A review by flijn
Under the Dome by Stephen King
3.0
Small town gets closed off from the rest of the world by a mysterious dome. Some casualties fall (a chipmunk is halved, a small plain crashes, people break their noses on the invisible barrier), but there is enough food, air and electricity to last the town for about a month.
But fear and isolation are the perfect opportunity for town bully / selectman / drug lord Jim Rennie to take over. The dome magnifies the qualities, both good and bad, of the people trapped inside. What follows is a disaster waiting to happen, brought closer by a police force gone rogue and greed for power.
With so many characters and points of view, it takes a while to get into the personal part of the stories. Blood flows like it's cheap and one person after another dies. The Good and the Bad are quickly pointed out: ex-military and reluctant good guy is Dale Barbara, who left just a little too late and is stuck as the story's hero. Rennie's side consists mostly of very trigger-happy, formerly good-for-nothing teenagers and the usual suspects that accompany a man in power who needs things fixed without getting his hands dirty.
This power play is the strength of this book. Without outside control, despotism is terrifyingly easily established. The plot is further driven to its climax by ominous visions the town's children have, about burning pumpkins, fire, and screaming.
So, plenty to play with for King, and he does it well. I liked the human aspect better than the supernatural part, mostly because he makes that far more believable. The steadily rising pressure that erases all tones of grey and turns people into predator and prey is extreme and at the same time it feels totally real. Turn on the news and you have no illusions about what a terrified mob or a powerful lunatic are capable of.
What I didn't like was the ending, I feel it did not add any new insight or closure.
But fear and isolation are the perfect opportunity for town bully / selectman / drug lord Jim Rennie to take over. The dome magnifies the qualities, both good and bad, of the people trapped inside. What follows is a disaster waiting to happen, brought closer by a police force gone rogue and greed for power.
With so many characters and points of view, it takes a while to get into the personal part of the stories. Blood flows like it's cheap and one person after another dies. The Good and the Bad are quickly pointed out: ex-military and reluctant good guy is Dale Barbara, who left just a little too late and is stuck as the story's hero. Rennie's side consists mostly of very trigger-happy, formerly good-for-nothing teenagers and the usual suspects that accompany a man in power who needs things fixed without getting his hands dirty.
This power play is the strength of this book. Without outside control, despotism is terrifyingly easily established. The plot is further driven to its climax by ominous visions the town's children have, about burning pumpkins, fire, and screaming.
So, plenty to play with for King, and he does it well. I liked the human aspect better than the supernatural part, mostly because he makes that far more believable. The steadily rising pressure that erases all tones of grey and turns people into predator and prey is extreme and at the same time it feels totally real. Turn on the news and you have no illusions about what a terrified mob or a powerful lunatic are capable of.
What I didn't like was the ending, I feel it did not add any new insight or closure.