From here.
There are spoilers there in that post, but it is tagged as such.
The gist of the post is that I am discussing what I think is heavy allegory King is throwing into that book.
<span style='font-size:11pt;line-height:100%'>This thread will probably contain spoilers, if it goes anywhere at all.</span>
Edited By GORDON on 1154651337
Book Discussion: Stephen King's Cell
I don't read King anymore so I didn't mind the spoilers.
Has King ever been known to stick politics in his books?
Has King ever been known to stick politics in his books?
"Happy slaves are the worst enemies of freedom." - Marie Von Ebner
"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies..." - Orwell
"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies..." - Orwell
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DoctorChaos
- Posts: 1579
- Joined: Fri Oct 08, 2004 7:58 pm
King has always had cool plots and great character development but his endings suck ass. The Stand has a great build up and then it's like he said 'Oh shit, I have a deadline gotta wrap this up in 30 pages or less'.
Although this book does sound interesting. I'll probably pick it up after I finish the Chung Kuo series.
Although this book does sound interesting. I'll probably pick it up after I finish the Chung Kuo series.
Wadda mean? Other people can read this?!
Damn, is he STILL writing?
Remember the Family Guy episode?
Editor : Alright, Mr. King, what's your new book about?
Stephen King : (staring at a lamp) It's about a...lamp...uh...from HELL!!!
Editor : Are you even trying anymore? (sighs) Alright, when can I expect it?
& yes, the ending to "The Stand" ranks right up there w\ the entire season on "Dallas" being a dream.
Edited By Malcolm on 1149001459
Remember the Family Guy episode?
Editor : Alright, Mr. King, what's your new book about?
Stephen King : (staring at a lamp) It's about a...lamp...uh...from HELL!!!
Editor : Are you even trying anymore? (sighs) Alright, when can I expect it?
& yes, the ending to "The Stand" ranks right up there w\ the entire season on "Dallas" being a dream.
Edited By Malcolm on 1149001459
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
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Mike
Well, I've only read halfway through Cell so far but it is an AMAZING book - far better than anything King has written in recent memory - I've done a brief literary analysis up to this point and while there is much more I'd like to say, I'll start with what I've gleaned so far.
An existential nightmare gone awry, Cell by Stephen King is a prophetically chilling piece of literature which illustrates to us how insane our culture truly is on several levels. Among the many points he makes, there are several that he addresses with an acuity that only he possesses, such as, the generation gap and what the effects for the future are.
The cell phone is a symbol for a new, younger, generation. A generation that has become interconnected in the extreme as information flows freely across electronic cobwebs. In Cell, King presupposes what we already know about basic human biology and transposes it masterfully with what we know about the building of computers, creating an accurate allegory of how human beings are simply walking computers. His trite use of accurate guesswork by the characters to explain to the reader what is happening is perhaps the only flaw in this work. The headmaster on 2 occasions makes connections for the readers explicitly that they might not otherwise make: the incorporation of Jordan's ideas about human hard drives and an explanation of the baseness of human nature as he is a self renowned philosophy scholar. He represents the elder knowledge of our culture but he is also the audience's interpreter for the events.
In the standoff at the Gaiten Academy is when we see the roots of humanity truly spring alive as reason and morals are sacrificed for survival by the "survivors" of the pulse. The standoff between our main characters and "the Raggedy Man" are illustrative of the tensions that run between the 2 parties. We see the "phone crazies" which are essentially living zombies (some so strongly driven that even with fatal injuries that would likely lead to extreme blood loss and death, still manage to function) eke out their retribution for the Holocaust of their compatriots on Tonney Field. This is another deeper concept that pokes its head out at times: allusions to the Holocaust and we see the reasons why it is logical from the executor's point of view. This point is promptly turned on its head by the following reprisals from the zombies which illustrate that one need not massacre thousands to have a profound impact. One need only sickly torture one person to exact the same effect. This is a possible allusion to the current tensions in the United States over the torture of prisoners as he equates torching a thousand people to the torture of a single human being.
The character's names carry significance as well. The main character Clay, is a multifaceted character who carries one driving impulse behind all of his actions, his family. His name is a biblical reference to the beginnings of mankind, the clay from the four corners of the Earth. He is the only character aside from the ardent Headmaster to not have a cell phone and relies on his own mind and imagination for his success. It is this self introspection that he has created for himself, a pocket into which technology and the world does not penetrate, that allows him to survive and thrive. It is a call by King for a reversion to a more rustic existence where we are not inextricably reliant on each other and our technology to support our every day existence.
Alice Maxwell, who we are told her name means Alice of Royalty or Alice of God, is the embodiment of the teenage audience King always extends his hand to. The name Alice has several deeper literary references, of which the 2 that come to mind are the anonymous Alice of "Go Ask Alice" and Alice of "Alice in Wonderland". It is likely that King is invoking the more classic Alice over the more contemporary, but it could also be no coincidence that both are allusions to a teen who is in over her head and living in a fantasy dreamscape from which neither can escape. Alice of "Go Ask Alice" only learns her final lessons in death, while Alice from "Alice in Wonderland" can only escape by waking up from her dream. The connection between dreams, life, and psychology run rampant through Cell as well. The message King sends us with these connections is that the world of the mind is just as important as our physical and overly materialistic society.
Tom McCourt is a bit more of a mystery. He is a stereotypical metrosexual who is alluded to as possibly being homosexual. He does not behave in stereotypical homosexual ways though which is possibly a commentary on the debates on gay marriage that have been circulating constantly in the US. He is a smart hero and more level headed than Clay is at times but far more emotionally connected to the world, a connection we see slowly erode as he is exposed to more and more bizarre violence. Tom is a father figure to Alice and possibly his name "Court" refers to either a court of royalty or a court of law. He is the arbitrator of what is right and just for the reader as we see him judge Clay's response several times including when the 2 men are fighting over a keg of beer and when Clay socks the bible thumping elderly woman. The court of royalty allusion places him as a King/Father figure to Alice and also in the position of God as we are told he was raised by bible thumpers. His connection or disconnection to the lord as it were sends mixed messages as to what his role in religion terms could mean, if there is any meaning at all.
Hope you enjoyed
An existential nightmare gone awry, Cell by Stephen King is a prophetically chilling piece of literature which illustrates to us how insane our culture truly is on several levels. Among the many points he makes, there are several that he addresses with an acuity that only he possesses, such as, the generation gap and what the effects for the future are.
The cell phone is a symbol for a new, younger, generation. A generation that has become interconnected in the extreme as information flows freely across electronic cobwebs. In Cell, King presupposes what we already know about basic human biology and transposes it masterfully with what we know about the building of computers, creating an accurate allegory of how human beings are simply walking computers. His trite use of accurate guesswork by the characters to explain to the reader what is happening is perhaps the only flaw in this work. The headmaster on 2 occasions makes connections for the readers explicitly that they might not otherwise make: the incorporation of Jordan's ideas about human hard drives and an explanation of the baseness of human nature as he is a self renowned philosophy scholar. He represents the elder knowledge of our culture but he is also the audience's interpreter for the events.
In the standoff at the Gaiten Academy is when we see the roots of humanity truly spring alive as reason and morals are sacrificed for survival by the "survivors" of the pulse. The standoff between our main characters and "the Raggedy Man" are illustrative of the tensions that run between the 2 parties. We see the "phone crazies" which are essentially living zombies (some so strongly driven that even with fatal injuries that would likely lead to extreme blood loss and death, still manage to function) eke out their retribution for the Holocaust of their compatriots on Tonney Field. This is another deeper concept that pokes its head out at times: allusions to the Holocaust and we see the reasons why it is logical from the executor's point of view. This point is promptly turned on its head by the following reprisals from the zombies which illustrate that one need not massacre thousands to have a profound impact. One need only sickly torture one person to exact the same effect. This is a possible allusion to the current tensions in the United States over the torture of prisoners as he equates torching a thousand people to the torture of a single human being.
The character's names carry significance as well. The main character Clay, is a multifaceted character who carries one driving impulse behind all of his actions, his family. His name is a biblical reference to the beginnings of mankind, the clay from the four corners of the Earth. He is the only character aside from the ardent Headmaster to not have a cell phone and relies on his own mind and imagination for his success. It is this self introspection that he has created for himself, a pocket into which technology and the world does not penetrate, that allows him to survive and thrive. It is a call by King for a reversion to a more rustic existence where we are not inextricably reliant on each other and our technology to support our every day existence.
Alice Maxwell, who we are told her name means Alice of Royalty or Alice of God, is the embodiment of the teenage audience King always extends his hand to. The name Alice has several deeper literary references, of which the 2 that come to mind are the anonymous Alice of "Go Ask Alice" and Alice of "Alice in Wonderland". It is likely that King is invoking the more classic Alice over the more contemporary, but it could also be no coincidence that both are allusions to a teen who is in over her head and living in a fantasy dreamscape from which neither can escape. Alice of "Go Ask Alice" only learns her final lessons in death, while Alice from "Alice in Wonderland" can only escape by waking up from her dream. The connection between dreams, life, and psychology run rampant through Cell as well. The message King sends us with these connections is that the world of the mind is just as important as our physical and overly materialistic society.
Tom McCourt is a bit more of a mystery. He is a stereotypical metrosexual who is alluded to as possibly being homosexual. He does not behave in stereotypical homosexual ways though which is possibly a commentary on the debates on gay marriage that have been circulating constantly in the US. He is a smart hero and more level headed than Clay is at times but far more emotionally connected to the world, a connection we see slowly erode as he is exposed to more and more bizarre violence. Tom is a father figure to Alice and possibly his name "Court" refers to either a court of royalty or a court of law. He is the arbitrator of what is right and just for the reader as we see him judge Clay's response several times including when the 2 men are fighting over a keg of beer and when Clay socks the bible thumping elderly woman. The court of royalty allusion places him as a King/Father figure to Alice and also in the position of God as we are told he was raised by bible thumpers. His connection or disconnection to the lord as it were sends mixed messages as to what his role in religion terms could mean, if there is any meaning at all.
Hope you enjoyed
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Mike
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Lou2200
SPOILER
I was so totally bummed out by the ending. I read the whole book thinking I would get an answer as to where the Pulse came from, but it never mentioned anything other than the general assumption that it was terrorists or a wacko mad scientist. I also disliked that we will never know what happens to Johnny or if Clay ever met back up with his compadres.
I was so totally bummed out by the ending. I read the whole book thinking I would get an answer as to where the Pulse came from, but it never mentioned anything other than the general assumption that it was terrorists or a wacko mad scientist. I also disliked that we will never know what happens to Johnny or if Clay ever met back up with his compadres.
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Mike
Glad you enjoyed
In response to the poster above me - we can pretty accurately assume that the story turns out well for Johnny and that the reboot worked. If you look at King's work, usually when a story is on an upward swing at the end, he doesn't usually destroy the main character at that point - so the positive trajectory of continuing successes from after they become imprisoned are indicative of a happy ending.
As for the origins of the Pulse, that's more of a commentary on the nature of technology today in that it changes and evolves so quickly that the creators rarely know what they've actually accomplished. Where would the characters have found such information? The world was decimated within the span of a minute and no one knew nor had the resources to locate what caused it.
When King gives us a character like Jordan that explains everything, it is just speculation but so is everything else about the Pulse but he seems to be remarkably dead on with his interpretations. If that doesn't satisfy you, the Pulse is also a throwback reference to 9/11 (911 for emergency assistance on your phone is the reference I believe he is playing off of). King also loves to incorporate current events into novels like this and the threat of terrorism is definitely a big one.
As for the rest of the novel - after the standoff at the academy the book did go downhill for me as it becomes a whirlwind series of events. It's almost like he didn't know what to do from that point so it de-evolves into more guesswork, risky moves by the characters, and sheer dumb luck - there were no more surprises for me as his foreshadowing became blindingly obvious for several of the outcomes. They should've just killed his son or killed him and be done with it - I hate it when he forces a highly improbable happy ending.
On another note, I think this is the only zombie post-apocolyptic type novel I've read where the good guys actually win.
Others I read after reading Cell to more thoroughly explore the genre were: Xombies (forget the author) and "The Rising" and its sequel "The City of the Dead" by Brian Keene. They were all disappointing next to cell - but in order of "good" I'd rank them: Cell, The Rising, Xombies, City of the Dead.
Happy readings!
In response to the poster above me - we can pretty accurately assume that the story turns out well for Johnny and that the reboot worked. If you look at King's work, usually when a story is on an upward swing at the end, he doesn't usually destroy the main character at that point - so the positive trajectory of continuing successes from after they become imprisoned are indicative of a happy ending.
As for the origins of the Pulse, that's more of a commentary on the nature of technology today in that it changes and evolves so quickly that the creators rarely know what they've actually accomplished. Where would the characters have found such information? The world was decimated within the span of a minute and no one knew nor had the resources to locate what caused it.
When King gives us a character like Jordan that explains everything, it is just speculation but so is everything else about the Pulse but he seems to be remarkably dead on with his interpretations. If that doesn't satisfy you, the Pulse is also a throwback reference to 9/11 (911 for emergency assistance on your phone is the reference I believe he is playing off of). King also loves to incorporate current events into novels like this and the threat of terrorism is definitely a big one.
As for the rest of the novel - after the standoff at the academy the book did go downhill for me as it becomes a whirlwind series of events. It's almost like he didn't know what to do from that point so it de-evolves into more guesswork, risky moves by the characters, and sheer dumb luck - there were no more surprises for me as his foreshadowing became blindingly obvious for several of the outcomes. They should've just killed his son or killed him and be done with it - I hate it when he forces a highly improbable happy ending.
On another note, I think this is the only zombie post-apocolyptic type novel I've read where the good guys actually win.
Others I read after reading Cell to more thoroughly explore the genre were: Xombies (forget the author) and "The Rising" and its sequel "The City of the Dead" by Brian Keene. They were all disappointing next to cell - but in order of "good" I'd rank them: Cell, The Rising, Xombies, City of the Dead.
Happy readings!