Book Review: "Under the Dome" by Stephen King

Oooh! Guess what, everyone? I actually finished a book!

It seems crazy for someone who blogs about books to not actually read very often, but between writing and working and watching waaaaaaay too much TV (damn you, BBC America! Stop playing "Top Gear" all the time! I can't resist!) ... it actually took me more than three months to read just over 800 pages of "Under the Dome" by Stephen King. And I am not a slow reader. In fact, I am a very fast reader.

Sad, right?

It's not like I didn't like the book. I kept wanting to read it, but I would run out of time for weeks on end. The only reason I finished it this weekend is because my husband was engrossed in building his new character for D&D on Saturday afternoon so I seized the opportunity to read like a crazy woman until it was time for dinner.

At any rate, I guess "Under the Dome" gets points for being a pretty easy book to set down and pick back up to read.

"Under the Dome," like so many other books by King, is about a small town in Maine. This small town, Chester's Mill, is suddenly cut off from the rest of the world by a clear but solid barrier. Inside the town - under the dome - King creates a huge cast of characters that are all trying to survive or even thrive in the dome. The main drama comes between Dale "Barbie" Barbara, a former Army lieutenant who has angered a number of young men in the town, and Big Jim Rennie, the town's corrupt, power-hungry second selectman. Rennie's son, Junior, just happens to be one of the young men who is at odds with Barbie. Barbie is tapped by the government to lead the town during the crisis, while Big Jim works hard behind the scenes to put himself in charge of the town and discredit Barbie. And, of course, there is the big question - why is the dome there, and how can they get rid of it?

There also are several other characters who play prominently - the local newspaper editor, a physician's assistant, a 13-year-old boy - and a whole host of minor characters who round out the town. As someone who is working on writing her own first novel, I am amazed that King could keep track of all of the characters and make all but a few into well-written, fleshed out characters. There's probably a reason King had to wait until now to write this book, after having started and stopped the project a couple of times.

"Under The Dome" is not great literature - it's kind of pulpy - but it is a great read that I really enjoyed. At times I felt like the novel was a little bit long and could have used some editing, but I suppose that some of the reward for having published 49 novels is that you get to get a big long-winded at times. But, really, that was only a couple of places - most of the book flies along at a good clip. It was just what I expected from a Stephen King book, so if you like other King books, you'll enjoy "Under the Dome."