Cell'd out
I am a Stephen King fan. I would much prefer to priase Mr. King, not bury him. I think his honors have been amply earned, and his magnum opus is probably the best science fiction/horror series of the past 50 years.
In spite of this, his latest effort, "Cell" is, well, not much more fun then a dropped call. King tries to stay current, managing to work in references to Hurricane Katrina and Iraqi insurgents, and this is certainly the first King tome to include the word "podcast", but the overall feel of the book is quite dated, reminding me of "The Stand" but without that book's rich tapestry of detail, characterization and horror.
Let's briefly compare the two books. Both deal with a small band of survivors traveling through a wasted land after a civilization-ending disaster. Both books feature telepathic dreams as a major plot point. Both have a goodly helping of reliable blood and guts. Yet "The Stand" felt too short, even though it was over 1,000 pages long and "Cell" feels too long, even though it was only about 350 pages. I think one of the key differences is the characterization. While some may still prefer to stereotype King as a mere horror writer, he is actually very, very good at weaving complex and empathetic characters, people who you come to see as friends...people you care about. This skill has been displayed by King as recently as "From a Buick 8" (not to mention the final three "Dark Tower" books), but in "Cell" it is almost completely absent. I never felt attached to any of the main characters, and the protagonist himself was oddly one-dimensional, and even at the end of the book, I felt I barely knew him. The others just filled in slots, and if anything were even flatter.
Even in the category of horror "Cell" falters. King certainly knows how to do the end of the world; "The Stand" gave me nightmares, and covered the full gamut from blood and guts to the deepest psychological horror of civilization unraveling. "Cell's" depiction of the fall of society seemed flat and tinny, cartoon-like with no deep horror or emotion...almost like, well, listening to music through a cellphone speaker! The plot premise (cell phones turn people into zombies) is inspired, and there's enough potential in the first 50 pages of the book to make me feel that a pretty sharp short story or novella could have been developed from this idea, but after about 100 pages into "Cell" I almost felt like I was reading out of loyalty.
If you are a King fan, you'll read the book, and if you don't expect much, you might even enjoy it somewhat, but this is no "Buick 8" or even "Tommyknockers" -- but, oh well....as the saying goes, even Betty Crocker burns a cake every now and then, and no amount of frosting will save this effort.
I am a Stephen King fan. I would much prefer to priase Mr. King, not bury him. I think his honors have been amply earned, and his magnum opus is probably the best science fiction/horror series of the past 50 years.
In spite of this, his latest effort, "Cell" is, well, not much more fun then a dropped call. King tries to stay current, managing to work in references to Hurricane Katrina and Iraqi insurgents, and this is certainly the first King tome to include the word "podcast", but the overall feel of the book is quite dated, reminding me of "The Stand" but without that book's rich tapestry of detail, characterization and horror.
Let's briefly compare the two books. Both deal with a small band of survivors traveling through a wasted land after a civilization-ending disaster. Both books feature telepathic dreams as a major plot point. Both have a goodly helping of reliable blood and guts. Yet "The Stand" felt too short, even though it was over 1,000 pages long and "Cell" feels too long, even though it was only about 350 pages. I think one of the key differences is the characterization. While some may still prefer to stereotype King as a mere horror writer, he is actually very, very good at weaving complex and empathetic characters, people who you come to see as friends...people you care about. This skill has been displayed by King as recently as "From a Buick 8" (not to mention the final three "Dark Tower" books), but in "Cell" it is almost completely absent. I never felt attached to any of the main characters, and the protagonist himself was oddly one-dimensional, and even at the end of the book, I felt I barely knew him. The others just filled in slots, and if anything were even flatter.
Even in the category of horror "Cell" falters. King certainly knows how to do the end of the world; "The Stand" gave me nightmares, and covered the full gamut from blood and guts to the deepest psychological horror of civilization unraveling. "Cell's" depiction of the fall of society seemed flat and tinny, cartoon-like with no deep horror or emotion...almost like, well, listening to music through a cellphone speaker! The plot premise (cell phones turn people into zombies) is inspired, and there's enough potential in the first 50 pages of the book to make me feel that a pretty sharp short story or novella could have been developed from this idea, but after about 100 pages into "Cell" I almost felt like I was reading out of loyalty.
If you are a King fan, you'll read the book, and if you don't expect much, you might even enjoy it somewhat, but this is no "Buick 8" or even "Tommyknockers" -- but, oh well....as the saying goes, even Betty Crocker burns a cake every now and then, and no amount of frosting will save this effort.
posted by Mike at
1:14 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home