First 350 Pages of Under the Dome - A Brief Review Free of Spoilers
I've been eaten recently by 'Under the Dome', the latest novel from Mr. Stephen King, my favorite author and personal hero. I'm about three hundred pages in, give or take, and so far...
I'm not sure what to think. I've been really excited for this book. Another epic, one with scope and twists and novelty on par with The Stand. I'm guessing this happens sometime after the point I've read to. Because, being perfectly honest, there's nothing new here so far. I'm not saying that this is a bad book. It's well written, intriguing, and I definitely intend to keep reading.
But it's nothing I haven't read before. Rather than liken 'Under the Dome' to 'The Stand', I'm put in mind more of 'Tommyknockers' or 'Insomnia' or 'Needful Things'. It's the same set up, the same driving forces under the main plot (secret evil of small New England towns), and even a lot of the same characters with different names and slightly different situations. It's kind of like...if 'Insomnia' and 'Needful Things' were a same-sex partnership that used donations from The Mist and Tommyknockers to have a baby. That baby would be 'Under the Dome'.
Now, I do like Mr. King's deconstructions of small town New England life. Because oftentimes, he remarkably on the mark. And I enjoy seeing shades of the same characters, and being able to read a bit and think 'aha, that is a bona fide King archtype right there!'. But I passed on buying 'Just After Sunset' because of those same issues. There's clearly a huge difference between skipping on an anthology of short stories I feel like I've read before and a 1,000+ page novel - I expect to see some new and interesting things in Dome, rest assured! - but still.
I know for a fact that we can move away from the whole 'small New England town, real faces of mundane evil'. Look at 'The Shining', 'Desperation', 'The Dark Tower', 'The Stand'.... Ah well.
I'm still enjoying Dome. It really does hook you, and I cannot stress enough the way the book grabs you and makes you want to keep reading to find out what's going on. And who survives, of course.
And hey, it's something to keep me going until book number...er... 4 1/2? 4.5? What number do we use to denote a book taking place betwen books4 and 5? Whatever. The next Dark Tower book.
I'm not sure what to think. I've been really excited for this book. Another epic, one with scope and twists and novelty on par with The Stand. I'm guessing this happens sometime after the point I've read to. Because, being perfectly honest, there's nothing new here so far. I'm not saying that this is a bad book. It's well written, intriguing, and I definitely intend to keep reading.
But it's nothing I haven't read before. Rather than liken 'Under the Dome' to 'The Stand', I'm put in mind more of 'Tommyknockers' or 'Insomnia' or 'Needful Things'. It's the same set up, the same driving forces under the main plot (secret evil of small New England towns), and even a lot of the same characters with different names and slightly different situations. It's kind of like...if 'Insomnia' and 'Needful Things' were a same-sex partnership that used donations from The Mist and Tommyknockers to have a baby. That baby would be 'Under the Dome'.
Now, I do like Mr. King's deconstructions of small town New England life. Because oftentimes, he remarkably on the mark. And I enjoy seeing shades of the same characters, and being able to read a bit and think 'aha, that is a bona fide King archtype right there!'. But I passed on buying 'Just After Sunset' because of those same issues. There's clearly a huge difference between skipping on an anthology of short stories I feel like I've read before and a 1,000+ page novel - I expect to see some new and interesting things in Dome, rest assured! - but still.
I know for a fact that we can move away from the whole 'small New England town, real faces of mundane evil'. Look at 'The Shining', 'Desperation', 'The Dark Tower', 'The Stand'.... Ah well.
I'm still enjoying Dome. It really does hook you, and I cannot stress enough the way the book grabs you and makes you want to keep reading to find out what's going on. And who survives, of course.
And hey, it's something to keep me going until book number...er... 4 1/2? 4.5? What number do we use to denote a book taking place betwen books4 and 5? Whatever. The next Dark Tower book.