Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

In 1868, Samuel ("Mark Twain") Clemens published a short story entitled "Cannibalism in the Cars" which told the gruesome story of a group of men -- politicians, in fact -- who were trapped in a train for over a week during a blizzard. After about a week, these men realize that, in order to survive, cannibalism would be the only viable solution. Thus, and in painstaking observation of parliamentary procedure, these occupants nominate and elect their individuals amongst their brethren to be sacrificed for the remaining members. In the hands of Clemens, it was political satire at its finest. Stephen King has always fancied Clemens. Indeed, his novel THE TALISMAN (with Peter Straub) was a homage of sorts to TOM SAWYER. But, in the hands of King (one of my favorite contemporary authors, no lie), what tries to be a satire of social commentary becomes instead an overbearing, overwritten over-the-top political manifesto. UNDER THE DOME found its genesis as a novel entitled THE CANNIBALS, and over the ensuing three decades morphed into 1000+ page ham-fisted rant against Christianity, Republicans in general, Bush and Cheney in particular (thinly disguised here as the 1st and 2nd Selectmen of Chester's Mill), the Iraq war, global warming and all other issues du jour that aggrieve the political left. Understand: King (like any other US citizen) is entitled to his opinion and has the right to express it. Here's the problem: King commits the one cardinal sin of story-telling; he allows his own political bias to get in the way of the narrative. The story (and King himself has said that, in writing, the most important thing is "Story, dammit, story!") stinks. The characters -- particularly "Big Jim" Rennie, "Junior" Rennie, and Dale "Barbie" Barbara -- are two-dimensional charicatures, with all the depth of a coat of spray paint. King is so intent on conveying his hatred for Dick Cheney (aka the hypocritical, Bible-quoting, drug-dealing "Big Jim" Rennie) and lecturing us on the perceived immorality of the Iraq war (through the jaded eyes of Dale Barbara) that King loses sight of the storyline. None of his characters (with the possible exception of "The Chef" -- himself a quasi re-tread of King's Trashcan Man) are interesting; and the story itself is bogged down in bloated verbiage. In his introduction to King's short story collection NIGHT SHIFT, John D. MacDonald spoke of the hazards of narrative intrusion; i.e., the temptation to wax philosophic in a "look-Ma-how-nice-I'm-writing" style. It breaks the reader's concentration and shocks the reader out of the story. MacDonald praised King for never doing that. In UNDER THE DOME, King does it . . . again . . . and again . . . and again. King has written some fine -- and, at times, elegant -- novels. UNDER THE DOME does not qualify.