Under the Dome, Halfway There

If you're reading Under the Dome, Stephen King's 1074 page, 5 lb. book and you're less than halfway through, stop reading this blog post, because I will be discussing details and don't want to piss anybody off with spoilers. If you're NOT reading it but are watching the miniseries, you can keep reading because there's nothing for me to spoil. So far, the only similarity between the book and the miniseries is that there is a Dome. And a town. Under it. If you're not reading the book OR watching the miniseries, go read my friend Tracy's newest entry In the Powder Room, it's hilarious.

So here I am, at the halfway point of the book Under the Dome. Barbie was just arrested as a result of being framed by Junior Rennie (who is MUCH cuter in the miniseries than in my imagination while reading the book). In the show, he doesn't strike me as the necrophiliac he is in the book, but they changed that because necrophilia doesn't play very well on CBS. Fox News, maybe, but not CBS. Big Jim Rennie is a great protagonist, much like Pennywise the Clown (IT), Morgan Sloat (The Talisman), Randall Flagg (The Stand) and The Overlook Hotel (The Shining). He controls everything, pulls all the strings and wreaks major havoc to remain in power.

I know King loves to knock off major characters at the drop of a hat, but I was so sad to see Big Jim kill Brenda Perkins (sorry if this is a spoiler, I did warn you). I wanted her around long enough to help Barbie and Julia overcome the evil Big Jim but alas, what I want matters not to Stephen King. Now that she's gone and Andrea Grinnell has tossed the incriminating papers off the table and onto the floor, no doubt hidden and forgotten about until later in the book, I'll biting my nails until that important bit of evidence against Big Jim has been found. Good thing I grew my nails out in preparation for all the nail biting I'm going to have to do.

Moving on to the rookie 'cops' who raped Sammy Bushey, I hate them all and while I'm glad that Sammy shot Georgia Roux and Frankie DeLeppses, I just wish she'd have stuck around longer and had the opportunity to kill the other 3 rapists. But again, that's why King is a multi-gajillionaire who writes amazing novels, and I'm an office manager who writes a blog. Poorly.

In my juncture in the book, Rusty and Linda are in the basement of the Bowie Funeral Home examining the bodies of Angie, Dodee, Coggins and Brenda Perkins. Rusty is JUST about to see something different in the manner in which Coggins was killed but I had to stop to run 15 somewhere, so I'm hanging on the edge of my seat until I can get back there and see what he's found and if it will exonerate Barbie.

Ah, Barbie. Dale Barbara. I do enjoy reading about him and the actor who portrays him in the series, Mike Vogel, is fairly easy on the eyes, so I'm seeing him in my head and maybe enjoying his character a little more than I should.

So I'm crushed that he's been arrested with half the book left to read. I'm praying that his butt isn't rotting in jail for the rest of the story while Julia and Rusty are left to deal with everything going on. What I'm hoping is that the remaining selectman, the Keystone cops (with the exception of Linda) and the dumbasses who are at Big Jim's beck and call screw up badly and good triumphs over evil. However, this IS a Stephen King book and I've been a King fan since I picked up The Shining in fourth grade at St. Ann's and read it in the back of Sister Catherine's classroom when she wasn't looking. So I know better than to assume everything will be tied up in a nice little package with a bow.

I'm not yet to the point where Halloween happens, so I'm not reading any blogs from those who have finished the book, so don't leave me any comments on what's about to happen or I'll come to your house and eat all your food. One thing I'm disappointed in with the series (ok there are a TON of things I'm disappointed in but that's the subject of another blog) is that they cast Jeff Fahey as Duke Perkins. I really like Jeff Fahey and would've liked for him to be cast in another role, a character who would be around for awhile and not killed off in the first 45 minutes of the show. I IMDB'd Jeff Fahey and found that he was born in 1952, which makes him 61 years old. DAMN. He's one fine looking 61 year old man. I pictured Duke as an older man, probably late 50's to early 60's but NOT NEARLY as hot as Jeff Fahey. I was picturing in my little brain an actor like maybe Tom Bosley or Wilford Brimley (yes I know they are both older than 60 but I don't think EITHER of them are hot so they'd be much better in the role of Duke).

Anyway, overall I am LOVING the book and can't wait to read more. Whether or not I will finish the book prior to the end of the miniseries has yet to be determined. When I'm reading, I'm not cleaning the house, shopping for groceries, working, running the kids hither and yon. When I'm reading, I'm lost in the book. And I haven't really been lost in a book in a very long time. Maybe when the Harry Potter series was hot. I miss reading on a regular basis. But I also miss a clean house and a good home-cooked meal. Life's all about juggling. But this summer, Under the Dome is my wonderful obsession and I'm enjoying being lost in it.