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

[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...

[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.

[lophophoras]

[Brice]

Spoiler:

uh oh

[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!

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.