Book Review - Cell by Stephen King
Category Book Reviews
What would happen to society if a mental "reboot" signal was sent through the cell phone system all at once? That's the premise of Stephen King's latest, Cell.
Clay Riddell is celebrating his first major cartoon contract, and is looking forward to getting home to his wife and son. But all that changes in an instant when a strange signal is sent out to all the cell phones on the cellular system. Those who placed a call or were on the phone are turned into mindless deranged zombies who are reduced to basic functions, like searching for food. Riddell finds a few others who weren't affected by "The Pulse", and they head off to see if his son and wife are OK. In the beginning, his group is able to avoid detection because the "phoners" all react predictably. But strange telepathic skills are starting to emerge from the flock, and Riddell's group is being unwillingly driven to their final destination... an "execution" at the hands of their former loved ones. The goal is to stay alive, take out as many of the phoners as possible, and still find his wife and son if at all possible...
For some reason that I haven't quite figured out, I normally don't read King's works. Strange, because I like these types of novels. But I just haven't gotten to the point where he's on my "must read" list of authors. I may have to make a conscious effort to change that, because I really did like this book. It was an interesting premise for a story line, and while I didn't much care for the ending, it was still an enjoyable read...
What would happen to society if a mental "reboot" signal was sent through the cell phone system all at once? That's the premise of Stephen King's latest, Cell.
Clay Riddell is celebrating his first major cartoon contract, and is looking forward to getting home to his wife and son. But all that changes in an instant when a strange signal is sent out to all the cell phones on the cellular system. Those who placed a call or were on the phone are turned into mindless deranged zombies who are reduced to basic functions, like searching for food. Riddell finds a few others who weren't affected by "The Pulse", and they head off to see if his son and wife are OK. In the beginning, his group is able to avoid detection because the "phoners" all react predictably. But strange telepathic skills are starting to emerge from the flock, and Riddell's group is being unwillingly driven to their final destination... an "execution" at the hands of their former loved ones. The goal is to stay alive, take out as many of the phoners as possible, and still find his wife and son if at all possible...
For some reason that I haven't quite figured out, I normally don't read King's works. Strange, because I like these types of novels. But I just haven't gotten to the point where he's on my "must read" list of authors. I may have to make a conscious effort to change that, because I really did like this book. It was an interesting premise for a story line, and while I didn't much care for the ending, it was still an enjoyable read...
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Comments
Posted by Duffbert At 18:30:43 On 20/03/2006 | - Website - |
Posted by martin At 06:35:20 On 14/06/2007 | - Website - |
Posted by Jason Mckinley At 15:13:30 On 28/10/2006 | - Website - |
Posted by Alex Nelson At 14:17:04 On 27/11/2006 | - Website - |
And I agree Tom, didn't like the ending at all. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that the book kinda lost my interest after the school. Up to that point, it had such great potential...
I think SK had a great idea, and an interesting thing to say with his book... but just couldn't deliver the whole thing - after the school, the prof, etc. (those who read need to follow me here), it kinda fizzled out until the finale - which was off itself.
IMHO, Cell - after the first few hundred pages (no one writes US end-of-the-world like SK (read: The Stand, 'nuff said!), it completely fell flat. It felt rushed, like some great run at fan fiction that begins to die once the writer gets bored themselves with the plot and can't be bothered to fill in the gaps with believable content.
Posted by Chris Toohey At 20:05:30 On 25/03/2006 | - Website - |
Can anyone explain the dates - Dec. 30 2004 - Oct 17 2005 - in the last sentence?
Posted by Wendy Wood At 02:22:09 On 30/05/2007 | - Website - |
Posted by nameless At 06:36:49 On 14/06/2007 | - Website - |
If you haven't read Kings books and intend to eventually make your way through them all, then I have two pieces of advice:
1) Read his stuff in order by date of first publication, if you can. He leaves clues in all of his books that are based on characters and events from prior books. You won't get the clue unless you've read the prior book. It's never essential to the story, but it's more fun if you "get it".
2) Don't leave out the stuff he wrote under his pen name, "Richard Bachman". "Rage" and "The Long Walk" are both short stories, but it's got some of the best character development you'll ever read.
His 'Dark Tower' series is his best work ever, including the ending. He sometimes has trouble with endings ("Needful Things"...yikes!), but I think how he ended Roland's story was the only way he could have ended it. He also includes himself as himself in The Dark Tower series and kills himself off. Talk about not being afraid to tap one's deepest darkest fears.
Once you start reading King, you won't be able to stop.
(not that I'm a fan or anything
Posted by ChangeWarrior (Deb) At 20:02:21 On 21/03/2006 | - Website - |
Posted by Esther Strom At 09:32:37 On 20/03/2006 | - Website - |
Posted by martin At 06:35:23 On 14/06/2007 | - Website - |