Name: Victoria's review of Under the Dome
Item: Under the Dome
Rating: 4
Author: Victoria

Inexplicably, an invisible barrier has descended over the town. A woodchuck is chopped right in half; a gardener's hand is severed at the wrist: the plane explodes with sheets of flame spreading to the ground and Dale Barbara. Iraq war vet turned short- order cook. is force.d to turn back into the town he so desperately needed to leave.

As residents speculate about what has cut them off from the rest of the world, the Army searches for an inside man. Barbara is put in charge. But Big Jim Rennie, the man who holds the town in his powerful grip. has other plans. And the Dome could just be the answer to his prayers.

As food, electricity and water run short and children start to have premonitions of a terrifying Halloween. 'Barbie' is forced to take on Big Jim and his renegade supporters. Now time is running out for those living under the Dome. Can they find what has created it before it's too late?
--front flap

Under the Dome

Stephen King

An einem ganz normalen schönen Herbsttag wird die Stadt Chester’s Mill plötzlich auf unerklärliche Weise durch ein unsichtbares Kraftfeld vom Rest der Welt abgeriegelt. Flugzeuge zerschellen daran und fallen als brennende Trümmer vom Himmel, einem Gärtner wird beim Herabsausen "der Kuppel" die Hand abgehauen, Tiere werden zweigeteilt, Menschen, die gerade in Nachbarorten unterwegs sind, werden von ihren Familien getrennt, und Autos explodieren, wenn sie auf die mysteriöse Barriere prallen. Es ist allen ein Rätsel, worum es sich bei dieser unsichtbaren Wand handelt, wo sie herkommt und wann – falls überhaupt – sie wieder verschwindet. Es gibt kein Entrinnen – und je mehr die Vorräte zur Neige gehen, desto stärker tobt der bestialische Kampf ums Überleben in dieser unerwünschten Arena ...

Die Arena: Under the Dome

Stephanie 

This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a gasp.

Me: I always have nightmares and no idea where they might come from

Also me: Reading this book as bedtime lecture. Well 🙃

But guys, do you see that? I‘m progressing! 🌝 can’t believe it either 😂 

Describing my current mental state in one quote. 

„She can't help it,“ he said. „She's got the soul of a poet and the emotional makeup of a junkyard dog.“

Uhmmm time seems to pass differently with this book - I can’t explain how I ended up that far that fast 😂 

I guess I haven’t reached the full potential of destruction and inhumanity yet but I already started praying we‘ll never end up inside a dome ourselves. This story is too realistic and that scares the shit out of me. 

Adding that to the list of punchlines I might use. 

“Your bullshit quotient is higher than my husband’s“

I guess a sock is also a geometric shape—technically—but I don't know what you'd call it. A socktagon?

Give a man or woman back his self-respect, and in most cases - not all, but most - you also give back that person's ability to think with at least some clarity.

Murder is like potato chips: you can't stop with just one.

A man without a sense of purpose - even one whose bank accounts are stuffed with money - is always a small man.

I remember why I love Kings writing so much. It’s not beautiful or aesthetic (okay, sometimes it is) but raw and honest. He curses, his characters are not good deep inside and he’s unafraid to cross boundaries and shock his readers. 

If you don't control your temper, your temper will control you.

When dawn was still long hours away, bad thoughts took flesh and began to walk. 

In the middle of the night thoughts became zombies.

I decided to track my reading process along to hold myself accountable 😂 I did what I always do with books I (might) struggle with: dividing it into equal sized parts and tabbing them as milestones. Will I regret my minimum reading goal of 165 pages per day? Absolutely. 🙃

So far so good; I enjoy the ride. I still have a strange mix of memory fragments of passages I already read (tbh, barely none 😂) and frames of the TV show (which was annoying af 🥴) in my head. But it’s fun! 🌝

An idea is like a cold germ: sooner or later someone always catches it.

Victoria

On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester's Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and fall from the sky in flaming wreckage, a gardener's hand is severed as "the dome" comes down on it, people running errands in the neighboring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact. No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when -- or if -- it will go away.

Dale Barbara, Iraq vet and now a short-order cook, finds himself teamed with a few intrepid citizens -- town newspaper owner Julia Shumway, a physician's assistant at the hospital, a select-woman, and three brave kids. Against them stands Big Jim Rennie, a politician who will stop at nothing -- even murder -- to hold the reins of power, and his son, who is keeping a horrible secret in a dark pantry. But their main adversary is the Dome itself. Because time isn't just short. It's running out.
Source: http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Under-the-Dome/Stephen-King/9781439148501

This book is a marathon and a half but, as with most King books, the story and characters are so compelling that I found myself desperate to keep reading. I love the premise and I love the Lord of the Flies style tension, it works so well and truly makes you feel under the microscope (iykyk). The ending was a little different to the King books I've read previously,  I love the more open-ended, X Files type endings, however that's not to say I'm not a fan, just that it was almost underwhelming. Although, I guess that's the point - ultimately it's just child's play, with no adult emotions, actions, or nuance. If anything, i think the lack of motive really hammers this point home, making the characters reflect on the times they'd been the ones holding the microscope (or under it in Julia's case). Another fantastic book by King, will be choosing another of his for my next read!

Soph

Matt Eaves

Sarah Sammis

C Fernando Maciel 

I'm going to give it 4 stars.

I love Stephen King. It wasn't different with under the dome. But, I don't think he ended up really well the plot. 

Still, very much worth it the reading! I'd recommend to anybody!

Sercan Y.

Uzun zaman sonra okuduğum Stephen King'i yıllar önce bıraktığım gibi buldum. Hala içinde heyecan, gizem, gerilim barındıran; sahici karakterler ve kurbanlarla dolu kitaplar yazmaya devam ediyor. Bu kitap önceki okuduğum kitaplarına nazaran artık olgunluk dönemine giren bir Stephen King'i müjdeliyor. King, Amerikan toplumuna ve yaşayışına her kitabında keskin eleştiriler getirirken "Kubbenin Altında" da buna devam ediyor, ek olarak bunlara politik alaycılığı da ekleyince Chester's Mill özelinde topyekun bir Amerika eleştirisi yapıyor. Zaten hep sahip olduğu sade ve sürükleyici üslubu ile okuyucunun elinden düşüremediği bir kitap ortaya koyuyor bir kez daha..

Hikaye tipik bir Amerikan kasabası olan Chester's Mill'de geçiyor. King, bu tarz Amerikan taşrasında geçen hikayeler anlatmayı çok seviyor; bu kasaba hikayelerinden bolca politik eleştiri çıkarırken diğer yandan muhafazakâr Amerikan toplumuna alaycı hatta çoğu zaman mizahi bir bakış atıyor. 

Kitap Chester's Mill'in üstüne çökerek bir anda dünya ile bağlantısı kesilen kasaba sakinlerinin hayatlarını devam ettirme çabasını anlatıyor. Kasaba sakinlerinin başlarına gelen felaket karşısında gösterdiği tepki Amerikan halkının ikiz kulelere yapılan saldırı sonrası verdiği tepkinin bir alegorisi gibi..Amerikan halkı Irak savaşına giden yolda nasıl Bush'a destek verdiyse Chester's Mill sakinleri de kubbenin inmesinden sonra ikinci üye Rennie'yi destekliyor. Rennie tipik bir Demokrat lider gibi kasabanın uğradığı felaketi fırsata çevirip bir yandan kasabanın hakimiyetini kazanırken diğer yandan yasadışı faaliyetlerini ne pahasına olursa olsun örtbas etme çabasına girişiyor. 

King çok karakterli bir hikaye anlatıyor bu epey hacimli kitabında..Aslında King, kitaplarında az karakterli, geçmişlerini peşlerinden sürükleyen insanları anlatmayı daha çok tercih eden bir yazar. Bu anlamda diğer kitaplarından farklılık arz ediyor. Ama yazar Amerikan halkını adeta bir sosyolog titizliğinde gözlemlediği için karakterlerin fazlalığı kitabı sıkıcı hale getirmiyor.

Kitabın sonlarına doğru Kubbenin sırrı ortaya çıkmaya başladıkça biraz hayal kırıklığına uğradım açıkçası.. King kitaplarında daha önce rastlamadığım ahlaki mesaj verme kaygısını rahatsız edici buldum. Kubbe sırları ile ortadan kaybolsa yada işin içine uzaylı çocuklar girmese çok daha iyi olurdu bence..Bazen gizemli olaylara verilen cevaplardan ziyade bu olayların sordurduğu sorular çok daha manidar olabiliyor. Bu fırsat kaçırıldığı gibi verilen cevaplarda okuyucuyu ne yazık ki tatmin etmiyor..

Sonuç olarak yazarın, anlattığı hikaye ile ilgili bazı tercihlerini beğenmesem de başarılı ve keyifle okuduğum bir kitap oldu. Stephen King'in "Medyum", "Sadist", "Christine" gibi klasikleşmiş kitapları ile kıyaslamam zor ama iyi kitaplarından biri olduğunu söyleyebilirim..

Stephen King is one of my most favorite authors since I’m 14 and 

 made me remember why. The way he tells stories, describes his characters and his choice of words is truly unique. I loved the humor and the portray of the madness of men and I think I rarely came across that well-written villains. The plot was intriguing, sometimes shocking and partly so realistic, that I started praying we never end up under a dome in real life.

This book is an intimidating and freaking heavy brick. It sat on my shelf for seven years, I tried to get through it four times and never made it past page 200 and honestly I never thought I‘d ever finish it. 

Don’t ask what made me pick it up and give it another try - I don’t know, I‘m a mood reader and sometimes feel just 

 to books. I set myself daily page goals around 170 pages per day this time to keep myself motivated, but often ended up reading way more than that. Because even if it’s that big, it doesn’t feel like it. What makes this book huge is the insane number of characters and subplots - I‘m a tad conflicted if all of them were really necessary. Especially because the "big reveal" and finale was in contrast too short and shallow in my opinion. The story is built up over that many pages and we are left with .. that? Really? Apart from if the conclusion made sense or is a good one, I‘d at least have liked more details and screentime.

Nevertheless it was a very exciting and thrilling page-turner. For sure no comfort read, but something to get lost in.   

Give me two last seconds to rant about the tv adaption - that thing should not exist. It’s a shame.

Oh wow, where should I start. 

Stephen King is one of my most favorite authors since I’m 14 and under the dome made me remember why. The way he tells stories, describes his characters and his choice of words is truly unique. I loved the humor and the portray of the madness of men and I think I rarely came across that well-written villains. The plot was intriguing, sometimes shocking and partly so realistic, that I started praying we never end up under a dome in real life.

This book is an intimidating and freaking heavy brick. It sat on my shelf for seven years, I tried to get through it four times and never made it past page 200 and honestly I never thought I‘d ever finish it. 

Don’t ask what made me pick it up and give it another try - I don’t know, I‘m a mood reader and sometimes feel just drawn to books. I set myself daily page goals around 170 pages per day this time to keep myself motivated, but often ended up reading way more than that. Because even if it’s that big, it doesn’t feel like it. What makes this book huge is the insane number of characters and subplots - I‘m a tad conflicted if all of them were really necessary. Especially because the "big reveal" and finale was in contrast too short and shallow in my opinion. The story is built up over that many pages and we are left with .. that? Really? Apart from if the conclusion made sense or is a good one, I‘d at least have liked more details and screentime.

Nevertheless it was a very exciting and thrilling page-turner. For sure no comfort read, but something to get lost in.   

Give me two last seconds to rant about the tv adaption - that thing should not exist. It’s a shame.



Shay Henrion

after a few days rumination, i have decided that i really, REALLY didn't like this book.

After an invisible force field seals off Chester's Mill, Maine, from the rest of the world, it is up to a select group of citizens to save the town, if they can get past a murderous politician and his son.

A Novel

Bianca

Sian Wadey

** spoiler alert **
           As King's newest, and probably biggest, book I was a bit unsure about it. People always say his older stuff is better. But I must say it's one of my favourite books. It takes a while to get going in terms of relating to characters, but the excitement begins straight away with various characters and animals getting killed off due to the dome descending. This was a great opportunity for King to do what he does best, show human emotions. Don't be put off by the side. This book is an incredible page turner, something I couldn't put down.

Charles Siboto

Thus far I'm hoping that it's as good as The Stand, though it's hard to top an antagonist as sinister as Randall Flagg. I've read about a quarter of it and I really enjoy the manner in which SK sets up the drama and I'm looking forward to how the major characters will evolve.

Cams Campbell

Just finished the audio book of Stephen King's latest novel. It was very enjoyable, but I feel empty afterwards. Good entertainment but does not feed the soul. A throw-away page-turner.

The concept was very clever and the characters were wonderful and deep, as Stephen King's characters always are. That's what kept me going I think.

If you've enjoyed other Stephen King novels, chances are you'll enjoy this.

Bruna Pereira

I loved this book sooooo much. The twisted mind the human being can have in certain environments is unbelieveble, and you can see a hole lot of that in here. The plot in this book is one of the best one I've had the pleasure of reading. This is a good part to say that this was also my first reading from any work Stephen King wrote, and I can't wait to read more of him. Don't know if this story can even be toped from how great it is, but it sure is worth the try!

Irina 

Was a little hard to keep track of the many characters in the beginning of the book and remembering who’s who. Started out a little slow but definitely picked up in the second half and got more interesting. This is the kind of book where you want to punch most of the characters because of how much they piss you off, but a very well written book.

Danijel Gajan

A breathtaking and deeply moving story about the human nature, both good and evil. This book has kept me awake until the small hours night after night. I just couldn't let go. Brilliant work!

Melissa Deitrick

This is the book that has finally made me realize I don't care for Stephen King's writing style. 

The droning on and on and building up characters over 5 pages and their backstory to just kill them off a moment later to not be referenced afterwards... You can't say King doesn't character build well but I personally think he over-builds. To me, it feels like back in grade school filling in a 500 page essay with fluff and fillers to get to the word count. After 4 of his novels, I'm officially giving up!

As for the book itself, I REALLY enjoyed this one until the ending. I suppose I don't know how else to have ended it but to have such a cool town with such a realistic cast and then to just throw THAT out of left field? I was seeing red. Really, I couldn't believe it and I'm just going to leave it at that...

If you're on the fence about Stephen King like I was, I would suggest a different book. As a side note, I couldn't get through season 1 on this show adaptation due to how insanely different the cast and circumstances were.

haley kendall owen

One of my favorite Stephen King novels. It's thrilling - full of corruption and speculation of how humanity works when everything goes wrong. How do we act when we think no one is watching? And how do we survive in the midst of those who don't care?

Mahasin S Ameen

35 hours and 30 minutes of listening time later. I don't want the time back, but I've said it before and I'll say it again, the God Machine rules King.

Just down Route 119 in Chester's Mill, Maine, all hell is about to break loose…

On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day, a small town is suddenly and inexplicably sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and rain down flaming wreckage. A gardener's hand is severed as the dome descends. Cars explode on impact. Families are separated and panic mounts. No one can fathom what the barrier is, where it came from, and when—or if— it will go away. Now a few intrepid citizens, led by an Iraq vet turned short-order cook, face down a ruthless politician dead set on seizing the reins of power under the dome. but their main adversary is the dome itself. Because time isn't just running short, it's running out.
--back cover

cygnoir

I mostly enjoyed reading this, but it isn't my favorite King story.

Rachel

I am not sure how I feel about this book, a large part of me loves it but there is some disappointment. When I started it I felt overwhelmed with all the different characters and the events that were happening so fast. I'm glad I pushed through that because mid-way through the book I was hooked by a very captivating plot that focused on the power struggle, drugs and a few supernatural themes. The characters at first seemed very one dimensional, you have your good guys and your bad, but there were little things that made them have more depth. The ending wasn't bad, it isn't what I expected (not in a clever way either, just random). I wouldn't go as far as saying I'm disappointed with the ending, it just felt like a ending to a completely different book that what I was reading. I feel like more could of been done with the ending and other factors in the plot, but overall a pretty good book and definitely worth reading.

Liv Gliese Johnsen

I AM FINISH! It has never taken me so long to read a book before! I have had plenty of breaks when I got enough of the city under the dome. I have chosen to give it 4 stars because it really is a great book, filled with intense suspension! The only reason why I did not give it 5 stars is because I simply thought that some parts of this great story was too long and it drove me tired. So here we go. Read it, but put a month aside to do so

Garren

I haven't read a Stephen King book in a long time. It was great to read one of his again. He has a great writing style and the book had a good pace to it. I really enjoyed the book.

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Under the Dome

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