Cell: A Novel by Stephen King Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Cell: A Novel
Book Review: "Cell" Left Hanging On The Telephone
Summary: 3 Stars
Much like the song by Blondie, "Cell" is left hanging on the telephone. While not a total disconnect, it will have many checking Caller ID. Mimimalist at slightly over 350 pages, rather short for an author whose novels often span 500 to 1,000 pages or more, it is concise and captivating at times though the ending comes across as incomplete if thought about too deeply. It is also quite linear, following the the main character exclusively, an unusual approach not often found in King's novels, which moves the story along but is, at the same time, disconcerting as more is usually expected from this particular writer.
The extensive borrowing from other sources is a detracting element as well. Elements from Walter Wager's "Telefon", King's own "The Stand" and "Low Men In Yellow Jackets" are glaring present. Even the name Raggedy Man is borrowed from "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome". Suggestions of George Romero's "Dead" movies are also glarinly prevelent throughout.
Most disturbingly of all is the shameless self-promotion fo King's next novel which appears on the last pages. It is difficult to determine if the excerpt, supposedly written in "his own hand", is offered as an apology for "Cell" or is, rather, a desperate attempt to fish money form the pockect of unsuspecting readers in advance. Neither option is appealing.
Recommended Readings: "Telefon" by Walter Wager; "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome" by Joan D. Vinge; "Night of the Living Dead" and "Return of the Living Dead" by John Russo; "Dawn of the Dead" by George A. Romero & Susan Sparrow
Book Review: "Cell" continues popular culture's zombie renaissance
Summary: 4 Stars
Pretty much due to coincidence (and, okay, because I often like this type of story), I recently enjoyed in close succession three works involving that staple of American horror-oriented tale spinning: zombies! What was interesting is that the three works each provided new, interesting spins on this reliable yet time-worn horror protagonist.
In George Romero's recent film, "Land of the Dead", the great film maker starts moving his zombies in the direction of just being another race that will now inhabit the planet, a race that simply wants to be left alone to makes its own destiny. Controversial? Sure. Interesting? Most certainly.
In Robert Kirkman's series of graphic novels collectively titled "The Walking Dead", the writer decides to chronicle one set of characters over many, many issues (each graphic novel collects about six issues of the original, still-ongoing comic book series), showing how these same characters deal with the zombie menace tale after tale, year after year. Mr. Kirkman took this approach because he felt frustrated that, as much as he revered George Romero's zombie films, each one would start over again with a different set of human characters trying to survive on a zombie-infested earth. Mr. Kirkman felt (and, I have to say, I always thought this way, too) that "hey, you already had some great characters in that last film... why didn't you stay with 'em?" And now, with his great series "The Walking Dead", Mr. Kirkman gives us great characters and, well, stays with 'em.
And that brings us to Stephen King's "Cell". The new wrinkle in Mr. King's tale of zombies taking over the earth is that the zombie state isn't an end result of something, but a transitional one. After being subjected to a weird cell-phone pulse, folks become these creepy zombie-like creatures (though they're not technically zombies due to their lack of actual dead-ness), but then they start shedding their murderous zombie behavior and move in the direction of becoming something else. It's all very interesting: we follow our little group of still-human characters as they try to survive while all the while they're observing the ever-evolving weirdness around them. What new abilities will these shambling things display next?
"Cell" could have used a little more explanation about the mysterious pulse that goes out over the world's cell phones one fine October day. In the end, things were pretty clear, but I would have liked a little more on the idea that it was the pulse that caused the initial transformation from human to murderous zombie-like creature, but then something that was already inside each person that caused the secondary transformations and abilities, in response to the damage done by the pulse. As I said before, it was all very interesting and I just wanted a little more.
Some of the things Stephen King has done well in the past he does again here, also well (every writer has his little ideas and themes that he or she enjoys revisiting, I guess). Here, similar to Stu Redman and his friends being compelled to travel west to visit Mother Abigail in "The Stand", Mr. King gives his core characters a mysterious compulsion to travel north to a small area of Maine for a purpose unknown to them (at least initially). And, like The Walking Dude- also from "The Stand"- and Pennywise the Clown from "It", we get a central grotesque yet compelling figure frequently confronting our heroes: the zombie spokesperson who comes to be called The Raggedy Man. Finally, as seen in several past King epics, "Cell" features lots of strange graffiti all over the place (the cryptic graffiti scrawl here is "KASHWAK = NO-FO") Anyway, it's all good stuff, done freshly and not as a simple rehash of past scenarios.
By the way, comic book fans will enjoy the fact that the central character, Clay Riddell, is an aspiring comic book writer/artist who has made his first big sale to Dark Horse Comics (a real-life comic-book publisher) as the novel opens.
So, due to their successful attempts to try a little something new with a tried-and-true type of horror story, I would recommend all three of the above works for a little thoughtful, scary diversion. However, because there have already been lots of movies and comic books about zombies, "Cell" especially is a lot of fun, because it's great to finally have a nice, meaty novel about the zombie threat.
In fact, I actually wouldn't mind a sequel to "Cell", as there's still a lot left to mine here. But if you do write a follow up, Mr. King, take a page from Robert Kirkman and stay with the same characters! They're good ones.
Book Review: "Cell" equals "The Stand"
Summary: 2 Stars
I am a RABID King fan..however, while it has a great premise, CELL disappoints. It is THE STAND in the modern era
It is exactly like "THE STAND". Instead of Captian Tripps, we have cell phones. Instead of The Dark Man, we have the Raggedy Man. In both books, you have the sharing of dreams and visions. In both books you also have characters named Tom.. In both books, you have the mass explosion that kills a bunch of people (set by Trashcan Man in STAND and Clay and Co in CELL.
TOO MANY SIMILARITIES...SAVE YOU MONEY AND WAIT FOR THE MOVIE WHICH SHALL SURELY FOLLOW.
Book Review: "Master of Horror" is now "Master of BORING"
Summary: 1 Stars
King's books have been getting progressively worse with each new arrival. This one is so bad, I can't even find the words to describe just how awful it truly is. The "catcher" with all King's previous works was that they seemed as if they could actually happen - that's what made them so scarey. "Cell" is just totally devoid of any grip on reality and uses gore to fill in for the lack of imagination and character development. King wrote alot better stuff when he was hungry.Book Review: "The Stand" lite
Summary: 5 Stars
i co-opted that term from a blog review, and it seemed appropriate. The book is a very quick read -- easy to digest, engaging, and very enjoyable. It did not have the deep theological or epic implications of The Stand, but is a very insightful take of when extraorindary events happen to ordinary people. I am in no position to offer *any* suggestions to SK, but I can't say I wasn't a little dissapointed to not see the Shop involved in the Pulse.
All in all, its a great book.