Under the Dome - Let's Discuss! *Spoilers*

[smithnb42]

Hello,

I have read the book and I noticed what may be a connection to a certain other Stephen King novel. I was wondering if anyone else caught this? It is mentioned in Bev Vincent's review of the novel. Do you think this was intentional?


I dont want to say what it is so as to not spoil anything for anyone but am looking for feedback from those who may have already finished reading the book.

Thanks

[Randall Flagg]

Welcome to the site. Since this thread is about actual plot of the novel, I'm going to move it to Cara Laughs (http://www.thedarktower.org/palaver/forumdisplay.php?f=14) where non Dark Tower King books are discussed.:grouphug:

[hobo bob]

Well I still havent finished the Dome yet but I remember reading somewhere that a farmer has 3 sons, two of which are named Roland and Randall. I kinda thought that was funny but as for now I dont think there is any significance, it's just a reference to the DT.

A little off topic but this is my favorite quote from the Dome right now
"Let me be perfectly clear: unless you do whatever it is Rusty wants you to do, I have no intention of letting go your Eggos." -Barbie :excited:

[Sam]

By simple fact of it's location we know that Under the Dome is connected to ALL the Castle Rock stories as well as Cell, Cycle of the Werewolf, The Body, and any book that has connections to those tales. Granted the connection is tenuous, but it is a connection. There may be a greater connection, but I haven't finished the story yet so I don't know.

[Míchéal]

IT


[quote=Míchéal;460716]
This is from Under the Dome:
http://images.cheezburger.com/completestore/2009/11/16/129028884692811976.jpg

This is from IT(Sorry about the bad quality):
http://images.cheezburger.com/completestore/2009/11/16/129028884519993946.jpg

[Brice]

By simple fact of it's location we know that Under the Dome is connected to ALL the Castle Rock stories as well as Cell, Cycle of the Werewolf, The Body, and any book that has connections to those tales. Granted the connection is tenuous, but it is a connection. There may be a greater connection, but I haven't finished the story yet so I don't know.

Unless there is more than one world with a Castle Rock, Tarker Mills, etc.... Still in a sometimes round about way I think ALL King books are connected.

[Jean]

Dear friends,

I have added spoiler icon to the title of this thread, which means that Under the Dome spoilers don't have to be marked, while all others still do, as Míchéal very wisely guessed!

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/mishemplushem/Facilitation/0134-bear.gifhttp://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/mishemplushem/Facilitation/0134-bear.gifhttp://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/mishemplushem/Facilitation/0134-bear.gif

[AIMB]

Where is the Under the Dome book discussion? Am I just blind? I can't find it!!!

[JRSly]

I don't know if you can say that ALL the books are truly connected. At least, specifically, I don't think the universe of "Cell" really lends itself to have happened a few years ago in this book.

[Sam]

I would say the events in Cell happened on another level of the Tower.

[JRSly]

Also, something else that might suggest Under the Dome isn't quite connected to other books, at one point early on, Joe McClatchey is looking online at reaction to the Dome and comes across a theory that says, "It's a secret government experiment, like in that movie The Mist!" So UtD seems to take place in a universe where Stephen King is an author.

EDIT: Unless we interpret that in this universe, "The Mist" was a documentary. :D

[smithnb42]

The symbol on the box in Under the Dome is almost the same as the symbol on the door to IT's Lair in "IT"

[hobo bob]

Uh hate to say it but it looks like Wikipedia has alot of good info on this subject

"References to other King works
-The character Junior inwardly expresses his desire not to go to Shawshank Prison, location of Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, after committing murder.
-Chester's Mill is frequently mentioned as being between Tarker's Mills, Castle Rock, and TR-90 (or Kashwakamak, a major location in Cell.)
-The character Dale Barbara reflects on how much he dislikes the sound of the phrase "dead zone."
Barbara also references his desire to get out of town as attempting to "light out for the territories", a phrase borrowed from Mark Twain, which was used frequently in both The Talisman and the sequel Black House.
-Joseph McClatchy reads a discussion online in which the dome is referred to as a scientific experiment, like in that movie The Mist. The Mist was based on King's short story of the same name from Skeleton Crew.
-While not a part of the Dark Tower mythology a character named 2 of his kids Roland and Randall. Roland and Randall are the names of the hero and villian, respectively, of Stephen King's 7 volume series The Dark Tower.
-Derry and Castle Rock are briefly talked about
-Two Police Officers (Jackie and Linda) find a scrap of paper (while investigating Coggin's church) that has 1693 written on it. 1 + 6 + 9 + 3 = 19 , a number of great importance in King's mythology, especially the Dark Tower. The number occurs on page 316. 3 + 16 = 19. Later in the story, a young boy named Aiden is wearing a used Shawshank State Prison shirt as a nightshirt. the Prison I.D. number on the shirt is 9091. 9 + 0 + 9 + 1 = 19. This occurs on page 658. 6 + 5 + 8 = 19.
-The Alien artifact found in the story, with help from the Geiger Counter, gives off irregular flashes of purple light, just as the car does in "From a Buick 8", one of King's more recent novels. It also contains a symbol in it that had previously appeared in IT.
-Tarker's Mills is mentioned a few times, being a neighouring city of Chester's Mills. It is known from the short novel Cycle of the Werewolf."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Under_the_Dome

:rock:

[Brice]

A nod to our old friend RF? (even if it's not him):

p. 550 of the US edition-

"A crow, not in the least suicidal, landed on a telephone wire and gazed at them with bright, intelligent eyes. It cawed once, then flapped away through the strange afternoon air."

[Matt]

I know we have a thread about UtD in the collectors forum and one in here that is about connections.

There is also one about the signing tour and tour signing experiences :lol:

So if we feel like a merge is needed for this I am fine with it but I have finished the book and was looking for some open discussion on what people thought.

My first inclination is a classic scene from Toy Story.

"You are a child's plaything!!"

-Woody

http://4.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kr5olgCzc91qzdd4vo1_500.jpg

[Míchéal]

Exactly...scary though!!!

[ICry4Oy]

It makes me think twice about all the spectracide I put out on the fireants this past summer. :cry:

[Tito_Villa]

Just loved the book, epic and i really cared for the characters in the end.

[Sam]

It doesn't make me think any more about my treating the yard for fire ants, but that's because I am very allergic to them. The story did make me think, though, about the fragility of the human mind. Of how much it needs the normalcy of our daily lives. Of what it is capable of when that normalcy is shattered. And of what lurkes in the hearts of humanity. This is something I used to think of at 2am when I was sitting in a prison dorm listening to 150+ adult male criminals sleep. Of how "normal" the abnormal becomes when you live in it week in and week out. Of how the mind and personality changes to fit the situation, and of how the predators come out to take advantage of the herd.

Under the Dome is really another prison tale, if you think about it, only there is no warden inside to take control of the inmates.

[Matt]

I totally agree Sam and I have always thought it would take about that long for civilization to collapse if something bad happened. It is just really easy to take advantage in a situation like that for a lot of people.

A scene I was thinking about today that I really loved was Jr shooting at Barbie in the cell. It was so well done and believable. We have recent experience with a gun and being on your toes can totally be the difference between life and death in that situation. For about three shots anyway.

[JRSly]

I really liked it, I think it will stand amongst King's best works in years to come. It was a really solid book from start to finish, compared to some of King's books which can fizzle out at the end and sorta stumble over the finish line. Under the Dome felt very well planned out. The decades it spent percolating in Steve's brain seemed to do nothing but good for the final story.

I loved it, but did have a few quibbles...ultimately I was able to shrug them off since the story was so good and compelling, but my few criticisms: I thought the breakdown of society and Rennie's rise to power was a bit too quick. Everything was lined up a bit too perfectly, and Rennie had all the exact right people in his pocket to allow his takeover. For the first third or so I kept thinking, "In a town of 2000 people this seems all just a bit too easy." Of course...you never know how those 1900 townspeople we never heard from viewed the selectman and his 'officers', the characters we followed might truly have been the only ones to detect any possible trouble. But again, that seems awfully convenient for the sake of story. Like I said though, the book had its hooks in me deep early on and I accepted everything and just let the horror unfold.

I was hoping to see a showdown of some sort between Rennie and the survivors. I can still appreciate the poetic justice of Rennie's breakdown and death as a result of his stingy politics, of course...but I guess I'm still a sucker for good ol' fashioned justice between the hero and the villain. Big Jim was one of the slimiest, most despicable villains King's created in some time and I was really looking forward to Barbie or Julia getting their revenge. Maybe it woulda been cliche or a stretch to make it happen, but after all the terrible things he'd done, him dying alone by simply asphyxiating didn't completely thrill me. And I guess this is just part of it being a horror story, but I was sickened by 99% of the townspeople dying believing everything Rennie said and believing that Barbie was the murderer. At another forum, one reader wished Rennie would've survived to the end and been completely wrecked and disgraced in the public eye...that could've been a satisfying end as well/

Finally, I would've loved to see just one more chapter in the book. I would've loved to see some of the reaction from the world after what happened. I was curious what the survivors might've told the press or their families. What they chose to do after getting out. How they began to pick up the pieces of their lives..etc. I thought the book ended jarringly abruptly.

And that's saying something when you're talking about an 1100 page book! Was anyone else shocked at how short it felt? I can't believe The Stand isn't even a hundred pages longer. Under the Dome moved at a breakneck pace and didn't seem to ever get bogged down with superfluous, needless passages...which is pretty incredible when the sole subject is a very small town over the course of a week. Compared to The Stand, which covered a country over several months, and yet I still thought it often felt slow and sometimes tedious. It makes no sense! :panic:

[Merlin1958]

Finally, I would've loved to see just one more chapter in the book. I would've loved to see some of the reaction from the world after what happened. I was curious what the survivors might've told the press or their families. What they chose to do after getting out. How they began to pick up the pieces of their lives..etc. I thought the book ended jarringly abruptly.

I agree. Maybe something like the interviews at the end of "Boondock Saints" would have fit perfect with the overall "feel" of the book. Though I didn't feel the book ended abruptly. I actually thought he dragged the ending just a bit at the very end and would have done better to end it as you suggested. But, that's just my humble opinion.

And that's saying something when you're talking about an 1100 page book! Was anyone else shocked at how short it felt? I can't believe The Stand isn't even a hundred pages longer. Under the Dome moved at a breakneck pace and didn't seem to ever get bogged down with superfluous, needless passages...which is pretty incredible when the sole subject is a very small town over the course of a week. Compared to The Stand, which covered a country over several months, and yet I still thought it often felt slow and sometimes tedious. It makes no sense! :panic:

Probably felt short because it was such a "Page-Turner". I generally object to books that jump story lines chapter to chapter, but not with King. He handles it so well it just flows so smoothly.

[Beambounder]

Wasn't that pictograph,on the dome emitter marking pennywise's interstellar spider lair? or was it in TDT??

[Beambounder]

I bet Mr Sai King was influenced by our shared obsession with Breaking Bad. That town broke bad in many of the worst ways. Amazing juggling all those characters and interwoven relationships,Kudos to The King . He never ceases to read like pure individual,visual thoughts. Thanks again Oh Great One.

[Sam]

The pictograph WAS from IT. And yet, I still haven't seen the connection of the two. And yes I finished the book.

[smithnb42]

Yes, I noticed that as well, the pictograph was seen on the doorway to IT's lair. And now seen on the box controlling the dome in UTD. I cant help but wonder what the explanation is. Surely Mr. King has one.

[Heather19]

Just finished Under the Dome. I loved it. The first thing that I thought of when reading it was The Twilight Zone. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the ending though, I'm still thinking about it.

What I liked best about the story was that it was very fast paced. There was never a lack of excitement. And for being over 1000 pages, it sure didn't feel that long. In fact I wish it was even longer. I felt the ending was a bit rushed, that I would have preferred that he could have added in a couple more hundred pages and slowed it down just a bit.

Big Jim has got to be one of King's best villains. I really, really hated him throughout the whole story. And I just wanted to knock some sense into all those townspeople for following his every word. I am quite curious how he could have the entire town wrapped around his little finger like that. Like someone else already stated, I wonder what all the other people in the town felt about him. And just getting all those young bully's to join the police force, how could the people allow that?

And in response to JRSly, for everything Big Jim did, I have to say that I quite enjoyed his demise. He completely ruined the entire town all by himself. So I liked that he died by his own hand. And that he went out quietly and not in some big shootout or epic fight. I don't think he deserved that glamour, if that makes any sense.

Now I just have a few questions. One is I didn't quite understand where Joe was going with making sure that the geiger counter was put back and that Big Jim found it. Nothing ever came of this, so what was the point? Also Joe mentioned something about taking over the radio station. I thought that was a very good idea, but once it was mentioned nothing came of that either. I understand there wasn't even a time when they could have done that, so why even mention it to begin with? This is where I think that some added pages could have made the story stronger. King could have elaborated on these thoughts and gone somewhere with them. I know that would have made for a very long book. Maybe he could have broken it in half and released it in two installments or something. I know that's not very likely but I guess I was just so wrapped up in the story that I personally just wanted to hear more about everything.

And lastly the townspeople seemed so cut off from civilization, yet they still had full access to the internet (at least while they had power). Was there no contact with loved ones on the outside via email, or im? There's even numerous video chat programs where they could converse with their family and friends on the outside of the dome. Also with the internet you've got access to anything you want. So couldn't they go online and find info about what was going on with the dome, what theories were out there about how it might have come about, and what people on the outside were saying about all that had happened, etc. I think that's the one thing that bugged me the most about the story. I would have preferred it if they had actually cut the internet so that everyone was more isolated than what they actually were.

[JRSly]

Just finished Under the Dome. I loved it. The first thing that I thought of when reading it was The Twilight Zone. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the ending though, I'm still thinking about it.
As soon as they identified aliens as their captors, I was getting a bad vibe in that it suddenly felt like a grander, darker rip off of 'The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street'. When it ended up being cruel kids treating them like bugs, that sat a lot better with me.


And in response to JRSly, for everything Big Jim did, I have to say that I quite enjoyed his demise. He completely ruined the entire town all by himself. So I liked that he died by his own hand. And that he went out quietly and not in some big shootout or epic fight. I don't think he deserved that glamour, if that makes any sense.
That's fair enough. I totally get what you mean. Another aspect of my hopeful ending was finally seeing Big Jim face anyone on his own. Without his officers, without his bodyguards, without any of the usual safety nets he had....that's something that could've been rewarding to finally see after watching him being nothing more than a puppet master for most of the book.


Now I just have a few questions. One is I didn't quite understand where Joe was going with making sure that the geiger counter was put back and that Big Jim found it. Nothing ever came of this, so what was the point? Also Joe mentioned something about taking over the radio station. I thought that was a very good idea, but once it was mentioned nothing came of that either. I understand there wasn't even a time when they could have done that, so why even mention it to begin with? This is where I think that some added pages could have made the story stronger. King could have elaborated on these thoughts and gone somewhere with them. I know that would have made for a very long book. Maybe he could have broken it in half and released it in two installments or something. I know that's not very likely but I guess I was just so wrapped up in the story that I personally just wanted to hear more about everything.
These points had slipped my mind..but yeah, couple of loose strings in there. The geiger counter plot seemed like a long con that counted on predicting too many actions from Rennie and co. And maybe it was King realizing this was maybe a tad too clever to work and defused the whole thing by having Rennie disregard the notice about radiation. The radio station though, yeah...that could've been a major coup for the gang. Too bad that didn't come to fruition.


And lastly the townspeople seemed so cut off from civilization, yet they still had full access to the internet (at least while they had power). Was there no contact with loved ones on the outside via email, or im? There's even numerous video chat programs where they could converse with their family and friends on the outside of the dome. Also with the internet you've got access to anything you want. So couldn't they go online and find info about what was going on with the dome, what theories were out there about how it might have come about, and what people on the outside were saying about all that had happened, etc. I think that's the one thing that bugged me the most about the story. I would have preferred it if they had actually cut the internet so that everyone was more isolated than what they actually were.
This was something else in my 'suspension of disbelief regarding the amount of danger they truly might be in' hang ups early on. It kinda irked me how Julia mentioned something about being 'old school' and not e-mailing the newspaper to Cox. It felt like King acknowledging the issue but choosing to make the characters stupid or stubborn enough for it not to matter. I kept wishing someone would just anonymously e-mail Sheriff Perkins file to everyone in town, that'd certainly make life in town difficult for Rennie. But he had the perfectly wrong characters continue to handle it and horribly misjudge the situation. They could've continuously e-mailed the citizens educating them on Rennie's actions and trying to keep everyone one step ahead, instead of simply suspecting what he was up to and then watching him do it without letting it out of their small circle.

And of course, it's easy to be outside the dome, privy to everyone's thoughts on both sides and orchestrate a perfect plan of attack, I guess. :)

[Hannah]

Was I the only one who felt a little bit cheated by the whole "alien brats controlling the dome" thing? It seemed so random to me. And the way Julia resolved it, I kind of sat there and thought "why didn't they think to beg them before?" and how convenient that when they do go to beg the alien kids to take the dome off only one of them is present. Wear it like a dress indeed.

Other than that and my irritation with Big Jim Rennie's ultimately unsatisfying ending (unsatisfying because I didn't get to see him completely denounced and ruined in front of the entire country, which is what I was hoping for) I absolutely loved the book. There were definitely some things that annoyed me (how hard is it to email a file to everyone, like the poster above me mentioned) but I could pass them over since the characters and story was so good.

[Heather19]

I had issues with the end as well. The alien bit didn't bother me. It reminded me of a mix of The Monsters are Due on Maple Street, like JRSly mentioned, and Stopover in a Quiet Town. But the way it was resolved is what did. I think I would have preferred it had the dome not lifted and they all perished inside.

[lophophoras]

I did enjoy the book. It was great to be able to sit down with a great group of characters and a story that flowed so well. But...I'm torn on the ending.

At first I had this sense of dread that they were all going to die, but they didn't.

Then after finishing, I started thinking it may have been better if they did all perish. Simply because the way that Julia managed to convince the 'kid' to let them out. It felt rushed to me. Like maybe King was just trying to 'get this over with'.

The ending did NOT make me dislike the book at all, it is a great story and that is how King decided to end it and I am fine with that.

Now I am ready for the his next one! So keep them coming! ;)

[Jon]

It made me want to smoke some glass.


So many rich characters!

The book had me by the throat and would not let go until I was done.

I still cannot agree that it was better than The Stand.


But WHAT A GREAT BOOK!!! The Chef was my favorite character!

[ManOfWesternesse]

It was a rollercoaster, a hell of a good read.
Yes, definitely had a bit of trouble swallowing that so many people in town were so willing to take just ANYTHING Big Jim dictated, and best example of that is that they (in general) had no problem with him creating a local Hitler Youth. But yes, you just have to accept that and let the story work I guess.

All-in-all, I loved the Book.

[ELazansky]

I thought it was a great book as well. I also wished that there was a final epilogue on "Where Are They Now" for the few survivors. Did Julia and Dale end up together? Did everyone move to a new town and stay together like a family? Really would like to know what SK had in mind for them.

[Matt]

I have to say though, I live in a small town in rural Colorado and the guy that runs the bank here (and also is the president of the town council) would do pretty much the same thing Big Jim did, and the town would follow him.

They have all just known him too long.

[Brice]

And most people find it easier to just go along.

[Hannah]

it's kind of the "what can i do about it? i'm just one person." mentality.

[TheRedKing]

Just finished reading this yesterday and have to say it was bloody brilliant. Most enjoyable SK I've read since The Stand and TDT.

As to those asking about Joes plans and where he was going with them. I think that at that time the gang didn't expect the whole place to become an inferno, in the days that followed those plans may have come to something, just a possibility.

Also, did anyone else find themself feeling really sorry for Junior? It wasn't his fault the headaches made him so violent, he never set out to kill anyone till the end, and we see through his thoughts he has genuine care for the kids. I was a bit saddened by his death tbh though it obviously had to happen, would have liked him to have took out his dad though :)

[Sam]

This morning I had an epiphany. I think, years from now, that this book will be seen as one of the books that really take a look at the dynamics of small town America. It's a kind of small town in a bubble type of book... literally.

[Xanthus]

I know it has been mentioned by others, but the "Mist" connection is interesting. It means this either happens in the keystone world, or one very closely related. If this get made into a movie, I want to see Stephen King play himself at visitor's day, coming to visit someone !!

[Gris]

Just finished it yesterday. Great book overall.

As others mentioned, I too think the story ended a bit abruptly. My audio copy was 28 disks. The "end" didn't start to happen until the 27th disk and a lot of that time was talking who was dieing while pressed up against the dome. Just seemed like a whole lot of time building up the story and very small, relatively, amount of time between "pressing Open" and the last page. It just seemed like Stephen was writing and writing, then got tired and said to himself "I'm done. Time to end it."

It was done well, and I do like Julia's interaction with the kid.

I'm not sure how I feel about the explosion. I've seen ordinance go off before and seen how much damage it can cause. But he really did make it seem like a lot of C4 and a ton of propane were able to replicate the effects of a nuclear bomb. I just can't see how ANY amount of LP and C4 can completely roast several sq miles of space. I know the dome would hold it in and channel it, but it still seemed excessive.

One of the most powerful non-nuclear bombs the military owns is the MOAB. It has over 18,000lbs of high explosives and only has a blast radius of 450ft with a shock wave estimates to knock down anything withing a 1/2 mile. I really can't see how it could have been possible for Chef to have anywhere near that much C4 cooked up. The propane might have helped, but propane is a flash explosive. It could have caused a larger shock wave, maybe, but it burns fast. No way it could have caused the rolling wall of flame the destroyed The Mill.

My only other peeve was what other said about Rennie and his influence on others. The strongest point for me was the burning of the Democrat. People KNEW Barbie and Julia were close friends. Of all the places in town, why would "Supporters of Barbie" attack the one place in town that could make his voice heard. There is also the fact that in front of most of the town, Andrea stands up and presents proof that Rennie is corrupt and no one thinks it odd that she gets a bullet in the head for her troubles.

[Sam]

Homemade C4 and real C4 would be two different creatures with different reactions I would think. I agree with you regarding the propane and had to just let go and ride with it. Propane burns so quickly that you have to have a steady feed of it to have a sustainable flame of any sort. The shockwave though I thought would have been devastating and very possibly on par with a volcanic eruption. It sounded like there were TONS of propane along with the C4 as I remember. It was late when I got to that section.

[Brice]

Homemade C4 and C4 are somewhat different. But then if Chef were a decent chemist with just a passable lab he could easily make the real thing.

Propane is not used to make meth at all. Those canisters do make rather handy containers for other chemicals though. If Chef was really making such vast quantities of meth there would have been a lot more empties (or at least ones filled with something else) than full canisters. It wouldn't have been that big of an explosion, but it could have been pretty damn big especially factoring in some of the other chemicals that would be likely to be present. Now the fumes would have been pretty bad, but they'd have dissipated.

[lophophoras]

I thought the propane was what they cooked the meth with? They do need a heat source.

Not that I am a expert on making meth. LOL... :P

[Brice]

Nope, those canisters are really helpful with storing things like anhydrous ammonia and all. Ideally one would use an actual lab, but there are ways around it. Propane however is not needed at all.


...not that I know or anything. :innocent:

[lophophoras]

http://www.smileyvault.com/albums/stock/smiley-character00229.gif (http://www.smileyvault.com/)

[Brice]

:lol:


uh oh :ninja:

[Patrick]

I thought the propane was a fuel source, not an ingredient.


No sympathy whatsoever for Junior. None.


I was quite satisfied with the ending. I was very happy that King did not drag it out like he has with some other of his books.

[Matt]

That's what I thought to Patrick. The propane was for "cooking" it. I've seen enough lighters under spoons in the movies to know you have to do something like that! :lol:

I was okay with the ending. I thought the tie in with the bullying incident was pretty satisfying. Glad that alien kid was alone because they were seriously down to it.

I am also a little on the fence with the explosion. I guess enough propane (and those tanks were huge, had to be moved with a truck) could create a serious explosion in an enclosed space but I think a massive forest fire as a result of the explosion sucking all the oxygen out would have been a bit more believable.

[Sam]

One thing I disagreed with Brice on was the dissipation of the fumes. I'm not so certain about that part. Especially given the lack of air movement inside the Dome. The fumes would have expanded and spread out, but they wouldn't have dissipated.

[BROWNINGS CHILDE]

The explosion seemed ok, but the sustained rolling, cataclysmic wall of flame that burned up the entire town did not set well with me at all. At one point Cox estimates that the wall of flame would reach them in about 15 minutes. That is just preposterous.:nope: I really had trouble stomaching that part. Everyone had 10 -15 minutes to contemplate their death or escape. Complete crap. Also, as explosive as oxygen is, when Ollie was under the potatoes and they were cooking, I find it impossible to believe that an open oxygen source would not explode. :nope: also, following the explosion, a fire of this magnitude would have created a huge vacuum. This would have caused air to be pulled in through the dome all over, regardless of the actions of the fans. Although, this would not have mattered because everyone inside would have quickly died from the bends. With a rapidly decreasing pressure. The nitrogen in there blood would have bubbled out like a diver rising to fast to the surface and they would have all died from air emboli in a matter of moments.

As to Rennie's death, I would have liked to see a showdown and justice served. I hated Rennie more than almost any other Villian that I can think of. I wanted him to suffer. Although, I was not completely dissapointed with his end. I felt it reminiscent of A Tell-tale heart. Where, his guilt led to his demise. I admit, that was really the only part of the book where I got a spine-tingle.

Did anyone else think of the Tommyknockers at the end of this book? When he was describing the leatherheads, for some reason, I kept thinking it sounded alot like the tommyknockers.

Also, the symbol. As soon as I saw it, I pulled my copy of It and verified that it was the same. Then for the rest of the book I kept waiting for some explanation. That was almost the most exciting element of the book for me. I was anxiously turning every page hoping for a connection. Well.........I am still waiting. Unfortunately the book is finished.

All told, I really liked this book, I have enjoyed it more than anything that King has written in at least 15 years. I was a little dissappointed in the ending, and I was downright appalled at his lack of research on the physical concequences of the explosion. But, it was good. I think I agree with whoever posted before about preferring an end where everyone died. I think that would have been tough to swallow, but it would have had a stronger impact. As it was, I almost teared up a little when Aiden died, and at that point, I kinda wanted everyone else to die too. It would've been the right ending for me. And, I almost thought King was gonna do it. But I wasn't completely unhappy with how it ended.

I will read it again at some point.

[Sam]

Truthfully, this was just ok for me. Yeah it pulled me along for the last quarter. Yes I HAD to finish reading it, and yes it was well written with living characters. BUT, it still feels like there is something missing from the story. It feels like the story isn't over. I really don't like finishing a book like that. Think how you would feel if there had been no Drawing of the Three.

UTD brought many questions with it and answered few of them. Overall, it was a good read and powered me through it, but I liked Duma Key better.

[alinda]

I have finally just finished the book, I am still not sure
about how I feel at all. The last few hundred pages had
me in a grip so tight it was hard to breathe ( no pun intended)
Now, reading what you my friends have to say about it has me
wondering all the more. I may have to let this all sink in.
In the end I am in accord that it is a hell of a good read after all.
And strangely it is having a like effect as TDT in that I keep seeing
things around me that shake me, and shout The Dome is here.:panic:

[Brice]

I thought the propane was a fuel source, not an ingredient.


No sympathy whatsoever for Junior. None.


I was quite satisfied with the ending. I was very happy that King did not drag it out like he has with some other of his books.


That's what I thought to Patrick. The propane was for "cooking" it. I've seen enough lighters under spoons in the movies to know you have to do something like that! :lol:

I was okay with the ending. I thought the tie in with the bullying incident was pretty satisfying. Glad that alien kid was alone because they were seriously down to it.

I am also a little on the fence with the explosion. I guess enough propane (and those tanks were huge, had to be moved with a truck) could create a serious explosion in an enclosed space but I think a massive forest fire as a result of the explosion sucking all the oxygen out would have been a bit more believable.


One thing I disagreed with Brice on was the dissipation of the fumes. I'm not so certain about that part. Especially given the lack of air movement inside the Dome. The fumes would have expanded and spread out, but they wouldn't have dissipated.


Okay, technically the fumes would not dissipate much, as not much (if any) would escape the dome. Little energy would be lost however due to the expansion of fumes they'd be dissipated at a much slower rate in any given area I think. I suppose I could be wrong here though or perhaps I've just worded what I'm saying poorly.

Anyhow I really don't think about these sort of technical errors when reading. Suspension of disbelief is easy for me and thus any errors have no weight on my enjoyment of a good story.

As for the meth "cooking" one doesn't use propane at all. As for lighters under spoons, that's more of a heroin thing generally, but there can be numerous ways of partaking of any substance. If one is injecting their meth I suppose they might do that. Anyhow that has no connection with the actual manufacture of meth. It's something the users do with the finished produc

[CyberGhostface]

Just finished it. IMO, this is definitely one of King's better books. In addition to Duma Key, this has restored my faith in King as a writer.

Big Jim is probably King's greatest villain IMO--someone who's completely despicable and loathsome, with no redeeming qualities. He's probably one of the few villains I've read that could be seen as pure evil and yet still come off as a human being. I wished he had a better ending (facing Barbie, perhaps) although I did like the idea of him dying alone in darkness surrounded by the people he had killed.

[alinda]

Anyhow I really don't think about these sort of technical errors when reading. Suspension of disbelief is easy for me and thus any errors have no weight on my enjoyment of a good story.


This sums up just how I have always felt about such difficulties in a story. I am sometimes so caught up in the story itself...I just go with it.
Well said , very well said.:thumbsup:

[Brice]

Yes, good story matters above us all else.

[blaine]

really sorry but i hated this book. the characters were cookie cutter, the storyline just meandered and the ending seem to be tacked on.
not even 1/20 th as good as the stand .

[Dolan]

I finished the book.

I thought this was one of the BEST of the more recent King books. A FAR cry from The Stand but still very very good.

I, also, was disappointed when I was going through a major plot line (with no end in sight) with 50 pages of the book to go. The ending was a bit childish for me - a bit like you guys have described in the sense that it was getting to be too much. But if the book continued at that pace, I could have easily read 300 more pages.

I would say the scene at the grocery store was one of the best, in my opinion.

Overall, I really liked it but wished there was more of an ending with a book close to 1100 pages.

[1morerobot]

Here's a cast of actors I began to envision as characters from Under The Dome. Anyone else do a mental casting? I'm curious what faces others put to these characters.

Barbie: Sam Worthington
http://liveforfilms.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/sam_worthington.jpg

Rennie: Bruce McGill
http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0gMVf7l1Di5WP/340x.jpg

Julia: Sigourney Weaver
http://www.topnews.in/files/images/Sigourney-Weaver9.jpg

Junior: Mark Salling
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_lLsdaCVk3Kk/SrZRxi0O4QI/AAAAAAABN2Y/elj3E3kngYc/s400/MarkSalling06.jpg

Rusty: Paul Schulze
http://www.sho.com/site/nursejackie/season1/image-bin/paul_schulze.jpg

Piper: Edie Falco
http://images.starpulse.com/Photos/Previews/Nurse-Jackie-tv-02.jpg

Thurston: James Cromwell
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OYUMoUrrdBE/R-v3HKK6fEI/AAAAAAAADTc/bWVAEQQNNYA/s400/james.jpg

Rose: Patricia Clarkson
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Cvo4jwbe8wE/R9Oo4x6b2pI/AAAAAAAAAiM/n7ryl0NipMw/s400/6.jpg

Andrea: Kathy Bates
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/images/users/uploads/9357/bates.jpg

[Dolan]

WOW! Your Barbie, Rennie and Piper were SPOT ON FOR ME! I wish I saw this before I read the book so I had a better visual! Well done!

[Hannah]

Edie Falco is perfect for Piper. :D

[johnsmith87]

Wow, great casting choices. All of those could easily work.

[Ste Letto]

Overall I liked it, a lot. I would recommend it, despite its flaws. It wasn't as good as The Stand, in my opinion. The characterisation wasn't as good as in The Stand, or a few SK books. I felt the female characters were far better drawn than the male, even Barbie didn't have the depth. I thought Chef and Sanders were the most well done male characters, and Big Jim of course.

I have mixed feelings about Big Jim. Yes he was evil, manipulative, power hungry and monstrous. Yes he was the most evil human character SK has ever created, but that was my problem with him and with the book as a whole.

In SK books I like the principal evil to be supernatural. Now the dome was a catalyst for evil, but as JS points out it was the people who did the evil. Even the leatherheads didn't make the people of Chester's Mill do evil things, they just created a pressure cooker situation.

The leatherheads and the dome didn't really gel. I felt the origin of the dome, and the generation of the dome, deserved a more elegant explanation.

I loved the mystery of the dome's origin and the whole geiger counter situation, approaching it and finding it. I loved the radiation ring and the purple spotlight, but the children's toy, a cosmic wii, was disappointing. Maybe I wanted too much.

I quite liked the parallel with JS being bullied and the pity of the girl, with the leatherhead child.

All in all I'd say 7 out of 10. It was better than I expected, but not as good as I hoped.

[Abyssimal]

Two words: "not bad"


Big Jim's character was a little too much of a characture to me. Yes, he was as humanly evil as it gets, but hes meglamania was way too over the top - especially for running a town of 2000. At some point even before the dome came down, why didn't someone say, "Dude, you know you're just small potatoes, don't you?"

The characters seemed very familiar and shared traits from other of King's books. Barbie - the reluctant "aw shucks" hero reminded me of Stu Redman for one. Chef bore an uncanny resemblance to the trashcan man for another.


The ending was quite well done and I was satisfied with it. The explosion, Rennie's end, the alien bully angle, I had no problem with.



My biggest beef was with how unbelievably quickly the town disintigrated into suicides, and the like. It was only a week - you'd think at that time, people would be pulling together to come up with a solution, rather than blind panic. I have a little more faith in humanity than that.

[Ricky]

Wow is right. Alot of those are close to spot-on for my visuals of the characters. Nice job!

[Lily-sai]

I really like the idea of Sam Worthington as Barbie. :wub:
The other choices were really great, too! Bravo!

[BROWNINGS CHILDE]

Wow, you pretty much nailed it. I especially liked your choices for Barbie, Rennie and Junior. I'm not sure about Kathy Bates, she seems a little to overt for the part.

As for Rennie, I kept picturing Brian Dennehy in my head as I was reading:

http://www.seriesadictos.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/0.jpg

[BeDaN]

Linda Everett's badge number 775, 7+7+5=19

[BROWNINGS CHILDE]

Just thinking about the IT reference:

Losers club had their last confrontation with It in 1985. This book came out in 2009. Started in 2008. That would be 28 years. Coincindence? Or has the cycle come round again?

[Nerak]

Ok, did this get put from another thread into it's own....cause I don't see anyone's pics for the casting before Kenny's post?!?!?!?

[Solar]

Just thinking about the IT reference:

Losers club had their last confrontation with It in 1985. This book came out in 2009. Started in 2008. That would be 28 years. Coincindence? Or has the cycle come round again?

That would be cool, but I think your math's off. 2013 would be 28 years.

[lowdown]

and also pennywise is supposed to be from outer space ......im sure they said something about that in IT ...him coming to earth long before humans where even around .....i think it is more related to IT then to DT ,but what the fuck i guess they are all related in someway

[lowdown]

damn spot on ...but we got alot of people to cover ....huge cast

[BROWNINGS CHILDE]

Just thinking about the IT reference:

Losers club had their last confrontation with It in 1985. This book came out in 2009. Started in 2008. That would be 28 years. Coincindence? Or has the cycle come round again?

That would be cool, but I think your math's off. 2013 would be 28 years.

Wow, I am gonna get that 'rithmatic someday:doh:

[lowdown]

i finished it 2 days ago and have been waiting to let it sink in..i love the book what a fucking ride

i can say it ended short compared to the build up ...at about half the book it could have ended but it still kept me going and i was rolling ......i read the last half of the book in 2 days .....i think Sai King is scared to draw out a ending maybe,after DT7 but he almost had too....but thats another thread.....i dont care though ,it was such a good book..... i almost don't care about the ending .....he could have gave a epilouge but as far as King goes.......
You take the good, you take the bad,
you take them both and there you have
The Facts of Life, the Facts of Life

sorry im stoned :cool::wtf:

sorry ...great book one of his best .....i could read one of these every month

kudos Stephen King you are THE writer in my book ...besides the bible......i know it's kinda crazy but i cant put anybody over the bible

[Brice]

Potentially religiously offensive...you've been warned. Personally I like every King book more than the bible. Let's just face it, parts of the bible are just plain tedious and it is a plotless book. And surely the begets could have been cut back to a paragraph or so. It really could have used a good editor. It would have made a really nice short story or novella.

And there was no signed limited. :nope: :(

[BROWNINGS CHILDE]

Potentially religiously offensive...you've been warned. Personally I like every King book more than the bible. Let's just face it, parts of the bible are just plain tedious and it is a plotless book. And surely the begets could have been cut back to a paragraph or so. It really could have used a good editor. It would have made a really nice short story or novella.

And there was no signed limited. :nope: :(

Some good subplots and stories within, but yeah overall really disconnected and tedious. If about 500 pages were removed, it would be a good book.

[Brice]

:thumbsup: I think it could even be shorter still.

[Brice]

Just thinking about the IT reference:

Losers club had their last confrontation with It in 1985. This book came out in 2009. Started in 2008. That would be 28 years. Coincindence? Or has the cycle come round again?

That would be cool, but I think your math's off. 2013 would be 28 years.

Wow, I am gonna get that 'rithmatic someday:doh:

:scared:


Pharm guy making math mistakes. *shudders* :P

[BROWNINGS CHILDE]

Just thinking about the IT reference:

Losers club had their last confrontation with It in 1985. This book came out in 2009. Started in 2008. That would be 28 years. Coincindence? Or has the cycle come round again?

That would be cool, but I think your math's off. 2013 would be 28 years.

Wow, I am gonna get that 'rithmatic someday:doh:

:scared:



Pharm guy making math mistakes. *shudders* :P

Compentence is highly overated:P

[Brice]

Just thinking about the IT reference:

Losers club had their last confrontation with It in 1985. This book came out in 2009. Started in 2008. That would be 28 years. Coincindence? Or has the cycle come round again?

That would be cool, but I think your math's off. 2013 would be 28 years.

Wow, I am gonna get that 'rithmatic someday:doh:

:scared:



Pharm guy making math mistakes. *shudders* :P

Compentence is highly overated:P

:lol:

Just remember- if I'm ever in town my Percocet prescription DOES say take 4-6 every 1-2 hours. :rofl:

[BROWNINGS CHILDE]

Too much tylenol.:P

[Sam]

Just thinking about the IT reference:

Losers club had their last confrontation with It in 1985. This book came out in 2009. Started in 2008. That would be 28 years. Coincindence? Or has the cycle come round again?

That would be cool, but I think your math's off. 2013 would be 28 years.

Wow, I am gonna get that 'rithmatic someday:doh:

:scared:



Pharm guy making math mistakes. *shudders* :P

Compentence is highly overated:P

:lol:

Just remember- if I'm ever in town my Percocet prescription DOES say take 4-6 every 1-2 hours. :rofl:

He didn't say he was dyslexic, Brice, just bad at math. That means you'd get 25 Percocets instead of the 30 you were supposed to get.

[BROWNINGS CHILDE]

Hey did you guys know there is a new med to be distributed by incompetent pharmacists with loose morals. I hear it fixes everything.

http://notyouraveragevoter.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/fukitol-sml1.jpg

[lowdown]

come on guys ..there is no offence to me ....this is america we can say what we want.....alot of people feel that way.....its is really a collection of books but i digress

the dome was great

[Savvy]

Rennie

http://www.reellifewisdom.com/files/images/Jack%20Nicholson.jpg

and for Barbie I was imagining a younger baby faced version of daniel craig. Dont know why!

Thurston
http://www.contactmusic.com/pics/lb/polanski_unauthorised_110209/david_carradine_2286339.jpg


Is there a thread like this for TDT??

[pinkymcfatfat]

Did anyone else see parallels between two of the UTD baddies and some real life baddies?

Big Jim, dies alone in a bunker, ala Hitler (and has his own group of 'brown shirts' although they wear blue).

Junior, becomes a sadistic killer because of a brain tumor, ala Charles Lee Whitman (the Texas tower shooter)

[pinkymcfatfat]

About meth and all that...

My older sister was addicted to meth for 20+ years, so unfortunately, I know a lot about it. Also, one of my partners at work has a husband who works for the Pennsylvania Forestry Bureau and has run into meth labs set up in remote locations.

Meth labs are incredibly dangerous. There has been some question about the fumes and such from one exploding. It would be very, very bad. Even with wind, it's harder to dissipate then you would think.

Look up stories about homes that were former meth labs. The people who move into them become incredibly ill, even years after meth was made there. Most of these homes need to be demolished. Hell, you don't even need to go into a former meth house to get a taste of it, just go and visit someone who's a dedicated meth addict.

My sisters enviroment was toxic, years of indoor heavy meth use made it that way. When she committed suicide in May of '05, it was up to me to clean out her tiny house. Even with every window wide open, I wore a mask. I still went home every night to blinding headaches etc. I had to warn city housing about the place and they brought in professional cleaners...and I often wonder if any following tenants became ill living there.

Back to a lab exploding, go on google and put in 'meth lab explosion'. These generally show one room or house explosions, and they are nasty. Imagine an industrial meth lab going up after an explosion.

As I said, my friends hub is a Forestry officer and has found several meth labs. They pose a real threat in forest locations. If the do go up, they can cause a Hellish forest fire and the burning chemicals greatly endanger the fire crews.

[Nerak]

Rennie: Bruce McGill
http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0gMVf7l1Di5WP/340x.jpg


Thurston: James Cromwell
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OYUMoUrrdBE/R-v3HKK6fEI/AAAAAAAADTc/bWVAEQQNNYA/s400/james.jpg



Spot on for those...

[pinkymcfatfat]

Aidan's Shawshank Prison surplus nightshirt/t-shirt belonged to prisoner 9091.

9+0+9+1=19

[Brice]

Just thinking about the IT reference:

Losers club had their last confrontation with It in 1985. This book came out in 2009. Started in 2008. That would be 28 years. Coincindence? Or has the cycle come round again?

That would be cool, but I think your math's off. 2013 would be 28 years.

Wow, I am gonna get that 'rithmatic someday:doh:

:scared:



Pharm guy making math mistakes. *shudders* :P

Compentence is highly overated:P

:lol:

Just remember- if I'm ever in town my Percocet prescription DOES say take 4-6 every 1-2 hours. :rofl:

He didn't say he was dyslexic, Brice, just bad at math. That means you'd get 25 Percocets instead of the 30 you were supposed to get.

...or 250. :lol:


Too much tylenol.:P

Is it bad to point out that there are somewhat easy ways of separating one from the other? :unsure: :ninja:

[Erin]

Wow, you pretty much nailed it. I especially liked your choices for Barbie, Rennie and Junior. I'm not sure about Kathy Bates, she seems a little to overt for the part.

As for Rennie, I kept picturing Brian Dennehy in my head as I was reading:

http://www.seriesadictos.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/0.jpg

Ahahahaha, I did the same thing!:nana:

[candy]

really sorry but i hated this book. the characters were cookie cutter, the storyline just meandered and the ending seem to be tacked on.
not even 1/20 th as good as the stand .

oh thank god, i thought i had read a different book to everyone else. although i didn't hate this book, it didn't care for it and really struggled to finish it. maybe i need to read it again (in a few months when i can stomache it) but i really didn't care for any of the characters, which made it difficult to care what happened at the end.

This was no where near the Stand and even duma key, it was a frustrating read from start to finish for me, i understand that your all saying you know people like rennie, but my god i had to keep putting the book to one side it annoyed me so much.

so its taken me an awfully long time to finish it, which may add to my dis-like, hopefully when i go for the re-read that fact that i know how it ends may help me digest the mis-justice that went on. I think, in my mind, i like my fiction to have an end to the wronged and for justice to win out. but to me this never happened in UTD

[Sam]

I think it MAY be bad, and almost certainly is illegal. :evil:

[Brice]

Oh, it definitely is illegal. :lol: Bad however is a more relative term.

Edit: It's not illegal to point it out or even to tell someone how (though I wouldn't generally), it is only illegal to actually do it.

[futuramaguy07]

I''m a huge Fantasy - Medieval person and EotD was an absolutely amazing read for me. Pretty much every book I read has a point in it where I can not put it down till the end (I have a feeling im getting close to this point in Wizard and Glass, which thrills me). Eyes of the Dragon was one of those special books that demanded not to be put down from the beginning.
Don't get me wrong, Im not saying that EotD is necesarily better than books that take longer to grab me, but still, it was an excellent book.

[Jaztastic]

Did anyone else think for a second that the "Leatherheads" were really giant ants? Once they started talking about ants under a magnifying glass, I started thinking about ants taking revenge on us. The shape of an ant's head is somewhat of a diamond; and they may look very geometrical and angle-y (lol) if we were blown up to a large size, and we were very small compared to them.

[CPU]

really sorry but i hated this book. the characters were cookie cutter, the storyline just meandered and the ending seem to be tacked on.
not even 1/20 th as good as the stand .

oh thank god, i thought i had read a different book to everyone else. although i didn't hate this book, it didn't care for it and really struggled to finish it. maybe i need to read it again (in a few months when i can stomache it) but i really didn't care for any of the characters, which made it difficult to care what happened at the end.

This was no where near the Stand and even duma key, it was a frustrating read from start to finish for me, i understand that your all saying you know people like rennie, but my god i had to keep putting the book to one side it annoyed me so much.

so its taken me an awfully long time to finish it, which may add to my dis-like, hopefully when i go for the re-read that fact that i know how it ends may help me digest the mis-justice that went on. I think, in my mind, i like my fiction to have an end to the wronged and for justice to win out. but to me this never happened in UTD

Add me to the above group, and candy pretty much said everything I would have :lol: . To be truthful, I haven't even been able to finish it yet; I keep trying, and trying, and trying..

[mystima]

anyone notice the editing mistakes at the beginning of the book. wasn't Julia's dog's name Horace and a couple of times the name Hector popped up instead. haven't seen anymore as i have not read that far into the book yet.

[Qp_of_Gilead]

I have a few questions about the book. I read it a few weeks ago and already forgot some details.

Here are the Questions


SPOILER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!







What is the name of the airliner that crashes into the dome, something irish right?

does the box just lift up into space?

is it Brenda who pleads with the ******. (just incase you accidently read on)

When, where and why does Dale order huge fans placed out side the dome
thank you

[Qp_of_Gilead]

whoops did that spoiler box wrong, lookout below!!

[Sam]

The spoiler button is the one that has the atomic radiation symbol. Click on it and write in between the bracketed sections. Then your writing will be spoilered.

[lowdown]

i loved this thing..... i finished it in 6 days ....and that includes being a drunk (i can't read when i have been drinking)

it was a comfort book to me ....i knew from the first 100 pages Barbie would prevail even though it was really a group effort and he was the "leader" .......the story telling was 100 mph and i love that from king ...he can drag some of his books .....but that is the editors problem.......i was happy ...plus it was a Christmas gift so i didn't spend any money on it .....although i usually go to the library anyway:idea:

[JRSly]

anyone notice the editing mistakes at the beginning of the book. wasn't Julia's dog's name Horace and a couple of times the name Hector popped up instead. haven't seen anymore as i have not read that far into the book yet.
I didn't notice that, but there was a small continuity error after...

Sammy's rape

...when she's described as wearing jeans in one paragraph and sweat pants in another.

I also caught a small typo near the end, can't recall exactly...someone's name spelled wrong.

[theyspunaweb]

Ok not to be rude, I haven't read through this post yet (I intend to right after I post this...) So others may have said the same thing already. I just finished Under the Dome. And my initial reaction is that...King is telling us a bigger story. There is so much political struggling in the story - and I feel like the Dome is just a way for us to see the world on a smaller scale. What I mean by that is, global warming and the relization that we are releasing harmful chemicals into our atmosphere that wind up at the OZone layer (our personal "dome")...also how there are many dictators and rulers in the world that may not be a "good guy" - yet people will follow them.

I probably could have worded this a lot clearer, many of the struggles inside of the Dome could be real possible issues for the earth as we know it in the future, years from now.
Do you think King was trying to send a little bit of this message through the book? A little message about being more "green" maybe? He said he started to write the book a long time ago so maybe this idea hadn't been brought up then. But I felt like reading the Dome was like watching a tiny version of our population and seeing how it would cope with unreal circumstances - what would happen if a horrible person was in the office (is there already?) and what would happen if world's polution became so horrible? As far as I know...the world would be alone - without help from the outside of our atmosphere just like those in the dome were.

Ug. I feel like I'm always onto something but just can't say it.

[Savvy]

I think SK was telling us not to burn ants :P

No, seriously I see what you're saying

[parsnip]

I had a tough time reading this book without thinking about the Simpson's Movie.

[theyspunaweb]

the donut one? I completely forget what happened. Was there a dome?

[theyspunaweb]

- I think I even saw it in theaters, how sad.

[Spencer]

Do you think King was trying to send a little bit of this message through the book?

Yep, that's EXACTLY what I think. :lol: Check this thread for the discussion on that: http://www.thedarktower.org/palaver/showthread.php?t=9080

Feel free to discuss it further here as well. :D

[parsnip]

the donut one? I completely forget what happened. Was there a dome?

Yeah. Homer pollutes the lake with Pig Crap, so the EPA lowers an impenetrable dome over Springfield. The whole town goes crazy...

[theyspunaweb]

hm. King said he had the idea for a really long time, but I guess that sounds pretty similar. (minus the pig crap, cartoons, and the lowering of the dome by the EPA). That's funny that I can't remember anything about the dome though, or anything about the movie really besides spider pig and the pink donut (and a bart simpson penis?)

[IWasSentWest]

big jim is such a dickhead

[Matt]

King can produce a partial manuscript for this story from the early 80's I think. This would predate the Simpsons in every way possible.

[IWasSentWest]

i don't see how he could have stolen it from the simpsons. in order to produce a story of that magnitude, he would of needed a bit more time than two years to think up, perfect, and write a story like UTD.

[parsnip]

I was in no way saying or trying to insinuate that there was any plagiarism of ideas between the two stories. I read the afterword by King, too.

I think it would be incredibly naive, as well as utterly ridiculous, to infer that any idea out there is a pristine and self encompassed entity.

However, I did find it hard to read UTD without thinking about the Simpson's movie and envisioning Moe running around somewhere under the dome with a traffic cone on his head. The thought tickled me.

They are clearly two different stories; with two obvious inceptions and differing story lines. But the similarity of external circumstance present in both stories did make it difficult, in my mind, to read it without being reminded of the other; especially when you consider both King and the Simpson's relative impact and proliferation throughout popular culture. Stephen King has even been on the Simpsons (which is not to say that some sort of nefarious purpose or idea stealing happened at that time, but to emphasize my point about popular culture sharing common threads).

I don't think it is in any way unusual to see similarities between the two stories. Or that it's wrong to have a little fun wondering about two imaginary worlds colliding. Even if it is, sometimes, a little distracting.

[BROWNINGS CHILDE]

Too bad the Simpson's movie has already been done. It would have been great to see the Simpson's movie done as a parody of under the dome.

[ChildoftheTurtle]

Just finished this and WOW loved it!!! Have to admit I didn't really care for Duma Key, so I was trepedatious about UtD, but...did I say WOW already?
1morerobot - LOVE your cast. I couldn't help but make Big Jim into Boss Hogg from the original Dukes of Hazzard in my head :D
LOVE the idea that the cycle is beginning again - it's not that far off of 28 years.
Aaaaand...love reading all the other "19"s that I missed - but I got one that no one else did - the hardback mass market edition has 1072 pages (to the story part, not counting the author's note) 1+0+7+2 = 19. I turned right to the end upon getting the book to see how many pages it had and was SO STOKED to see 1072. :thumbsup:

[IWasSentWest]

i think you meant 10+7+2 ;)

[ChildoftheTurtle]

i think you meant 10+7+2 ;)
Yeah, that too :doh: It's ok, I is a homskoolin' parent!! :unsure:

[rico567]

Ok not to be rude, I haven't read through this post yet (I intend to right after I post this...) So others may have said the same thing already. I just finished Under the Dome. And my initial reaction is that...King is telling us a bigger story. There is so much political struggling in the story - and I feel like the Dome is just a way for us to see the world on a smaller scale. What I mean by that is, global warming and the relization that we are releasing harmful chemicals into our atmosphere that wind up at the OZone layer (our personal "dome")...also how there are many dictators and rulers in the world that may not be a "good guy" - yet people will follow them.

I probably could have worded this a lot clearer, many of the struggles inside of the Dome could be real possible issues for the earth as we know it in the future, years from now.
Do you think King was trying to send a little bit of this message through the book? A little message about being more "green" maybe? He said he started to write the book a long time ago so maybe this idea hadn't been brought up then. But I felt like reading the Dome was like watching a tiny version of our population and seeing how it would cope with unreal circumstances - what would happen if a horrible person was in the office (is there already?) and what would happen if world's polution became so horrible? As far as I know...the world would be alone - without help from the outside of our atmosphere just like those in the dome were.

Ug. I feel like I'm always onto something but just can't say it.

As for your first sentence, I don't see what's "rude" about your post, since it's just your opinions, and isn't aimed at anyone.

As for your last sentence, I think you said it, although spending a bit more time polishing your language might help.

In between -from reviews and discussion of UTD that I've read here and elsewhere- I think that's what I've derived from these: King has set up a microcosm he's using to compose a parable of what's wrong with the U.S. / The World.

I haven't read UTD yet, and from what I've read about it have no current plans to acquire it. SK is at his best when he is writing STORY as ENTERTAINMENT. This book appears to verge into the area of political proselytizing (even in my reading posts by people who liked the book).

My opinion is that King (for his own purposes, and I don't question those) has reworked elements of Tommyknockers, The Stand, and several other books to write "What's Wrong With America" in fictional form.

To date, The Stand has been his best single-volume work, and DT his overall tour de force. UTD isn't in the same league, even from reading it at second-hand.

[Brice]

Ok not to be rude, I haven't read through this post yet (I intend to right after I post this...) So others may have said the same thing already. I just finished Under the Dome. And my initial reaction is that...King is telling us a bigger story. There is so much political struggling in the story - and I feel like the Dome is just a way for us to see the world on a smaller scale. What I mean by that is, global warming and the relization that we are releasing harmful chemicals into our atmosphere that wind up at the OZone layer (our personal "dome")...also how there are many dictators and rulers in the world that may not be a "good guy" - yet people will follow them.

I probably could have worded this a lot clearer, many of the struggles inside of the Dome could be real possible issues for the earth as we know it in the future, years from now.
Do you think King was trying to send a little bit of this message through the book? A little message about being more "green" maybe? He said he started to write the book a long time ago so maybe this idea hadn't been brought up then. But I felt like reading the Dome was like watching a tiny version of our population and seeing how it would cope with unreal circumstances - what would happen if a horrible person was in the office (is there already?) and what would happen if world's polution became so horrible? As far as I know...the world would be alone - without help from the outside of our atmosphere just like those in the dome were.

Ug. I feel like I'm always onto something but just can't say it.

As for your first sentence, I don't see what's "rude" about your post, since it's just your opinions, and isn't aimed at anyone.

As for your last sentence, I think you said it, although spending a bit more time polishing your language might help.

In between -from reviews and discussion of UTD that I've read here and elsewhere- I think that's what I've derived from these: King has set up a microcosm he's using to compose a parable of what's wrong with the U.S. / The World.

I haven't read UTD yet, and from what I've read about it have no current plans to acquire it. SK is at his best when he is writing STORY as ENTERTAINMENT. This book appears to verge into the area of political proselytizing (even in my reading posts by people who liked the book).

My opinion is that King (for his own purposes, and I don't question those) has reworked elements of Tommyknockers, The Stand, and several other books to write "What's Wrong With America" in fictional form.

To date, The Stand has been his best single-volume work, and DT his overall tour de force. UTD isn't in the same league, even from reading it at second-hand.

I think this might just be the one story King's been telling us since he started and by started I don't mean this book.

[Kronz]

I really loved Under the Dome even though I could find a lot of things to criticize about it. King has a number of books where the major plot element is shrouded in mystery and where he doesn't hand you all the answers. Most of the time that works fine for me but I can totally see why someone would be frustrated at the end of the book. I half expected everyone to die and there to be no explanation whatsoever. The thin information about leatherheads and the purpose of the dome didn't thrill me, but at least it was something. The part that seems most up for critique are the recycled archetypes, but after reading forty or more novels from the same person, it's almost unavoidable to draw character parallels. I kept seeing Barbie as Stu from the Stand and for some reason Buster from Needful Things kept coming to mind for Jim. There were a lot more but those two kept coming back to me as I read it. At least it was all brought together with a great story that never slowed down, that really made up for the King archetype overkill.

On another note, I didn't see anyone mention this as I glanced over the thread, but I noticed a fair deal of similarity with Wizard and Glass. Hear me out, I know that sounds a bit far fetched, and it's of course tenuous connections but I thought it was interesting and stood out to me. Aside from the possibility of a ka-tet in UtD, I noticed the politics of Chester's Mills and Hambry to be eerily similar. In both towns the man in charge is really a puppet for more sinister purposes; both political elements in either town go well out of their way to demonize the newcomer(s) and uncooperative locals to hide a huge conspiracy motivated by personal greed and power-grabbing. In neither case is the man in the highest position even all that interested in the conspiracy. Also the term "in the frame" was used in W&G and is a chapter in UtD, and both sequences are VERY similar. I am inclined to think King knows his DT stories well enough for this to be intentional. Oh and there's a minor character in W&G called Rennie.

Maybe I am just seeing things, but I found that all very interesting; reading latter-day King (and re-reading earlier stuff) is always fun when keeping TDT fresh in the mind.

[scottish_rogue]

I thought it was funny how Private Ames uses "y'all" in reference to Ollie in the book, since it is a contraction of "you all", and Ollie is just one person. I'm from Louisiana so it just seemed strange to me. I loved the book though...great story. It was a nice change from what I am used to reading.

[thebumblerinblack]

Best King book in awhile. Loved the entire story, even the demise of Big Jim, because it gave me a little taste of the SK horror I really look forward to in his books, creepy animated corpses or ghosts or what have you, anything supernaturally horrifying like that. And by having him be alone when he gets it, it kind of gives you the option of deciding for yourself if he was just going nuts from the stress of his situation, or if it was actually ghosts coming for him. The end of that last scene with Big Jim was the epidomy of the saying "stuck between a rock and a hard place." I haven't hated a storybook charactor that much in quite awhile. I loved it. I would have also loved it if Big Jim was hanged or mutilated in front of the survivors, or burned alive, that would have been nice, too.

I finshed it in like 5 days (and Im not normally a fast reader at all), could not put it down, I felt like I was in there with them. I even caught myself having difficulty breathing while reading the parts where they were sucking fan air through the dome. I thought the story flowed perfectly and that it had a great ending. I think sometimes (bite my tongue) his endings can be a little dissapointing, and was so glad that wasnt the case with this one, what with my brain hurting by about page 1000, I did not want it to suck.
I think by reading it so fast, though, I must have missed where it talked about why they didnt just dig underneath the dome to get out. I think they mention something about it towards the end, saying that it goes down for miles or something, I'm not sure.

There were so many drugs in that story, my god, it made me want to smoke meth, and I hate meth and everything it stands for. Hell, it made me want to do a bunch of oxycontin and then go through withdrawals. I really hope King will churn up many many more stories like this in the years to come, drugs or no drugs.

ps. Do you think that the part where they spit and put boogers in Barbie's cereal symbolizes Ka and the path of...just kidding. Not everything has to symbolize or be linked with the dark tower or his other books. It is fun to look for the links, but sometimes its cool to just take things at face value. Sorry if thats heresy to say that on this forum.

[Kronz]

the dome was a sphere that went an equal distance under the ground

[thebumblerinblack]

Oh okay, thanks. dont know how I missed that.

[flaggwalkstheline]

I enjoyed under the dome very much but I had one decent sized gripe with it: everything happened in 4 days? really?:rolleyes: I would have found it to be much more believable if it had happened over like a few months, not such a short amount of time

[Ageless Stranger]

The whole time I read this book, Barbie's character felt like Larry Underwood to me. I don't know why, i just connected with him the same way I guess.

[IWasSentWest]

same here man, same here

[Kronz]

I got a lot more Stu Redman from Dale, personally. Nevermind that Gary Sinise is probably 25 years too old to be Barbie, I pictured him throughout the entire novel.

[IWasSentWest]

now that its been brought up, i actually think i mixed the two characters.

when the chipmunk said that the guy walking down the road was chunky, or whatever he thought, it threw me off with a mental picture for the first couple of chapters. But after i figured out that he wasn't, i definitely pinned him between Stu and Larry.

[Ageless Stranger]

I got a lot more Stu Redman from Dale, personally. Nevermind that Gary Sinise is probably 25 years too old to be Barbie, I pictured him throughout the entire novel.

I can see that. Barbie is ex-military and has a better sense of whats going on, but his age and the fact that he's a drifter short-order cook just made me think of Underwood for some reason.

[Circumvrent]

Hey everybody,

If UNDER THE DOME didn't have references to iPods, Sarah Palin and Lost, I'd believe he had written it in the late 70s/early 80s, with the same passion that drove CARRIE, THE SHINING, PET SEMATARY and THE STAND. I can't remember the last time I read such a long book so quickly.


Did anyone else see parallels between two of the UTD baddies and some real life baddies?

A power-hungry politician with a bad ticker and a dummy he lets be the face of his organization? Nope, doesn't remind me of anyone at all... :evil:

Speaking of Rennie... with one of the themes of the book being how far back these families go in Chester's Mills, and how ingrained everyone is in everyone's else's life - Andrea, Rose, and Twitch are blood relations, there's a cop on the PD who's Piper's cousin - I can't recall any mention of where Big Jim Rennie came from. Nothing about his parents, his grandparents, how long he's been in the Mill. It's like he was born from the primordial ooze.


Did anyone else think for a second that the "Leatherheads" were really giant ants? Once they started talking about ants under a magnifying glass, I started thinking about ants taking revenge on us. The shape of an ant's head is somewhat of a diamond; and they may look very geometrical and angle-y (lol) if we were blown up to a large size, and we were very small compared to them.

That's awesome! That's really great. I love the message at the heart of the novel's core; yes, people can be horrible, but when push comes down to shove, more of us are good than bad, and deserving of pity.

[Mrs. Underwood]

I sped through this book. I can't remember the last time I read such a large book in less than a week, but this was one where you couldn't stop. The way the story is constructed and how dire the situation is require that you keep pushing forward. I'm impressed with how epic it was despite being set in one, small town... Then again, why does it surprise me that he can still do that? ;)


Speaking of Rennie... with one of the themes of the book being how far back these families go in Chester's Mills, and how ingrained everyone is in everyone's else's life - Andrea, Rose, and Twitch are blood relations, there's a cop on the PD who's Piper's cousin - I can't recall any mention of where Big Jim Rennie came from. Nothing about his parents, his grandparents, how long he's been in the Mill. It's like he was born from the primordial ooze.

HAHAHA! That's a perfect way of putting it. Yeah, there was this feeling there that Rennie was an outsider who insinuated himself on the town and everyone in it and rose to power because... it was easy. Also, I loved how not subtle it was that he was a car salesman. Yeeeeeah, Rennie basically encompassed the banality of evil in so many ways, which made him incredibly effective. I think he was probably THE most disturbing, disgusting villain King's ever written. And that's taking Flagg into consideration, too!

[Ageless Stranger]

Speaking of Rennie... with one of the themes of the book being how far back these families go in Chester's Mills, and how ingrained everyone is in everyone's else's life - Andrea, Rose, and Twitch are blood relations, there's a cop on the PD who's Piper's cousin - I can't recall any mention of where Big Jim Rennie came from. Nothing about his parents, his grandparents, how long he's been in the Mill. It's like he was born from the primordial ooze.

HAHAHA! That's a perfect way of putting it. Yeah, there was this feeling there that Rennie was an outsider who insinuated himself on the town and everyone in it and rose to power because... it was easy. Also, I loved how not subtle it was that he was a car salesman. Yeeeeeah, Rennie basically encompassed the banality of evil in so many ways, which made him incredibly effective. I think he was probably THE most disturbing, disgusting villain King's ever written. And that's taking Flagg into consideration, too!

I think I might just agree with you on that. I have never hated Flagg/Walter the way I absoluely despise Big Jim Rennie. I know I'm weird, but I actually like Walter O'Dim. I like the way he says things to other characters that only the reader understands.

[Mrs. Underwood]

Speaking of Rennie... with one of the themes of the book being how far back these families go in Chester's Mills, and how ingrained everyone is in everyone's else's life - Andrea, Rose, and Twitch are blood relations, there's a cop on the PD who's Piper's cousin - I can't recall any mention of where Big Jim Rennie came from. Nothing about his parents, his grandparents, how long he's been in the Mill. It's like he was born from the primordial ooze.

HAHAHA! That's a perfect way of putting it. Yeah, there was this feeling there that Rennie was an outsider who insinuated himself on the town and everyone in it and rose to power because... it was easy. Also, I loved how not subtle it was that he was a car salesman. Yeeeeeah, Rennie basically encompassed the banality of evil in so many ways, which made him incredibly effective. I think he was probably THE most disturbing, disgusting villain King's ever written. And that's taking Flagg into consideration, too!

I think I might just agree with you on that. I have never hated Flagg/Walter the way I absoluely despise Big Jim Rennie. I know I'm weird, but I actually like Walter O'Dim. I like the way he says things to other characters that only the reader understands.

For my part... I think I dislike Big Jim more because he isn't honest even with himself concerning what he is. He truly believes he's this awesome crusader who is doing what's best for the town. He will shoot someone and "pray" for them in the same breath, and it's so conniving. Whereas Flagg never minces words about who and what he is. He's a force to be reckoned with who means harm, and everyone knows it. When you can say "at least he's honest" about a guy who crucifies his enemies, that's when you know his competition is truly evil. :scared:

[Ageless Stranger]

Yes, Flagg is quite a bit more sinister in The Stand than in the DT series, IMHO.

[Celtic Bear]

I enjoyed under the dome very much but I had one decent sized gripe with it: everything happened in 4 days? really?:rolleyes: I would have found it to be much more believable if it had happened over like a few months, not such a short amount of time

No offense sir, but it sounds like you have never been in a big crowd that turned ugly fast. As a veteren of both concert security work and Mardi Gras in the Big Sleazy let me testify: It can happen in the blink of an eye. The scariest part, it becomes one organism, like when a flock of birds all know to turn at the same time... only instead of flying its kicking ass and taking names.

I, therefore, found this book VERY believable.

[thebumblerinblack]

Can anyone tell me what on pages it talks about how far the dome goes underground. I cant seem to find it, and really don't remember reading any part explaining it. I did whip through this book, though, so I bet there's a lot my poor ol' short-term didnt pick up.

[Ageless Stranger]

I think I remember Colonel Cox saying that they had been unable to find the end underground, and suggesting it was a dome under the ground as well as over it. Don't quote me on that though.

[thebumblerinblack]

none quoted:)

[Jon]

I think I remember Colonel Cox saying that they had been unable to find the end underground, and suggesting it was a dome under the ground as well as over it. Don't quote me on that though.


This, I recall.

[Ageless Stranger]

I think I remember Colonel Cox saying that they had been unable to find the end underground, and suggesting it was a dome under the ground as well as over it. Don't quote me on that though.


This, I recall.

You quoted me on that...
;)

[Jon]

Naw...I was just stunned that all three of my brain cells remembered.

[Kronz]

"'Whatever. We started in a gravel pit that was already dug down to forty feet or so. I've seen spectrographic images that blow my mind. Long sheets of metamorphic rock that have been sheared in two. There's no gap, but you can see a shift where the northern part of the sheet dropped a little. We've checked seismographic reports from the Portland meteorological station, and bingo. There was a bump at eleven forty-four A.M. Two point one on the Richter. So that's when it happened.'
'Great,' Barbie said. He supposed he was being sarcastic, but he was too amazed and perplexed to be sure.
'None of this is conclusive, but it's persuasive. Of course the exploring has just started, but right now it does look as if the thing is down as well as up. And if it goes up five miles . . .'"

That's pretty much all that's said about it going under and over.

[Mots]

Loved the book, couldn't put it down and stayed up well into the night to finish it on Sunday (Monday was... strenuous :) ). I thought it was extremely disturbing, aside from King's short stories, I haven't read much from him, that I found more horrifying (monsters and aliens are one thing, but fellow humans that do atrocities are just too real). I also found myself holding breath when the air became really bad.

For the guy who said it reminded him of Wizard and Glass: YES! I thought that all the time, what with the pink grapefruit moon, the whole sense of everything sliding towards a brutal ending, the vision of the burning scarecrow (in Wizard and Glass, there was something similar, where they burned some straw figurines).

For me the book was "The Stand" meets "Wizard and Glass" meets "Animal Farm".

As for the repeating of the cycle. I am not sure, but I read somewhere that the story actually is not set in 2010, but later. There is a reference to an Obama Reelection sticker from 2012 in the book (the chapter, where Thurston and Carolyn are harrassed by Junior and Frank), so the story could be set in 2013, which would make it 28 years since 1985. I am not sure that it fits though, haven't all the other things that happened during the cycle taken place in or close to Derry?
Also, I think I remember UtD stating somewhere that it is in fact 2010, but I am not sure about that.

[Mots]

Edit: Sorry for double post.

[JRM]

I finished it about a month ago. I did enjoy it but there were SO many things about it I didn't like, such as the climax (what else is new? Lol) and the lazy dome origin, among many other things like the annoying special deputies. Not one of his best, imo, but I did enjoy it. :)

[JRM]

I think I remember Colonel Cox saying that they had been unable to find the end underground, and suggesting it was a dome under the ground as well as over it. Don't quote me on that though.

That is true. :thumbsup:

[CrowMum]

I Loved this one, it's the book that restored my faith in King :)
I Read it during the last week before my son was born, when I was flat out in bed and couldn't move. I thought it was a real return to form :) Very enjoyable indeed.

[marcrocket]

Did anyone catch the reference to LOST? One of the characters had just finished watching ________? (don’t recall the name) that was described as a clever sequel or spin off of LOST. I listened to the book on C.D. and cannot remember what chapter the reference was in.
Also I’m new to this forum and loved the story.Very scarry to think how people would just follow a fool like Big Jim.

[NicNac]

I enjoyed reading this book, but wouldn't put it among King's best, honestly. It was a great page turner, and kept me involved, but I don't remember feeling...moved by it, if that makes sense. And that's how his best books make me feel. *shrugs* Pretty subjective judging there, but there ya have it.

It read like a Jack Reacher novel to me (which I love, by the way, great series by Lee Child), only a lot longer, and then he actually MENTIONED Jack Reacher, a fictional character. Interesting.

[Ricky]

Did anyone catch the reference to LOST? One of the characters had just finished watching ________? (don’t recall the name) that was described as a clever sequel or spin off of LOST.

I know what you're talking about but don't know the characer. Though, I do remember SK mentioning "that [Scottish?] guy from Lost", refering to Desmond. :lol:

[Ruthful]

I actually saw my boss with this novel earlier today.

I was surprised by how long it is. Is this the first 1000+ page book he's written since It was published?

[woodpryan]

I work at a bookstore in Huntsville, Alabama and we got new shipment in on Thursday. I knew that the paperback was coming out next week but I thought it was going to be mass market. I'm pleased to see that it is an excellent looking trade paper. Even though I have a copy of the hardback, I will probably buy this when it comes out. The trade paper looks great man! I wish they would release IT in trade paper. The format works out wonderfully since the novel is so big.

[Brainslinger]

I read the book recently and I found it quite a page turner too. It also reminded me a lot of his past books.

Much as I enjoyed the read, the story left me a bit cold though. The 'Leatherheads' stuff was fine. I quite liked the idea that they were essentially just kids playing games and we humans are the ants. I also liked most of the characters.

I wasn't keen on the explosion at the end though. I had my doubts it would go so far even in such an enclosed space, but I figured that I don't know, so I let it lie. I didn't like the massive death count at the end. I know that's often the case with King's books but not usually on this scale. Well. okay there were post-apocalyptic type novels like The Stand and and Cell where the death count was even higher, but it happened fairly early on and was an intrinsic part of the whole story. In Under the Dome, it was the finale. I guess it just felt a bit like all the hero characters's work didn't really pay off (apart from removing the dome I suppose). (Dark Tower spoilers: I suppose when considering the fate of the Luddites at the end of 'The Waste Lands' we have another example of an even greater body count, but, shocking though it was, we were less invested in those particular characters. )

That being said I accept that this is simply a matter of taste, and there isn't anything wrong with ending the story that way.

What about the thread with the file, the drug addled third statesman lady and the corgi? (Apologies, I'm not good at remembering names.) Here we have a woman who went cold turkey the hard way. We have a dog who got a message from the beyond... and when the lady gets the file and find her balls (so to speak), how did that end? Bang! I understand that it was a red herring and there's nothing wrong with a bit of misdirection. It's applauded in fact. I'd have just liked all that pain and rigmarole to pay off. (Mind you, if it had I suppose there would be people groaning 'deus ex machina' as far as the ghost-voice is concerned.)

Again this is purely a taste thing.

I just felt, plot-wise, that everything seemed to be very much just a lot of bad stuff that happened. That being said, there were some wonderful and heart-rending character moments. And as a character piece about how a microcosm of society may react in a given extreme circumstance it worked very well. It just wasn't my cup of tea.

That being said, it kept me reading.

[Woofer]

Propane canisters: Brice is correct. We’ve even had warnings here about checking the propane canisters before getting them because meth chefs (heh) are using them to store anhydrous ammonia and then returning them.

Small towns: The population of Chester’s Mill is less than half of the registered users of tdt.com. Assuming two people ran against him (1998 remaining) and assuming 1/3 the population is comprised of non-voters (approximately 666), then Jim Rennie would only need 445 out of 1332 votes to be elected – again, assuming all voters turn out and assuming a near 3-way tie with Rennie only inching out his competition. We know for a fact that Andy Sanders and Rennie are tighter than Jordache jeans, so that gives Rennie approximately 2/3 the town’s support. It’s easily conceivable that all the politics went down just the way he described in a town that size.

Riots: Shit can go bad fast!

Why people don’t stand up to JR (haha) or check the internet: Given the population breakdown above as well as the town being extremely rural, it’s unlikely that a majority of people even have the internet at home, much less wi-fi. Or the fuel to run their generators so they can get on the internet. Jim Rennie or no, most people don’t keep a lot of fuel around. We are encouraged not to because of the explosion/fire risk, and most rush out to stock up when storms are announced. Moreover, if, as we know, Jim Rennie was in office for 8 years before even Julia wised up to just how corrupt he was, it’s not that far fetched to imagine less keen minds never catching onto his antics. Again, given the small population, those that do understand him would be very careful in their opposition.

Jim Rennie: See above. Also, would have loved to see Cox get his hands on Rennie. Got the feeling that he was an only child and ancestors weren’t mentioned because he so overshadowed them.

The end: I think they should’ve started begging sooner, and it should’ve taken more than one shot at it. Julia and Barbie would fail; Joe and Norrie return later, catch one alone, succeed.

Message: Yes, I think there’s a message in this, but I don’t think King set out to write a book about global warming. I think the message fits naturally with the story. I believe that if it makes you uncomfortable, than he’s hit the ball out of the park.

What’s wrong in America message: I agree with Brice 100%. I think that’s always the story behind the story in King’s stories.

Y’all: Born and raised in The South, I can confirm that y’all is used both in the singular and the plural among the most Southernest of Southerners. It is not common, but it is used that way.



Too much tylenol.:P

Is it bad to point out that there are somewhat easy ways of separating one from the other? :unsure: :ninja:

Brice! I am shocked shocked that you didn’t point it out before BC brought it up!


Did anyone else think for a second that the "Leatherheads" were really giant ants? Once they started talking about ants under a magnifying glass, I started thinking about ants taking revenge on us. The shape of an ant's head is somewhat of a diamond; and they may look very geometrical and angle-y (lol) if we were blown up to a large size, and we were very small compared to them.

Yes, but not ants as we know here - maybe ants a la Phase IV, particularly when King started talking about the wars between red and black ants. That reference very much reminded me of the Fredric Brown’s story Come and Go Mad:


“What’s it all about?” he asked. “Why was I brought here?”

“Because you are sane. I’m sorry about that, because you can’t be. It is not so much that you retained memory of your previous life, after you’d been moved. That happens. It is that you somehow know something of what you shouldn’t – something of The Brightly Shining, and of the game between the red and the black.”

And:


“What then is a man? Men are pawns, in games of – to you – unbelievable complexity, between the red and the black, the white and the black, for amusement. Played by one part of an organism against another part, to while away an instant of eternity. There are vaster games, played between galaxies. Not with man.”

I could see the children of the red and the black getting their … whatevers on a device that activated the dome and mucking up a town on The Brightly Shining, the parental red or black not noticing because one tiny town (population 2,000) is nothing in the grand scheme of their battles.

[Woofer]

Anybody? I thought Bev might weigh in on the Fredric Brown Come and Go Mad reference.

[Jon]

What if the dome was just a new stadium for the local sports team that they could not get support for. They made it invisible so no one could see how many box seats were for sale etc...


(Oh Jesus I am tired!)

[mtdman]

I did not like this book overall. It was very suspenseful and certainly a page turner. But I thought the ending was cheap. I thought a lot of the dialogue was bad, and a lot of the character development wasn't as good as King's past books. His teenager characters were horrible. And frankly, I'm tired of King's politics working their way into his books. I don't need to know about his politics and I don't need them biasing everything his characters do in his books, and how they act. I don't know if he's getting old and can't help himself or what, but he didn't have this problem with his early works. All the bad guys are republicans and military and the really good people are all liberals and progressive. Even the republican newspaper lady is really a lib and a progressive woman, so she's not really a bad guy.

Not to mention, the audio book was narrated by some guy that spoke every voice in a 'surfer dude' dialect and all his women characters sound permanently stoned. It was the worst narration I've heard in an audio book, probably ever.

[BROWNINGS CHILDE]

Is it so hard to imagine a megalomaniacal, greedy, self-serving, money grubbing, power snatching, back stabbing politician as a republican.

haha....jk

[Kvalhion]

I'm not religious nor am I replubican, so I didn't have a problem with the villain. Seemed accurate to me. :D

[ICry4Oy]

Political bs didn't bother me.

But who couldn't love Junior in the closet with the corpses!?!!

[mtdman]

Junior was probably the best character in the book.

[Lance]

I read it for the first time last week. Couldn't put it down. I finished it in 3 days.

[ur2ndbiggestfan]

I haven't read this whole thread (OK, I've only read a few posts so far), but I finished UTD a couple of weeks ago and I liked it. One of King's better books in a while. Annoyed as usual by the sayings and dumb abbreviations (I've never in my entire like heard anyone refer to a cafeteria as a 'caf' or an ambulance as an 'ambo', but hey, that's just me), but as usual I just read my own words over these (sort of a mental editor), and everything's ok! Thumbs up from me!

[Jean]

Annoyed as usual by the sayings and dumb abbreviations (I've never in my entire like heard anyone refer to a cafeteria as a 'caf' or an ambulance as an 'ambo', but hey, that's just me) bears concur

[Odetta]

OK, I just finished reading this book (a few years late) and I enjoyed it very much! It was a quick read, considering the size...

I really enjoyed it. I LOVED how the teenagers actually had a significant part to play, they were treated as smart, intelligent kids. My 2 favorite characters were Chef and Junior... I enjoyed watching Junior's thought process just completely disintegrate... reminded me of how SK did that with Cujo.

[Jean]

:rose: :rose: :rose:

bears are happy, because they loved the book, and they love Odetta even more

[Odetta]

Keep up the sweet talk, darlin'... Odetta's in a 'good mood'

[mtdman]

Is it so hard to imagine a megalomaniacal, greedy, self-serving, money grubbing, power snatching, back stabbing politician as a republican.

haha....jk

I dunno. Kinda sounds like Ted Kennedy to me.

[Garrell]

Great book with great characters:) One of his best page-turners!!!!!!!!! I even had to take a 1/2 day off of work to finish it when I was reading it. A luxury I get as a top salesman:tongue:

[Dan]

I just finished last night. I think it has now been discussed nearly to death, but I wanted to say that I really enjoyed this book. The characters all effected some sort of emotional feeling whether love or hate. This is very important to me in a book because it makes you want to find out what happens. It is probably one of the reasons I would rather read a novel than a short story. It's harder to relate to a character in a short story.

I am overall pleased with how everything happened in the end, although I'm never a fan of children dying. Something about having my own child causes a more emotional response than an adult or elderly character dying.

[Bev Vincent]

The Kindle edition of UtD is $1.99 today only.

[mattgreenbean]

I'm currently reading UTD and wanted to have a quick reference for what all the characters look like. Matthew Diffee, who did the illustrations for the gift edition, gave us his idea of what they look like on individual cards and a group picture. But the group picture doesn't have all the names and I don't want to go through the cards each time. So with the magic of Microsoft Paint I added the names to the group picture.


http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/500/medium/UTD_AllCharacters_WithNames.jpg

Click here for a printable size to slip into your copy. http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/showfull.php?photo=11431

[sgc1999]

cool thanks

[zelig]

I just finished reading UTD. It wasn't one of my favorites. I felt disconnected from the characters for the most part, maybe because there were so many. Regarding some of the technical issues like how the explosion could have wiped out the whole town, I didn't have too much of an issue with things like that, it's just a matter of suspending your disbelief enough so that it doesn't matter, and you just follow along with the story. Like some other comments here, I was disappointed that the town didn't get to see the truth about Rennie and what a monster he was. I would have liked to have seen him brought to justice, so that was a little dissatisfying. I too was surprised by how quickly the whole dome issue was wrapped up in the end. I kept expecting that there would be more of the story dedicated to the origin of the Dome, and fighting the forces that put it there.

One final comment, something I got out of the book was this. In some ways I saw the Dome as a metaphor for our repressed emotions and the fears we can impose upon ourselves, and how they can imprison us. Especially at the end where there's a line about wearing life and stepping out into it. And forgive me, but I can't remember the character's name right now, but the flashback to her childhood while she was pleading for the dome to be lifted, she had to reconnect with a painful childhood memory before the dome was lifted.

[mae]

The Losers Club Podcast episodes on the novel:


https://bloody-disgusting.com/podcasts/3771279/under-the-dome-pt-1-losers-club/
https://bloody-disgusting.com/podcasts/3772225/under-the-dome-pt-2-losers-club/
https://bloody-disgusting.com/podcasts/3774799/under-the-dome-pt-3-losers-club/