(Trapped) Under the Dome

Even though I hadn't read one of his books since high school, and even though I was looking forward to the challenge, I have to admit to being unable to finish Stephen King's cinder block of a novel, Under the Dome.

With no resolution in sight and and 300+ pages to go (300 pages being its own large book, in my opinion), I gave up somewhere around page 700.

I kept telling myself I'd soon get back to the adventures of the residents of a small town in Maine who found themselves trapped under a dome where society starts breaking down within a matter of days. But I never did.

I liked the story and I liked the characters, but I just couldn't finish the book.

At 1,000 pages, Under the Dome is unreadable.

At 500-700 pages, it would have been a good book.

At less than 500 pages, Under the Dome would have been a great book. No question about it.

And this is the good and bad of Stephen King. The man is a writing tsunami. Sometimes this is a good thing. Sometimes it's overwhelming.

Under the Dome isn't a bad book, by any means. But unless you have a lot of time to kill, it isn't a good book, either.