Stephen King's Cell Review

Jackoutofhell · 15 Jun 2006, 07:20

After his accident, Stephen was involved in a lot of of publicity, and if I remember correctly, he did a television interview stating that if he continued to write, he would be doing a great disservice to the public. According to King, he's delivered his message, and any further attempts would be nothing but repetition. In other words, his well of creativity has run dry. Of course, this is contradicted by his latest release, Cell, and the upcoming Lisey's Story. We can only assume that King was in a temporary mindset when he made these comments. Whether or not I agree with them is irrelevant, but I'm sure we can expect much more from the man before he hangs his hat.

At this point , I would advise King to work on non-fiction, or even short stories, as he seems to have lost his knack for creating complex, memorable novels. On first reading, I viewed Cell as an indisputable masterpiece, but I have to set aside my bias and express my true opinion. The story, and even the writing style itself is hardly reminiscent of classic Stephen King. A lot of the technical details are incorrect, and in some cases, plain ridiculous. He obviously lazed on the research, something I've not noticed in his earlier novels. The characterization was decent, a lot better than I could do, but once again, not worthy of "The Master of Horror."

When you're buying this book on Amazon, or any other retailer with a review system, you don't have to look far to find the main source of disappointment among fans. King tried something different with the ending, and I respect him for that, but somehow, he couldn't pull it off. The story is never "summed up", per se, but ended abruptly, like several Alfred Hitchcock films I know of. I haven't a problem with ambiguity, as I enjoy The Birds and other films with a similar conclusion style, but some aspect of this just doesn't feel right. It's as if he ended the book on a cliffhanger, and intended a sequel. However, even if that were the case, I wouldn't bother reading it.

Maybe I'm being too harsh; after all, more than fifty percent of my reading material is from new and upcoming authors, and most of that stuff is no better than Cell. So what's the problem? Maybe it's just a failure to meet expectations, a perpetual hope that the man who I've looked up to for so long will finally return to his former glory. As far as I know, it's been this way since the release of Dreamcatcher, and it doesn't seem to be getting better. I'll still buy his books in hardcover, I can't deny that, and I'll probably give a biased opinion every once in a while. But deep inside my heart, I'll know the truth.

Hypnobabe · 15 Jun 2006, 15:51

I bought and read Cell months ago, when it first came out, and I have to say I really enjoyed it. There have been times when he's produced some complete and utter cr*p, and I've never read them again (think The Tommyknockers, for example) but this one I will re-read. I'm not one for blindly gushing about anything and everything produced by someone I'm a fan of, but in my personal opinion, it's better than some of the other stuff he's come up with!

15 Jun 2006, 07:20	#1
Jackoutofhell Super Loafer Join Date: 13.03.2006 Posts: 369	Stephen King's Cell Review After his accident, Stephen was involved in a lot of of publicity, and if I remember correctly, he did a television interview stating that if he continued to write, he would be doing a great disservice to the public. According to King, he's delivered his message, and any further attempts would be nothing but repetition. In other words, his well of creativity has run dry. Of course, this is contradicted by his latest release, Cell, and the upcoming Lisey's Story. We can only assume that King was in a temporary mindset when he made these comments. Whether or not I agree with them is irrelevant, but I'm sure we can expect much more from the man before he hangs his hat. At this point , I would advise King to work on non-fiction, or even short stories, as he seems to have lost his knack for creating complex, memorable novels. On first reading, I viewed Cell as an indisputable masterpiece, but I have to set aside my bias and express my true opinion. The story, and even the writing style itself is hardly reminiscent of classic Stephen King. A lot of the technical details are incorrect, and in some cases, plain ridiculous. He obviously lazed on the research, something I've not noticed in his earlier novels. The characterization was decent, a lot better than I could do, but once again, not worthy of "The Master of Horror." When you're buying this book on Amazon, or any other retailer with a review system, you don't have to look far to find the main source of disappointment among fans. King tried something different with the ending, and I respect him for that, but somehow, he couldn't pull it off. The story is never "summed up", per se, but ended abruptly, like several Alfred Hitchcock films I know of. I haven't a problem with ambiguity, as I enjoy The Birds and other films with a similar conclusion style, but some aspect of this just doesn't feel right. It's as if he ended the book on a cliffhanger, and intended a sequel. However, even if that were the case, I wouldn't bother reading it. Maybe I'm being too harsh; after all, more than fifty percent of my reading material is from new and upcoming authors, and most of that stuff is no better than Cell. So what's the problem? Maybe it's just a failure to meet expectations, a perpetual hope that the man who I've looked up to for so long will finally return to his former glory. As far as I know, it's been this way since the release of Dreamcatcher, and it doesn't seem to be getting better. I'll still buy his books in hardcover, I can't deny that, and I'll probably give a biased opinion every once in a while. But deep inside my heart, I'll know the truth.

15 Jun 2006, 15:51	#2
Hypnobabe mszee's Mistress with sexy goddess boots Join Date: 13.07.2005 Location: Hitting the highway like a battering ram... Posts: 7,686	I bought and read Cell months ago, when it first came out, and I have to say I really enjoyed it. There have been times when he's produced some complete and utter cr*p, and I've never read them again (think The Tommyknockers, for example) but this one I will re-read. I'm not one for blindly gushing about anything and everything produced by someone I'm a fan of, but in my personal opinion, it's better than some of the other stuff he's come up with!