Book Review 2: Cell by Stephen King

Sci-Fi, Fantasy & Horror Reviews

By Richard Karpala Feb 25, 2006, 10:56 GMT

Stephen King returns to his throne with a love letter to the fathers of horror. King dedicates Cell to filmmaker George Romero and novelist Richard Matheson, an affordable debt owed during his tenure as the master of contemporary horror. It would be difficult to imagine what a frightening landscape would look like today if it wasn't filled with the living dead (Romero) or a nuclear post-apocalyptic nightmare (Matheson), two elements which King uses to craft his latest novel set in a world populated by cell phones.

The story follows a group of "normies," a title they give themselves after witnessing a world plummet to chaos when a cell phone signal known as the Pulse converts its listeners to brain-dead lunatics. They struggle to find answers in a world that has become filled with refugees, with only hearsay and rumor to rely on: was it an act of terrorism? An amateur hacker's garage project? Or was it really the final wave of Verizon's quest to dominate its cell phone market? The story feels just right for a scathing commentary on the ubiquity of cell phones, and more significantly, its users. The topic is ripe for The King of Pop, who uses the last page of his bi-weekly platform on EW to digress on pop culture. More often than not the column feels like the sort of thing King writes to make himself pretend he's still young and in step with the times. This may have more to do with the anxiety King feels to be a recognized pop culture icon--because if you're hip, you're in. But King's dissertations on the latest Blink 182 album or the best kept online secret always feel forced, like the dad that really wants to be cool for his kids. But no matter how cool dad might seem, it's still weird and slightly embarrassing to hear him recommend the new Gwen Stefani album when you know he listened to copious amounts of Blue Oyster Cult back in his heyday. Instead of any quick potshot at cell phones (which he does not own, according to the hardcover jacket bio), King takes the higher road by offering little in the way of what makes his column so frustrating to read, and instead uses the asset that made him famous in the first place: scaring his readers shitless.At its core, Cell is efficient. It reads quickly because of its urgent pace, and compels because of its subject matter. Often the novel feels like a hybrid between Pet Cemetery and The Stand, a mixture that results in what may be King's best novel since the 1999 release of Bag of Bones. The elements all work in his favor, because he deals his cards deadly with the use of lone survivors, a world that needs restarting, and malevolent forces beyond human control; elements that elevated King to historic heights in the past. A finer parallel may be drawn to The Mist, the short story he released under the Skeleton Crew short story compilation. In a way the setting of a small-town grocery store was more important to the success of that tale than the creature waiting in the mist. The feeling of being helplessly cooped up during a world-ending catastrophe allowed the characters to explore each other's fears. It allowed strangers to be real with one other, and find renewed interest in simple rituals like eating non-perishable food, simply because it was the thing you did before your world went to hell in a hand basket. There is a scene in Cell where the characters resort to consuming soda pop and candy for sustenance, and this dark period in the novel has a grim outlook which shows it to be an unmistakable reflection of hurricane Katrina. By tapping the recent nightmare of the Katrina aftermath, King has wrapped the best of Romero and Matheson into a post 9/11 climate that bears a lot of the weight people have felt from the effects of family displacement. In this manner, King has used his status as a pop-culture icon and turned it on its head to give his readers a story that feels more relevant now than ever before.

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JudeMar 12th, 2006 - 00:50:52

I didn't get the ending -

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bobMar 26th, 2006 - 20:09:35

Greatest book I have ever read.

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Rich GreenMar 31st, 2006 - 07:40:52

Instead of a horror novel, King's 'Cell' is a gruesome novel. It moves fast and the characters are well developed. After finishing this novel, I look with suspicion at my small blue cell phone.

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peterApr 5th, 2006 - 07:07:29

this is a great novel whould read it again

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RobApr 10th, 2006 - 14:45:04

I loved this book and i'm reading it again

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DeacnblewsApr 21st, 2006 - 14:44:32

This was a typical Stephen King novel. That is to say that the cliches come flying fast and loose, the social commentary was easy and the type you would expect from any half bright high school junior and it seems as if the book is just begging to become a big budget Hollywood thriller.
I went from reading Stephen Donaldson to this novel. It was like eating a steak dinner and then swtiching to a big plate of cotton candy.
All style, no substance.

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RachelMay 4th, 2006 - 17:26:57

I loved Cell very much and wished there was more hehe.
I'm re reading it again and might be able to do it for my Senior Paper.
It's a great book and I recomend it to everyone. I barly use my cell phone now, I'm scared

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craigJul 9th, 2006 - 12:38:11

cell is the greatest book of its kind....until the king writes another one that is.

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MIRANDANov 11th, 2006 - 14:44:27

I LIKED THE BOOK BUT DIDNT GET THE ENDING

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Swedish dudeDec 5th, 2006 - 09:51:41

Good to see that more than I didnt get the ending. King is usually the master of endings so I'm a little disappointed...

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