Got a Barnes & Noble gift certificate for xmas, and bought this one off their website.
It's a huge book about a town that, suddenly, find itself inside a dome, just like the one in The Simpsons Movie.
Anyway, I am 144 pages in. The story iself is classic King, but here's something new I am noticing: the author can't go 5 pages without making some sort of liberals-good, republicans-bad statement.
- The bad guy is a staunch republican, HATES liberals, and is very religious to the point of being cartoony about it.
- The small town newspaper editor votes republican, but it is noted that, very out of character for a republican, she drives a hybrid automobile.
- The owners of the local watering hole voted for Obama, and they are very level headed.
- The story's protagonist is a former army war hero.... resigned his commission when he decided the people up the chain of command had ulterior motives, and carries around Mao's Little Red Book and says it makes more sense than most of today's American politicians.
So, I am trying to enjoy this book, am little more than 10% through it, but the author's personal politics is making it hard for me to get into the story. Keep it to yourself, Steph, and just tell the story.
Edited By GORDON on 1265486123
Under the Dome - Movie - Formerly: Book - Stephen King - Under th
- The bad guy is a staunch republican, HATES liberals, and is very religious to the point of being cartoony about it.
He's always got some religious psycho in his stories.
...resigned his commission when he decided the people up the chain of command had ulterior motives
& King always portrays the military as some huge, conspiracy-starting & -covering up organization.
and carries around Mao's Little Red Book and says it makes more sense than most of today's American politicians
I'm trying hard to think of something besides "Dreamcatcher" that makes less sense than our current crop in D.C.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
King's current literary works are best summed up in the Family Guy aside ...
Editor : So, what's your next book about?
King : [looking around, searching for ideas, notices a lamp on the editor's desk] Uh, it's about a lamp ... a lamp from HELL!
Editor : You're not even trying anymore, are you? [sighs] When can I expect the first chapter?
Editor : So, what's your next book about?
King : [looking around, searching for ideas, notices a lamp on the editor's desk] Uh, it's about a lamp ... a lamp from HELL!
Editor : You're not even trying anymore, are you? [sighs] When can I expect the first chapter?
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
-
DoctorChaos
- Posts: 1579
- Joined: Fri Oct 08, 2004 7:58 pm
I was interested in that book because it was about a small town trapped inside a dome and bad things were happening inside. It's EXACTLY the same premise as a series of graphic novels I reviewed here a few years back called "Girls".
Well, I saw a copy at my parents house (Sidenote: If the book is as politically offensive as Gordon is making it sound, my dad will vow off King forever.) and opened it up. I laughed when I saw the map inside.
That's EXACTLY how "Girls" was laid out. Each book would have a map, sometimes updated, showing the town.
Worse, the artwork was almost the same.
Now I'm not saying King is a thief, but he's certainly a bigot.
Well, I saw a copy at my parents house (Sidenote: If the book is as politically offensive as Gordon is making it sound, my dad will vow off King forever.) and opened it up. I laughed when I saw the map inside.
That's EXACTLY how "Girls" was laid out. Each book would have a map, sometimes updated, showing the town.
Worse, the artwork was almost the same.
Now I'm not saying King is a thief, but he's certainly a bigot.
“Activism is a way for useless people to feel important, even if the consequences of their activism are counterproductive for those they claim to be helping and damaging to the fabric of society as a whole.” - Dr Thomas Sowell
The outright statements about how 'republicans are stupid' have eased off a bit in the last hundred pages or so, but the ongoing idea is still there. The bad guy keeps reminding us that he is a god-fearing, knee bending republican and that he thinks Obama is a monkey, and the liberals/democrats keep being perfect and virtuous. Then you get the occasional "you sound less republican every time I talk to you line."
I am starting to think this book is just straight-up allegory for how King sees the American political system and situation (of a year ago when 'Obama's poll numbers were still over 50%,' to use his own line against him).
OH.... there was a throwaway line about how a guy is an air force bomber pilot and how he fought in Iraq and in the Gulf War, "which he always thought of as King George W's Desert Monkey Fuck."
Because, you know, all military people hated Bush, too, they just have to keep their thoughts to themselves.
Edited By GORDON on 1265815808
I am starting to think this book is just straight-up allegory for how King sees the American political system and situation (of a year ago when 'Obama's poll numbers were still over 50%,' to use his own line against him).
OH.... there was a throwaway line about how a guy is an air force bomber pilot and how he fought in Iraq and in the Gulf War, "which he always thought of as King George W's Desert Monkey Fuck."
Because, you know, all military people hated Bush, too, they just have to keep their thoughts to themselves.
Edited By GORDON on 1265815808
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
Oh, King also continues getting some basic military concepts wrong.
At one point a guy gets commissioned into the Army at the rank of Captain, and the Colonel doing it says, "You've just been enlisted." (paraphrased that line)
No. Officers get commissioned, the enlisted get enlisted. Any moron E-1 knows that. King and his fact checkers don't.
At one point a guy gets commissioned into the Army at the rank of Captain, and the Colonel doing it says, "You've just been enlisted." (paraphrased that line)
No. Officers get commissioned, the enlisted get enlisted. Any moron E-1 knows that. King and his fact checkers don't.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
Finished it.
The outright statements of bias ease off in the second half of the book, but the villians and heroes remain consistent to the end.
The main villains are an obvious Bush/Cheney allegory. There is an ultra-religious druggie with the last name of Bushey. The story's hero is an army veteran, but the big, guilty secret he has been carrying is that they tortured and killed prisoners in Iraq.
This was an ok story, but it makes me like King less, and I am less likely to buy his stuff in the future.
The outright statements of bias ease off in the second half of the book, but the villians and heroes remain consistent to the end.
The main villains are an obvious Bush/Cheney allegory. There is an ultra-religious druggie with the last name of Bushey. The story's hero is an army veteran, but the big, guilty secret he has been carrying is that they tortured and killed prisoners in Iraq.
This was an ok story, but it makes me like King less, and I am less likely to buy his stuff in the future.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
I read one Carl Sagan book in my life. That was Contact. Unfortunately I read it after the Cold War. The moral equivilancy he had between the Soviets and the US was annoying, but exactly how much he got wrong as discovered after the fall of the USSR was just funny.
Made it impossible for me to see him as some sort of really smart guy. Last book of his I read.
And for the record, I've hated King for years. He treats his fans like an abusive husband treas his wife.
Made it impossible for me to see him as some sort of really smart guy. Last book of his I read.
And for the record, I've hated King for years. He treats his fans like an abusive husband treas his wife.
"... and then I was forced to walk the Trail of Tears." - Elizabeth Warren
Showtime show. Or movie. Whatever.
http://www.mania.com/showtime-taps-kings-dome_article_130975.html
http://www.mania.com/showtime-taps-kings-dome_article_130975.html
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."