Under the Dome by Stephen King

Title: Under the Dome
Author: Stephen King
ISBN: 9781439148501, Simon & Schuster, 2009
Genre: Horror, Fiction
Rating: B+
Source: Paperback Swap

First Line: From two thousand feet, where Claudette Sanders was taking a flying lesson, the town of Chester's Mill gleamed in the morning light like something freshly made and just set down.

Under the Dome is huge. I never did get around to weighing the thing, but if you chucked it at someone, you could cause some real damage. It comes with a map and a cast of characters. I went through it like a house afire, and the only thing I got tired of was the feeling that I'd strapped a sleeping toddler to the end of my arm.

A dome comes down over the small town of Chester's Mill, Maine. If you're inside the dome, you can't get out. If you're outside the dome and want in, you're out of luck. If you happen to be caught halfway, you're really out of luck. You can't dig under the dome, and you can't fly over it, and used car salesman Jim Rennie thinks all his prayers have been answered. The town and the people of Chester's Mill have been put right in the palm of his sanctimonious, greedy, power hungry hand.

Although the cast of characters is huge, and the action continuously shifts from place to place, after the initial inspection upon opening the book, I never referred back to either the map or the cast of characters. I grew up in a small town, and I think I mentally put Stephen King's dome down over my own home town and called many of its people by King's names. I would imagine that I'm not the only one who did this. For those who didn't, the map and the cast list will probably come in very handy.

The dome immediately becomes a media event, and the military shows up even before CNN and Fox. It doesn't take long before people realize that the dome has an ecological effect on the town, and as people feverishly work to get rid of it, King's characters became etched in my mind: Big Jim Rennie and his spoiled son, young Rennie's pack of no-good friends, "Barbie" the Iraqi war veteran, the newspaperwoman, the minister who isn't so sure she believes in God... it's a large cast, and each character remained clear in my mind.

As the pages flew by, character after character paid dearly for hasty decisions, and I didn't always like the consequences. Fortunately King provided just enough comic relief for Under the Dome to avoid becoming overwhelmingly dark. His opinion of the human race isn't very kind; unfortunately, it's often right on the mark, so if you like reading a fast-paced novel about good and evil filled with memorable characters, pick up Under the Dome. With its heft, you'll also be giving yourself a workout.

[Note: if you have a low tolerance for gore, I'd advise you to avoid this one. I normally don't think about this because I have a high gore tolerance. Must come from going hunting with my grandfather and cleaning what was brought home to eat.]

REVIEW: Duma Key

Title: Duma Key
Author: Stephen King
ISBN: 9781416552963/ Pocket Books, 2008
Horror
Protagonist: Edgar Freemantle
Setting: present-day Duma Key, Florida
Rating: A

First Line: Start with a blank surface.

Edgar Freemantle was a wealthy Minnesota builder until a construction site accident severed his right arm, broke his right leg and hip, scrambled his mind and destroyed his marriage. With his mind sending him into rages, Edgar decides to leave Minnesota for a year and recuperate elsewhere. He decides on Salmon Point, a big pink house right on the beach on Duma Key, Florida. For such a beautiful place, Duma Key is strangely undeveloped, but it's the perfect place for Edgar to heal, and to make friends with his neighbors: Elizabeth Eastlake, the old lady who owns Duma Key, and her caregiver, Wireman.

As Edgar heals, he begins to paint--feverishly, compulsively--and the talent his painting shows is as much a weapon as it is a wonder. You see...Edgar's creations are not just paintings but portals for the ghosts of Elizabeth's past to walk through.

I've been a fan of Stephen King since Carrie and Salem's Lot were published. One of my all-time favorite reading tales revolves around Salem's Lot. Although there was a period of years when I didn't read any of his books because I got the feeling they were cranked out on a conveyor belt, I've now gotten back in the habit. The major thing I've always enjoyed about King's writing is his voice. I always feel as though King is channeling that voice inside my head that says everything I'm thinking, whether or not I verbalize it. When there's a writer who's such a comfortable fit for your private interior monologues, it's impossible to stay away.

A heron makes several appearances in Duma Key, and King captures perfectly the thought I've always had about these birds:

Beyond the tangle, on a blue-tiled walk that presumably connected with the main courtyard, stalked a sharp-eyed heron. It looked both thoughtful and grim, but I never saw a one on the ground that didn't look like a Puritan elder considering which witch to burn next.

I was sucked into this story rapidly and didn't really come up for air until it was finished. Parts of it are still washing through my mind like the tides on Duma Key. The characters of Freemantle and Wireman were vividly portrayed and likable, and I really enjoyed their camaraderie. I do wish the character of Elizabeth Eastlake figured more into the story, but I was quite happy with what King gave me to read. It's not difficult to think that, in describing the pain that Freemantle had with his injuries, King was tapping into a familiar well of his own.

This paperback edition includes "The Cat from Hell", a bonus story from Just After Sunset.

REVIEW: Breaking Dawn

Title: Breaking Dawn
Author: Stephenie Meyer
ISBN: 9780316067928/Little, Brown and Company
Protagonist: teenager Bella Swan
Setting: present-day Forks, Washington
Series: #4
Rating: C

First Line: I'd had more than my fair share of near-death experiences; it wasn't something you ever really got used to.

In an attempt to avoid spoilers, I'm going to try to make this short, sweet, and mainly about my opinions. If you have the need to read a breakdown of the plot, run a search. There will be thousands of URLs for you to check out!

I really think I should've let Breaking Dawn remain in that vast sea of books that I will never read. Not because it's a terrible book. My rating shows that I don't think it was. Rather, it was just...so predictable. The first half of the book dragged beyond all belief. My own title for this part is "Bella the Martyr", and shows in part that I'm sick of her character. Thankfully the second half picked up pace when there was some real action, but reading this for me was going through the motions. I think I would've liked it better if Meyer had included more comic relief to lighten the seriousness of it all. But this is a series for teenagers, and everything tends to be deadly serious for them.

The ending of the series was a bit of a letdown for me, but that isn't quite the disappointment you might think it would be. I'm thrilled that so many people have found books that they just had to read and read and read...and talk about. Oftentimes that's the bottom line for me. At heart, I will always be a librarian wanting everyone in the known world to stick their noses in books and find in them the never-ending source of pleasure that I do. I know some of you think this entire series was dreck and provided horrible role models for teenaged readers. But...in how many cases will these young fans of Stephenie Meyer start searching for something else to read, and then something else, and something else? Those next books they turn to may be the ones that really get them to thinking, to questioning, and to keep turning to books for the answers and for pleasure. For that reason alone--sparking an interest in reading--my hat's off to Stephenie Meyer.

REVIEW: Eclipse

Title: Eclipse
Author: Stephenie Meyer
ISBN: 9780316160209/Little, Brown & Company
Protagonist: 18-year-old Bella Swan
Setting: Forks, Washington, a small town on the rainy Olympic Peninsula
Series: #3
Rating: B

First Line: All our attempts at subterfuge had been in vain.

Since I received a small complaint about not including a spoiler alert with my review of New Moon, let me say this: I try my best not to give away major plot points in any of my book reviews. If you're a reader who doesn't want to know anything that happens in Eclipse, it might be a good idea for you to skip this review--or at least skip down to the last paragraph!

At the end of New Moon, Bella and Edward had been reunited, but there was still a serious threat from a revenge-seeking vampire focusing on Bella (which didn't live up to all the hype and suspense, if you ask me). In Eclipse, Bella just wants to graduate from high school and become a vampire so she can be with Edward for eternity. She also wants her friendship with Jacob Black to continue. Since Edward and Jacob are enemies, this isn't going to be the easiest thing to accomplish.

Once again, Meyer managed to suck me into the story, and I wasn't content until I'd finished the book. I'm still not quite sure how she does that because Eclipse had a huge "irk factor" for me. In the first part of the book, Edward is so controlling that I wanted to hit him upside the head with a tire iron--which just so happens to be a weapon that's mentioned later. Even as a teenager, I was fiercely independent, and if I'd hooked up with someone as controlling as Edward, it wouldn't have taken me long to point to the door. Hit the road, Jack...er...Ed. You may think you're the zoo keeper, but I'm not one of your big cats. Bella's low self-esteem also annoys me. Yes, it's pretty much guaranteed for most teen aged girls, but she goes overboard with it. It also doesn't help that I'm firmly in the camp that believes Bella has chosen The Wrong Guy. Yes, folks, I prefer Jacob. He's tall, he's good-looking (not beautiful--gag), and he's got a good sense of humor. (He made me laugh several times while reading Eclipse.) Edward is just too much a Pretty Boy and way too serious! I'll be reading Breaking Dawn with some interest. I know Jacob's going to get the short end of the stick, but I don't want it to be too short, if you know what I mean!

REVIEW: New Moon

Title: New Moon
Author: Stephenie Meyer
ISBN: 9780316024961/Little, Brown and Company
Protagonist: teenager Bella Swan
Setting: present-day Forks, Washington, and Italy
Series: #2
Rating: A

First Line: I felt like I was trapped in one of those terrifying nightmares, the one where you have to run, run--till your lungs burst, but you can't make your body move fast enough.

I let two weeks go by before I read New Moon. I have to admit that I felt a bit like Raymond Shaw in The Manchurian Candidate after reading Twilight. I also didn't think I could run headlong into another rhapsody about Edward's beauty. If there was one thing that bothered me in Twilight it was the non-stop references to Edward's suitability as the hunk of all hunks. Fortunately I didn't have to mute my gag reflex until I'd read three-quarters of New Moon. Instead, Bella is left high and dry, Edward-less, and feels like she's coming apart at the seams. It takes her a while, but she finds someone to fill the holes: Jacob, the young Quilete boy who lives in nearby LaPush. I like Jacob, probably because he isn't nearly as beautiful as Edward. I'm not going to say anything more about the plot just in case you happen to be one of the readers who hasn't read this series. I've been trying to keep on top of what's going on without actually learning the plot lines of the upcoming books, and it's very difficult. I'll just make a few comments about my reactions to this book.

These books are so...teenage...that it's amusing. I've lost my boyfriend, and all I want to do is die. Romeo and Juliet for the 21st century. Bella is some kind of addictive personality. She's so unsure of herself that she has to attach herself to someone she perceives as stronger and "better" than her. She can't have Edward, so she clings to Jacob instead. Her name--Bella Swan--tells everyone that she's meant for greater things. Bella? Beautiful. And we've all heard of the ugly duckling who turned into a swan, haven't we? I know she's meant for Edward, but I hope that Jacob isn't left in the lurch. (Don't anyone dare tell me what happens!)

In spite of clunky writing and endless descriptions of physical beauty, it was still almost impossible for me to put this book down. Why? Perhaps I'm reliving my own, rather boring, high school days. I know whom I've cast as Edward, but I'm having difficulty finding someone for Jacob....

REVIEW: Twilight

Title: Twilight
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Protagonist: 16-year-old Bella Swan
Setting: present-day Forks, Washington and Phoenix, Arizona
Series: #1
Rating: A+

First Line: My mother drove me to the airport with the windows rolled down.

I overdosed on vampires with Anne Rice's Vampire Lestat novels. Although I've seen scads of vampire films, only one actor has made me believe that Dracula is sexy: Richard Roxburgh in Van Helsing. I just plain didn't care one way or the other about vampires. But when a friend's granddaughter wanted to be the first person in line for Breaking Dawn and insisted that her grandmother read the entire series, my friend raved about how good they were. Since Jeanie doesn't rave like that very often, I decided to give Twilight a try this past Sunday afternoon. It was like diving in a pool feet first, expecting to touch bottom, spring up and break free into the air and sunlight. Problem is...there was no bottom. I was in Twilight for the long haul. I lost track of time, of where I was.... When Denis called, the sound of the telephone scared the pudding out of me.

Meyer has taken the tried, true and rather tired conventions of the new kid in school, girl meets boy, and vampires and turned them into magic. Bella Swan's mother is in a new relationship and in order not to put undue strain on it, Bella decides to move to Forks, Washington to live with her father, Charlie. A mountainous, tree-covered and rainy small spot on the road on the Olympic Peninsula, Forks couldn't be any more different from Bella's favored Phoenix, Arizona than the surface of the moon. When she shows up at her new school, all the boys light up like solar flares, but Bella isn't interested. She is interested, however, in a group of five students who sit together in the cafeteria and don't eat. They are the adopted children of Dr. Carlisle Cullen, and Meyer does a masterful job of drawing out the suspense until Bella finds out just what the Cullens really are: vampires, good vampires who've sworn off human prey. Bella doesn't care. All she knows is that she is irrevocably in love with Edward Cullen, and she'd rather be dead than parted from him. Their relationship is made even more haunting by the fact that Bella has, in effect, a death sentence hanging over her if their emotions run out of control. All the Cullens accept Bella into their group for the sake of Edward, but when a nasty group of vampires come into the area and focus on the young human girl, the Cullens have to band together to save her life.

I don't think there's one part of this book that I didn't like. Bella is an amazing character: so unaware of herself, yet so resourceful, bright and capable of focusing on the heart of a matter. She brought tears to my eyes when she tried to describe the beauty of the Sonoran Desert to Edward. And Edward! What's not to like? I would imagine that thousands of females read the pages of his spending days questioning Bella about all her likes and dislikes...about every facet of her life...and thought, "Wow, where can I find someone like that?"

You have no earthly clue how hard it was for me to leave Target yesterday after my shift was over and not pick up the other three books in this series first. I managed to refrain today as well. Methinks that will change very, very soon. I even have a soft spot for Stephenie Meyer herself. As my friend Jeanie pointed out to me, Meyer also went to Brigham Young University and got a degree in English Literature and she also lives in Phoenix.

Once again, vampires have me in their clutches.