Failure of nerve or cheap cop out?

[cct]

Just finished ploughing through Under The Dome and felt moved to write about what might have been. The scenario is actually pretty interesting - trap a whole town in a goldfish bowl and see what happens. In its way it's kind of Lord Of The Flies on a grand scale - trapped under the dome, see how quickly people revert to the basest version of themselves. But why Chesters Mill? Given the evil hiding out in that town, its a pretty special town. Surely it couldnt be just random that the dome would pick that town?
Seems to me that this must be a Soddom and Gomorrah parable - the town is being punished for all the bad things within it. The book should have ended with the destruction of the whole town, with no survivors, and then the Dome lifts as mysteriously as it fell. This would have been an interesting ending - you cant explain the inexplicable anyway. Divine retribution with some suitablbly Biblical epigram to end would have been thought provoking. Since King even mentions Sodom & Gomorrah at one point, one can only assume he is well aware of the comparison. Looks like a failure of nerve not to have gone with that.

Unfortunately the alien Playstation ending that King does go with doesnt in any way justify the investment the reader expends in such a long book - a ridiculous cop-out.

Interesting also that in the age of the internet, and given that the story several times highlights the importance of retaining internet connections to the outside world, no one really seems to think about using it. For example, the VADER file - why would you lock the laptop in a safe to protect it, rather than just simply emailing the file to the world outside?
And presumably it would be very easy to email all addresses in the town with the truth about Jim Rennie - govt could have pretty easily got together a complete list of email addresses.

There is something wrong with a plot which requires people to act stupidly for it to function. Under The DOme is an entertaining ride, but ultimately a big frustration and disappointment.

[blunthead]

Somebody correct me, but I seem to recall a problem in terms of the Dome eMail-wise. They could receive eMail but couldn't eMail out, something?

[PatInTheHat]

And hey, that ol' Groundhog coulda made it too, ya know, if'n he woulda only been payin' justa tad bit more attention!

[Patricia A]

Everyone's a critic.

[~Ally~]

The book should have ended with the destruction of the whole town, with no survivors, and then the Dome lifts as mysteriously as it fell. This would have been an interesting ending - you cant explain the inexplicable anyway. Divine retribution with some suitablbly Biblical epigram to end would have been thought provoking. Since King even mentions Sodom & Gomorrah at one point, one can only assume he is well aware of the comparison. Looks like a failure of nerve not to have gone with that.

Haha, yeh King suffers from "a failure of nerve." Have you read many of his other stories? From early in his career he has published things that some authors would be too scared to even dream about. More importantly, though, he writes his stories how they want to be written, not to please or upset people. Ooh and about you're line that I've highlighted? The book clearly states "Stephen King" is the author so he can explain things however he pleases. Just because you find the ending implausible, doesn't mean that other people don't appreciate it.

PS: I wasn't too keen on UTD either, so please don't comeback--if you stick around?--with any "fanboy in denial" type comments.

Welcome to the board.

[Haunted]

I, on the other hand, felt that the characters made the story and that the ending fit just right!.

PS Please associate yourself with the spoiler button above (red ciircle with white space in the middle). There may be people here who have yet to read UTD.

[fushingfeef]

Looks like a failure of nerve not to have gone with that.

Looks like you've got enough nerve for the both of you. So write your book, let us know how that goes.

[ghost19]

Haha, yeh King suffers from "a failure of nerve." Have you read many of his other stories? From early in his career he has published things that some authors would be too scared to even dream about. More importantly, though, he writes his stories how they want to be written, not to please or upset people. Ooh and about you're line that I've highlighted? The book clearly states "Stephen King" is the author so he can explain things however he pleases. Just because you find the ending implausible, doesn't mean that other people don't appreciate it.

PS: I wasn't too keen on UTD either, so please don't comeback--if you stick around?--with any "fanboy in denial" type comments.

Welcome to the board.

Well stated Ally, I'm not so eloquent, unfortunately. CCT, fly away home please. By all means I'm sure your opinion is very important to you, not so much to the rest of us who call ourselves fans, get it? Keyword, FANS........go away.

[JellybeanJay]

I love to read and appreciate the opinions of other but I also feel the need to voice my own on occaision. I really enjoyed UtD and think the ending was perfect and needs no improvement. The characters are what make the story not the 20 or so pages at the end.

[Jojo87]

I just finished this book and only say that I love the book. And ending was very good. I kinda wait for the ending wanted to know what's gonna happen with the dome.