and I was entirely unaffected. Under the Dome, meanwhile, is an interesting science-fiction story (with the scifi elements only revealed near the very end), which I can't seem to get enough of. Could the ending have been more satisfying? Yeah, okay. But it was pretty good, and the opening scene was delicious. (And it lasts for-- get this!-- 200 pages.)

So, yeah, I guess I give it a thumbs-up. And if you get it and don't like it, you can always use it as a lethal melee weapon. 1072 pages weigh a lot.