Anyone read Stephen King's Cell?

[soleft]

Can we discuss the ending? Or whatever else you thought? I'm still upset about...Don't scroll if you haven't read it.





















































Alice.

[semillama]

1. I listened to it as an audiobook

Yeah, I was sad about Alice, too. But overall I really liked it. The opening sequence is just great. I haven't read much Steven King since high school, but I have to say that Cell is one of my favorites. I think it's slated for a movie development.

[Midlodemocrat]

2. Loved it. Read it when it first came out. *spoiler*

What about Alice again? I can't remember the ending all that clearly.

[soleft]

3. spoiler

She was killed by a cinder block thrown out a speeding car. Wonder how they'll handle that when it goes to big screen

[redqueen]

4. Spoilers...

I think I read that one... that's the one where everyone goes nuts after something goes hinky with their cell phones, right?

I forget details about books SO fast... don't remember the ending (or being disappointed by it), even after reading your reminder about what happened.

[lost-in-nj]

5. I read it

loved every minute of it
EXCEPT the end... I hated it ..

hope the movie is good..


lost

[soleft]

10. I was really disappointed

I really wanted to know

a) did the reboot work?

b) would he ever meet up with Jordan and Tom again.

I did think the whole thing about telling Jordan and Tom how to mark their trail as they headed north so he could find them reminded me of Shawshank Redemption.

[RebelOne]

6. Read it. Have read all of King's books.

And the ending was totally unexpected and I didn't like it.

[bikebloke]

7. Gave King another chance.

I'd given up on Stephen King years ago. Then I read that he was back to his earlier form. And indeed Cell starts out going great guns. Then it just unraveled towards the end. I had a feeling that he was mimicking that last zombie flick by George Romero, "Land of the Dead".

[ceile]

8. Remind me of the end again.

I can't remember. I know he found his son....

[jgraz]

9. Here's my iTunes review of the audiobook

Poor reworking of "The Stand"

Listening to this book, I couldn't help but wonder why Stephen King is still bothering to write fiction. He certainly doesn't need the money and, if this book is any indication, he is completely out of ideas.

"Cell" is basically "The Stand" with cell phones. All the same themes are there: a disease-decimated population; dream-driven congregations of the good and evil; a lonely group of heroes walking across a hellish, blasted landscape. Any "new" ideas are lifted directly from any number of pulp science fiction novels, going so far as to include the old (and thoroughly debunked) saw about humans using only 5% of their brains.

Even this would be tolerable if "Cell" included any of "The Stand"s tight plotting, wit, or compelling characters. Instead of a wonderful multi-threaded story, we're locked into a single plodding narrative with a fairly uninteresting protagonist. Dialog and descriptions are sometimes jarringly clumsy and supporting characters are so poorly realized that you're often confused as to who is talking.

The book is presented with a desultory reading by Campbell Scott. Neither Scott nor the production team seems to care about the material: Scott barely rises above a monotone and the recording includes a number of distracting overdubs that don't even bother to match voice.

If you're truly jonesing for a Stephen King novel, you'd be better off reaching for a tattered copy of "The Stand". It won't be new, but you'll at least have the satisfaction of knowing you didn't drop $32 on a tired retread.

[BarenakedLady]

11. I read it

Had to think a bit to remember the ending, it's been awhile.

[Downtown Hound]

12. Just be glad you didn't go through 7 volumes of The Dark Tower

only to get that totally lame ending. I haven't read any of Stephen King's books since then. I still love him, but man, he sure does know how to piss you off with his endings.