rushed ending? (spoilers)

[smerdyakov]

Hello everyone,

This is my first post. I'm looking for honest reactions to under the dome, particularly to its ending.

I thought the first 900 pages or so were excellent -- I couldn't put the book down and often found myself grinding my teeth when big jim was in the building. Mr. King set up dozens of possible conflicts, seemed to labor over setting them up, actually: Town divides and then conflict; big jim and the press conference; town figures out what he's doing, some don't believe, etc.

Following these conflicts to their conclusion probably would have taken up another 500-1000 pages, but they also would have made the novel's ending feel less rushed, more coherent. I think more care should have been taken to address these points of interests Mr. king set up earlier in the novel (rather than just blowing them up). I mean, come on: In a page everyone but 32 people die; big jim (the supervillian) dies in a page; they discover what's causing the dome in a page. And yet the first 900 pages really have little to do with leading the reader in a linear way to these conclusions (except for maybe the explosion, but that still could have come later). These are important parts to the novel which just look tossed in. The reason for the dome looks especially contrived (and down right silly). Kid's? really? And some random story from julia's past thrown into the last 50 pages is going to make the kids stop. I'm often fine with mr. king's more creative endings because there's a movement in the story towards explaining them (like in 'it' for example: really out there ending, but there's an effort to explain pennywise in such a way for it to make sense). No care was taken with this one.

I don't know what the deal is: the publisher wanting the book out? overzealous editing? what? Like I said, I thought the first 900 pages were incredible writing, but a lazy ending just leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

I'm sorry if this seems like I'm king bashing -- I'm not. I've been waiting to read this one for a long time and was somewhat disappointed. I want to know if any others were as well; and if not, how do you justify what to my eye looks like a rushed ending?

Thanks

[Doc Wilson]

I think these long "mural sized" works are devilishly hard to end satisfactorily. Of the long ones, only the Stand felt perfect to me. I'd give the ending of this one a low B.

[smerdyakov]

Hi doc wilson,

I think you're right. But under the dome is a very localized story compared to the stand (which I also agree had a very satisfying ending). And I know that king wrote in the DT series that he doesn't find endings all that important -- it's the journey, or whatever. I'm fine with that so long as the journey itself seems complete (and all the loose ends are addressed) in the narrative. That just didn't seem to be the case with this particular book.

thanks

[Wayne C. Rogers]

Since I'm only about eighty pages into Under the Dome, I can't comment on the ending. I can, however, comment on the ending for The Stand. Even though it's been like a million years since I read it, I remember the book ending somewhat abruptly. Las Vegas, too, was blown up. I had expected more of a battle between good and evil, and was therefore surprised by the way it ended. Of course, I've had a problem with the endings to many of SK's books, which doesn't mean I haven't enjoyed them, only that the endings seemed a little rushed. I think as long as the journey is enjoyable, one can deal with a lackluster ending. I know the endings no longer bother me.

[Quixotic]

Hello Everyone,
Hello smerdyakov,

I couldn't help taking a look at reviews while I was Under the Dome, and thus expected an unsatisfactory ending as some critics said.

But when I finished the book I was agreeably surprised. *****SPOILERS*****

1) Think of the Dome as a McGuffin, an excuse for Mr King to express more important things, about politics or environmental issues. UTD may be his most political book to date and I really, really enjoyed that.

(In Transformers, the Cube is a McGuffin for a plot, so as not to make you feel silly watching a bunch of robots beating each other's brains out for 2 hours)

2) The reason for the Dome and how Julia defeats is both simple and beautiful. It has a Twilight Zone flavour, chilly, humbling, and philosophical - or edifying.

That all this "cluster-mug" could only be because of a childish game far away in the universe is so straightforward, so simple that it makes you look at the story (and at our condition as human beings, evil and good etc) in a very moving way. All the characters, merely players who strut and frets upon a (tiny) stage...

It reminds me of War of the worlds, The Happening, and McCarthy's The Road (go see the movie, it's really cool). The main characters have really no clues, and are overwhelmed my the crisis unfolding in the plot. This is very "naturalistic" (insofar as we can coin the term in a science-fiction book) and refreshing. Not your average John-Mclane-One-Guy-saves-it-all kind of story.

3) The climax is annouced waaaay long before it actually happens. Chef's garage door opener is like S.K waving a big sign : WATCH OUT, I BET THIS IS GOING TO BLOW-UP ! Nothing contrieved here in my opinion.

[wally wonder]

i think anyone that can hold my attention for a thousand pages and then me wanting more can end it howsomever he(or she) sees fit. but i have wondered about how the plot goes along--i'm thinking other stories here. dunno if the action could be graphed...and dunno what i'm talking about now for sure...endings i guess...dark tower maybe...other stuff...like what...ummm...i dunno...the ending seemed to work for me...why couldn't the dome lift as inexplicably it came to be? isn't that about like everything else...read the obits tonight...bunch of folk in their 80s, 90s...can't ask for much more than that...then you read about the 35-yr-old that passed...or the 10-yr-old. what do you think should have happened?

[Liasis]

it is quoted "His Finest Epic Since The Stand" and yes, it was awesome until the last few chapters... where I felt it was rushed because I kept putting the book down every 3 pages to drag it out....Almost evryone died... even the "baddies", BIG JIM?? HE deserved so much worse.. and "cow-kid" , what happened to him after he was saved?? ....man, I was crushed after this story finished, I waited forever to get a copy here and had to special order a hardcopy....Mister Stephen King...we want more!!

[CTHOMSON]

I finished the book last night and have to agree, the first 900 pages I could not put it down! I was hooked. Then I finished and was very disappointed. This was such a great story and I was also looking forward to a new novel. But as always I will keep reading.

[Srbo]

I also finished the book last night and I found the ending to be great.Big Jim died in one page, you say.
Yes.
And a very gruesome death. No one around him but the ghosts of those who he had killed and his crazy son`s, Carter`s body that he kept tripping over, most importanly, alone...
The one guy who loved to be in company of his admireres, who loved when people applaud him, who even in his last seconds on Earth thought that " he doesn`t want heaven and a meal with Jesus, coz if he can`t sit at the head of the table he might as well skip it"...gets to die alone, suffocating...
I can`t imagine a more gruesome death for him...

And, it wasn`t Julia`s story that saved them, but the story about the ants and the magnifieng glass(sp?), I think.
I think that Sai King wanted to show us what we would feel like if there was something out there that thinks about us like we think about ants.
We can`t believe they bury their dead, we can`t believe they are amazing architects, we can`t believe that they have order in their comunity, just like we do.
So, what do we do ?
We toy with them, and often - we kill them. Just like the Leatherheads killed that little anthill called Chester`s Mill.

But, then again, not even that is the point of the story.
It doesn`t matter how it ended, the point was how we, the human society behaved when there was a crisis, how awfully bad we can get to be to each other...instead of looking for a soultion how to get out of the mess, people wanted power, and it wasn`t only Rennie who wanted it...
Everybody wanted it, including Barbie...if nothing, but to redeem himself for what happened in Iraq...Julia who wanted bombastic storys, Randolph, Carter, Sanders......everybody wanted to be the Chief...
Only, some had a conscious...and stopped bothering the ants on time...

Just my two cents.

BONK.
Silence.

[Bryan James]

Tomato, Tomahto. Potato, Potahto. Let's call the whole thing off.

Not really. I'll finish the book, only because I want to see how the Barbie/Rennie thing goes down. Or to gander at whatever curveball King might throw me. I'm only on p.484, and I've had it before the official release. A book of that volume would normally take me 3-4 days. Less, if it's a "total ripper," as Billy "Bo" Wilder would say.

I'm more than a little underwhelmed at this point. The story keeps moving, and the mystery remains, but this one doesn't quite stab me in the heart like an unexpected stingray as many other King books have.

King has set such a high bar that it's easy to Limbo Under his lesser-but-still-cool works. Goofy analogy, but I'm sticking with it.

I am very glad other folks love it though.

~BJS

[gniknehpets]

I can't decide if I really just plain wasn't into the ending or if I hate reading the end of any King book because I'm so let down that it's over? Something about this one left a bland taste in my mouth. I was like everyone else, it was so frantic the first 900 pages, then, huh? I think I'm going to let it simmer in my head then read it again and see what I think.

[The Outsider]

I have to go with Srbo on this one. Yeah, the ending was kind of, I don't know, out there, but it never felt rushed. Maybe that's just my childish naivety in thinking King would never rush a novel. And Big J's death, I felt was poetic justice at its best. He got what he deserved. Srbo couldn't have worded it better, so basically, that's what I would have said. And the deaths of all the characters, so quickly, well, it was sudden, and the end was supposed to be fast paced, I guess that's just how it was supposed to be. Can't really think of any other way to explain it. I could say more, but everyone else has summed up what I would have said, so that's it.

[smerdyakov]

Now I could be completely off base, but here's what I think happened:

King wrote himself into a corner by having the explosion occur prematurely. There was nothing he could do -- at least of interest -- with his two sets of characters (good vs. bad) shut off in two corners suffocating. With the explosion, I think the story itself ended (in an unresolved way). Every tension that he had been building up for 900 pages prior ended in the explosion (again, unresolved). After this, it read to me like King was just going through the motions to end the story without making said ending fit cohesively with the rest of the story. Someone mentioned McCarthy and I think it's interesting to note that the Road didn't overreach itself to provide an explanation for the state of the world. Why? Because it wasn't necessary and would most likely would have detracted from the narrative. Well, in under the dome, I think the explanation did detract from the narrative, ultimately looking tacked and superfluous to the story as a whole.

This is my opinion, but I think King could have followed through with Big Jim going to the press conference and being put in the hot seat. Then, he could have followed through with the split in the town itself. I don't think I'm making a leap here because it seemed like EVERYTHING in the story was pointing in this direction (a conflict between barbie crew and reenie crew), but was ultimately cut short by the explosion.

Again, I'm not king bashing here -- just voicing an opinion on one of my favorite author's work (and welcome others' opinions as well).

Thanks

[scarywriter]

I thought it did end a bit abruptly, but don't most things in life? Think of all the waiting for Christmas, or practice for a big game, the anticipation of a first date; then in the end it's just done and over.

[joshwheatley]

*There are spoilers in this, so if you haven't read the entire book please don't read*

Like previous posters have mentioned, I feel that the ending for Under The Dome was incredibly abrupt and had resolutions that did not seem to correlate with the universe of Chesters Mill.

King extensively labored to demonstrate the rules of 'The Dome' in the first few sections of the book, and through a wonderful tapestry of characters and experience made the impossible (an invisible, unbreakable wall) seem authentic. However, ending the story with the Leatherheads seemed totally out of place with the earth-bound realism in which the story was told. Julia providing heavy exposition about her childhood seemed a poor justification for the bizarre conclusion.

Understandably, the stakes are very high and I didn't know what the Dome would turn out to be. My frustration with the ending was that it was just silly, and unfortunately left me feeling sour. This is a shame because it was a hell of a page turner - I was fascinated by the characters and the political machinations of the town, the gradual raising of the stakes and the utter excitement of the story.

As a previous poster had mentioned, King was building up to big events towards the end of the story, in particular the showdown between Barbie and Big Jim, the Press Conference. The decimation of the town, while brilliantly written (can't you just picture it on screen?), avoided the ultimate confrontation between the Good guys and the Bad Guys. It would have been great to see a 'human' resolution to the domestic conflict of Chesters Mill.

I really loved reading Under The Dome, but the conclusion didn't feel like it fit with everything that had come before it.

[Derwood]

****SPOILERS*****


I mentioned this in another thread: I would have been perfectly fine with the book as written, minus the Leather Head explanation. In other words, they discover the radiation, the blinking box, etc., but can't destroy it. Chef blows up the town, and just when you think they're all screwed, the Dome disappears as suddenly as it appeared. The last few people survive, but no one ever knows why the Dome existed or why it left.

[Sugar Marie]

Okay, I don't think that the ending to UtD was rushed at all - I found it perfectly understandable that, in the end, none of the conflict, or struggle, or evil, or goodness, or intentions, or earnestness of these characters accounted for the eventual removal of the Dome. Destiny came down to a little Leatherhead seeing things from a different perspective. Cool.

[Srbo]

Again, no, the ending was not rushed at all.

The Leatherheads were discovered by the kids long before the end.
We knew that they are responsible for the Dome a long time before the ending.
We knew the town is going to blow up long before the ending ( key word here is WE, cos not even Big Jim knew what Chef was up to ) - Chef had the whole dang radio station wired with dynamite, it was only a question of time when he is going to do it.
As for the good guys vs the bad guys - there weren`t any, not in the eyes of the population of Chester`s Mill.
Actually, the bad guys for them were Barbie & co, on the last town meeting Rennie had their full support.
What the outside World thought of Rennie and his gang didn`t matter to them, they didn`t know the truth.
As for a showdown between Rennie and Barbie - it happened. Right in jail, when Rennie sat in front of Barbie`s cell.
Any other showdown would only benefit Rennie, he would love to show people what a righteous man he is and what a criminal Barbie is.
And even if they realised it wasn`t so, Rennie, would, again, love to be even literally crucified - but in front of an audience.
He would shout " I`m a Martyr, this is martyrdom, but I`ll take it, it`s for the good of the town."
He died the only justifiable death there was for him - alone.

And in the end - nobody was saved. A handful of people survived, but that means nothing. Barbie`s life, or anybody elses form the survivors, wasn`t more importand than any other human being in CM.
They stayed alive because somebody has to stay alive in the story...cos in the end, it`s a story.
And again, the whole point of the story was how the human`s handled a crisis situation.
In my previous post, I said the Leatherhead`s killed the little anthill.
I stay corrected. It wasnt` them at all.
They lowered the Dome and just watched what is happening.
Chester`s Mill was killed by people.

JMO.
Cheers all and I hope we ( I, anyway ) will enjoy many more books by Sai King like I enjoyed this one.

[Quixotic]

Srbo, that's the most brilliant two cents I've read in a while. I concur, approve, agree 100 %. Thank you.

[hetfield_86]

I would have liked an epilogue or something just to wrap things up.

[Doc Wilson]

Its interesting, my wife is about a third way into UTD and I mentioned that some of the fans aren't happy with the ending. Her immediate reaction was "oh no did he kill everybody off?"

It struck me that if he had, it would have indeed been a bold and daring ending, imagine the threads we'd be seeing here now.

[Jamieson Wolf]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who was dissatisfied with the ending. Now, up till the last 50 pages or so, I think Under the Dome is the best thing that SK has written in years hands down. But the ending had me going: What? WHAT? WHAt?

Then again, I shouldn't be surprised. He had a cut off ending in Cell which I actually liked. Even though I was unhappy with the ending of UTD, I'm still thinking about it and I finished it two weeks ago.

So I guess that's a good thing. *grin*

[The Outsider]

Yeah, that's what i thought. Personally, I loved the analogy to burning anthills and such, and the almost 'what if' factor the story had of how we could be simple distractions for the young of a far more intelligient race. We could be mere insects to be tortured, burned, and eventually ignored by a ten times greater race than our own, and never know that they exist. And on the other hand, we may be killing a similarly intelligent species on our own planet (ants) but yet we simply ignore their claim to life and continue to kill them. This book had so many implications as all King's works have had, and for that, I absolutely loved it. I admit that the explaation for the Dome was out there and struck me as odd to begin with, but it grew on me, and in the end, I enjoyed the book and everything within its pages.

[smerdyakov]

Srbo,

1. No they weren't. We find out they're children in a sentence.
2. No we didn't. We knew some creatures were, not children (until the last 50 pages).
3. yes, but the explosion could have occured later. We are told that barbie's crew plans to broadcast the truth about rennie through the station. Maybe this should have happened before chef blew it up.
4. There obviously was a good vs. evil dichotomy in which other town members could fall either way. Saying barbie's crew was bad because big jim saw them as an obstacle makes no sense.
5. Barbie's crew knew the truth. The town was divided. Big Jim takes the envelope evidencing his guilt and fills it with white paper. This suggests it should have been shown to the divided public.
6. There's no way that was a legitimate showdown. They sat, talked, and left with the foreshadowing of an actual showdown later.
7. Not if the town actually took a position on what was happening, and the fight against those for barbie and those for reenie actually occured. In that case, a show down would have given actual justice to Big Jim's crimes, and not some meandering ghost talk that lasts for a paragraph.
8. He could have still died this way. I'm not saying that. I'm just saying that everything developed hitherto (ie, reenie barbie conflict) should have been played out before he died alone.
9. Yes they were. Barbie's crew (the good guys) are saved. There is a definite and immediate sense that their lives WERE worth more than big jim, or any of his crew's. The rest of the town isn't really as important because they are developed into characters throughout the story. They become causalties (which the reader doesn't care much about). Though, the reader does care about the good guys who are saved in the end. King even makes a point to point out the statistical oddity of the survivors, in other words saying he's saved his main characters from impending death.
10. Yes, the point IS how they act under the dome, under a disastrous situation. So if that's the point, why add some superfluous explanation concerning the dome's cause that doesn't add anything to the story itself.

I hope I don't seem contentious by giving my thoughts on each of your points. You seemed to be pointing out what I wrote earlier, so I thought that I would respond. Of course, none of this is definitive. If you enjoyed the ending, then you came out ahead of me :smile2:

[guido tkp]

i'm gonna throw my 2 cents in and agree completely, wholeheartedly with friend srbo: there is nothing rushed, abrupt, untoward about the ending...

from the moment of the first dreams of the children mentioned, any intelligent reader knew exactly what would occur: virtually the entire ending was there from near the beginning, if one believd and understood the dreams.

the story was set up from the begining to follow the clockwork precision of the premise: with all those people driving cars, firing up stoves and fireplaces, the lack of air would get abruptly accute well before help would apparently arrive....the dreams furthered this destiny, nothing was rushed; just a slow inevetible march.

and rennies death was perfect: why would one need more, to make every decison wrong and die simply because of that ? perfect...

just how do you rush a novel 30 years in the making, anyway ?

i will admit, i did have a hard time with the last 100 pages: but that had more to do with the picture having been drawn so thoroughly, i believed, at that point, that what i was about to read would be nothing short of a community-wide version of cujo...and i found the suspense of finding that out to be a bit unbearable..i certainly did not want that outcome, i wanted, even more than in cujo, for this ending not to occur...

in that sense, i found the real ending exquisite !

[Gillie]

And in the end - nobody was saved. A handful of people survived, but that means nothing. Barbie`s life, or anybody elses form the survivors, wasn`t more importand than any other human being in CM.
They stayed alive because somebody has to stay alive in the story...cos in the end, it`s a story.
And again, the whole point of the story was how the human`s handled a crisis situation.
In my previous post, I said the Leatherhead`s killed the little anthill.
I stay corrected. It wasnt` them at all.
They lowered the Dome and just watched what is happening.
Chester`s Mill was killed by people.
.


Just finished the Audio this morning, and could not have said it better than Srbo.
I absolutely loved it!

[Srbo]

Hi again

Well, my friend Smerdyakov, you layed out your point of view, I layed out mine.
I`m not going to adress the points again, since I have really nothing else to add ( exepct for the showdown maybe, I don`t understand what a legitimite showdown is for you then - a fistfight, since both of them were just people, not something with superpowers?
Like I said, even if it was maybe clear to anyone without reasonable doubt that Rennie is guilty, he would still enjoy it, maybe even throw in the ole " Father, forgive them, they don`t know what they are doing.."
I don`t see any other showdown happening between them without Rennie enjoying it immensly, found guilty or not. And him enjoying anything anymore would just not be right. ).

In any case, admit it or not, like the ending or not, at least it was very thoughtprovoking for all of us, wasn`t it ?
Which is what a good book is supposed to do to a reader. And Sai King succeded again in that matter.

You know, different opinions are really good, and constructive discussons as well.
This reminded me on an episode from my life when I was really young and really getting into Religion.
One day, I was walking with a Priest through a field with flowers left and right of us, but I didn`t really pay attention to them, I wanted to talk religion.

I asked him, why are there so many different religions in the World, when we all believe that there is only one God, call Him what you want. The Christians call Him this, the Moslems that, and so on, you get the idea.

The Priest stopped and said:
"Take a look around you. What do you see ?"
" A field with flowers".
" How does it look to you? "
" Beautiful."
" Which kind do you like the best? "
" The roses."
" So do I. But wouldn`t it take away from the beauty of the field if there were only roses there? "

I understood and smiled and asked the Priest no more.:smile2:

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us and continue taking the beauty in. If not from UtD and Sai King, well then, there must be other flowers out there.:smile2:

Cheers.

[smerdyakov]

By legitimate showdown I meant something more than a fellow talking to another behind bars -- something that would give us some resolution to the tension between big jim and barbie. That's a central reason why the story appeared incomplete to me.

What I enjoyed most from utd was its characters. The ideas? Well, most were hyperbolic. And I've already said how I feel about the alien youth anthill premise.

I've said that I really enjoyed utd, just found the ending disappointing. That mr. king's story is some rare rose is a bit dramatic to me.

But yeah, thanks for your thoughts on the book as well. If anything, perhaps it made it more clear to you why liked the ending and more clear to me why I didn't :smile2:

[mbrown7349]

Srbo, well said!!!!! I couldn't agree with you more! :biggrin2:

[guido tkp]

not only do i agree...but, it was clear to me, from the beginning, that the 'people' part of that equation was going to be the real downfall: all else was secondary; the aliens, or whomever created the situation really did not matter, we would 'off' ourselves, given half the chance.

from rennie and all those who ardently agreed with him and his tactics...

to those too lazy do stand up and really do something serious before any of the many things they were all doing wrong when you considered thier situation (even something as simply as banning the use of cars and wood burning stoves)

obviously, they never had any real time to think in the long term, but, they all thought rather selfishly.

in another thread, someone questioned the politics of steve acording to this book, and too, too many seem rankled that he is way too pro democrat party/anti republican: on the contrary; what king is really pointing out is that too often, people do bad things, small and big, and the rest of us just stand by, shrug our shoulders, and say it's not our problem -they can't doo any real harm.

in a nutshell, if you will, king is pointing out, rather severly, that that simply is not true.

there isn't an american who i've run across, since 9/11, who hasn't asked why the 'good' muslims don't straighten out the 'bad' muslims...and yet, everyday, the good americans aren't straightenin out the bad ones: we are all guilty...and we all pay a price somewhere.

[Gillie]

My feeling is that all of the conflict and intrigue and fighting about who's in charge is just the workings of the "ant hill" - and in the end it didn't matter, life is what happens while you're waiting for the press conference - and in this case, life was the explosion of the meth lab - Rennie's fault. After that, there couldn't be a final confrontation between Rennie & Barbie - the final confrontation had to be with the Dome.

[Ins4n3]

Hello Everyone,
Hello smerdyakov,

I couldn't help taking a look at reviews while I was Under the Dome, and thus expected an unsatisfactory ending as some critics said.

But when I finished the book I was agreeably surprised. *****SPOILERS*****

1) Think of the Dome as a McGuffin, an excuse for Mr King to express more important things, about politics or environmental issues. UTD may be his most political book to date and I really, really enjoyed that.

(In Transformers, the Cube is a McGuffin for a plot, so as not to make you feel silly watching a bunch of robots beating each other's brains out for 2 hours)

2) The reason for the Dome and how Julia defeats is both simple and beautiful. It has a Twilight Zone flavour, chilly, humbling, and philosophical - or edifying.

That all this "cluster-mug" could only be because of a childish game far away in the universe is so straightforward, so simple that it makes you look at the story (and at our condition as human beings, evil and good etc) in a very moving way. All the characters, merely players who strut and frets upon a (tiny) stage...

It reminds me of War of the worlds, The Happening, and McCarthy's The Road (go see the movie, it's really cool). The main characters have really no clues, and are overwhelmed my the crisis unfolding in the plot. This is very "naturalistic" (insofar as we can coin the term in a science-fiction book) and refreshing. Not your average John-Mclane-One-Guy-saves-it-all kind of story.

3) The climax is annouced waaaay long before it actually happens. Chef's garage door opener is like S.K waving a big sign : WATCH OUT, I BET THIS IS GOING TO BLOW-UP ! Nothing contrieved here in my opinion.



Kudos to you, Very well said.

IMO I liked the ending because I trust in King to write a good story, however like every reader I do have my quarrels; Those being that I don't think that Jim Rennie and Mel Searles should have let off so easily, they should have went out more epic like Junior Rennie.

[JohnDalglish]

Hi,

I'm very firmly with Srbo and Quixotic on this.

I think people are confusing their natural disappointment at finishing a great book (Dark Tower was too short IMO) with it being an intrinsically disappointing ending in any literary or dramatic sense.

And I think this will become clear on a re-read, folks.

It's a GREAT ending IMO

And it's Stephen King's ending!

Long days and pleasant nights

[sam peebles]

The ending was okay. It was kind of weird, but I was okay with it. I was very happy the Dinsmore kid lived. It was touch-and-go there for a while, but that kid deserved to live.

[smerdyakov]

That last part is what I think. Folks have been waiting on this book for a long time (I know I have). Rather than be disappointed with the ending, they scrounge to justify in ways peculiar to the story itself. I can't believe how many of you folks weren't the slightest bit displeased with the ending. And what's more, how many refuse to budge from their position of likeing as if it's a stance on theism/atheism (an analogy already brought up!). Given this, the likeing view for many seems to stem from a fascination with king himself and not the story. I really haven't been convinced by anyone that the ending followed naturally from the narrative, that alien youth were necessary to the story (and not simply clownish), that an unresolved plot worked in favor of the story, etc.

I know it appears I'm going about this in an aggressive way, and I apologize for that. I guess I'm annoyed because something I found quite obviously bad has been unanimously agreed upon as brilliant. And aside from 1 or 2 folks taking the time to articulate their thoughts, everyone's shouting 'I agree! I agree! Masterwork! Pulitzer'! I'm confused, I guess :down:

[Doc Wilson]

I know it appears I'm going about this in an aggressive way, and I apologize for that. I guess I'm annoyed because something I found quite obviously bad has been unanimously agreed upon as brilliant. And aside from 1 or 2 folks taking the time to articulate their thoughts, everyone's shouting 'I agree! I agree! Masterwork! Pulitzer'! I'm confused, I guess :down:

Haha well this IS a fan site, you know :biggrin2:

Have you looked around the site beyond this thread? I've been surprised at how many people have had a negative reaction to aspects of the story, I just didn't expect to see it here. One female went so far as to ask SK publically for a refund! There are two threads going right now that take issue with the overt political references in the story, and another couple complaining about typos and continuity errors. There's even one complaining about SK's descriptions of computers and technology.

Look a little harder, you'll see that reaction to UTD has hardly been monolithic here.

[Selena_Kitt]

I really haven't been convinced by anyone that the ending followed naturally from the narrative, that alien youth were necessary to the story (and not simply clownish), that an unresolved plot worked in favor of the story, etc.

Agreed.

I would have liked the story more without the Leatherheads, but I'm easy that way, I don't need to know the history of the monster, its origins or even have a really good explanation of its existence. I already believe in monsters. :wink2: My husband, on the other hand, who hasn't read it yet and is an avid Lovecraft fan ("N" was his all-time fav SK story) MUST have a monster explanation or it's a dealbreaker.

King appeals to such a broad base of readers... you can't please all the folks all the time!

[JohnDalglish]

TI'm confused, I guess :down:

Hi,

Aye.

'You're right from your side and I'm right from mine'.
(Bob Dylan - 'One Too Many Mornings')

Long days and pleasant nights

[Srbo]

That last part is what I think. Folks have been waiting on this book for a long time (I know I have). Rather than be disappointed with the ending, they scrounge to justify in ways peculiar to the story itself. I can't believe how many of you folks weren't the slightest bit displeased with the ending. And what's more, how many refuse to budge from their position of likeing as if it's a stance on theism/atheism (an analogy already brought up!). Given this, the likeing view for many seems to stem from a fascination with king himself and not the story. I really haven't been convinced by anyone that the ending followed naturally from the narrative, that alien youth were necessary to the story (and not simply clownish), that an unresolved plot worked in favor of the story, etc.

I know it appears I'm going about this in an aggressive way, and I apologize for that. I guess I'm annoyed because something I found quite obviously bad has been unanimously agreed upon as brilliant. And aside from 1 or 2 folks taking the time to articulate their thoughts, everyone's shouting 'I agree! I agree! Masterwork! Pulitzer'! I'm confused, I guess :down:

Well, man, I`ve got to be honest:

I`m not sure I`m liking what you wrote here.

There are people, even in this very thread, that didn`t like the ending as well.

I guess it would make you happy if we all disliked it and be grumpy like you because you didn`t enjoy it.
You make this sound like there are actually siders to this - dude, this is not Chester`s Mills, there are no sides, this is a message board where people freely express their views. And if you are not liking what we write, well, to bad then.
I`m sorry you didn`t like the ending, but please do not force your opinion on me, and don`t assume that you know how I feel about Sai King or that I have a particular fascination with him... because, that is, quite frankly, insulting.

Thank you.

LDAPN

[Gillie]

For me, that explanation for the dome was perfect.
That's all I can say.
King or not - I liked the ending just fine. :upside:

[Sugar Marie]

That last part is what I think. Folks have been waiting on this book for a long time (I know I have). Rather than be disappointed with the ending, they scrounge to justify in ways peculiar to the story itself. I can't believe how many of you folks weren't the slightest bit displeased with the ending. And what's more, how many refuse to budge from their position of likeing as if it's a stance on theism/atheism (an analogy already brought up!). Given this, the likeing view for many seems to stem from a fascination with king himself and not the story. I really haven't been convinced by anyone that the ending followed naturally from the narrative, that alien youth were necessary to the story (and not simply clownish), that an unresolved plot worked in favor of the story, etc.

I know it appears I'm going about this in an aggressive way, and I apologize for that. I guess I'm annoyed because something I found quite obviously bad has been unanimously agreed upon as brilliant. And aside from 1 or 2 folks taking the time to articulate their thoughts, everyone's shouting 'I agree! I agree! Masterwork! Pulitzer'! I'm confused, I guess :down:

I have two things to say in response(stick around, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna embarrass myself w/the second one).

1) You didn't like the ending. Fine. I'm not really sure why the people who disagree w/your POV have to be crazy fans.

2) I happen to think(probably erroniously)that the Leatherheads and the ending cleard up the problems that I had w/the book; namely that this little town seemed to be overly stocked w/big stuff: BIG bad guys, BIG good guys, BIG crises, BIG explosions(I admit that every once in a while I would think to myself that he was just giving the people the candy he thought we wanted). Near the end though, I started seeing this Leatherheads toy commercial, in which an announcer is extolling the fabulousness of it's new product - A new toy programmed w/millions of the most entertainingly screwed up places within equally as many universes that he or she can capture and observe. "It's not only fun, but it's educational!!KeeplittleXptrjoccupiedfor hours, whileyougetsome well deserved 'me' time!"

Anyway, it worked for me:blush::laugh:

[smerdyakov]

Yikes. I didn't think I was insulting anyone. If I have, I apologize. But one fellow even said it was good precisely because king authored it.

And no, I'm not trying to make everyone hate the ending. I'm just in disbelief that some believe it flawless. I was no more forcing my opinion on you than you me, so don't really understand that point.

Yeah, i'll stop now before I upset you guys even more. Again, my apologies if i've offended anyone (that was not my intention).

[wally wonder]

it's okay, smerdyakov, you can hold whatever opinion you want. it's good that folk have opinions. would love to hear what you have to say about other stuff in the "novels/stories" section of the board! :y:

[rjt65]

Kings book like life are unpredictable----

Why does anyone have to conform to how anyone expects a book to end ? which to me seems like 90% of every book or movie with the predictable hero winning the gal, and a big showdown, with u know who winning...

well like life that does not always happen--which is why reading his books is always not predictable and to some, does not meet their need for predictable endings---

I rather enjoy the lack of predictability--

I too was waiting for Barbie to kick the living !@#$%^ out of Jim as he screwed him over--- but allas not in the cards....

that doesn't ruin my enjoyment!

anyway that is my opinion and you are entitled to yours

have gr8 weekend





Srbo,

1. No they weren't. We find out they're children in a sentence.
2. No we didn't. We knew some creatures were, not children (until the last 50 pages).
3. yes, but the explosion could have occured later. We are told that barbie's crew plans to broadcast the truth about rennie through the station. Maybe this should have happened before chef blew it up.
4. There obviously was a good vs. evil dichotomy in which other town members could fall either way. Saying barbie's crew was bad because big jim saw them as an obstacle makes no sense.
5. Barbie's crew knew the truth. The town was divided. Big Jim takes the envelope evidencing his guilt and fills it with white paper. This suggests it should have been shown to the divided public.
6. There's no way that was a legitimate showdown. They sat, talked, and left with the foreshadowing of an actual showdown later.
7. Not if the town actually took a position on what was happening, and the fight against those for barbie and those for reenie actually occured. In that case, a show down would have given actual justice to Big Jim's crimes, and not some meandering ghost talk that lasts for a paragraph.
8. He could have still died this way. I'm not saying that. I'm just saying that everything developed hitherto (ie, reenie barbie conflict) should have been played out before he died alone.
9. Yes they were. Barbie's crew (the good guys) are saved. There is a definite and immediate sense that their lives WERE worth more than big jim, or any of his crew's. The rest of the town isn't really as important because they are developed into characters throughout the story. They become causalties (which the reader doesn't care much about). Though, the reader does care about the good guys who are saved in the end. King even makes a point to point out the statistical oddity of the survivors, in other words saying he's saved his main characters from impending death.
10. Yes, the point IS how they act under the dome, under a disastrous situation. So if that's the point, why add some superfluous explanation concerning the dome's cause that doesn't add anything to the story itself.

I hope I don't seem contentious by giving my thoughts on each of your points. You seemed to be pointing out what I wrote earlier, so I thought that I would respond. Of course, none of this is definitive. If you enjoyed the ending, then you came out ahead of me :smile2:

[Moderator]

I think it's time to chillax a bit and agree to disagree. No need to start getting defensive on either side of the fence although it would help to lessen that if statements pro or con aren't put in such either/or terms or to be dissing someone because of the opinion they have.

[smerdyakov]

Moderator,

I can be a bit argumentative, and was perhaps too aggressive with my opinions because this is a fan board. A lot of my friends turn up their noses to king, so I don't often get a chance to talk about his work. This also may have contributed to my overzealous postings. I don't really like the idea that there's no objective criterion by which a piece of art may be judged, but understand that often times it will boil down to taste.

Again, I wasn't trying to diss what anyone had to say -- if that's how it seemed, it was probably a matter of poor wording on my part. I'm used to one side against the other argumentation (I was a philosophy major), and this likely influenced the tone of my posts.

So yeah, belittling was not my objective. Sorry if it came across that way.

[Moderator]

Discussion is good and I have no problem with differences of opinion. It's unrealistic to think that everyone is going to agree with or like every book that Steve wrote even if they're fans. My comments weren't directed specifically at you but more of a general reminder to everyone to keep the comments respectful.

[JohnK]

I enjoyed the hell out of the book. Keep the big ones coming.

Long days and pleasant nights.

[Srbo]

Yikes. I didn't think I was insulting anyone. If I have, I apologize. But one fellow even said it was good precisely because king authored it.

And no, I'm not trying to make everyone hate the ending. I'm just in disbelief that some believe it flawless. I was no more forcing my opinion on you than you me, so don't really understand that point.

Yeah, i'll stop now before I upset you guys even more. Again, my apologies if i've offended anyone (that was not my intention).

It`s all right, man, no problem.
Water under the bridge.
Have a nice weekend.

[Derwood]

It is interesting that someone brought up the idea of "monster origins", as I remember King writing (in EW) that his personal taste is in movies/books that DON'T overexplain the monsters. Perhaps he was concerned that not explaining the Dome at all would get more negative reactions than providing this one. Not sure what I would do in his situation.

[jcadams]

I finished UTD about 2 hours ago, and my first reaction was that it didn't answer enough questions. But, since I've been thinking about it, I keep coming back to the part where the dome and its occupants were compared to an ant farm. I keep picturing an actual child's ant farm kit and how kids will be fascinated with it to begin with and then start to lose interest. (at which point the ants usually die or escape) I would guess that the child's interest would last a week or two, then on to new things. After looking at it this way, I could understand why there was only one kid left watching the dome, and how easy it was to just lift the lid. I'm thinking she was also growing bored with it, so it didn't really matter to her.
I wasn't happy that Barbie and Big Jim didn't get to finish their feud, but that made it more real. Real life doesn't wait until the bad guys are brought to justice and the questions are all answered to take a life, so why should every book end with justice and all questions answered?
I was glad that Ollie lived and got to see the private outside of the dome. I don't think most kids with his limited intelligence would have been so brave and resourceful, so it's good to see him finally accomplish what his family couldn't. (seeing it through to the end.)
I did start to think that it would be like Tommyknockers, so the ending surprised me after all.

[CrescentScar]

Having just finished UTD, I really liked the ending.

One thing I really appreciated about the story was that somebody else didn't save the survivors. Everything that happened, happened because of their own action. Sure, the Leatherhead kid pulled the dome up, but because Julia pretty much threw herself into whatever consciousness it had, and made it see her as more than just an ant.

Big Jim died as a result of his own actions. It wasn't Barbie or anyone else serving him just desserts, it was by his own hand that he went down in sputtery flames.

At the emotional level, SK kept the story realistic. Bad stuff happened, and people reacted. With some luck and their own intelligence, the good guys managed to eek by. The bad guys? They did as bad guys do and fell on each other within hours. It took a normal group trapped a WEEK to go bad, but Carter and Big Jim? It was poetic and realistic, all at once. I only groaned a little when Big Jim got the best of Carter, who should have been able to drop a fat old man with a knife pretty readily.

As for the call for a more satisfying ending- I don't think anything good would have happened, even if the explosion/halloween events were later. So what if Barbie and Co took the radio station? No one would have believed them, and anyone that did would have been outnumbered by Big Jim.

I took a message from the book of "Accept the truth and work with it, instead of slurping down lies that will help you feel better." Just like Big Jim slurped down his nasty sardines, and the townsfolk slurped down whatever Rennie gave 'em!

[wally wonder]

i'm rereading hearts in atlantis. i'll put the rest in a spoiler. blind willie sees himself as someone standing along there in front of st. pats, begging for others. that's what it says in the story. he begs for them. there's some other neat-o connections to udt: the dislocated shoulder (carol)...how that theme of if they were alone this wouldn't have happened...referring to several things in hia, how carol was hurt being one of them...that "rhymes-with-bitch" phrase is used...and that cop is referred to as jasper the police-smurf...but i guess the biggy seems to be blind willie, how he is described as "begging for them"...his penance...

[mrob44]

I finished UTD over the weekend. I thought it was very good, not epic status such as It and The Stand, but a very entertaining read. If I'm entertained for over 1000 pages, I'm definitely impressed. However, I'd re-read other of SK's longer works before this one again. The hype surrounding this book's release (the website, the teaser trailers, etc) made it almost impossible for UTD to live up to enormous expectations, and I think a lot of people need to look around at other works of fiction currently out (perhaps any number of the multiple Patterson books that are always floating around) and realize the quality characters and storytelling UTD provides.

For those people claiming it ended to quickly, and wanted to find out exactly what happened to the characters afterwords, in my opinion you're missing the point of the story. The book is titled "Under the Dome", not "Under the Dome and Then Out Again." The story is meant to show the situations and disasters that unfold while the town is trapped, showing how fragile humans are and what terrible things we're all capable of. It's meant to show, evil, corruption, and also people coming together for a common good. At this the story succeeds. I'm not asking it for anything else. It gave me what it was supposed to.

[Excitable_Boy]

I just finished the book. Here are a couple of points in regard to the Leatherheads and whether or not they fit with the realistic tone of the story:

• While Barbie suggests the possibility of aliens very early on (and Cox seems to concur), the actual idea of the Leatherheads is one of prime importance from the start. The characters in Under the Dome are very much concerned with whether or not there really is a higher power – Rennie spouts all sorts of religious rhetoric, but one gets the feeling he has much more faith in himself than he does in God, who “helps those who help themselves”. Even the Reverend Libby has serious doubts about God, calling him the Great “Not There”.

• The capacity for violence and destruction, whether intentional or ignorant, is of paramount interest to the story from the start. Rennie’s again the best example, but there are many throughout (on both sides of the fence).

These two points seem to me a very solid foundation for the ultimate revelation that “God turned out to be a bunch of bad little kids playing Interstellar X-Box”. Rather than contradicting the gritty, down-to-earth tone of the book, I think it’s actually an appropriate and well-earned payoff. But I’m an atheist, so the concept of an omniscient alien race seems to me a lot more plausible than an omnipotent (and bearded) Creator, so there you go.

I also like the metatextual idea that we (the readers and fans) are the faceless Leatherheads, watching these poor characters (conjured from nothing) suffer for our own curiosity. And while we can’t necessarily control what happens to them, we can watch. And as horrible as things get, we enjoy it.

[Sigmund]

Happy New Year! This is my first post-bear with me. I recieved UTD for Christmas and I was drooling. I finished it Friday night/Saturday morning (3:00a.m.) Last night, Saturday, I decided to re-read the last 75 pages. Why? I guess 'cause I couldn't understand or was unable to grasp that I had read 900+ pages to have everything end so...simple? anti-climatic? simplistic? trite? Yeah, yeah, I get it. Kids (human and leatherheads both, I guess) do stupid, cruel things without thinking that their actions can be harming others. And yeah, I get it that when the leatherhead kid read that her(?) actions were hurting she stopped. Not because she felt remorse or guilt or even understanding, she simply got a message and lifted the dome with no more thought than when she put the dome on/in. Would I recommend UTD? If you are interested in the psychology and sociology of people, groups under stressful situation, yes. If you want a story to read at your own pace just to be entertained, yes. But UTD, to me, didn't really give me anything to debate, reflect, or be introspective about.

[doowopgirl]

I have to agree with you. I am along time fan of SK and have always had a problem wuth his endinfs. Love the build up, love the details thrown in, but I alwats feel a little cheated on the ending. I think alien children was a cop out. Like IT was a big spider. The best ending to one of his epics was The Stand. We got the cause in the beginning and people dealing with it along the way. Maybe we could nudge his muse in that direction in future.

[Bryan James]

I bought the book at full retail before it was released. I finished it yesterday, 01/04/10. I "lent" it out today with a request that the "lendee" herself lend it out when she's done, because I don't want it back.

That's all I have to say about that.

~BJS

[moribund]

I bought the book at full retail before it was released. I finished it yesterday, 01/04/10. I "lent" it out today with a request that the "lendee" herself lend it out when she's done, because I don't want it back.

That's all I have to say about that.

~BJS

I did something quite similar. I have under a dozen King novels under my belt at this point, but still, this was my least favorite. Unfortunately, it almost felt like a chore to finish the book toward the end, and then to not be rewarded with a better conclusion... I won't be rereading this one.

[girlwiththepoop]

I think that there is plenty to debate about in this novel, just check out the "distracting political views" thread. That thread in itself is a pretty fun read.

[Sigmund]

I bought the book at full retail before it was released. I finished it yesterday, 01/04/10. I "lent" it out today with a request that the "lendee" herself lend it out when she's done, because I don't want it back.

That's all I have to say about that.

~BJS

I got UTD as a Christmas gift and i was soooooo happy-an honest to goodness hard back brand spanking new Stephen King book Yay! I'm VERY careful with my books so maybe I'll do the same BJS and hope someone else appreciates it. (BJS-precise, concise and to the point.Thanks)

[Debosophy]

Perfect synopsis and utterly correct.

I would have liked the town knowing that Rennie was a SERIOUS bad guy - with proof - before they all croaked it, but I thought the ending was more satisfactory than dying a fast death in an almost all-consuming fire.

I like that he suffered. </ anthill mentality>

[mouse213]

I loved the ending “Under The Dome”, because it was a mirror into the souls of those that survived. The characters that we were allowed to glimpse into their past each had something they were ashamed of and had to purge it by forgiving themselves before they could convince the “lone” alien child to “pity” (p.1069 line 5) them and lift the dome.

When “Julia” faced the single alien child she had to reveal her memories and the memories of others in the small group demonstrating that humans are capable of committing horrible and malicious acts (p 1070 line 4-6); in contrast, humans are also capable of demonstrating acts of bravery, self sacrifice, kindness and forgiveness. The lone alien child was only then able to see survivors not as her equals, but as something “weak” (p 1069 line 9) and beneath her to bestow her pity upon.

The ending demonstrated that the alien children similar to humans are bolder to commit heinous acts when in a group, rather than alone without a cheering team. (p 1069 lines 2-5) (p 1070 line 14 – 17). In contrast, the difference between the humans and the aliens was that humans can feel sorrow (p 1069 line 10) for their wrong actions and the alien child was not sorry for their acts of cruelty; instead, she only “took pity” (p 1069 line 2 and 5) for their “little” (p 1071 line 24), insignificant lives.

I also loved the compassion and courage that “PFC Ames” (even against direct orders from his superior commander) { p 1014 line 1-3} demonstrated when refused to leave the boy “Ollie” to die alone as he laid inside beside the edge the dome gasping for air. (p1013 line 1-4) This was not the first time that “Ames” had disobeyed a direct order not face the dome or talk to the boy on the other side. However, this time “Ames” refused to be ordered away from a kid that was the last surviving member of this family. This expressed that soldiers are individuals even though they live and survive as a unit. It also demonstrated that sometimes individual decisions must be made, even in the face of punishment, especially if obeying an order would defile ones own moral standards; thus, forever becoming a conscious stain. “Ollie” lived because “Ames” disobeyed and if “Ollie” had died he would not have done so alone, because “Ames” refused to leave him even to sleep. (1065 line 30-31)

The very last page of the book was my favorite ending, because the “dome” had forever changed their outlooks on life. The characters realized that the gift box of life contained: hope, potential, love, forgiveness to oneself, and forgiveness to others. (p 1072 line 1-2) Life would not longer be an existence of daily routines or running from the past; instead, it would be savored and never again taken for granted. I also liked “Barbie’s” hope that the “dome” would never be used again by the alien children for their cruel entertainment. “Barbie” hoped that if the aliens could feel “pity”, maybe one day they would also feel sorrow and understand that life is a precious gift to all creatures both great and small.

[teejay17]

Come on folks! The book is already 1,100 pages long. Why does it have to be any longer?
I think the ending of Under the Dome was perfect; it had just that twinge of mystery to keep you guessing long into the night.

[Grace82]

I thought the entire book was rather disappointing...after the first 5 or so chapters...I lost interest...Although I did read the rest of the book.

1) I did not like the "coupling up" of Barbie and Julia. Those are two birds that should have flown solo. Julia got on my last nerve throughtout the novel, I really thought she would have been killed off in the later chapters...I don't see what her contribution was (aside from the ending)

2) Barbie and Big Jim never had the climatic battle.

3) Big Jims death is anti-climatic. I get the point that he died alone..and being alone was something he feared. But given how most evil characters in King novels go out with a bang, really getting what is coming to them... that is not how it played out with Big Jim or his Son!

4) The other worldly evil characters were kids? Apparently kids who had no idea what they were doing, and just stopped when asked? Really? I thought these kids were the spawn of the evil beings from the Dark Tower Universe....all of sudden evil incarnate have innocent evil kids? The ending felt very rushed, who were these kids, where did they come from..why all of sudden did they appear. Generally in the dark tower tie in's there is a door or a portal that is opened....why all of a sudden did this happen?

5) Brenda Perkins and her husband die! These where my favorite characters. Her Husband died pretty early on in the novel, and her death became predictable at the very moment!

[themadone06]

I understood the ending and I saw it coming well in advance. I believe the book was well planned out and everything, but I also believe the ending came too quick. Personally I believed through out the entire book and after the explosion that everyone in the Dome was going to die. I felt the ending was going to be that the Dome would lift a months or years later and their would be a chapter of what happened and what was found when the Dome was lifted. Personally I felt that would have made more sense then the "Leatherheads". But, I did like the ants and the magnifying glass analogy, it was a good one.

I personally feel with many of Kings books that he tells such a good story and journey and the endings are lacking. Even though I like the ending to the Stand I also thought it happened incredibly way to quick. I did enjoy the ending to the DT, and thought it was a just ending or should we say continuation to Roland's journey.

[Grace82]

I felt the stand had a good ending. In the end, people saw flagg for what he was, there were the climatic battles, the evil people got what they deserved..etc. I also liked the end of the DT...but I would like to know more about Jake....I think he had the more interesting story.

I think Under the Dome was a disappointment to me, because in comparison to The Cell the plot was lacking (IMO) and the characters were not as relatable...nor were the circumstances. My most memorable and favorites among Kings works are those that could possibly happen in real life...(i.e The Stand with Cap. Tripps, then in 2009 comes the real H1N1)

[TowerGirl]

I loved the story. Beginning till end. I was a little blown away by the fact that Aliens caused the dome. (And Alien children at that!)

So much of the story was about Big Jim, and his secret life in the meth business that I was certain that it had to be a part of the reason for the dome's existence. Then, when the Chef spent his time holding the garage door opener, it just confirmed what I believed. Then ...WHAM! It's Alien kids, and nothing whatsoever to do with drugs or car salesmen.:oops: Wow....

I'm not saying I didn't like it. I'm just saying it wasn't what I would have expected. I was waiting for some sort of biological reaction to mass amounts of meth, and got taken off guard by a close encounter!! Never saw that one coming...:smile2:

[ShootDaSquirrells]

I really think Big Jim got what he deserved. If he gets pulled aside by the Army they are either going to shoot him or send him to jail for life. That is far less climatic than how he died seeing the ghosts of those he killed and his son that he really ****ed up raising. Then dying by suffocation. That is one of the worst ways to die. I mean he did not exactly take an entire nuke to take down (Randall Flag) but he got what he had coming. As far as the aliens, I liked the ants analogy but I did feel that alien children is just outrageous. However I left the book satisfied and I was still attached to it at the end.

[Domer Pyle]

Rushed? maybe. I thought it was an adequate ending.. to be honest I have not read much King since Cell ... which,, in my opinion had no ending. I really enjoyed UTD, but was wondering if I was going to walk away satisfied, which for the most part I did.
Point taken though -- if the road to the conclusion started a bit earlier it might have been better, but then again I'd like to see me write a frickin 1100 page novel

[davemelnick]

I recently read (fr/ an Inuit astronomical book) that 1 of thier superstitions/religions was xactly about a dome that is xtremely like SK's. :cool2:

[Cudacindy]

I finished the book and was very disappointed, the ending was so wrong. I kept thinking why didn't anyone try to dig under the dome from either side. But I am not SK and I have no skills in writing. I also am curious does any one notice that when SK writes latley he uses GOD and religion in his books. I am not against it just curious as to why he does?

[Mia Deschain]

" I thought these kids were the spawn of the evil beings from the Dark Tower Universe....all of sudden evil incarnate have innocent evil kids? "


why do they have to be from the "evil beings in the Dark Tower Universe". As children we have all done things that could be classified as "evil" and could these not just have been children from another level of the tower? And one child was possibly given a moment of "consciousness" and chose to stop.

I was a bit let down by the ending but I find that happens often, especially when I am enjoying a story. I always want more.

And if one were to check out Sai King's interview on The View, he stated that his original idea was for the story to cover a longer time frame, but the version we have is condensed to one week's worth of time. I am pretty sure that if he had written the story with the extended time there would have been more detail that some of us feel is lacking. As for the ending of Big Jim...... perhaps the worst death a villian can have is not the huge climatic battle but death alone and quietly ( or not so quietly) lol.

[teejay17]

Really? That's interesting. Can you provide a link to this book perhaps? I'd like to check it out.

[Uber]

I, too, would have liked to see more of the characters "finish" what they started - for example, the guy that Barbie met in the beginning? I could see a whole chapter devoted to him on "Visitors day" - how he searched for Barbie, asking people about him - their reactions, etc. Maybe Mr. King will do like he did with "The Stand" - release a "complete and uncut" version, in a couple of years!

[Doc Wilson]

I finished the book and was very disappointed, the ending was so wrong. I kept thinking why didn't anyone try to dig under the dome from either side. But I am not SK and I have no skills in writing. I also am curious does any one notice that when SK writes latley he uses GOD and religion in his books. I am not against it just curious as to why he does?

I wouldn't say its only his recent books. God and the good/evil clash have been consistent themes since at least the Stand. Desperation is another example of an older work where God is pretty prominent.

[smck]

just finished under the dome teriffic read ending i'm gonna scre a 3 from 5. but did anyone else notice comparisons to the simpsons movie!!!!!!!!!!:laugh:

[nypeach]

I loved the ending, the senseless deaths just seemed realistic. The dramas and passions of life seem so important until death comes along to show how trite it all is. I, too, was drawn to every page, and my jaw hit the floor when I got to page 892 and realized what the Dome was. What a complete surprise! I felt like an idiot for figuring it out hundreds of pages before then, and I give the author credit for being able to hold readers in suspense for that long. I mean, how could we not figure it out before then? I think maybe we look for logical, tidy conclusions and sometimes they're just messy.

[ginapenn]

Hello everyone,

This is my first post. I'm looking for honest reactions to under the dome, particularly to its ending.

I thought the first 900 pages or so were excellent -- I couldn't put the book down and often found myself grinding my teeth when big jim was in the building. Mr. King set up dozens of possible conflicts, seemed to labor over setting them up, actually: Town divides and then conflict; big jim and the press conference; town figures out what he's doing, some don't believe, etc.

Following these conflicts to their conclusion probably would have taken up another 500-1000 pages, but they also would have made the novel's ending feel less rushed, more coherent. I think more care should have been taken to address these points of interests Mr. king set up earlier in the novel (rather than just blowing them up). I mean, come on: In a page everyone but 32 people die; big jim (the supervillian) dies in a page; they discover what's causing the dome in a page. And yet the first 900 pages really have little to do with leading the reader in a linear way to these conclusions (except for maybe the explosion, but that still could have come later). These are important parts to the novel which just look tossed in. The reason for the dome looks especially contrived (and down right silly). Kid's? really? And some random story from julia's past thrown into the last 50 pages is going to make the kids stop. I'm often fine with mr. king's more creative endings because there's a movement in the story towards explaining them (like in 'it' for example: really out there ending, but there's an effort to explain pennywise in such a way for it to make sense). No care was taken with this one.

I don't know what the deal is: the publisher wanting the book out? overzealous editing? what? Like I said, I thought the first 900 pages were incredible writing, but a lazy ending just leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

I'm sorry if this seems like I'm king bashing -- I'm not. I've been waiting to read this one for a long time and was somewhat disappointed. I want to know if any others were as well; and if not, how do you justify what to my eye looks like a rushed ending?

Thanks

I think the way King wrote the ending is typical of his style. Big Jim was actually dying through the whole book and it was more than a page for his actual death. His death was so befitting too; dying alone after putting all that effort into living. He is one of my favorite villains in a King book.

Personally, I think there was no sense in beating around the bush about the actual number of people dying. He gets it out of the way so he can go on to other, more important, details. King's way is different. Why would he need to go on and on about the number of people dying? King is about telling the story, not showing the world what a great writer he is by embellishing the insignificant details. We know people are dropping like flies.

And yes kids! Imagine that there are alien kids out there and they see us as tiny ants? Human kids torture ants and anthills (I've kicked a few in my time) and by reading (and sort of living) Under The Dome, we get a sense of what it's like to be an ant. Cool concept, actually! Wish I"d have thought of that idea but I"m glad King wrote it first; he's a much better writer than I am.

[mjrusso45]

I think King was leading us down these paths like we wanted. There were several threads that never reached fruition. Then he just vaporized the dangling threads with a big ka-boom and a wood stove.

Example: The Vader file that went from Brenda Perkins to Andrea's couch to Andrea Grinnell to the stove in the Jim's office. I really felt like this file was significant to the plot and would mean something. We went through a lot getting it to that town meeting. The dog was whispered to from the dead voices, Andrea kicked her habit after grueling withdrawal, Brenda Perkins died, etc. This seemed central to the story. Then SK just vaporized it. It was like he pulled the football from Charlie Brown. "Caught you looking!".
What was the point of having Andrea endure her suffering and find the file and take it to the meeting, only to be shot in the head and the file burned? Filler?

I'm hoping his point was that all this stuff that seemed important was just entertainment for the Leatherheads. That what the result of Barbie vs Big Jim didn't really matter.

[Vado Tempestas]

Life is just filler, when you get right down to it. But I do like the observation, mjrusso.

[landover]

Yeah Smerdyakov, I thought the same thing, too. Now, some of Stephen King's other books also had fantastical things happen (like The Dead Zone and The Green Mile) and although the main (or major) characters died they still had great endings as well as closure but alien children putting a dome over a town like a magnifying glass over ants??? That is really lame in my opinion and although the first 1000 pages were great (Stephen sure can get you interested in his characters) for me a great book is not only one that sets everything up but one that also closes it all off. I need the payoff in a book (or movie). I can't get interested in his characters and then - BANG - everything gets resolved in one quick go. Rennie dies just like that? After all he's done he gets no earthbound day of reckoning? A man like him would suffer MORE to be closed off in prison - no power, no town to govern - instead of dying of a heart attack. That's too neat. Overall, this is one more book of Stephen's whose ending really let me down (just like he did in The Cell - great premise, bad (in my opinion) ending). But in the end he's Stephen King and can do this but I ask him in the name of all us fans: closure, please. Let the baddies get their just deserts and the heros theirs. Life is already unfair and with enough unknown - at least have our entertainment give us what life can't.

[JohnDalglish]

Yeah Smerdyakov, I thought the same thing, too. Now, some of Stephen King's other books also had fantastical things happen (like The Dead Zone and The Green Mile) and although the main (or major) characters died they still had great endings as well as closure but alien children putting a dome over a town like a magnifying glass over ants??? That is really lame in my opinion and although the first 1000 pages were great (Stephen sure can get you interested in his characters) for me a great book is not only one that sets everything up but one that also closes it all off. I need the payoff in a book (or movie). I can't get interested in his characters and then - BANG - everything gets resolved in one quick go. Rennie dies just like that? After all he's done he gets no earthbound day of reckoning? A man like him would suffer MORE to be closed off in prison - no power, no town to govern - instead of dying of a heart attack. That's too neat. Overall, this is one more book of Stephen's whose ending really let me down (just like he did in The Cell - great premise, bad (in my opinion) ending). But in the end he's Stephen King and can do this but I ask him in the name of all us fans: closure, please. Let the baddies get their just deserts and the heros theirs. Life is already unfair and with enough unknown - at least have our entertainment give us what life can't.

Hi,

Couldn't disagree more.

Long days and pleasant nights

PS And welcome to the MB!

[jackson992]

I loved the ending. I was actually hoping Rennie would die much sooner or that Carter would kill him. I loved the journey of the file too. Bear in mind that if all that hadn't happened, then the rest of the novel would of drastically been changed. I was shocked tho that any of the survivors died at the end, especially the kid.