Under the Dome

A Novel

De: Stephen King

Narrado por: Raul Esparza

The “propulsively intriguing, staggeringly addictive” (USA TODAY) novel from master storyteller Stephen King—a #1 New York Times bestseller.

It is a typical October morning in Chester’s Mill, Maine: glorious weather, a perfectly blue sky, and quiet. Then, all hell breaks loose. Inexplicably, and simultaneously, a plane falls from the sky in flames; a woman’s hand is severed; and a farmer’s John Deere explores (with him on it). A few moments later, a pulp-truck crashes spectacularly. Somehow, an invisible and impermeable barrier—exactly following the town’s perimeter—has descended upon the town.

Life under the dome quickly becomes a hothouse—with the best in some people and the worst in others flourishing. There are unambiguous heroes and villains, from a supremely corrupt local politician to a very enterprising newspaper reporter. The situation under the dome deteriorates by the minute: supplies of everything are diminishing quickly, the citizens are panicking, and the police force, under the control of the diabolically devious alderman Jim Rennie, implement their own version of martial law. Meanwhile, Barbie, brave Iraq war vet and short order cook, and a band of intrepid pals engage in a race against time to find the source of the dome and raise it before there’s nobody left alive in Chester’s Mill.

Under the Dome is filled with a marvelous and enormous cast of over 100 characters. King’s trademark idiomatic language is pure pleasure to experience. “Nowhere in Mr. King’s immense body of work have his real and fantasy world collided with such head-on force” (The New York Times Book Review).

©2009 Stephen King (P)2009 Simon & Schuster

No Stand

"Under the Dome" is being compared to King's earlier and greater work, "The Stand." "Dome" is entertaining, and I give it 3 points mostly for King-isms such as "Nothing runs like a Deere." (Of course the narrator deserves some credit for the delivery too.)

It's no "Stand," however. The big difference is that King devotes the entire work of the "Dome" to the subject covered in about 1/6 of "The Stand" - that is, the destruction of the world he's writing about. "The Stand" deals with that and then moves swiftly on to the part which I personally found more interesting; would it be possible to reconstruct society after the loss of so many people? That King had to use the hand-wavium of supernatural events to pull the protagonists together into one location shows that Stewart's "Earth Abides" describes the likelier outcome of such a catastrophe, but in "The Stand," King manages to pull off a fairly exciting work on the subject. In "Dome," however, King becomes one of those kids burning ants under a magnifying lens that he talks about in the book; he creates characters - some really evil bad guys and some weak and ineffectual good guys - then he spends the rest of the book watching them jump through hoops while everything goes crashing down around them.

If you thought the best part of "The Stand" was part 1, you'll enjoy "Under the Dome." If you're a hard core SF buff and would like a more character-driven and more scientifically interesting look at this notion of what would happen if you were cut off from the rest of the universe, I highly recommend Robert Charles Wilson's "Spin" instead.

Classic King!

I was beginning to think Stephen King had lost it. But this was great! Not too bizarre, but classic King. One of his better books in the past ten years. Maybe not as good as Green Mile, but still good enough to keep me listening for hours at a time. Great characters.

Part 5 is really Part 1

You would think Amazon could get this right. Unfortunately I didn't figure it out until the end. I even checked Part 1 again to see if I missed something because Steven King usually doesn't start in the middle. Kind of ruined it for me.

Great Listen

Wicked good listen. 35 hours moves at light speed. Really enjoyed the narrator.

Difficult to follow and hard to stay engaged.

Didn't keep me interested. Some of the characters behaviors seemed unnatural and far fetched. The situation seems overly contrived at times. Similar to the Losties never talking amongst themselves.

Ahhhh, What else can I say!!!

It is a must read!!!
First of all I have to say it is a wonderful story, and think you again Mr. King for doing what you do to bring entertainment and sometimes a little enlightenment to "Constant Reader" Life.
This was a story, not only of the nature of man but the nature of the word and how somethings are just bigger than we are. There are bad people in the world and there always will be. No matter how much "Right Teaching" and Religion we try to fix it with. It is the way of things.
As far as the reader goes, I think he did an OK job, although he did get his voices mixed up from time to time. I think there was a time when Barbie was talking in the voice of a little girl. That was weird.
There was a few mistakes, mostly cosmetic, and probably not very noticeable. Like in the first of the book when Barbie tells the guy he is walking the wall with to call the Colonel and tell him "Captain Barbra called" and a few other times he was referred to as CAPTAIN, Until he was promoted to Colonel, the rest of the book it was said that he was Promoted from Lieutenant to Colonel. He refers to himself as former Lieutenant Barbra. Kind of an over sight I think.
Also, sometimes I wonder of Stephen King needs to do more research on guns or maybe he messes things up on intently. I have heard similar things to this in other King books. But there is no such thing as a Beretta 92 Taurus. That is like saying someone has a Ford Mustang, Chevrolet. They are two different brands.
Oh well like I said they are cosmetic mistakes and really take nothing away from the fact that this is a wonderful story with a GREAT message that makes you think a lot!!!

GREAT book, lousy Narrator

Been a LONG time since read a King book and forgot how indepth he goes into character development. I know these characters so well I feel like I should send them Christmas cards. That development leads to the length of the book.

The story is unique and keeps you tuned in. I drove around the block to keep listening. There were times were I'd get so angry at the characters, which I guess is a good sign.

The narrator really is weak and at first I almost stopped listening to it just because of it. But after awhile you get too involved in the book to really pay attention. Highly recommended.

So Many Characters!!

This is an interesting book. It made me consider what it would be like if some sort of catastrophe occurred locally (or globally) and how close to the happenings in this story things would get. Too close for comfort I suspect!! My one main gripe about the story was the many, many, many characters. This is the first book I've ever had to literally make a list of characters, who they were & what they did and their family ties. I'd definitely recommend making such a list to anyone considering this audio book. Another gripe would be the ending. I really don't know what I expected, in fact, I kept wondering how things would be finished off. I found the ending disappointing, but then again, how else could it have ended (you'll see what I mean when/if you get the book). There are many gruesome descriptions and bad language (I normally don't mind a few f words, but this is loaded with them). Killings & death left and right. I'd still recommend the book, but be aware, it's a LONG story!

A Very Entertraining Story & Listen!

If you get a little turned off by the idea of a 32 hr book - don't worry. You'll wonder why it's over so quick. A fantastic story & narration. (Left me wondering if Big Jim the Chief was contrived while listening to Carol King's Smackwater Jack song). It's a small world after all. Mankind should behave at least 1/2 as intelligent & diligent as ants to be worthy enough to share it. Enjoy

Just OK for me

I am not a Steven King junkie, but I have read and liked several of his early novels. I read this because I got the sense from the TV show that there might be a good book behind the show. Seemed to be a very stereotypical small town America type of story line. Life is rarely if ever so cut and dry. Politically I fear King is probably further afield than I am. Perhaps I am not ready to face the reality painted by King in this book. Such an acerbic view of the "power players" in small town America really just didn't sit well with me despite King and I probably being from the same political tendency. I believe America is filled with better people than those described. Perhaps I am too idealistic, but the story really grated on me. Yes I liked the show better. Last point I wanted to make is the science behind the dome never made any type of sense to me. I read lots of sci fi lots of science magazines, and I just didn't understand the build up of how the technology worked, why it was feasible, how it was only deployed in one American town etc. Three stars just because 1 star - maybe I'm too idealistic about the nature of those in power, 1 star - technology thing never made sense to me. Hate to give poor reviews. Idealists and technology / sci-fi enthusiasts should probably skip this one.