I heard from a friend that this book is 1,000 pages of crap. Is it really that bad? (I have yet to read it)
I have it and I'll say this: It's a gread but you won't wanna read it twice. Me and my girl both read it and enjoyed it. Not one of King's best, but still good. If you don't wanna put that much effort into it, read Duma Key. It was better, imo.
I bought it as soon as it came out, as an old time SK fan who is always hoping that the man will return to form. Other commitments have prevented me from making substantial inroads into the story, but he does seem to be trying to break his own record with regard to the number of characters. I think that it has a political sub-text. Create an isolated community and then see how it organises itself. The Republicans seem to be the bad guys. So, not entirely fiction, then!
I enjoyed it. It would also be a hard book to re-read as well, due to the length of it. But I'm also not a big re-reader on books either. As a big SK fan, I would put this on the higher half of his better done books. I liked the idea alot, and the characters as well. I can understand the criticism, but I wouldn't go near calling it "1,000 pages of crap".
The first third of the book was ok, but then you realize there is still 2/3's left...I listenned to the audiobook where the daunting mass of pages was diquised by several hundred mp3 files. The ending was silly, and I dont want to spoil it for anyone but basicly he had no idea how to end the book so took the easy way out. After investing that many hours into the book, it ticked me off a bit. Essentially the story could have been told in 300-400 pages and his editor didn't real him in. As let down as I was about the Under the Dome, I gave him a pass because he had just gotten hit by a truck and almost killed. This was his first work after almost a year layoff and probably highly medicated. It is a book worth starting with a firm idea of skipping ahead when your eyes get tired, you wont be missing much.
Duma Key was written after his accident. It dealt with the kind of trauma he had or could have had. It was too wordy too, but it was better than Under the Tome. Under the Tome was a resurrected project he had begun decades ago. It rambled aimlessly and self-indulgently, and the ending, as you suggest, was utter crap pulled from where crap is usually to be found. It is good for one thing, though. I use it as a doorstop to keep my bedroom door from slamming closed when the windows are open.
Well I guess I am taking my pass back from king 8) - I forgot about Duma Key and the tireless one armed picture painter.
I read it, the characters were just bombarded with **** for 1,000 pages. The ending was predictable but it didn't really give much insight to who or why they were really doing the whole 'Dome' in the first place. Not his greatest, but not his worst either.
Spoiler Why do little kids get a magnifying glass and burn ants or do the other number of things they do to insects? The Dome was created by kids from some alien race. They didn't understand that we humans are actually sentient. To them, we were merely ants. Atleast I think thats how it was supposed to be. I remember a few times where people brought up their experiences like this when they were a kid. They also mention they don't know why they did the things they did. They just sorta did them. Though might have been towards last half of the book. Been awhile since I actually read the book so. *shrugs* I might be off a bit. Personally I enjoyed the book, but I don't think it's going back on my To Read Again list for quite awhile, if ever.
I personally was let down by the ending. "Wear it home it will look like a dress", what on Earth. Give me a break. The rest was good with how people would start to go after each other when resources started running short. I did think there was entirely too many bloody noses though. Every time some one got one I wanted to keep a score card. Just my 2 Penneys.
Being a big King fan since i was 10 i would have to say this is a good book. Not his best but it's worth a read. I haven't read it again as of yet but i would. I say give it a go and see how you like it maybe get it from a library instead of buying it so you won't waste any money if you hate it lolz
