The audiobook version was very, very well done. ( )

There comes a time in everyone's life when they feel as though they are living in a fishbowl with no way to get out and little hope for the future. Then there are those whose small world is the only world they know and want, and they will do anything and everything to keep it the same--or make it better for themselves. "Under the Dome" is one of those books that makes you think of what would happen if you were trapped, literally, inside a small town and the political dysfunctions that arise from it.

HERE THERE BE SPOILERS

The small town of Chester's Mill, Maine is mysteriously covered by an unbreakable glass-like dome, effectively trapping the people and pollution, among other things, inside. Personalities within the town begin to show their true colors, with murders, suicides, political shenanigans, and drug making and usage dominating the days the dome covers the town. The government is trying to help, but all they can do is sit and watch as the town literally self-destructs.

I thought this book was wonderful, until about the last two hundred pages. Maybe I'm vindictive, but I wanted a greater poetic ending for Rennie, and I thought that hearkening back to "Tommyknocker" days was not conducive to realism. I wanted to be scared, and wanted a lot more than the threat of aliens playing with us. But that's the way Stephen King is...He doesn't give you what you want or expect in every circumstance. However, I'd have liked for the origin of the dome to be more terrestrial--and humanly psychological. ( )

(2009) Another wild tale from King where the monster is the unexplained dome that comes down around a small town in Maine. Actually the monster in this story is the alien ?kid? that is using the dome as an alien version of an ant farm. The ants in the dome can't get out and it quickly turns into anarchy as a twisted selectman wants to turn it into his own little empire with a private army. Turns bad when a firestorm is started by an explosion at Rennie's meth lab. KIRKUS REVIEWMaine. Check. Strange doings. Check. Alien/demon presence. Check. Unlikely heroes. Check.An early scene in King's latest (Just After Sunset, 2008, etc.) takes us past Shawshank Prison, if only in the mind of a character�and there are dozens of characters, large and small, whose minds we enter. One of them, a leading citizen in the quiet town of Chester's Mill, is crooked, conniving wheeler-dealer Big Jim Rennie, whose son, a specialist in taking wrong forks in the road, is the local terror but has apparently surrendered his power to awe to larger forces¥in this case, the ones who have very gradually sealed off Chester's Mill from the rest of the world. Why? It's the kind of hamlet where a big night of fun involves driving with a six-pack and a shotgun, hardly the sort of place where the overlords seem likely to land. But these overlords, they're a strange bunch: They walk among us, and they might even be us. King runs riot with players, including a newshound who numbers among his ordinary worries ?the inexplicable decay of the town's sewer system and waste treatment plant?; a curious chap named Sea Dogs; some weekend warriors; and the lyrically named Romeo Burpee, who ?survived a childhood of merciless tauntsto become the richest man in town.? Evil is omnipresent here, but organized religion is suspect, useful only for those who would bleat, ?The Dome is God's will.? The woods are full of malevolent possibilities. Civic and military leaders are usually incompetent. And it's the brave loner who has bothered to do a little research who saves everyone's bacon. Or not.It hardly matters that, after 1,000-plus pages, the yarn doesn't quite add up. It's vintage King: wonderfully written, good, creepy, old-school fun.

Just started it and I'm trying to get back in sync with Stephen King. I generally like him but right now I'm feeling like he's overdoing the gore just a tad. I mean, really, how many descriptions of animals/people cut in half do we really need to set the scene?

I mostly enjoyed this. I think it could have been shorter, I think it could have used less gore/horror. I know, I know, it's a Stephen King book. What did I expect? I also think the final resolution was pretty lame, but again, I know to expect that from King. He has such great ideas, it's really a shame doesn't really know how to end a book.

Enjoyed most of the characters in this one. Wouldn't mind seeing Barbie show up somewhere else. ( )

Okay, I have read this book before and VERY much enjoyed it. It was one of Stephen King's better books in my humble opinion.

This time around I decided to listen to the audio version. I just couldn't do it though. I really didn't like Raul Esparza's version of this. He seemed to monotone and his interpretation of Maine accents was just awful. I couldn't get all the way through 35 cds listening to him.

So, great story but the reader threw me off the audio version. ( )