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

[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. 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. 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.

[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!

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.

[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


Rennie: Bruce McGill


Julia: Sigourney Weaver


Junior: Mark Salling


Rusty: Paul Schulze


Piper: Edie Falco


Thurston: James Cromwell


Rose: Patricia Clarkson


Andrea: Kathy Bates

[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.

[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"

1. 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?"

1. 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.

1. 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.

1. 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.
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:

[BeDaN]

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

[BROWNINGS CHILDE]

Just thinking about the IT reference:

Spoiler:

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:

Spoiler:

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:

Spoiler:

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