Under the Dome Read Along: Final Questions

I've finished this book! Wow, what a ride it was. Crazy stuff here. Really crazy stuff. It was fun to do this little read along, and thanks to those who read along with me! Here are the final questions which are COMPLETELY FULL OF SPOILERS. Really really bad spoilers too, so skip it if you plan to read this some day. But please, if you have already read it, go forward in this post and let me know what you think!

1. Were you pleased with the end that Stephen King gave Jim Rennie? Is it what you expected? Was it fitting? If not, how would you have changed it?


I thought it was pretty good, first that he died "alone" and second that he died with hallucinations of all those he killed coming after him. Appropriately creepy! Still, I kind of would have liked to see him blown to smithereens when the explosion occurred. But then of course, he wouldn't have suffered as much, right? So never mind.

2. Explain to us what you thought about the aliens and their "magnifying glass." Did you take it at face value, or is there some underlying deep meaning to it? In other words, is there actually a moral to this story? And if so, how would you explain it?

That whole bit was a little confusing to me and I think for the most part we should take it at face value however, I do think Stephen King was trying to say something about the nature of kids and their cruel streak. And how deep down, even the mean ones, want to fix things they have done. And that some of us participate in these mean cruel "jokes" but don't want to, and how THAT lives with us for our whole lives.

3. Pretty much everyone dies! Which death was the saddest for you? The hardest for you to read about? The most gruesome? The one that had you cheering? The one that made you the maddest? 

Saddest: Benny perhaps. And Aiden. I was really hoping all the kids would make it. Oh and both the dogs too of course.

Hardest: Brenda, I think, remains one of the hardest ones to read about. Oh, and Sam in the end. 

Gruesome: Wow, which to choose. Carter's death by Mr. Rennie's knife was especially disgusting. I think the hospital murder/suicide with Sammy was ick. And then the shootout at the police station was pretty ick too.

Cheering: probably when Junior finally, FINALLY, fell... with Barbie still alive! YES!  And I must admit, I cheered a little for the crazy druggies too, even though their actions caused the calamity.

Maddest: Carolyn, was that her name? The one taking care of the kids? That was very maddening.

4. If this were made into a movie (as Stephen King books often are) who would you cast in some of the leading roles?

This is always a hard question for me, but I thought it would be fun to try and to see others answers! 

Barbie: Ryan Phillippe (and I have no idea who this guy even is! But he fits the image I had.)

Julia: I think Julia Roberts herself would work just fine for this one!

Big Jim: Wade Williams (who played Brad Bellick on Prison Break)

Junior: Harry Melling (he played Dudley in Harry Potter)

Rusty: Jake Gyllenhaal

Linda: Stana Katic from Castle, only I pictured blonde hair

Joe: Gabriel Basso (from Super 8), but is he young enough here?

Now, I have no idea if these pictures match the descriptions given in the book (were there even any?) but just the image I sort of have in my head. What do you think? Did I get any of them right according to the image in your head?

5. Do you think this book is an accurate portrayal of true human nature? Do you think everyone is as corrupt as this? How do you think your community would do in such a crisis? How would you personally handle it? What side would you have ended up on?

I truly think this book made human nature out to be much worse than it really is. But then again, I'm probably quite naive. I really hope though, that random people aren't as corrupt as so many in this town were. I would say some, but not so very many! I would hope that my community would have much better leadership than this one did. I agree that that is a key part of a situation like this. I  personally, would probably have quite the panic attack at being shut in, but my guess is I would have stayed off the radar, which means I would have ended up as one of the nameless faceless crowd, nose pressed to the dome talking to loved ones, when the world ended!

Full and "normal" review, without spoilers hopefully,  to come later.