|
Under the Dome
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in Under the Dome for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
The achievement of Stephen King is unlike that of any writer. He has taken a genre which was somewhat moribund when he came to it -- the horror novel -- and transformed it into one of the most phenomenally successful areas for quality popular writing -- what's more, his unprecedented sales success has inspired hundreds of imitators, and while few can match his inspiration (or, for that matter, his jawdropping productivity), there is no question that he has rejuvenated the horror field. Not that King confined himself to the strict parameters one might associate with the genre; several of his books -- such as this latest one, The Dome, stray into science fiction territory). But King’s achievement doesn't end there -- such is his influence over other genres (notably the crime and thriller field) that writers in those genres have been obliged to up the ante in terms of gruesome compulsiveness (Thomas Harris’ Hannibal Lecter books, for instance, owe much to the King transformation of the popular literature field). And as for that loaded world – ‘literature’ -- isn't Stephen King reputed to be the author who has brought quality writing into a field not noted for such things? (Not, that is, since the halcyon days of Edgar Allen Poe in a previous century). Is that claim true of the new book?
So... The Dome. This massive novel, 25 years in the writing (if Stephen King is to be believed), is quite his most ambitious project, and brings to mind earlier blockbuster novels which aficionados considered to be among the writer's best work. Something like the basic premise here may be found in a classic piece of British science fiction, John Wyndham’s The Midwich Cuckoos (filmed as Village of the Damned). In that book, a village is isolated by an invisible force field -- and in the King novel, the residents can no more get out than the outside world can enter. John Wyndham's narrative involved the insemination of the women in the town by unseen alien presences, but Stephen King in The Dome has chosen to work in a different area. When the small New England town of Chester's Mill is cut off from the outside world by a mysterious force, all the laws of physics seem to be up for grabs; cars leaving town come up against invisible barriers, and there is death and mutilation for whatever was caught in the boundaries of an invisible field. Inside the dome, the inhabitants of the town deal with the catastrophe in a surprising (and often alarming) variety of ways: ex-military hero Dale Barbara has already come up against the antisocial elements of the town, and has been trying to get out. But the self-styled boss of the town, the demagogue Big Jim Rennie, soon establishes a Machiavellian control (another echo of the books of John Wyndham, in which catastrophe always throw up vicious, fascist-style leaders who capitalise on the disaster).
As ever, King develops his massive dramatis personae with great assurance, and demonstrates once again that his imagination in terms of plotting is as strong as ever. Those, however, who have made a case for King as a quality writer rather than a great popular entertainer will not find much ammunition for their arguments here, but this great sprawling canvas affords many pleasures. --Barry Forshaw
Review
'Spooky, mysterious, gripping and satisfyingly scary'
(Daily Telegraph on JUST AFTER SUNSET )'King has the ability to capture the reader's imagination from the first page'
(Sun on JUST AFTER SUNSET )‘His most accomplished work: 13 beautifully turned tales, no two of which are alike' (Daily Express on JUST AFTER SUNSET )
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
121 of 127 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Before I start I want to lay my cards on the table. I have been a huge King fan for a looooong time. Some of his early works are among my favourite books of all time and my copies of "IT", "The Stand" and "The Tommyknockers" have been read to tatters. Having said that, I'm honest enough with myself to admit that I have found most of his books (since "Dolores Claiborne" I think) to be utterly dreadful and I have really missed the delighted anticipation that I used to feel on picking up a new King novel and settling down for a rattling good read. It was therefore with a lot of trepidation that I bought "Under the Dome". As with "Cell", "Lisey's Story" and the rest of the dreck that he's been pumping out lately, I was prepared for more head-shaking disappointment.
But I am so glad I bought this because The Master is back! Oh what a relief! This is almost classic King, a richly rewarding story in which SK does what few others can do with such mastery - write utterly believable characters that you get to know and love and loathe in equal measure. I won't re-hash the plot here, if you've read some of the other reviews you know what happens. But it's what King does with the plot that makes it special. While not quite on the same epic level as "The Stand", this is the best that King has produced in a long time, and that makes it pretty darned good by anyone's reckoning. Don't be put off by the plethora of dramatis personae introduced at the very beginning, stick with it and it gets better as the story unfolds. "Under the Dome" is very very close to being vintage old-school King, and for this Constant Reader that's something very special. Highly recommended and no hesitation in giving 5*.
But I am so glad I bought this because The Master is back! Oh what a relief! This is almost classic King, a richly rewarding story in which SK does what few others can do with such mastery - write utterly believable characters that you get to know and love and loathe in equal measure. I won't re-hash the plot here, if you've read some of the other reviews you know what happens. But it's what King does with the plot that makes it special. While not quite on the same epic level as "The Stand", this is the best that King has produced in a long time, and that makes it pretty darned good by anyone's reckoning. Don't be put off by the plethora of dramatis personae introduced at the very beginning, stick with it and it gets better as the story unfolds. "Under the Dome" is very very close to being vintage old-school King, and for this Constant Reader that's something very special. Highly recommended and no hesitation in giving 5*.
49 of 56 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I read this brick of a book in a matter of days which is saying something as I have a full-time job and not an awful lot of time on my hands... all the same I literally couldn't help myself. Stephen King is nothing if not a bloody good read!
The premise is great, well-written and spooky and there are some brilliant characters. Also for the first half of the book a kind of supernatural whodunnit is played out (Who made the dome, was it aliens, the army, something/someone else?) which I found really enjoyable. All in all I really do feel it does stand up to scrutiny when compared to his previous classics; like IT and the Tommyknockers which I feel it owes a lot. Then again (unlike some reviewers) I am not a hater of modern king, I really loved Duma Key for example.
I have but two qualms, one is the children. Now I really really feel that before Mr King next puts pen to paper (or finger to laptop) he should go out and have a talk to a real 12-18 year old of today. I say this because Kings writing of modern day children and teenagers in Under the Dome is sometimes stilted, occasionally cloying and once or twice plain bad. At it's worse King sounds similar to a middle-aged politician using 'catch-phrases' and 'hip anecdotes' and references 'things that young people like' in an embarrassing attempt to be 'down with the kids'. Maybe if King just tried less hard to use 'youth lingo' with his young characters they'd feel more natural. That aside... I did like the three main young characters even if I had to wince at their dialogue a couple of times.
Secondly, the payoff was a little disappointing. I think the idea was pretty good and the final sequence was actually pretty well written but I guess I was hoping for one final injection of fear... As is often the case (in film and in books) the monsters are always scarier when you can't quite see them, and once the evil force in Dome was revealed a lot of the fear and suspense was lost.
These criticisms out of the way I have very rarely been so easily taken hostage by a book. For the past 5 days the town and it's many inhabitants have taken over my mental landscape and I can honestly say that I actually miss them and didn't want the book to end. Setbacks aside if you like King, if you like clever sci-fi, nerve-jangling thrillers or a clever political allegory you'll love this.
The premise is great, well-written and spooky and there are some brilliant characters. Also for the first half of the book a kind of supernatural whodunnit is played out (Who made the dome, was it aliens, the army, something/someone else?) which I found really enjoyable. All in all I really do feel it does stand up to scrutiny when compared to his previous classics; like IT and the Tommyknockers which I feel it owes a lot. Then again (unlike some reviewers) I am not a hater of modern king, I really loved Duma Key for example.
I have but two qualms, one is the children. Now I really really feel that before Mr King next puts pen to paper (or finger to laptop) he should go out and have a talk to a real 12-18 year old of today. I say this because Kings writing of modern day children and teenagers in Under the Dome is sometimes stilted, occasionally cloying and once or twice plain bad. At it's worse King sounds similar to a middle-aged politician using 'catch-phrases' and 'hip anecdotes' and references 'things that young people like' in an embarrassing attempt to be 'down with the kids'. Maybe if King just tried less hard to use 'youth lingo' with his young characters they'd feel more natural. That aside... I did like the three main young characters even if I had to wince at their dialogue a couple of times.
Secondly, the payoff was a little disappointing. I think the idea was pretty good and the final sequence was actually pretty well written but I guess I was hoping for one final injection of fear... As is often the case (in film and in books) the monsters are always scarier when you can't quite see them, and once the evil force in Dome was revealed a lot of the fear and suspense was lost.
These criticisms out of the way I have very rarely been so easily taken hostage by a book. For the past 5 days the town and it's many inhabitants have taken over my mental landscape and I can honestly say that I actually miss them and didn't want the book to end. Setbacks aside if you like King, if you like clever sci-fi, nerve-jangling thrillers or a clever political allegory you'll love this.
34 of 40 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I Loved it.
Yeah you could compare it to The Stand, and yes I kept looking for ol' "RF" to turn up somewhere, I did wonder just once if Fran or Stu were under the dome someplace but you don't have to ever think that this particular author would turn out something the same. Of course not!
I don't profess to be a book reviewer but I am quite happy to be just called a constant reader. I am not going to write a long review but a quick comment for those that might be sitting on the fence over buying the book or not.
I have had a break from Stephen King for a good few years, I just could not get into the the last six or so books and the Gunslinger series just didn't do it for me (I made it as far as the third book, I did try - I promise) So it was with great hope I pressed the buy button at Amazon for a book that had a description that reminded me of the King books I used to love to read. And I was joyously happy to find that it was exactly that.
So if you loved The Stand, or the Dead Zone or Fire Starter or if Salem's Lot still scares you a little after the lights are out then buy it, I think you wont put it down until its done just like I couldn't do!
Yeah you could compare it to The Stand, and yes I kept looking for ol' "RF" to turn up somewhere, I did wonder just once if Fran or Stu were under the dome someplace but you don't have to ever think that this particular author would turn out something the same. Of course not!
I don't profess to be a book reviewer but I am quite happy to be just called a constant reader. I am not going to write a long review but a quick comment for those that might be sitting on the fence over buying the book or not.
I have had a break from Stephen King for a good few years, I just could not get into the the last six or so books and the Gunslinger series just didn't do it for me (I made it as far as the third book, I did try - I promise) So it was with great hope I pressed the buy button at Amazon for a book that had a description that reminded me of the King books I used to love to read. And I was joyously happy to find that it was exactly that.
So if you loved The Stand, or the Dead Zone or Fire Starter or if Salem's Lot still scares you a little after the lights are out then buy it, I think you wont put it down until its done just like I couldn't do!
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Literary Elephantiasis Strikes Again
Stephen King freely admits he writes books that are too long and have too many characters - "literary elephantiasis" he calls it. Read more
Published 10 days ago by M. Coldwell
Big Innit?
To start with - I couldn't do better!!!! Great read. Possibly a bit long but the characterisation was excellent. It also finished a bit quickly. Bit imbalanced. Read more
Published 11 days ago by Peter Senior
Under the Dome
I love good sci-fi and liked the plot and action very much.
However I think Stephen King goes into too much back ground of some of the small bit characters that's not relevant... Read more
However I think Stephen King goes into too much back ground of some of the small bit characters that's not relevant... Read more
Published 23 days ago by coalburner
Would've been five, but for the ending.
You know that phrase "the chase is better than the catch", and how it means that the build up to something can be better than the thing itself? Read more
Published 1 month ago by cryptopsyftw
Stephen King classic
Having been a huge fan of Stephen King's earlier work, I was given 11.23.63 for Christmas and really enjoyed it. Read more
Published 1 month ago by R. Downs
under the dome
Stephen King at his best. Characters come to life and each story behind them interesting and unique. Read more
Published 1 month ago by miloblue
Brilliant read!!
I am loving this epic novel. Only half way but still can't seem to put it down. There are so many characters but all are memorable.
Five stars for Stephen King once again.
Five stars for Stephen King once again.
Published 1 month ago by Mr. Renos Erotocritou
Blargle
A book the size and weight of a breeze block, that you could probably do more brain damage to somebody with by forcing them to read it than using it as a blunt weapon. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Jamie Frost
A good book,amazingly well read
"Under the dome" is a true epic by that master of the epic story, Stephen King. I listened to this book as an unabridged audiobook, read by Raul Esparza. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Dr. C. J. BOTTRILL
Page turning
Fantastic read. I didn't want to put it down, love the way King seems to have an insight into human behaviour and how quickly the people in the town show their true colours when... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Littlebups
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192198663_.gif){kind=small}
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
