Under the Dome by Stephen King. The book version I have has 1,074 pages. So it is one thick book. It might be thick, but it is a quick read (well, not as quick as perhaps a John Grisham book, but considering the length of the book it is a quick one). I read one quote on the front cover that calls this the best Stephen King book ever. I don't agree, but that doesn't mean it isn't a page turner.
The book tells the story of a town that becomes sealed off from the rest of the world when a dome descends over it. Only trace amounts of water and air can penetrate the dome. Within days, total chaos descends: rape, murders, false accusations, political manipulation, suicides.
I kept on thinking: would a small town where the total population appears to be less than 1,000 really behave in the manner that Stephen King describes? Who really knows. There are certain aspects that I question, but in the end I believe he describes a very likely possibility -- especially given the set-up that he presents us with.
One problem I have with the book is that there are so many characters that sometimes I felt the writing was confusing. For example, towards the end of the book (pages 1052-1053) he has a conversation between two individuals and then switches to a conversation between four individuals and then back to the two individuals. When he went back to the two individuals he wrote a sentence: "What bag?" he asked . . . Personally, I was like so who is this "he?" I had to go back to figure out who "he" was. I don't know if my confusion is due to Stephen King's writing or my own lack of comprehension.
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