So, I’ve had a lot of down time lately. Spent New Year’s weekend with a cold so I stayed inside warm and hunkered down. And I whiled away the hours reading the latest novel by Stephen King Under the Dome.
I guess I should preface this by saying I’m a big King fan. Yeah, I know the literary elites like to turn their nose up and sniff that he is just a hack who churns out pulp fiction for the masses. But I think the bigger point is that King is a master storyteller whose creativity in creating worlds (not just supernatural ones, but yeah a lot of that too) and characters that are almost real to us. Certainly the reader can almost always relate to the extreme challenges they face in King’s bizarre stories. The Stand remains one of the best novels I have ever read.
It was also the longest until I tackled Under the Dome’s 1072 pages. A hefty read indeed. It was a good story built around an interesting premise. But I thought it was overlong, sloppy, not particularly well written, and chock full of cliches and caricatures. Yep, despite its length it seemed like King just phoned this one in.
I wouldn’t say don’t read it, it is a fine way to kill time. But if you are expected a classic King spellbinder you will share my disappointment.
Here is a blogger friend of mine that is in the same genre as Stephen King, but he keeps it shorter and maybe not as sweet http://revellian.com/
I can go one better–it is forgettable. The Stand, It,Pet Cemetary, these stories get inside of you and simply don’t go away. Four months from now you’ll have to take a moment to recall what Under the Dome was about. Still I did add a hard copy to the King collection. I suggest you read the Dark Tower series if you haven’t done so. Seriously excellent.
Speaking of excellent, if you get the chance go see Avatar Imax 3-D is a must. Awesome!
Yeah forgettable. I already remember the dome in The Simpson’s Movie better. Sad thing is I read you get the book for less than 10 bucks in the states, I paid full price ($30)here.
Thanks for the link Euro, I’ll check it out.
The Stand, It, The Green Mile, The Dark Tower series; these are my favorites from King. I’m reading “Under The Dome” right now but am having a surprisingly hard time getting through it.
Nomad, nice to see you here. I’m glad I didn’t give any spoilers away in my sloppy review. If I wasn’t so lazy I’d go back and at least correct the typos. But there is something to be said for a blogger butchering the English language while criticizing someone else’s writing.
That what folks have come to expect here at LTG…