At approximately 1:24 AM this morning, just shy of my midnight/New Years goal, I finished the 1000+ page novel Under the Dome by Stephen King. I started it three days ago, after hesitantly picking it up at the local used bookstore, where I'd brought in a Chipotle bag full of used books I'd long since lost the motivation to read (including a few of my mom's books that are...not so much my taste). I'd already browsed the rest of the store, checking for any new French language books since my last visit, cruising through the classics hoping one would jump off the shelf at me, even giving the cooking section a good look through, as my cooking often leaves something to be desired. I made my way back to the front, slightly disappointed by my empty hands, patiently waiting as the cashier with my books helped an elderly gentlemen, when my eyes took it upon themselves to hone in on a thick paperback with a yellow and black cover, jutting above it's neighbors on the table. I inspected the cover, hesitant of the $10 price tag on the front just under the famous authors name. I am a cheapskate, especially when there is a perfectly good library filled with free books just a few blocks away. After reading the back cover, a small town inexplicably sealed off from the rest of civilization, all mystery and doom, a quick look outside to the cold Minnesota winter was all the more I needed to know I wouldn't be going to the public library that day. I brought the massive thing (1072 pages in all, plus map of the town and other tidbits to help the reader keep up) to the counter, where I paid a scant $1.50 after the deduction of the books I'd sold.
Then, I started reading.
I was pleased to find my hesitance to buying the book was unnecessary. I was quickly sucked into the story, which begins just a minute before the Dome came down on the poor townsfolk, killing several as it appeared out of nowhere. No times wasted.
Because the story takes place over an entire town, many diverse characters get a chance to share their experiences. Dale Barbara, vet turned cook turned town leader, plays an important role in pissing off the Second Selectmen of Chester's Mill, Jim Rennie, who's main goal seems to be to create as much chaos in town as possible to force the citizens into a sick dictatorship with him as the ruler, claiming it to be the only way to survive. Jim Rennie's son, Junior starts off the story by murdering his fiancée and stashing her in the pantry, later adding the bodies of her friend Dodee, a Reverend with an oriental fetish, and the former police chief's widow. After a shabby police crew is hauled together, comprising initially of few police officers in town plus Junior and his ill-mannered friends, things go from bad to worse. The new "police officers" rape a woman, after which she nearly bleeds out trying to get to the hospital with her young son, and there is a riot at the supermarket. Quickly we come to learn many of the "good people" in this town are not so good at all.
I was thoroughly impressed by this books ability to keep me captivated and reading, especially considering how long it is. The frequent switch between characters kept it fresh, and I was glad it was not limited to just one. It gave one a chance to see this town from the eyes of the police officers, the leaders, the kids, the townsfolk, and even the dog Horace had his time to shine.
My favorite character was Julia Shumway. Although Dale Barbara (or Barbie for short) was set up to be the main protagonist, it was Shumway, I felt, who deserves the most recognition. The owner of the town newspaper, she fought for the truth of what Jim Rennie was doing to be exposed from the start; she was clever, brave, and it didn't hurt that she had a dog (the previously mentioned Horace). Not only that, but it was due to her bravery that they managed to get out of the Dome at all. Barbara's character just seemed a bit....flaccid.
Overall, I'd give it an A.
