Saturday, August 24, 2013

Review: Stephen King's "Under the Dome"



Under the DomeUnder the Dome by Stephen King
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Okay. I will admit that I got this book because I have been following the tv series and am enjoying it.

First things first: this book is NOTHING like the tv series. And that isn't a bad thing! It has been very freely adapted, and the plot, the characters, the general tone of the book and the program are totally different.

Now, for the basic second part: I found this boring as all get out. I did like the characters (nobody can write mean-spirited rednecks like Stephen King!). Two of the characters are basically the same in the book as the program (the newspaper woman and the newcomer to town), but almost everybody else is dramatically different - if not changed completely. The villain in the book is a villain - whereas on tv he's a little more well-rounded. I think the actor can be thanked for that.

Like all King's novels that I've read, there is blood and guts and gore aplenty. Some of the descriptions are downright disgusting, albeit realistic.

One final note - this book does not stop. It just goes like the Everready bunny! I read it on ColorNook and it was 1300+ pages. Frankly, other than "War and Peace," no book needs to be that long. And this one especially. The last 300 pages (yes, the last 300 pages) are the slowest and most drawn-out dramatic finale I've ever encountered. And the most absurd. But I won't get into that spoil for anybody who might be interested in reading it. But after reading 1000 pages of a book, I was SO disappointed (and, frankly, shocked!) by the sophomoric and obvious basis for the entire book.

So - very well-written and believable characters with some crackling good dialogue and humor, in the longest, poorest excuse for fantasy/horror/sci-fi I've run across in a long time. The best thing about it is that it was on sale at Barnes and Noble Nook Store - if I had paid full price for this I would be grumbling ... as it is, I'm only grumpy that I fell for the advertising hype!

You'd be much better off, going to make something beautiful!
♥´¨)
¸.•´¸.•*´¨) ¸.•*´¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•´♥ Tristan
 
 

4 comments:

Georgina said...

Good Morning, Tristan,

I've been watching the series on the tellie also and am enjoying it, but then, I've always been disappointed in what Hollywood does to his books...impossible to afford all that Stephen King imagery for a 1 1/2 hour-2 hours movie. So thank you for the book review...I shall not be purchasing it. LOL

I did finally complete "11/22/63" and it was exhausting but I liked it, except the ending...I don't know what I expected, but not that...OY!!

Oh well. I'll continue watching the series and take it for that. Have a great weekend.

Georgina

Robbie said...

Funny...when Under the Dome came on TV I didn't think I'd like it because i read the book...but I told my husband I couldn't remember a lot about the book because I didn't care for it...just a hohum book! Now I don't feel so bad that I couldn't remember it!! Have you read Silent Snow??? Good one!

jaz@octoberfarm said...

hi tristan! my son is about to read this. he is just finishing It. i will pass the review on to him!

Cathy L. Calamas said...

I hope at least that Sheriff Linda had some brains in the novel because she was sooooo irritating and dumb in the tv series. Actually, lots of irritating characters. Hate the way the season ended.:( I tried to read 11/22/63 but could only get through half of it.