The Next Best Book Club discussion

Interesting storyline. I'm anxious to finish it before the tv series come on in late June. Would love to share thoughts on this one.

Do you mean Under the Dome? I hope so that would be an awesome miniseries!

I already read this. :) it was so terrifying and I could remember being scared out of my mind since I would read this late at night when everyone in the house was sleeping already. There's a mini-series? I hope it will be shown here in the Philippines too.

I've just put it on my TBR sounds interesting

It was interesting right up until the end . . . which was disappointing.

Scout wrote: "It was interesting right up until the end . . . which was disappointing."

Yeah, the ending was kind of anti-climatic.

Yes, I meant Under the Dome. I agree it's not the best late night reading material. I really feel that I 'm right there in the town. Scary, but good! I really feel that I know several of the characters on a personal level.

I don't remember the end, really, but also don't remember being particularly disappointed in it. So it can't have been too bad for me. :-) King's ability to make me care about and feel like I know the characters is what I like best about his writing.

Definitely one of King's best ideas for a novel in a long time. I remember listening to an interview with him about it where he said he always liked stories with an epic amount of characters and this certainly has it. In my opinion, he really shows how great of a writer he is by successfully writing a novel with such a huge cast. I can't imagine being able to do that.

I just finished this in the last couple of days. It was a page turner, but I agree about the ending.

The characters were great but the ending was meh. I'm curious to see if the TV show is any good.

I'll definitely watch at least the beginning to see how it goes. Knowing the ending will take away some suspense, though.

I've read it and really liked it. But I seem to be disappointed by a lot of his endings, not sure why. Almost like there was a stretch to finish or he just ran out of gas.

The TV series has taken the premise of the novel, which is pretty interesting as far as exploring a microcosm of the world we live in, and has invented story lines that have little to do with the novel. That might not be a bad thing.

Julie wrote: "I've read it and really liked it. But I seem to be disappointed by a lot of his endings, not sure why. Almost like there was a stretch to finish or he just ran out of gas."

I agree. The ending wasn't that bad but King always seems to flag at the end. His worst ending for me is the stand. The last chapter didn't add much to the story and should have been left on the editing floor. That or the dark Tower series

Agree re ending of UTD, but I think the reason I didn't like it is bc I burned through the book dying to know what the dome was all about, etc. I missed the journey though the book itself.

That's what I learned from the ending of The Dark Tower. I hated the ending, and then I read his afterword about enjoying the journey, blah blah blah. I thought it was a pretty crappy for him to lecture us like that. But I LOVED the "final" ending. Thought that was so cool. Totally messes with your head.

Regardless, I have since tried to apply the "enjoy the journey" approach without obsessing with the ending. However I didn't in UTD. I may re-read it bc of that.

The TV show is interesting bc
1. It's been awhile since I read the book and
2. Things are different enough that I haven't been bored yet.

The book is too bulky to be supported by the thin film of the mysterious dome. Not my thing.
Its TV show is rather boring, I'd rather watch The Fosters for sobs, and The Bridge for filling up breaking bad's absence, Continuum for futuristic pew pew etc!!

Just discovered The Bridge, which I like.

The Bridge is pretty awesome, I'm also watching Copper on BBC. The Dome wasn't all that as a novel so I'm pretty sure the TV show wouldn't hold me either.

Read the book recently and really enjoyed it...but completely lost interest in the TV show. And patiently awaiting the new American Horror Story season.

I enjoyed the book too, (not so much the ending) but gave up on the TV show also.

You guys are reviving my interest in reading it. Believe it or not, this book is sitting in my garage, gathering dust, specifically because my brother and my parents told me it wasn't any good.

I thought it was a page turner Jonathan, the ending was a bit lame imo but not enough to ruin the rest of the book.

I agree with Paula, Jonathan.

Jonathan wrote: "You guys are reviving my interest in reading it. Believe it or not, this book is sitting in my garage, gathering dust, specifically because my brother and my parents told me it wasn't any good."

I like Under the Dome enough. His last really long one, 11/22/63 really dragged in some parts, though I wouldn't label it bad. He has a new one coming out in September, it's about the little boy from The Shining as an adult.

I haven't read the book yet but have started watching the series. It was a good first episode.

Claire wrote: "I haven't read the book yet but have started watching the series. It was a good first episode."
The series is good, the book is very different though. It has the same premise, a small town trapped under a dome, but the characters are different and a good chunk of what happens in the show don't happen in the book, and vise versa.

(Small spoiler in this post) The world under the dome is an obvious microcosm of the outside world. What did you guys think about the episode in which the councilman gathered up all the guns, but kept a stash for himself?

It'll be interesting to read the book & compare if to the series

This isn't one of his best, IMO ... I did finish listening to it, but I found it a chore. There was just 'too much' in it.

The movie stunk!

I read it a little while back and on the whole was not impressed. Its hard to read the newer King novels when I grew up on Salem's Lot and The Stand.

Albert wrote: "I read it a little while back and on the whole was not impressed. Its hard to read the newer King novels when I grew up on Salem's Lot and The Stand."

If you like old king style you might like Dr. Sleep, he published it a short while ago. I got the audio book and I'm enjoying it a lot while commuting to work. So much I can't wait till the weekend is over and I can drive to work.

This is the first King book I've finished. I've tried 3 of his other books, Salems Lot, The Stand, The Shining and I never finished them. I got too bored. But I had wanted to read this before the series came out. Like most times I liked the book more than the show. BUT with longer books I did the audio book. With a great narrator I can easily finish a book, as was the case here. If you have trouble I'd recommend the audio book. And I loved the story. It flew by with so much going on it didn't feel as long as it actually is.
As for the ending, I admit it was a bit anticlimatic too. I felt like it was a bit of a cop out. However that didn't take away from how much I enjoyed the rest of the book. It gives a great view of what people will do when they are stripped of their comforts and have to survive.

Loved it until the ending. I like scifi, but that element didn't seem for me to mesh well with the rest... though that's about the only thing I can think of that would explain it. Still, that's not enough to ruin my overall enjoyment of the book. :)

I am very curious to see all the elements they change in the TV series. I know I definitely didn't have a crush on Junior in the book! ;) I believe I heard they will change the ending too. I like when adaptations change enough to keep readers guessing AS LONG AS they are still making a good story.

Stephen King is helping to write the second season :) x

I thoroughly enjoyed Under the Dome, as I enjoy most King novels. He's by far my favorite author, and cracking open one of his books is just like slipping into a favorite pair of comfy pajamas for me. I was a bit disappointed with the ending, seemed a little bit of a cop-out. But it looks like the show is going to take a different tack, so I'm interested to see where it goes.