I picked up this book after watching the first season of the TV series inspired by this concept. I originally thought it was based on the book, but the more I read, the more I realized that “inspired by” is far more correct. If you’ve seen the TV series, you know it’s a survival story. The book, by sharp contrast, is a disaster story.
I thoroughly enjoyed it and despite its massive length, could not put it down. I read and read until I was done, a Behemoth of a book concluded in about 4 days.
The premise is simple but oh so complex. One day, suddenly, without any warning, and without any explanation, an impenetrable dome seals Chester’s Mill and all its residents within. The first few chapters of the book give us an omniscient view of the disaster, showing us first a plane crashing into the dome, then an animal getting cut clean in two, then a woman who lost her hand, and then crash after crash as unwary travelers along the stretch of road leading into and out of the town smash against an invisible barrier.
A few important differences between the book and the TV series: In the book, the dome does NOT cut off sound, radio waves, phone signals, Internet, or TV. People can talk freely across the dome, but the military has largely cut it off as they attempt to keep the situation under control.
But the most important difference is that in the book, the dome is not some kind of freak micro-environment capable of sustaining life. It’s a death trap, slowly warming over the course of the next few days. Soot, exhaust, and fumes build up within the dome and do not dissipate. It starts to smell very bad.
The cast of characters in this book is overwhelming and hard to keep track of. That’s not really a criticism, just a fact. There are nearly 2,000 residents of Chester’s Mill on Dome Day and many of them get at least a moment of spotlight as the omniscient narrator creates a picture of life within.
I’m not usually a fan of the omniscient narrator because I love my character stories, but it worked here. And it was a character story — the character was just an entire town. Oh, and the town had some problems! Among other things, it was apparently the biggest meth lab in North America. The global viewpoint allowed the narrative to shift wherever it needed to be, whenever it needed to be there.
Much of the disastrous nature of this story was self-inflicted. The town put its faith in the wrong leaders — a power-hungry criminal, a man too weak to stop him, and a woman suffering from an unfortunate addiction to painkillers. The military tried to declare martial law and put Barbie (Dale Barbera) in charge, but he was a newcomer to town and the people outside the dome had no way to enforce anything within. Too bad for the citizens of Chester’s Mill.
There is a lot more I could say about this book, but basically I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good disaster story. Don’t let it’s length stop you — it has to be as long as it is. Stephen King does not waste words.
Title: Under the Dome
Author: Stephen King
Published November 10, 2009