# Stephen King's new book "Under The Dome" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 10, 2009, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-new-book-under-the-dome/517013 "2009-11-10T05:29:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-new-book-under-the-dome/517013/61 "2009-11-20T17:27:41Z")
> [@Rebo](#): > > I’m about 3/4 through, and the only complaint I have (as usual) is the dialogue. What 13 yr old uses “foxy” to describe a hot babe? I did. 35 years ago, when ‘foxy’ was part of the lexicon in the 1970s… Based on this thread, I still haven’t decided if the book is worth buying. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-new-book-under-the-dome/517013/62 "2009-11-20T18:00:40Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > That’s a good one. Also, King frequently mentions one of the cops carrying a Beretta Taurus. A gun-oriented friend of mine assures me that’s like claiming that you drive a Ford Pontiac. He also has them using propane to make meth. I don’t make meth so I had to look it up, and sure enough, propane isn’t used in meth production. The smaller propane **tanks** are sometimes used to store it, but you don’t need propane to make meth. And you don’t move propane tanks in pickup trucks, and you don’t store them indoors. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-new-book-under-the-dome/517013/63 "2009-11-20T18:10:44Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > He also has them using propane to make meth. I don’t make meth so I had to look it up, and sure enough, propane isn’t used in meth production. The smaller propane **tanks** are sometimes used to store it, but you don’t need propane to make meth. And you don’t move propane tanks in pickup trucks, and you don’t store them indoors. I didn’t think he was representing propane as an _ingredient_ in meth production, but rather the heat source for the cooking process. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-new-book-under-the-dome/517013/64 "2009-11-20T18:36:17Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > I didn’t think he was representing propane as an _ingredient_ in meth production, but rather the heat source for the cooking process. This was my impression, too. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-new-book-under-the-dome/517013/65 "2009-11-20T19:13:56Z")
Hmmm. Could be, but I doubt it. All I know about meth manufacture is from _Breaking Bad_. Walter made hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of meth in a camper, cooking the product over bunsen burners. But I think King really needed the propane for the big explosion at the end. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-new-book-under-the-dome/517013/66 "2009-11-30T00:13:01Z")
Okay, still not reading the thread, but I had to take a break and catch my breath. The meth lab just exploded. Wow. I think this ranks up there with _The Stand._ I got hooked almost immediately and I haven’t been able to put it down since! ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-new-book-under-the-dome/517013/67 "2009-11-30T00:30:48Z")
I felt a bit cheated. All that plotting by the major characters and it’s for nothing? [spoiler]I would’ve preferred a book that detailed what would happen to the town had the dome stayed in place, the air growing increasingly unbreathable… I thought that was what I was getting. Nope. [/spoiler] Oh, well. Maybe next time, Stephen. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-new-book-under-the-dome/517013/68 "2009-11-30T13:31:39Z")
I was also annoyed that while the immediate problem is solved, the implications are so huge that no one will ever be safe again anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-new-book-under-the-dome/517013/69 "2009-11-30T15:58:23Z")
I finished it the other day. On a scale of 1-10, I guess I’d give it a 5… maybe a 6 because the beginning was pretty good. I didn’t care much for the ending though. [spoiler] Aliens? Yeah, kinda lame but I can’t think of anything else King could do with that set-up. What other explanation could there plausibly be? And the whole huge explosion that kills just about everyone was pretty dissatisfying as a conclusion I thought.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-new-book-under-the-dome/517013/70 "2009-11-30T16:41:53Z")
My problem with the ending: [spoiler]The aliens knew all along that they were playing with intelligent beings. We know this because they went to the trouble of setting up that radiation belt to protect their generator. So, since they knew they were killing sentient beings, the plea of one human shouldn’t have had any impact on them. The dome should have been left in place. Everyone under the dome should have died. It’s like the remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still. I didn’t see it, but I read that the aliens relented on destroying earth (after killing millions of people) because a child touched their hearts. Gimme a break.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-new-book-under-the-dome/517013/71 "2009-11-30T16:53:53Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > the story never flagged.. Really? I keep expecting him at any moment. It’s slow going for me so far because we only have about a half-hour to read each night, which seems a little inadequate for a cinderblock like this. I found it pretty jarring when one of the characters referred to something being “Just like that movie, _The Mist_.” I _like_ the intertextuality of King’s body of work. I understand that an apocalyptic tale like _The Mist_ can’t be easily integrated with any kind of canonical, consistent universe, but this (shoehorning the reference in as though you’d find copies of the lastest Stephen King bestseller on the shelves of the Derry Library) only served to take me out of the story. Bleah. ---
**Author:** ![Hamadryad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6de8d8/32.png) [@Hamadryad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamadryad)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-new-book-under-the-dome/517013/72 "2009-11-30T16:57:56Z")
My problem with the book is that it was written as an epic and ended like a short story. C’mon, Mr. King - you used to be GREAT with denoument. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-new-book-under-the-dome/517013/73 "2009-11-30T17:23:42Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > Really? I keep expecting him at any moment. 😉 One of the comments at Amazon was about the smallness of the villains in this book. Big Jim Rennie as a Flagg minion? The Walkin’ Dude would have kept walkin’. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-new-book-under-the-dome/517013/74 "2009-11-30T19:29:14Z")
Does everyone know that those spoilers are readable in the preview of email notifications? I do try not to read that part. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-new-book-under-the-dome/517013/75 "2009-11-30T20:19:30Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > Does everyone know that those spoilers are readable in the preview of email notifications? > I do try not to read that part. I didn’t know that. I was thinking of starting a thread where spoilers could be open. It’d make discussion easier for those of us who’ve finished the book. But maybe everyone’s already had their say. I know I’m tired of bitching about it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-new-book-under-the-dome/517013/76 "2009-12-01T18:04:10Z")
Okay, I’m done. Wow…I thoroughly enjoyed it, enough that I would have liked a little “What Happened After It Was All Over” chapter. Did anyone catch the symbol on the flash box? I have to go check, but I think it’s the same as the symbol in _It_’s door. _It_ came from outer space. Could the leatherheads be _It_’s nieces and nephews? I wish Rennie could have been hauled away in handcuffs. I thought his death was a bit silly…I would have liked to find out he was freaking out over a stray piece of insulation or something. I had to stop reading after the meth lab explosion just to catch my breath. And I think this book should be required reading for any young punk who thinks it’s high hyucks to point a magnifying glass at an anthill. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-new-book-under-the-dome/517013/77 "2009-12-01T18:44:05Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Okay, I’m done. Wow…I thoroughly enjoyed it, enough that I would have liked a little “What Happened After It Was All Over” chapter. > > Did anyone catch… (spoiler) [spoiler] I think it was the same symbol, though I’d have to check my copy of It to make sure… but wasn’t it explained in It that the symbol’s “look” was just what each human’s tiny little brain could interpret the symbol as? I’m trying to remember, as I’m at work and don’t have access to my library now. If that’s the case, maybe the symbol on the dome generator was the same type of thing and the resemblance was simply coincidence?[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-new-book-under-the-dome/517013/78 "2009-12-01T19:55:34Z")
I don’t think it’s a coincidence. That’s a pretty big symbol to be the same. **Sailboat** , the Stephen King Library is basically an automatic bookseller. Every time a new King book comes out, I get a copy for about $19. I’ve also gotten a Stephen King-style dayplanner. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-new-book-under-the-dome/517013/79 "2009-12-01T19:58:12Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > Really? I keep expecting him at any moment. But Flagg _did_ show up, didn’t he? In the form of a crow, IIRC… It was one, maybe two sentences. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-new-book-under-the-dome/517013/80 "2009-12-01T20:21:13Z")
Well, considering Flagg got eaten in one of the DT books, I’d say that’s a stretch, but I don’t mind the nod. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-new-book-under-the-dome/517013.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-new-book-under-the-dome/517013.md?page=5)