Under the Dome

This is a fun read, but it's not very good. If you're going on vacation, this is a good choice to keep you entertained on the beach. I doubt you will remember many of the details in a few months. The overall premise is very interesting, a town completely enclosed by a force field, unable to leave, unable to receive anything from the outside. It also has Stephen King's somewhat iconic level of violence and bizarre profane slang, by which I mean phrases like “cotton picking,” and genetalia refered to as his “love machine” and her “breeding farm,” generally used to highlight the flaws in the antagonists, and thankfully these are terms I do not hear often, if ever. People in Maine must have quite colorful language, if Stephen King's writing is any indication. (Really though, are there people who talk like that?)

There are some minor and major problems to this novel. The characters are very one dimensional. The antagonists, namely Rennie and the other local politicians, start out as merely arrogantly unlikable. But then, in what feels like a really bizarre turn, it turns out that they have been going to church by day, cooking meth by night.

Another minor flaw in the plot, the government almost immediately shuts down cell reception to the town, as a sort of media black out. However, they allow the much bigger threat, the internet. People can make phone calls using their computers, using Google, Skype, or other services. So this distinction, which is mentioned repeatedly, between cell phones and the internet is weird. I personally would much rather have the internet than my phone, I can get a lot more information and connect with a lot of people. I can share pictures, I can write articles, I can call my grandmother or Wolf Blitzer. In an age where the lines between cell phones and computers is increasingly blurred, for King to make such a big deal about the government shutting one down but allowing the other is really nonsensical.

Another thing that I thought was weird-Barbie advises people to stock up on perishable meat. “Everything, but especially meat. Meat, meat, meat. ... “ When they run out of gas for their generators there won't be any way to keep that fresh. Isn't that a really weird choice? How about grains? Rice, oats, beans, peanut butter, canned goods. Shelf stable, long lasting, hearty and filling.

So overall not a bad read, but not a great one either. If you're a Stephen King fan you will probably find something to like about it.