Stephen King has produced yet another epic work. For those readers who want pages for money, Under the Dome does not disappoint at close to 900 pages for about 600 baht (at Kinokuniya in Bangkok). As you can see on the cover, this work is announced at being an epic, the finest one of the author since 'The Stand'.
The story develops at Chester's Mill in Maine, a town, or rather a village, with about 2,000 residents. The village really exists, although we doubt the characters do (quite a few businesses mentioned in this book, appear to have a website).
The residents of Chester's Mill wake up one day to find a giant dome encircling their town. There is no way out or in (though a little air as well as sound can travel through the transparent structure). It seems to be impenetrable to particulate matter. Birds fly into it, dropping dead. Cars collide with it, its passengers not surviving the impact.
Life for residents of Chester's Mill changes in an instant.This story develops into a classic fight between 'good' and 'evil'. The Second Selectman of the town (we guess here that elected officials in this part of the U.S.A. are called Selectman), inspired by his religious beliefs and his own feelings of superiority and smartness, is intent on ruling the town, for the good of the people and with an iron fist. Jim Rennie also happens to run a very large drug operation prior to the dome coming down, and some other town's people are also involved in this illegal trade.
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Under the Dome
by Stephen King |
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As from the beginning people are murdered around town, either by Jim Rennie's son, or Jim Rennie himself. There is quite some violence, including sexual violence in this book, looks a bit like Stephen King doing a 'Quentin Tarantino'. Things have to be covered up, and a black sheep found for the murders. Dave Barbara, kind of a passer-by in town, and a former military man, had been at odds with Jim Rennie and his son before, and is wrongly accused of the murders and put in jail.
Rennie starts terrorizing the town, enlisting a bunch of hoodlums into the police force, to use violence if necessary.
Stephen King mentions himself 'Lord of the Flies' in his narrative. As in Lord of the Flies, the classic novel by William Golding, we see what happens when people are isolated from society at large, new rules are created, and the worst of people comes to the surface.
A difference here is that all the baddies were already bad, before the dome came down. Only, they behave worse thereafter, taking the opportunity arising from the absence of a controlling authority. Fortunately, we also have a fine selection of town residents, trying to save the situation, get Barbara out of prison, trying to find the origin of the dome etc.
As if the dome itself is not enough (the military is camped outside town, but missiles fired at it, and potent chemical compounds, have no effect on the structure), there is also a premonition of impending doom. Quite a few of the younger residents of Chester's Mill, develop epileptic seizures, accompanied by vivid 'dreams' of something gross and atrocious happening with or before Halloween. [the story plays out during Oktober]
Story telling is obviously Stephen King's domain, and we get into the personal lifes and pasts of a large number of characters.
The grip of Jim Rennie on the town becomes tighter and tighter. Meanwhile, the good citizens, find what is at the origin of the dome, somewhere outside the town center, but seem not to be able to do anything about it.
The cataclysmic event eventually happens. It is related to the extensive drug operation, mentioned before. Just imagine, what could be so bad to happen under a dome? Will there be any survivors and who? Will the dome somehow lift itself and disappear?
The story by Stephen King is just a bit long. The characters in it are well developed, but we are a bit puzzled by the fact that who is good and who is bad, is predetermined. There are no 'grey' characters here, and no place for changes of mind. While we certainly believe that some people can behave at their worst when isolated from societal control, the speed at which behaviour deteriorates, and the rapid use of unchallenged violence, just seem a bit unrealistic.
Under the Dome is a nice piece of work, but we would not consider it a masterpiece. We started reading Stephen King's novels just the last few years. When we compare his stories, with those of other writers, we noticed that they linger longer in memory. It is like they leave a longer-lasting impression on the brain. Possibly (but not only) this has something to do with the way the stories are written, and the elaborate development of characters and storyline. Let's say : long stories for a long-lasting impression.
P.S. : Electricity generators and the propane to fuel them play a relatively important role in this story. Most private residences seem to have a generator available. As far as I know, this is quite uncommon in Europe. Likely it says something about the reliability of public electricity utilities in that part of Maine, or it may indicate some paranoia about having to be reliant on said utilities.
Websites of English-language writers in Bangkok, and online bookstores.
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