After deciding that I really needed to read more sometime near the end of last year, I picked up a copy of MISERY, also by Stephen King. I fell in love with the man's style of writing and ability to have you clutch the book so strong your knuckles turn white. So when it came time to pick out some stuff I wanted for Christmas, and having read about the premise behind CELL, I decided that this was one of his books to try.
The Story
CELL opens in a very quick and to-the-point way: the main action in the book has started within the first 15 pages, so there's no dawdling. The book follows Clayton Riddell, an artist whose life, along with the many others, is ruined when an event known as the Pulse happens.
The Pulse is effectively a virus that affects everyone taking mobile phone calls. It wipes their minds and turns everyone into violent, incoherent renderings of former humans who begins to destroy everything in their newly zombified and practically braindead state.
Fortunately for Clayton, he meets characters Tom and Alice, who become his company. The three then begin their journey and their fight for survival in
this new 'phone-crazy' owned world.
The story is basically a mixture of the main cast fighting for survival and also their quest to move north - there, Clayton wishes to get back to his estranged wife and twelve-year-old son, Johnny, who he is concerned has been exposed to the Pulse and has degenerated into a 'phone-crazy' like all the others.
The story runs much deeper, however, when the three begin observing the 'phone-crazies', who they later name 'phoners' beginning to turn into a more coherent mass and beginning to unlock strange telekenetic abilities as the book progresses.
The Writing
Stephen King's writing is, as it usually is, on top form, with wonderful descriptions of all the action and that usual easy-to-read style that seems to draw people in within an instant. There is a sense of genuine care that can be felt for the characters the further through the book you go - something I noticed particularly when one of the characters met their death and my face fell and I almost groaned out a sad 'Ohh ...'
One thing notable about it, however, is it seems to have strayed from King's usual style. King, who is known as the 'Master of Horror', has not written a particularly horrifying tale here, unless you count some of the grotesque imagery present within scenes of the book.
Normally, Stephen King's books have the ability to cause your flesh to creep and your heart to quicken. Particularly with books like PET SEMATARY, he frightens but at the same time there's a kind of perverse addiction to the fear that makes you turn the pages.
Here, King has written something more of a thriller. It's not enormously frightening, but there's a fair bit of action. The gore is perhaps the thing that would scare you the most: it's almost omnipresent in this book.
The Length
The book is a long one - around 480 standard paperback pages - so it's definitely the kind of thing if you want to draw out a good, long story over time, or perhaps you're on a plane journey. It took me the best part of a week to read, and that was with around a 5 hour marathon read through the final 250 pages.
Irritations
I have a few irritations with this book, other than the fact I was sorely hoping to be frightened.
The first comes in the form of several formatting errors present in the edition of the book I own: the Hodder paperback. There are a fair few areas where closing speech marks lead straight into the first letters of words without spaces when someone finishes speaking. You may think it pedantic, but after noticing it too many times, it grated on my nerves too much.
There are also two spellings errors which I noticed - though that can be expected of any book so it's not a huge deal.
The other thing is the ending. I reached what I thought was the final part of the book roughly 20 pages from the end, expecting a final epilogue to close it off - and then was treated with the first chapter of LISEY'S STORY. If conclusions are you thing, I don't think you'll be happy with the way CELL closes.
I can understand the concept of letting the reader find their own ending, but that's just not as satisfactory as having an actual ending to go by. Thus, I was not massively impressed when I reached the ending.
Overall
I would say that CELL is worth a read, especially if you're a fan of Stephen King. If you're not, for the reason he writes horror, then check it out, because it's not that horrifying - like some of his other recent books; for example, DREAMCATCHER. It's also long, so bonus points there.
There are some minor irritations that stick out, like the ones I've outlined above, but they don't detract massively from the story. Definitely check it out - you can find it cheap all over the place.
The paperback, full price, is £6.99, though you can probably find it for cheaper online - from Amazon marketplace and eBay sellers, for example. But if this is your first Stephen King book and you wanted something truly horrifying, check something else out first.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Advantages: For King fans, it's another book by the master of horror and suspense Disadvantages: If you are not a King fan, then its another book by King!
bonsi6337 30.12.2007 (30.12.2007)
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Review of Cell - Stephen King
Feb 23rd, 2008
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