"The Cell" - more terrifying now than when it was first written (review)

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Echo Looper

Well-Known Member
Apr 2, 2014
54
364
NY/NJ
I really liked the Cell! I too put off reading it but I can honestly say its my favorite "zombie" book ever and that includes I Am Legend. The cell had moments of complete freak out gore and full on laughter for me. Very under-rated "fun" read and yes, has some fantastic philosophical under-layers. But mostly just pure ridiculous gore/fun. Oh...and I really liked the ending!
 

The Walkin' Dude

Well-Known Member
Jul 5, 2016
47
267
30
Charlotte, NC
Cell isn't one of his best, but it's kind of a change of pace for him. It's short, to the point, and a ton of fun. If I'm gonna read something like this, which is the equivalent of just a fun popcorn movie, I definitely prefer it be written by someone as talented as King.
 
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muskrat

Dis-Member
Nov 8, 2010
4,518
19,564
Under your bed
Oh, it was a fun, quick read. Not the best, but, shoot fire, son, so much better than most of the crap out there. It was quickly dated, however. I mean, nowadays, who the heck answers a call from a number they don't recognize?

Maybe he should do a sequel. Text, wherein everybody gets some odd text that drives em nuts before they know what happens.
 

Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Oh, it was a fun, quick read. Not the best, but, shoot fire, son, so much better than most of the crap out there. It was quickly dated, however. I mean, nowadays, who the heck answers a call from a number they don't recognize?

Maybe he should do a sequel. Text, wherein everybody gets some odd text that drives em nuts before they know what happens.
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Nomik

Carry on
Jun 19, 2016
3,973
22,555
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Derry, NH
Oh, it was a fun, quick read. Not the best, but, shoot fire, son, so much better than most of the crap out there. It was quickly dated, however. I mean, nowadays, who the heck answers a call from a number they don't recognize?

Maybe he should do a sequel. Text, wherein everybody gets some odd text that drives em nuts before they know what happens.
:lol: That thought had not occurred to me, but something along those lines:idea: like Tweet. Not really, but how about if a forwarded chain letter drove enough people over the edge that they reverse or amplify the effect by writing it backwards by hand, and snail mail to the last ten people who sent them one. Those ten people become robots.:nrvs:
 

Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
You must really like that ham to quote it twice like that!

Edit: okay - sorry I missed your comment. No - it is for health reasons I gave up the fatty stuff I really used to like - bacon, pork roast etc. I grew up on that stuff.

What was harder was giving up caffeine as I went through some big withdrawal headaches during that.
 
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London Init Geezer

Well-Known Member
Mar 22, 2015
47
167
59
South London England
The Cell was a novel by King I had put off reading for one reason or another. I had heard mixed reviews about it, and even though I owned the novel (I own every King novel, I have a hoarding problem when it comes to King novels), I had never cracked it open and gave it a read until last year.

It has been sitting with me in my head ever since, and I think that alone says a lot about how I feel in regards to the novel. I feel like the novel is dated, and it's an interesting thing to read going back to what honestly feels like not so long ago, to when cell phones hadn't fully integrated themselves deeply within society. You might feel because it is dated it detracts from the story, but on the contrary I feel like this novel has grown BETTER over the years because of just how pervasive cellular phones have become. How advanced, how much more vital.

The story by itself is an interesting thinking piece, an interesting discourse on how technology within society. On the surface I suppose I can agree with some people calling it a cleverly written "zombie" novel. After all, those affected become zombie-like. However, the focus is never placed on the afflicted as much as it is on those left alive, much like The Stand. I love the characters, I felt they were strongly written except for the girl who comes across expendable, and in the end she is. I suppose she serves as insight into this real from a child's perspective? I'm not sure. She feels unnecessary but I'll give it a pass.

I also feel like the beginning of the novel is far more tense, far scarier, than the last half of the novel. The resolution wasn't entirely satisfying, and it did feel rushed. So when I hear people saying it's not one of King's best books I could nod in agreement... BUT! Only in some places. If you look at it alone, at the concept and how it fits in now to today's society it's a terrifying idea. Because look around you. The book is almost prophecy in a sense, we're all just zombies plugged into our smartphones each and every day. Especially the current generation. I am 23 and have never felt that kind of connection to my phone. I use it for work, I use it when I go to a concert and am not allowed to bring my DSLR inside the venue, but I look around me, at those younger than me, and looking and really analyzing how plugged in and distant everyone is really affects me.

We ARE those monsters from The Cell. We're all connected, this hive mind of people humming together on the internet, but we don't really talk to each other, or communicate with each other. We're connected with this great valley of disconnect. And that's why when someone says they don't want to read The Cell, I say forget everything you've heard about the novel and just read it. Read it and think of the setting in that novel in comparison to today's society. Guaranteed to send shivers down your spine!

Finishing Pet Cemetary and will then re read cell and see what I think second time around
 
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