Cell: A Novel by Stephen King Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Cell: A Novel
Book Review: Huge let down
Summary: 1 Stars
I'm obviously in minority of people who disliked this book, so I'm not writing this review to sway opinion. Rather, I'm writing this to help those who share my tastes make the decision of whether or not to shell out a few of their hard earned dollars on this book.
As a bit of a disclaimer, this is the first Stephen King book I have ever read. My brother, who is a big King fan, warned me that his books all start out as incredibly brilliant and then end abruptly with some glib explanation that the antagonist is an alien or some other thing that conveniently ties of up all of the mysteries the story built up until that point.
As a summary, I'll say that I totally agree with my brother. The first half of this novel is absolutely brilliant. The book is exceptionally well written, and King puts a very unique twist on the zombie horror format (which I'll get into in a minute). However, the plot in the second half of the novel shoots off on a very different tangent that seems more at home in a campy b-movie or comic book.
Let me get into what I'll call Part 1 of the book first. As I'm sure you're already aware, this book is a new take on the classic zombie outbreak scenario. A very unique twist is that this story puts the reader right at ground zero of the incident. There is no methodical unraveling of how the zombies came to be, rather the focus of the story is on the thoughts of the main character and how he tries to hold onto his sanity and humanity while at the same time he hardens himself to adapt to the craziness around him. Another focus of the story is how society (what's left of it) also evolves to survive. Unlike a lot of end-of-the-world zombie movies/novels that just take of the easy path of saying that everything de-evolves into a Mad Max world where everyone kills, rapes, and pillages for no reason; King very intelligently dives into what society would really be like. Just like in real life where there are many levels of existence from mere survival to prosperity and many types of people from total degenerates to everyday people like you and I; King creates a complete world that includes all of those elements. This results in an environment that is much more rich and believable than you would expect in a typical zombie story.
At the risk of spoiling some of the surprise, I'll say that another very unique twist on the zombie story is that the zombies also evolve. Rather than being mindless killing machines, the zombies slowly begin to re-evolve in a bizarre story that will leave you on the edge of your seat. The zombie evolution was so fascinating, that I simply could not put the book down. I read the entire book over a couple of days during the work week due to the fact that I'd run to my car at the start of my lunch break and immediately after work so that I could find out what happened next.
In short, the first half of this book was, without a doubt, one of the best books I'd ever read. Ever.
The problem comes in the second half of the book. Specifically, the plot... the great mystery that King had so brilliantly built up to... fell flat on its face. Rather than being a very deep and intelligent explanation, that left you in awe; it was a very deep and intelligent explanation that resulted in something very cliche and cheesy. I won't tell you exactly what it is, but I will say that it would be on the same level of cheesiness if he had said that the whole thing was simply
a bad dream
aliens
a government conspiracy
mental telepathy
Freddy Krueger
... you get the idea.
Don't get me wrong, the second half was still brilliantly written. In fact, there are a couple of scenes that are so touching they could put a lumberjack in tears. But the plot was just so terrible that I felt like I was cheated. I felt like I wasted my time, excitement, and emotional commitment. I know that these are strong words, but the fact that the first half of the book was so good made the second half that much more disappointing. It was a high pedestal to fall from.
Anyway, I think that you get the idea where I'm going with this, so I'll just some it all up as so:
If you are already a King fan, then you'll probably really enjoy this novel. If you are a fan of excellent writing and you can tolerate some plot stretch, then you'll probably really enjoy this novel. If you're like me and you enjoy the destination as much as the journey, then you'll probably be very let down by the last portion of this book.
On a side note, I saw the movie "I am Legend" last week, and I felt that the ending in that movie was very similar to the ending of this book. In the movie a bunch of zombies who aren't capable of clothing themselves or even opening doors somehow manage to orchestrate a series of well coordinated booby traps and sieges. Hmmm.... they must have gotten help from the aliens... or Freddy Krueger.
Book Review: I am not much of a King reader, but I enjoyed this quite a bit
Summary: 4 Stars
I have only read a few of his books, and am neither a fan nor a hater (he has plenty of both, so no need to add to them). It kept me interested to the end, which is all I can ask.
For those who say it is not realistic . . . that should be sort of expected, no?
Book Review: I love Stephen King
Summary: 4 Stars
I love Stephen King. My first horror book was The Shining. After that, I was hooked. King was never greater than in The Stand, the hallmark, I believe, of his career. I've had my ups and downs with King, as in the Insomnia period where I had somnia, but Cell seems to be a return to the old King, including the marginal ending. This story is reminiscent of The Stand in that a complete national catastrophe leaves a few remaining sane people who wander toward a common location driven by dreams and paranormal events. The characters are well-developed, though less so than the kids in It. The reader follows the characters, two men, a teenaged girl, a kid and an old man, through the gruesome horror of the world that is left after the "pulse." Zombie- like people populate the world and make their quest a travel by night. The final scene is satisfying, but as often happens with King, he runs out of energy in the very end. Good, but not his best work.
Book Review: I think I'm missing a few chapters!!! If someone finds them.......
Summary: 2 Stars
I think I'm missing a few chapters!!!
Help please.....I think Steven King got this story mixed up with "The Stand" and then forgot to give the publisher the last couple chapters. If anyone finds them, please send them to me.
Really, the book was great but the ending sucked. What happened? It seems like King was sitting in his cabin writing this novel and couldn't think of a good ending so he thought, "Well I'm Steven King and the publisher will print anything I send to them anyways".
Book Review: If you have time, read it...if not, don't 'make' time!
Summary: 4 Stars
I have yet to not enjoy a King book, but must admit I've been spoiled by the Dark Tower series. There are very few King books I haven't read yet, so I understand his style now. Though I enjoyed this book, I think it might be more due to familiarity of King's style and sick sense of humor than anything. The story is a bit scary, (never have liked my cell-phone!) because it involves something so easy to connect with and familiar to so many people. Overall this is a classic King book, with the following (and very important ingredients) missing: Character development (this is huge for me, and generally a large part of King's books...to get to connect with the characters) There were many parts of these people's 'beings' that the reader is never clued in on, and it left me a little cold where their fates were concerned. There were new characters introduced very late in the story, as well, and that added to the general confusion when names were mentioned. The other issue was the ending. I'm not going to spoil it, but it left me unfulfilled. Tons of unanswered questions, lots of loose ends, and for some that might be fine...but it doesn't happen with most of King's books. I enjoy closure (even if it's open closure, ie; Dark Tower)
So those two items aside, the book was enjoyable. It was worth reading, but I forced it into my schedule and that was my mistake. I'm hoping there may be another part coming...but I'm not about to wait on hold for long. (hee)