Under the Dome

A Novel

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Raul Esparza

Length: 34 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©2009 Stephen King (P)2009 Simon & Schuster

Superb!

This isn't really a horror book. Nothing even remotely horror-related begins to happen until Part Four. What little "speculative fiction" the book contains, makes it clear that it's only a plot device to study human nature.

King takes a long cast of characters and subjects them to the most extreme stress tests to see what happens. We the readers will recognize every last detail, because the human soul is laid bare and it is ours.

Didn't think King had this level of sophistication in him! He may never win a Pulitzer for his prose, but his understanding of human nature is intense.

There are indeed a lot of characters in the book. After a few minutes the leads are easy to remember and the rest, well, don't sweat it, nothing is lost if some of the peripheral characters are forgotten.

As noted in several other reviews, the book is full of foul language, and details revolting (and illegal) behavior including rape and necrophilia. Not enjoyable in themselves, but for me, it certainly didn't spoil the book because they were describing the dark side of human nature, and that's what this book is all about. Sadly for all of us, we are capable of some really revolting behavior. King is holding up a mirror to us all.

slightly better than the last two

Why do the bad guys always have to be christian ministers?? Come on steven mix it up a little !! How about a kitten raping rabbi next time.

Mixed Feelings

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would not recommend the book due to the language used by the author. I found it to be quite offensive.

What was most disappointing about Stephen King’s story?

As stated above, the language was too course for my tastes. I doubt I will ever read another Steven King novel, despite the fact that he is a very good storyteller. I found the story difficult to lay aside once I had begun reading.

Complex, worth almost every word.

This is one of King's better novels, and it is read very well. They could have Esparza reread all of Frank Muller's works and I'd be happy. His voice is alive without being ridiculous, and he develops a surprising number of distinct voices and a narrative style that holds your attention through thirty-five hours of narration. Hopefully he'll get a lot more work after this performance.

The story itself seems silly in its description, but in execution it's a masterpiece. Not only does King juggle a startling number of distinct characters and storylines that interact to form one cohesive narrative, but he gives the story a mythic quality, echoing, probably deliberately, recent events and public figures. There is a Lord of the Flies element, too--something King alludes to specifically early in the tale.

Some parts are less well-executed than others. King has an obsession with bodily functions under times of duress that becomes comical. He also has a singular mind when he's imagining how thugs will behave towards his female characters. He almost lost me near the end with the grand climax, too, which seemed excessive and gratuitous.

But in the end he comes up with a payoff that's worth the price of the story, and throughout the story will engage you with its characters and developments, and should tickle your mind with its hints of metaphor and myth and modern analogies. Overall, one of his better works.

fast-paced for the full 35 hours

I loved this book. I loved the statement that it made about human cruelty. I loved the narrator. I loved the length. I loved the characters. The only reason I can't give it the full 5 stars is because there was a little shameless suspense-building that almost reminded me of Dan Brown in the way the chapters always ended just when something huge was about to happen. Unlike Dan Brown, however, you almost always found out what was about to happen in the next chapter. I wish I could give it a 4.9!

Stephen King is a genius

I have gone on many adventures with Mr. King. I've never been disappointed. In "Under the Dome" Mr. King creates a town of characters that is so real so vivid it must be a real town, they must be real people. You love some and despise others. The dialogue is so intricate and again so real. Mr. Esparza does a great job narrating, his inflections and character accents are excellent from a young child to an elderly man on his death bed Mr. Esparaz brings them all to life.
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Decent

Decent Stephen King book. I thought it was a great idea, the story was just a bit bloated. Could’ve cut another 5 or so hours out to keep the book faster paced. The narration annoyed me a lot more than I thought it would as well. Worth a read though.

Great characters...

King has an incredible talent for creating wonderfully good as well as devious, evil characters in his stories. Though I am sure many will be disappointed with its conclusion, getting there is worth the price of admission.

The Simpsons Movie or this book...which came 1st?

The premise is remarkably similar to The Simpsons Movie. Which you try to forget, but just can't. Not Mr. King's best work, but not the worst either. Totally fine given it's 1 credit and many, many hours. That matters when you drive 2 hours a day for work.

Long, Tense, Epic, Win

I came to Stephen King as an adult, pooh-poohing his work as an adolescent. His recent novels have been nothing short of astonishing parellels to his earliest work that people are now coming around to find worthy of praise. However, I see comments decrying the foul language, and miscasting of people of faith. It boils down to this one fact, borne out by the excellent narration of Raul Esparza: the characters MUST tell their own story. If they curse, or are hypocrites, or are vile scumsucking hummer drivers, then that's what they are. As a Christ-follower, I see plenty of people in church who are "sick" as Big Jim is. King tells stories that real people could in fact, live in. It's what makes his work compelling and something we are drawn to again and again. The richness and detail of drawing a character like Big Jim, or Barbie, or the host of others. Why rail against reality? It is the sweater we are given.

The Narration is fantastic with great accent work, as well as clear pronunciation and no gotcha's. The text is long, but is as long as needs must. As for the story, it will stick with me a long time. For a "pulp" writer, this is deeper material than many would find. Here's hoping more members of future ka'tets are found in these worlds, and if not, we had a great ride. Mr King: thanks for the ticket.