Book Review: Cell by Stephen King
It took me a lot longer to get through than I had hoped, and that is not saying I didn’t enjoy the book. It was just a rocky last couple of weeks and now I’m behind on a lot of stuff. Cell is the only King book I have ever actually finished, and also the first book where I got through fifty pages before putting it down. I’m not sure why this is. Perhaps it has something to do with my obsession with zombies and my desire to perhaps one day write the most chilling and thrilling of zombie epics to ever grace the metaphorical screen of literature.Having said that, Cell is not actually a ‘zombie story’ in the traditional sense. There isn’t much here that is actually cliche or common in such stories. Cell starts out setting you up with the main character–Clay. He’s an artist who has just struck a major publishing deal for his graphic novel and is on his way home to let his estranged wife and his son know that things are going to be better. Then chaos reigns. People start freaking out, biting, clawing, and killing themselves and others. Clay is caught in the middle. Here he meets Tom and together they manage to get away. From this point on it is an all out battle for survival. Clay and Tom–and Alice, a young teenage girl–set off to try to escape the fires and insane people that have consumed normal society. As time passes they realize that it wasn’t just some random event, but some sort of pulse, some sort of subliminal message that has made everyone who was listening or does listen go nuts, and, to make things far worse, they start to realize that the ‘Phonies’ are beginning to change…into something…else… I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I’m not just saying that because of my obsession with zombie stories. His writing is perfect for this. He doesn’t dawdle around on the issue, or wander in places he shouldn’t. He focuses immediately on the characters and draws you into their lives without destroying things with flashbacks and such. Half-way through the book I started to think that this would make an amazing mini-series on HBO or Showtime (not on Fox or one of those normal stations because those places tend to make series crappy after one season…and this book ends in such a point where there would HAVE to be a second season to clear up all the remaining questions).My only problem with this novel is the way it ends. It felt to me like King didn’t really want to finish the novel. Maybe he’s going to write another to follow this. Regardless, it leaves you completely wondering whether Clay succeeded in ‘finding’ his son. Other than this, Cell is an amazing, gripping, and thrilling novel. This is the perfect novel to read when you’re home alone and in a slightly dim room where your mind can wander and make you feel like perhaps this could really happen. Kudos to King!
Writer: 9, Fate: 8
Per usual, I’m beating the pants off of Fate at the moment (well, not really, just barely winning), although that could change at any moment. First, before I explain why I got some points, I want to clarify a few things.1) Yes, I am going to start up a critique group hopefully next month. It will be through CC and I think we’ll have a cap of say 6 people. First priority goes to anyone who reads my blog that is interested (I.E. Andrew, etc.). Second priority is to anyone else that is interested and is SERIOUS about their writing. I don’t care the age of the person, just so long as they actually take the art seriously.2) I was tagged for a meme. I have not gotten around to do it just yet, but will this weekend. I am not ignoring the person who tagged me. Just wanted to make sure that is known. I’m just behind! Now, for my weekend. My three points come from the following:First, I’ve been fortunate to get about 80% of all my college costs PAID through free government money. This means I won’t have nearly as much in student loans as I had originally thought and that means I won’t be in debt for too long after I get my BA and my MA.Second, I managed to finish my submission to Swords & Sorceresses 22 and Chapter 16 by some manner of luck. And managed to submit said piece to Realms of Fantasy as it was rejected (which is part of fate’s points).Third, I finished my fourth Spanish test tonight and think I did rather well and likely will ace the class and managed to rewrite my essay for my scifi lit. class and hopefully will get an A on that. No for Fate:First, my story to S&S 22 was rejected and rather quickly. I’m not sure if that just means their response time is exceptionally fast, or if my story really wasn’t what they were looking for (I don’t think it’s all that bad a story. I like it personally).Second, I was unable to finish writing and editing my submission for Machine of Death and now need to finish it this weekend, assuming submissions remain open. Long piece, but hopefully a good one that follows the premise of the Anth.Third, I just found out some rather annoying news. A while back I took a class called “Writing For Publication”, which essentially was a class where everyone banded together to raise funds, write, etc. and publish a college sponsored Literary Journal. I submitted “A Tear For Humanity”, which was a short story about a man who reminisces about the last days of his childhood before an alien invasion makes him a slave. I just found out that my story was actually cut off by about 8 pages…this means that over the last few years my story has probably befuddled people because it seems like it randomly stops. I’m rather pissed about this because I had thought it was all there. I never looked because I didn’t think I had to… More to come this weekend of course!