Book Review: Under the Dome

Under the Dome Under the Dome by Stephen King

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I had a personal connection to this book, since the setting could have been swapped (more or less) with my current hometown. For all I know, it was based on my current hometown. In any case, it was fun to see many familiar places, phrases and inside references made throughout the book. As for the book itself, I couldn’t put it down. Literally. I lost sleep over this book, and I blazed through its 1068 pages in three days or so. One of the things King did so well in this book was fuse characters with plot. The basic premise is simple: what happens when a small town is encased in an invisible, indestructible barrier? By itself, that could be the fodder for any number of stories. It all depends on the characters. King took a liberal dose of good and evil characters, and had them all get trapped inside that dome together. The rest is just telling the story–having the characters do what they want to do, behave how they want to behave, make the decisions they would naturally make. Of course, as any writer will tell you, that’s the hard part. King makes it look easy. There were some scenes in the book that were some of the tensest I’ve read. Very well done. The ending itself was perhaps a bit of a letdown–the book excels when it’s on a personal, character level. The bigger plot . . . was a tad weaker. Still, no reason for me not to give it five stars. Warning to those who don’t typically read King: it’s gory and graphic, so stay away if you don’t want to read that.

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