Under the Dome - Over and Out - The Quill to Live

It’s time to ring that King-a-ding-ding bell and notch another King novel in my tracker! Under the Dome is behind me now. It is a beefy and intricate King work worthy of your time, should you feel the urge to see a small town descend into disarray.

The town of Chester’s Mill, Maine, is not okay. An invisible and impenetrable dome encases the town one day, leading to plane crashes, severed appendages, and plenty of other disastrous outcomes. Those within the dome are cut off. Their resources are limited. Their societal fabric begins to unravel as certain townsfolk start to think only of themselves. The government tries to unravel the dome’s secrets and dispel it, but progress is slow. Big Jim Rennie becomes the de facto leader of the town, wielding his already considerable power to gather more and fuel his corruption. Dale Barbara AKA Barbie, an ex-military man, joins up with some townsfolk to solve the dome’s mysteries and free the town.

I’ve touched on a small fraction of Under the Dome’s story and cast here; it’s a big ol’ book full of people with distinct motives. The cast here is one of King’s best. Julia Shumway runs The Democrat, a Chester’s Mill newspaper. Beneath the dome, she tries to expose Jim Rennie’s crimes and corruption. Then there’s Junior Rennie, Big Jim’s son, who suffers from violent urges and kicks the book off with a gruesome murder before being trapped in the dome with his fellow Mill residents. Joe McClatchey is a plucky, smart teen who starts to uncover the dome’s origins and their dangerous implications. These characters don’t just fill out the town’s population. They drive everything that makes Chester’s Mill tick and, in some ways, collapse.

Boom, there’s another paragraph, and we’ve still only skimmed the surface of this all-star cast. Don’t worry, I won’t surprise you with another one. The real point here? Some of King’s best writing comes from the slow burn of a small town’s quirks, mysteries, and nefarious goings-on. By trapping Chester’s Mill in a literal dome, the story flourishes and feels big in an unexpected way. The dangers facing the dome-dwellers are physically nearby at all times. The concerns outside of the dome matter very little, except for the obvious questions of what the hell it is and how to get rid of it. This ethos leans into one of King’s best weapons: people are the real monsters. I love a supernatural Stephen King book as much as the next guy (the “next guy” is my buddy Dylan, who loves Stephen King. Hi, Dylan!). Still, I get just as excited by these more grounded stories without overt fantastical elements. Under the Dome is among King’s best works of this style. Every story’s ripples collide with another’s. A vibration in Big Jim Rennie’s section of the web will set off another in Barbie’s section or someone else’s. Every portion of the book feels purposeful, which I simply cannot say about every King book I’ve read. It’s an achievement, especially for a novel so long.

One important note on the lack of supernatural influence (while staying as spoiler-free as possible). It might lurk in the background, but it never plays directly into the majority of the story.

The themes of Under the Dome are standouts in the King pantheon. Power and corruption fester within the dome, and King explores how quickly a society can devolve into baser instincts. Conversely, through those who try to help, he also discusses the power of a benevolent person in light of a tragedy. And for some added flair, he throws a wrench named Junior Rennie into the gears to give everything some homicidal flavor. The dome, both as a physical object and a concept, contains every facet of humanity. By trapping them all in one place, King sets a magnifying glass on them. He never draws conclusions for the reader, though. That’s our job. While Under the Dome has a neat ending, many of its posed conundrums are left standing.

The titular dome traps people, and the novel traps your attention. Under the Dome is both epic and focused. It ushers in the moral decay of a small town in the wake of a dangerous mystery. Anyone who wants to read a many-hundred-page book about small-town what-ifs and dark secrets will find Under the Dome just as titillating as I did.

Rating: Under the Dome – 9.0/10